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On Campus - Stories
February
2, 2001 - Vol. 53, No. 30
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Winona LaDuke
to speak at Drake Tuesday
Winona LaDuke, a Native American environmental activist who was Ralph Nader's Green
Party running mate in 1996 and 2000, will speak at Drake on Tuesday, Feb. 6. She
will discuss the intersection of gender, race and ecology.
Her address, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Women's Studies
Program at Drake. The event will start at 7:30 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium in Old
Main.
LaDuke received the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1988. In 1994 she was named one
of America's 50 most promising leaders under 40 years of age by Time magazine. She
was named Ms. Woman of the Year in 1997.
A Harvard-trained economist and author, LaDuke lives on the White Earth Reservation
in northwestern Minnesota and works on restoring the local land base and culture.
She also serves as the board co-chair for the Indigenous Women's Network and program
director for Honor the Earth Fund.
She is the author of several books, including a novel titled Last Standing Woman
as well as a nonfiction work titled All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land
and Life.
Sanderson
leads new Center for Professional Studies
David Maxwell recently announced the University has established a Center for
Special and Professional Studies to be directed by Connie Sanderson, former learning
and development manager at Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.
"The center," Dr. Maxwell said, "will offer business and community leaders an even
better opportunity to work with Drake faculty and staff to develop solutions that
will make for better businesses, a more vibrant community and, ultimately, enhance
the economy of our area."
"This venture will serve a growing need among our business community," said Mary
Bontrager, executive vice president of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. "Drake
University does make Des Moines greater."
As director of the center, Sanderson said her goal is to connect learning opportunities
with business or organizational goals.
"I'm eager to meet with businesses and other organizations to determine what educational
programs they need to develop their work force and reach their goals," Sanderson
said. "Then I'll work with Drake faculty and staff to design results-oriented programs
that address the needs of each organization. Once the programs are under way, we
will evaluate them to make sure that they are well-focused and producing the desired
results."
Sanderson, who started her new job at Drake on Jan. 22, has extensive experience
in professional development, distance learning and higher education. She taught business
and management courses at Des Moines Area Community College for six years before
joining Pioneer Hi-Bred in 1989.
At Pioneer, she provided consulting services to business units, developed learning
opportunities for individuals and teams and coordinated the use of state funds as
part of the 260E program that supports training for employees in newly created positions.
She also initiated The Learning Consortium, a network that brought together Pioneer
and nine other companies to share the costs and benefits of professional development
programs administered by DMACC.
Drake University
announces agreement with USDA
The Drake University Agricultural Law Center has entered a cooperative agreement
with the U. S. Department of Agriculture to support the work of state food policy
councils in four states.
Professor Neil Hamilton, director of the center, will coordinate the project in cooperation
with officials from the Risk Management Agency (RMA) of USDA. Under the agreement,
USDA will provide $200,000 to help support the operation of food policy councils
in Iowa, Connecticut, North Carolina and Utah.
According to professor Hamilton, "This is a wonderful opportunity for Iowa, for USDA
and for Drake -- to identify how state food policy councils can help improve the operation
of our food system. We are excited to be able to work with officials in these states
to examine food policy issues."
Iowa Gov. Thomas Vilsack created the 21-member Iowa Food Policy Council in April
2000 and appointed professor Hamilton to chair the effort. The goal of the council
is examine the operation of Iowa's food system and help identify how state and local
governments can create opportunities for farmers and consumers.
In addition to the public members -- which include farmers, retailers, distributors,
hunger advocates and food processors -- the Iowa Food Policy Council has representatives
from major state agencies. One goal of the council is to expand the market for Iowa-grown
food.
Under the new project, USDA funds will be used to hire staff to support existing
councils in Iowa and Connecticut and to help the departments of agriculture in North
Carolina and Utah create state food policy councils.
Law students
to observe trial
Textbooks will jump to life next week when first-year students at Drake Law School
take a break from their regular class schedule and observe -- from start to finish
-- an actual criminal trial held in the courtroom of the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center.
