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Oberlin Digest Copy
Written 1967

 

Background:  There's little excitement in this piece, but because I saved it as a college sophomore, you get a chance to read it now.

As the sports director of Oberlin College's student-operated radio station WOBC, I had been since September 1966 the producer and host of the Friday edition of Oberlin Digest.  (See another story and photos.)  On this program, five nights a week from 11:00 to 11:30, the first ten minutes or so consisted of news (mostly from the United Press International teletype).  The remainder was that night's feature, frequently taped in advance.  I wrote out the copy for my "host" portion of the January 20 show.

Some explanations of what follows:  The 1.6 rule had to do with minimum grade-point standards for college-athletics eligibility.  Section autonomy was the principle that dormitory sections, such as third floor west, should have the right to set their own rules for such matters as visits by members of the opposite sex.  CR was Paul Lawn, who reported sports both for WOBC and for the student newspaper, the Oberlin Review.

 

["Appalachian Spring" theme]

Good evening!  This is Tom Thomas with Oberlin Digest.

Tonight's feature will be a special report on the swimming team that, last Saturday, defeated Denison here at Oberlin, 54-50.  We'll have interviews with Coach Ralph Bibler and with Mike Jarvis and Rick Lehmann.

First, here's a summary of the latest world and national news from UPI, (newsreader's name) reporting.


For those of you who are regular listeners to our Friday-night Oberlin Digest sports program and who also like to check the WOBC Program Guide to find out what's going to be on, you may have noticed a discrepancy in the past couple of weeks between what's been announced beforehand and what's ending up coming over the air.

For instance, last week we were going to talk with Athletic Director Lysle Butler about his efforts in Houston to get the NCAA to change the 1.6 rule, but we were pre-empted by a special Oberlin Digest program on a section autonomy forum held earlier that evening, last Friday.  Luckily, the Review filled in for us nicely.  CR had a fine front-page article that covered about everything that would have come out in the interview with Mr. Butler anyhow.

This week it was announced in the Program Guide that we were going to be talking to members of the hockey team.  But when we set that one up, we didn't anticipate the swimmers' great victory over Denison, which they scored at Crane Pool last Saturday afternoon.

So, in deference to what has to be one of the biggest wins of the season, we've decided to put the skaters off for a couple of weeks and concentrate instead tonight on the swim team.

Bob Weiner is our reporter; he'll be talking to the coach and then later to a couple of members of the team, Mike Jarvis and Rick Lehmann.  Here's Bob.


First segment 10 minutes 45 seconds.
Begins: "This is Bob Weiner."
Outcue: "Okay, thank you very much."
13 seconds until next segment; let tape continue to roll.

You're listening to Oberlin Digest, the Friday night sports edition; Bob Weiner is talking to some of the people who helped bring about last Saturday's 54-50 swimming victory over Denison.

Jarvis/Lehmann segment 8 minutes 30 seconds.
Begins:  "To continue."
Outcue from both guests:  "Thank you, Bob."


That concludes Oberlin Digest for Friday evening, January 20.  Once again, our feature has been interviews with swimming coach Ralph Bibler and with swimmers Mike Jarvis and Rick Lehmann; Bob Weiner was your reporter.

Oberlin Digest will next return to the air on Monday evening, February 13th, after an absence of three weeks over semester break.

You're listening to WOBC-FM, from the campus of Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.  This is Tom Thomas; good night.

 

The radio station went off the air temporarily for spring break at the end of March.  For the week of March 20, 1967, Tom Clark, the editor of WOBC's Program Guide, had no weekend programs to list.  He filled the empty space thusly:

Here are some additional scripts from the spring of 1967, which I added to this website in 2004.  For some background on how I used my new cassette recorder to produce them, click here.

 

Friday, April 7, 1967

["Appalachian Spring" theme]

Grice sound bite.

Good evening.  That was coach Bill Grice of the Oberlin College baseball team.  The baseball season opens tomorrow, and tonight we're going to be hearing Coach Grice preview that season for you . . . here on Oberlin Digest!

But first, here's a summary of the latest world and national news from the wires of United Press International, Tom Thomas reporting.


Interviews with Grice and Walsh.

That was coach Jim Walsh of the JV baseball team.  Since this interview was recorded, Coach Walsh has told us that the reason he couldn't be sure of the JV schedule was that it hasn't been finalized yet.  Oberlin is trying to set up a doubleheader with Baldwin-Wallace for next week, but if that doesn't work out, the JV may simply play the varsity.

But the varsity schedule is worked out, and tomorrow afternoon the season opens with that doubleheader at Heidelberg.  The first home game is a week from tomorrow, when Western Reserve will be here for a doubleheader.  But before that, the Crimson have a single game scheduled at Kenyon for next Thursday.  Next week on our Oberlin Digest sports show, we'll have taped play-by-play highlights of this Oberlin-Kenyon game, with Jim Gertmenian and Lee Beckett reporting.  So tune in next Friday for baseball action!

