Illness forces retirement of 31-year OC professor

After teaching at Olympic College for 31 years, professor Arthur Wicks is leaving his prestigious tenure after developing a serious health problem. Wicks, 65, was diagnosed with a case of transient global amnesia earlier in the quarter and lost his ability to teach. Substitutes were located to cover his classes. According to Wicks, the condition, while temporary, has affected his memory and health and as a result he will be going into early retirement. Not letting things slow him down, Wicks already has a number of plans for his post-OC life. "Two summers ago I wrote a book," said Wicks. "Last summer I revised it. I'm still not happy with it, when my head clears a little bit, probably next month, I'm going to give it a final revision, then I'm going to spend the fall traveling." After spending the fall visiting friends in Prague and Amsterdam, Wicks said he plans to go to New Orleans in early 2010 for an extended length of time. According to Wicks, the purpose of this trip would be to spend time with his daughter, who has lived in the city since 1992. While down there, Wicks plans to volunteer in local schools, many of which are still struggling following Hurricane Katrina almost four years ago. According to Wicks, his incumbency at OC began on Sept. 14, 1978. During his time here he has taught a number of disciplines such as English, Geography and History as well as a variety of specialty classes. Wicks is responsible for structuring and professing the popular OC creative writing class. In the fall, professor Ian Sherman will be taking over the endeavor. "I have been in the creative writing classroom since winter quarter 1979," said Wicks. "I've had almost 5000 students in it and it was just a delight." From the stretch of time between 1987 and 2007 Wicks taught a summer study program in Wales. The program was terminated when the University of Wales closed the building granted to OC for renovations. "The building was built in the 1840's and nothing had been done to it since the First World War," said Wicks. "They closed it down after we were there in '07 to refurbish it. So that class hasn't taken place now in two years and with me gone it probably never will again." One of the professor's more noted classes went by the title Rock 'N Roll-Music and Ideas. According to Wicks, it was the first college level rock and roll class in the world. "I got the idea for it when I did graduate studies at Oxford," said Wicks. "I attended a lecture on Bob Dylan. When I started here about four years later, the rock and roll class was one of the first things I started working on." One of Wicks' retirement projects includes finishing a book about his now deceased brother who had Down Syndrome. His parents, who were involved with civic activism, refused to place their child in an institution and instead galvanized a number of relatives and fellow activists into forming an establishment where all handicapped people could get an education. The Northwest Center for the Retarded was founded, and still exists today, although the title has been altered to just the Northwest Center. "So my brother, though he never spoke never wrote and never really did anything, was rather important in a lot of people's lives," said Wicks. "So I put together a brief biography of his struggle." Wicks is prominently noted for his unconventional teaching methods. According to Wicks, he has only flunked three students throughout the course of his entire career. The three students were apparently collecting GI Bill money and never showed up to class. If the students had been given a discontinued attendance-passing mark, what Wicks generally bestows upon pupils in this scenario, they would not have been able to collect their money. "I have a hard time thinking about myself having a style in the classroom," said Wicks. "The main thing for me is the material, I love the material and I just try to put it across any way that I can." Although he may no longer be teaching at OC, the wisdom ushered from the mind of Wicks will continue to diffuse from the hearts of his students. "The greatest pleasure of OC has been the students," said Wicks, "14,000 students over 31 years and I don't think I have had a bad experience with a single one, although I'm not sure all my students would say the same about me. If someone still remembers me next June, I will be happy with that."

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