YOU'RE INVITED
TO FACULTY SENATE MEETING WEDNESDAY Dan Spencer, president
of the Faculty Senate, has issued a special invitation to all faculty and staff members
to attend the Faculty Senate meeting at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19, in Levitt Hall
in Old Main.
"As many of you are probably aware," he said, "we are in the early
stages of an extensive university-wide program review and prioritization process
that will examine both academic and nonacademic/administrative programs across the
university over the remainder of this calendar year."
Earlier this week, several members of the Faculty Senate and Executive Committee,
together with the deans and President Maxwell's Cabinet, met with Bob Dickeson, a
nationally renowned expert on the process of prioritizing academic programs and services.
"This process will require extensive participation and input from all of us
across the University if it is going to succeed," Spencer said.
At the Wednesday meeting, President David Maxwell and Spencer will give a joint report
about the process and seek input from the Faculty Senate and others in attendance
about how best to shape it.
"We will look particularly at developing a working University Mission Statement
to guide the process, and the timeline and different steps needed for program review
and assessment," Spencer said. "We would welcome your attendance and participation
at this meeting." LAW SCHOOL
SPONSORS FORUM AS A PRIMER TO CAUCUS NIGHT
Everything you always wanted to know about the upcoming Iowa caucuses but were afraid
to ask will be covered in a forum at Drake Law School on Thursday, Jan. 20. The event,
which is free and open to the public, will begin at 3 p.m. in room 206 of Cartwright
Hall. It is sponsored by the Law School's Center for Legislative Practice.
Because each party runs its caucus differently, Tom Henderson, chair of the Polk
County Democrats, and Scott Coltrain, chair of the Polk County Republicans, will
be on hand to explain the caucus process and how citizens can be effective participants.
A question-and-answer session will be held at the conclusion of the presentations.
Tanya Bartholomew, associate director of the center, said the forum will demystify
the caucus process for those who have never attended. Others might want to know how
to get elected as a delegate to the county convention.
"Because there is no presidential primary in Iowa, the Jan. 24 caucuses represent
the one opportunity voters have to select their candidate," Bartholomew said.
"We don't want people to feel left out of the process or hesitate to attend
because they're afraid they won't know what's going on." TWO MORE
DRAKE PLAYS SELECTED FOR THEATRE FESTIVAL
Drake students Micky York of Kansas City, Mo., and Julie Burt of Skokie, Ill., have
written two one-act plays selected to be performed at the American College Theatre
Regional Festival in Sioux City, S.D., Jan. 19-22.
York's play, "Russian Porn," deals with American egotism and theatre divas.
Two actors portraying Russians will do the acting while two actors portraying Americans
do voice-overs for the Russian actors. York will serve as the sound designer for
the production.
Burt's play, "Long Live Chairman Mao," was written after she studied the
Chinese Communist Revolution in a sociology class at Drake. The play has a female
actor and male actor giving opposing viewpoints on the reign of Chairman Mao and
how the Red Guard youth army changed the lives of the youths in China. "This
is an unknown topic for Americans," said Burt, a junior majoring in theatre
arts. She also will be the director of "Russian Porn."
In addition, York, a senior majoring in theatre arts, is co-author of "Men and
Women," a 10-minute one-act play selected earlier for a workshop at the festival.
He wrote the play with Allison Moody, a senior theatre arts major from Stilwell,
Kan.
All three plays to be featured at the regional festival were created as part of a
class taught by William S.E. Coleman, professor of theatre arts. The class, Theatre
Arts 170: The Playwrights Acting Company, is an annual workshop in which student
plays are developed, rehearsed and showcased. IOWA POLITICAL
SCENE HELPS ATTRACT STUDENTS TO DRAKE
College students traditionally serve as the shock troops and pack mules for presidential
candidates because they're idealistic, energetic, enthusiastic, in some cases ideological,
and, best of all, they work for free.
Although many of these students come from out of state and work for campaigns on
weekends and during school breaks, some of them choose colleges precisely because
they're located in important primary states, and provide a ring-side seat to the
quirky pageantry that is American presidential politics.
"Students have historically performed grunt work in political campaigns,"
says Hugh Winebrenner, the Thomas F. Sheehan distinguished professor of public administration
at Drake University, and author of The Iowa Precinct and Caucuses - the Making of
a Media Event.
"The candidates offer long hours and little or no pay for their efforts, which
seem to be based on idealism, commitment to one of the candidates, or just the fun
and excitement of participating in political campaigns and occasionally rubbing elbows
with the candidates themselves."
James Pindell, a self-described political junkie, chose Drake University because
he wanted a ringside seat to the upcoming presidential caucuses, and it turns out
he's not alone.
"I came to Drake from Indianapolis specifically for the caucuses," says
Pindell, a senior majoring in political science and magazine journalism. Pindell
helps cover the campaign for The Des Moines Register, and he's conducted research
with professor Winebrenner on the amount of time each candidate has spent in Iowa
thus far.
"Politics is my passion" Pindell said. "In high school I used to stay
up until 2 a.m. watching C-SPAN and writing the congressman and academics who were
talking about various topics of national policy."
With the help of Drake's academic culture and the political culture of the town,
Pindell's passion has paid off. He has personally seen eight presidential candidates
and the "inside game" in practically every campaign and how college students
were involved.
Pindell's ringside seat is also shared with Zachary Nunn and Mary Beth Danzer. Nunn,
a sophomore majoring in international relations and law, politics and society, has
volunteered for George Bush and John McCain, and was even a driver for Steve Forbes.
He says he considered an East Coast university, but chose Drake because of the political
activity in Des Moines with the Iowa caucuses. "You can interact one-on-one
with all the candidates and one of them will be elected president," he said.
Danzer, an active member of College Republicans, also chose Drake because of the
fertile political scene in Des Moines. "It was an important factor," said
Danzer, a first-year student from Council Bluffs, Iowa, who is majoring in history
and works as an aide to a member of the Iowa House of Representatives.
Sandy Johnson, assistant director of admission in the Chicago area, said she capitalizes
upon Drake's strong Department of Politics and International Relations and the Iowa
caucuses to attract students.
"I not only emphasize the opportunities involved with the presidential election,
but also the fact that Des Moines is the state capital," she said. "Opportunities
exist for students to intern and network with state and local government officials,
the media and business all throughout their four years at Drake, not just during
the presidential election time. In fact, that's one of our biggest selling points." NEW WEB PAGE
FOCUSES ON ACTIVE AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING
David Skidmore, associate dean for curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences,
has posted the first draft of a new Web page providing links to Web resources on
a variety of active and collaborative learning techniques.
"This is only a first draft," Skidmore said. "I plan to continually
expand, revise and update this teaching resource."
For each teaching technique, Skidmore has listed Drake faculty who have used this
particular learning method and who could serve as a resource for other faculty who
are considering adopting a new teaching practice.
He also has included links to four essays by Drake faculty addressing relevant pedagogical
issues. He seeks other essays or self-produced materials (assignments, simulations,
handouts) that might interest other faculty and staff at Drake.