In other sports at Oberlin, the champion travelers of this young spring sports season are off again tomorrow.  The lacrosse team, which just completed a tour of the East on which they picked up four straight victories, will be heading west this time to face the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana.

The tracksters will be at Delaware, Ohio, for a rough triangular meet with Mount Union and Ohio Wesleyan.  And the tennis team will be off to Berea to meet Baldwin-Wallace.

So four of the five spring sports crews — everyone except golf — open their seasons tomorrow, all of them on the road, and we wish them all luck in bringing victories back to Oberlin.

That concludes Oberlin Digest for Friday night, April 7th.  Once again our feature has been on the baseball team; this evening, we've talked with coaches Bill Grice and Jim Walsh.

Monday evening, Oberlin Digest will present a report on the first meeting of the new Student Senate, with WOBC news director Tom Witheridge your host.

You're listening to campus radio in Oberlin, Ohio:  WOBC, AM and FM.  This is Tom Thomas reporting; good night.

Friday, April 14, 1967

["Appalachian Spring" theme]

Good evening.  This is Tom Thomas with Oberlin Digest.

As if we didn't have enough problems here at WOBC, the weatherman has been messing up our plans lately.  Despite the dining hall announcements you may have heard Wednesday night and tonight, this evening we are not going to be presenting a play-by-play report of yesterday afternoon's baseball game at Kenyon — for the simple reason that the game was rained out.

But yesterday's golf match at Mount Union did go on despite the rain.  The Yeomen won it, and later on in tonight's program we'll be talking with the captain of the golf team, Tom Dewey.  But first, the news.


We turn now to our feature of the evening, which, as is the the case every Friday evening, concerns sports at Oberlin.

Yesterday afternoon, at the Alliance Country Club course in Alliance, Ohio, the home of Mount Union College, what is called a "double dual" golf match was held.  The three participants:  Oberlin, Mount Union, and John Carroll.  Oberlin came out on top in both of its matches, defeating John Carroll 19½ to 6½ but slipping by host Mount Union by a score of only 15 to 11.  We asked one of the two co-captains of the Yeoman golf team, senior Tom Dewey, whether he had expected the match with Mount Union to be that close.

Interview with Dewey; begins "Well, not really."

In other Oberlin College sports, that baseball game at Kenyon has been rescheduled for Monday afternoon, April 24th.  In the meantime, tomorrow afternoon the team opens its home season with a doubleheader against Western Reserve.  Game time is listed as 2:30 pm.

The track team also has its first home contest scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, a triangular meet against Baldwin-Wallace and Wooster.

Meanwhile, Oberlin's lacrosse players, 5 and 0 on the season, head for Gambier to take on Kenyon.  And the tennis team visits Wooster.

So once again it will be a busy weekend for the Oberlin sports teams.  We've got two victories under our belts already, both in golf yesterday, and we ought to be able to add another couple of wins tomorrow.  Maybe more.  You can help.  Come out to the athletic fields tomorrow and cheer on the team of your choice, baseball or track.  It'll be a nice day, and we hope to see you out there.

That concludes Oberlin Digest for Friday night, April 14th.  Once again, our feature has been an interview with golf captain Tom Dewey.

Monday night on Oberlin Digest, Tom Witheridge will be your host.

You're listening to campus radio in Oberlin, Ohio:  WOBC, AM and FM.  This is Tom Thomas reporting; good night.

 

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That "Appalachian Spring" theme I keep mentioning was not the slow, ponderous music used in those days to introduce CBS Reports television documentaries.  At WOBC, we had chosen a brighter variation, from a minute earlier in Aaron Copland's composition.  Here's what it sounded like, in a re-creation that I recorded in 1994.

 

Friday, April 21, 1967

["Appalachian Spring" theme]

Good evening!  This is Tom Thomas with Oberlin Digest.

Tonight's feature will be a report on the Oberlin lacrosse team, with Jay Bassin, Fred Shults, and Joe Horn.

First, here's a summary of the latest world and national news from UPI, (newsreader's name) reporting.


Interview with Shults.

If Coach Shults sounded a little reluctant to make a prediction on the outcome of this game tomorrow with Bowling Green, he had a good reason.  As of Wednesday, when this interview was recorded, not too much was known about Bowling Green.  But that afternoon, the Falcons happened to be playing a game at home against Michigan State, another team which the Yeomen will be playing here at Oberlin two weeks from tomorrow.  Assistant Coach Joe Horn was on the scene as a scout, as Bowling Green easily defeated the Spartans from East Lansing.  The score was 11 to 5 in favor of Bowling Green when Horn left with about five minutes to play.

Now 11 to 5 sounds like a pretty fair margin of victory, but then Michigan State isn't that strong.  And when we asked Coach Horn the next day how Bowling Green had impressed him, here's what he said.

Interview with Horn.

That junior-varsity game will follow the varsity contest tomorrow afternoon.  The varsity plays at 2 pm and the JV about 4 or 4:15, both games in Oberlin's football stadium.  Joe Horn predicts the varsity should win by two or three goals for its seventh straight victory of the season, and we hope he's right.  Why don't you find out in person?  Come out to see the game tomorrow afternoon, the first home game of the season, at the football field at 2 pm.

