Dr. Michael Osborn, past president of the National Communication Association (NCA), will be the featured speaker at the event slated for 7 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom.

"We are fortunate to have someone of his stature and caliber here on our campus," said Dr. Tom Harte, chair of Southeast's Department of Speech Communication and Theatre. "He is a leading figure in the field of speech communication. He is well known as a scholar and a teacher."

Osborn is professor emeritus at the University of Memphis. He came to Memphis in 1966 after teaching at the American University and the University of Iowa. During his tenure in Memphis, he served for eight years as chair of the Department of Communication. During his service as chair, the department was recognized as having one of the top four master of arts degree programs in communication in the country. He also served as president of the Southern States Communication Association (SSCA).

The annual Low Lecture is sponsored by the Department of Speech and Theatre. The annual Low lecture was created in 1995 by Low's mother, Mildred I. Low, through an endowment in her son's name for the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre at Southeast. The upcoming lecture is the fourth annual lecture funded by the endowment.

This year's featured lecturer, Dr. Michael Osborn, received the NCA's Golden Anniversary Monograph Award in 1978 for his essay on the sea as a rhetorical metaphor, and last year received the Charles H. Woolbert Research Award recognizing another of his essays ("Rhetorical Depiction") for its influence over the past decade. He was first recipient of the NCA's Ehninger Award for Distinguished Rhetorical Scholarship over his career, especially for his sustained work in the rhetorical metaphor. The Osborn award, presented annually by SSCA in recognition of an outstanding career in the Southern region balanced among scholarship, teaching and service, is named in his honor. He also received the Distinguished Research Award from the University of Memphis, where, this spring, he inaugurated the annual Osborn Lecture Series in Public Communication.

During his career, Osborn has lectured widely. He was appointed the A. Craig Baird Distinguished Visiting Professor at The University of Iowa. He also has served as visiting professor at the University of North Carolina, the University of California-Davis, and most recently at the University of New Mexico. Last spring, he and his wife taught at Vanderbilt University.

With Dr. Suzanne Osborn, he has written Public Speaking, a textbook published by the Houghton Mifflin Co. This book, now in its fourth edition, has been used at more than 800 colleges and universities by more than 600,000 students over the past decade.

Harsch, whose visit is being sponsored by Journey Literary Magazine, has a three-book contract with Steerforth Press, under which he has written The Driftless Zone and Billy Verite. His third book in the trilogy is due out this year.

Harsch was a cab driver and lived in a cleaning closet before his friends paid for him to go to a writing workshop. He was in this thirties, when he began writing seriously for a living. He currently lives in Oskaloosa, Iowa. He is the recipient of the James Michener/Copernicus Society of America Award for his novel, Billy Verite.

His books currently are available at Barnes and Noble and will be available at the Southeast Bookstore by April 26.

First through third place finishers are as follows:

Contest Top Teams by High School

Agriculture Mechanics (Dexter)

1. Farmington

2. Woodland

3. Delta

Agriculture Sales (Dexter)

1. East Prairie

2. Perryville

3. Advance

Dairy Cattle

1. Perryville

2. Holcomb

3. Jackson

Dairy Foods

1. Woodland

2. East Prairie

3. Meadow Heights

Entomology

1. East Prairie

2. Bernie

3. Oran

Farm Management

1. Kelly-Benton

2. Charleston-Danforth

3. Farmington

Field Crops

1. Kelly-Benton

2. Bernie

3. East Prairie

Floriculture

1. Perryville

2. Cape Girardeau AVTS

3. Bernie

Forestry

1. Jackson

2. Arcadia Valley

3. Doniphan

Horse Evaluation

1. Jackson

2. Farmington

3. East Prairie

Livestock

1. Bernie

2. Advance

3. Neelyville

Meats

1. Fredericktown

2. Jackson

3. Kelly-Benton

Nursery/Landscaping

1. Perryville

2. Kelly-Benton

3. Cape Girardeau AVTS

Poultry

1. Neelyville

2. Fredericktown

3. Charleston-Danforth

Soils

1. Kelly-Benton

2. East Prairie

3. Advance

Creed Speaking

1. Brent Thompson (Southland)

2. Amanda Jordon (Woodland)

Extemporaneous Public Speaking

1. Ross McFadden (Advance)

2. Melissa Emmons (Twin Rivers)

FFA Knowledge

1. Woodland

2. East Prairie

3. Kelly-Benton

Parliamentary Procedure

1. Farmington

2. Fredericktown

Prepared Public Speaking

1. Ross McFadden (Advance)

2. Kallie Newell (Dexter)

Twenty-eight high school vocational agriculture education programs participated in the three days of contests. The agricultural mechanics and agricultural sales contests were held at Dexter High School March 23 with approximately 60 students participating. At Southeast Missouri State University, about 500 students were involved on March 26 and about 340 participated on March 27.

Area officers were selected to represent their area at the state level for the coming year. Daniel Mothershead of Kelly High School was selected to represent Area 12 and Melissa Emmons of Twin Rivers High School was selected for Area 13. Area officers underwent intensely competitive interviews as part of the selection process.

Ms. Shirlene Krewson of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Agri-Business Committee presented plagues to the first place winners. Ms. Tanya Monroe of the Federal Land Bank and Production Credit Associations of Southeast Missouri awarded area sweepstakes plaques. The Area 12 sweepstakes winner was Fredericktown. The Area 13 plaque went to Bernie.

The contests were sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University's Department of Agriculture, area farmers and agribusiness's, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and district vocational agriculture teachers and students.

Patryce King will be featured on the program in a performance of George Gershwin's famous Rhapsody in Blue. King will complete a degree in piano performance from Southeast Missouri State in May of this year. Her piano skills have offered her the opportunity to perform in Rome, Italy, as well as to compete in the prestigious Wideman Concerto Competition and to be selected a talent finalist in the 1998 Miss Missouri Scholarship Program. King's career plans include plans to work toward a doctorate in piano performance and pedagogy in preparation for a college teaching position. King has studied piano at Southeast with Dr. John Shelton and Dr. James Sifferman.

Dr. Marc Fulgham, associate professor of music at Southeast, will be featured in a performance of Karel Husa's Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Orchestra with the Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble. The concerto was premiered by Raymond Crisara, trumpet, and the National Intercollegiate Band, conducted by Colonel Arnald D. Gabriel in 1974 at the University of Connecticut. According to the composer the concerto features the "virtuoso aspects of the trumpet and in addition to exploring the high notes as well as the lowest, unusual sounds of the pedal tones and different mutes, the composition also uses many glissandos, quarter-tones, long sustained tones and some free (aleatroic) passages, all of which are characteristic of today's music. The work has not received many performances due to its difficulty and also due to the fact that the parts are available only on rental from the publisher.

In addition to these two outstanding soloists, the evening's entertainment will include the Cape Central Freshman Band performing Broadcast from Brazil, a percussion section feature, and the always popular Alexander's Ragtime Band. The Symphonic Wind Ensemble will also perform Malcomn Arnold's spirited Four Scottish Dances, Dimitri Shostakovich's Jazz Suite No. 2 and Karl King's euphonium feature entitled Melody Shop.

The numerous invitations that the Southeast Symphonic Wind Ensemble has received to perform at state and regional conferences are indicative of the respect that this group has earned both for quality of performances and innovative programming. The group has presented seven world premieres and ten American premieres of works for the contemporary wind band and has performed for both the Missouri Music Educators Association and the College Band Directors National Association.

The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Ballroom of the University Center on the Southeast campus. Parking will be available in lots 18 and TCD just across from the University Center. Handicapped parking will be available, with street-level elevator access.

Courtney Maguire, a senior at Cape Central High School will present works by Bach, Debussy, and Copland. She is the daughter of Jeff and Donna Maguire.

Shawn Haley, also a senior at Cape Central will present works by Mozart, Debussy, and Sibelius. She is the daughter of Randy and Claudia Haley.

Lacie Baker, a senior at Advance High School will present works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and Gershwin. She is the daughter of Mike and Pat Baker of Oran.

Tyson Wunderlich, a senior at Perryville High School, will present works by Beethoven, Chopin, Gershwin, and Khatchaturian. He is the son of Duane and Carol Wunderlich of Altenburg.