Lacrosse isn't the only spring sports team that's undefeated here at Oberlin, though.  There are two others.  The golf team stands at four and zero, and they'll be playing at Wooster tomorrow along with Ohio Wesleyan.  And the Yeoman tennis team is four and zero as well.  Their next contest is also tomorrow, at Gambier against a strong Kenyon team.

Meanwhile, the tracksters will be in Delaware, Ohio, for the Ohio Conference relays.

And the baseball team is scheduled for a home doubleheader against Cleveland State.  Whether that doubleheader will get off the ground is doubtful:  the infield is very muddy after today's rains, and when we talked to Coach Grice a couple of hours ago, he said, "Well, Tom, we'll have to get a lot of sunshine tomorrow if we're going to get these games in.  If it rains again tonight, we don't have a chance."  So we'll have to wait and see about that.

But we do know there'll be a lacrosse game tomorrow — the "snakebeaters" play in any weather.

That concludes Oberlin Digest for Friday evening, April 21st.  Once again our feature has been a report on the Oberlin lacrosse team, with Jay Bassin, Fred Shults, and Joe Horn.

Our next next Oberlin Digest sports program will be next Tuesday — Tuesday night next week rather than Friday — when we hope to have a report on the baseball game at Kenyon which was rained out earlier in the season and rescheduled.

You're listening to campus radio in Oberlin, Ohio:  WOBC AM and FM.  This is Tom Thomas reporting; good night.

 

From May 12, 1967

In Oberlin College news, the student body approved tonight by a 63-vote margin the Student Senate letter to President Johnson demanding a halt to the escalation of the war in Vietnam.  The vote was 524 in favor of sending the letter and 461 opposed, with 39% of the eligible students casting ballots.

Three dining halls voted against the letter by margins of better than 2 to 1:  these were Quadrangle, South, and Harkness.  But French House, Fairchild, May, and the three Co-Ops came out equally strongly in favor of the proposal, which was approved, 524 to 461.

In the election of representative to the National Student Association Congress, the students chose Marc Landy, Paul Osterman, and Al Wachtel as their delegates.  The alternates will be Glen Roberts, Paul Sherer, and John Lawrence.

And the Class of 1968 elected its officers in the same election.  Dan Carlson will be the president, Barry Mallis the vice president, and Scott Richardson the secretary-treasurer.

 

From May 19, 1967

Tomorrow will be the last baseball games to be played here this season, with contests scheduled for 9, 11, 2, and 4.  There's another opportunity for you to enjoy our wonderful Oberlin spring weather.

The Ohio Conference track meet started today in Delaware, Ohio, with preliminaries being held in most of the events.  Earlier this evening, we had a long-distance call from Rich Boye, who says Oberlin appears to be doing pretty well in its race against Capital for third place in the meet.  First and second places have already been conceded to Mount Union and Baldwin-Wallace, although it isn't at all decided which one of those two teams is going to come in number one, but Oberlin has a good shot at third.

The first points for the Yeomen in the meet are already on the scoreboard, as this afternoon, in the finals of the long jump, Rick Smith came in fourth with a leap of 21 feet, 10½ inches.

The rest of the action today was all in preliminaries.  In the 120 High Hurdles, Mark Jaffee qualified for tomorrow's finals with a time of 14.9 seconds.  "Jaff" also qualified in the 440 Intermediate Hurdles at 57 seconds, while Rich Boye had the fastest time of the day in that event with a time of 56.3.

The Yeoman 440 Relay team of Bob Halley, Jaffee, Newkirk, and Tossey Wiley earned the right to compete tomorrow, and Tossey also made it in the 440-Yard Dash.

Three out of four half-milers qualified:  Nate Fawcett had a fine 1:56.7, the second best time of the day in the 880, while Lynn Seltzer turned in a 1:58.4 and Huggie Richards had a 1:59.5.  Ed Francis just missed the cutoff.

Carl Ludwig just missed qualifying in the discus.  And Bob Halley, although he is on the successful 440-Yard Relay team, had a disappointment in his two individual events.  In both the Hundred and the 220, Halley made it to the semifinals but then failed to qualify for the finals tomorrow.

But all in all, it was a successful afternoon for Oberlin's thinclads, and tomorrow they'll be trying to cap this success with a set of good performances against the best in the conference.

The Oberlin golf team ended its season in a rather disappointing fashion yesterday, dropping a home match to Baldwin-Wallace by the score of 15 to 11.  Bob Korns was low for the Yeomen with an 81, but Roy Berger of B-W took overall honors with a 77.  This loss makes the final record 7 and 3 for the locals in dual meets this season.  We came in 12th in the conference tournament Wednesday.

So we've talked about lacrosse, baseball, track, and golf, and all that leaves is tennis.  So here's our tennis reporter, Jeff Hanna.

 

TBT

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