Coordinated by Professor Russell E. Lovell, executive director of clinical programs
at Drake Law School, the practicum is an innovative academic program that provides
students with an early experiential learning opportunity.
The case which the law students will observe is State v. Willis. Clarence Willis
is charged with armed robbery of the Greyhound Bus Station in downtown Des Moines
last June. "Eye witness testimony is critical to the case," Lovell said, "and the
defense will attempt to attack it as unreliable."
Students, assigned to small groups led by members of the Law School faculty and veteran
attorneys -- all volunteering their time -- will rotate between watching the trial
live in the clinic's courtroom and observing it on closed-circuit television from
several conference rooms throughout the clinic.
Students also will participate in both large and small group sessions that will provide
on-the-spot commentary. Discussion of the events in the courtroom, with a special
focus on evidence, litigation practice, professionalism, and procedure -- as well
as the criminal law involved in the case -- will occur.
Once the jury's verdict is announced, the practicum will conclude with a roundtable
discussion that will include the attorneys who tried the case, the attorneys who
led the small groups, and Robert Rigg, LA'75, LW'78, the clinic's criminal defense
program director.
"Drake is the only law school in the country that does this," Lovell said. "A small
number of law schools have a real trial or appellate hearing on campus, but they
don't cancel a whole week of classes so students can experience not only the trial
but also group discussions where they dissect what has happened in the courtroom."
Longtime English
professor dies
Stuart L. Burns, professor emeritus of English, died of cancer Sunday in Des Moines.
He was 68. A memorial service was held Thursday afternoon at Assured Care Chapel
in Ankeny.
Professor Burns began his teaching career in 1959 as a part-time instructor at Drake.
He continued teaching part time until he finished his master's degree at Drake in
1960 and then went on to receive his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.
Professor Burns returned to Drake in 1963 as assistant professor of English. He was
promoted to full professor in 1972 and was named the Outstanding Professor of the
Year in 1975.
"He was very pleasant, very witty and very insightful," said Bruce Martin, the Ellis
and Nelle Levitt professor of English. "He was also a good teacher and a good colleague."
Jim Leonardo, LA'66, depository librarian and assistant professor of librarianship,
said Burns was his favorite undergraduate professor. "I was a history major, but
because of Stuart I took more hours in English than in history," Leonardo recalled.
"He was a very charismatic teacher and had a real talent for sparking classroom discussion.
He also had a great sense of humor and wrote a humorous book about his family's tent-camping
experiences titled Stressing and Unstressing in a Tent, which was published by Iowa
State University Press."
Professor Burns and his wife, Suzanne, enjoyed fishing, hiking and bird watching
together. The couple's love of the outdoors was a major factor in Burns' decision
to take early retirement in 1990. They sold their house, bought a travel trailer
and spent the next nine years touring the country.
After illness forced them to sell their trailer in 1999, they moved back to Des Moines.
Documentary
to be shown Feb. 12
The 1989 documentary film "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" will be shown at Drake on Monday,
Feb. 12, as part of the University's Critical Studies of Culture Program.
The screening of the 1989 film, which was nominated for an Academy Award, will be
followed by a discussion led by Carol Spaulding, assistant professor of English.
The event, which is free and open to the public, will start at 7 p.m. in room 106
of Meredith Hall.
The documentary, which relates the stark facts of the murder of a 27-year-old Chinese
American, has been described by The Los Angeles Times as "a haunting, disturbing
and utterly compelling account of a multi-layered tragedy."
"Who Killed Vincent Chin?" is a powerful statement about racism in working class
America, said C. Richard King, director of the Critical Studies of Culture Program.
"The film addresses issues such as the failure of our judicial system to value every
citizen's rights equally, and the collapse of the automobile industry under the pressure
from Japanese imports."
Valentine's
Dance set for Feb. 17
Extend your celebration of Valentine's Day by attending the Evening of Swing Valentine's
Dance at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, in Parents Hall at Olmsted Center.
Drake's award-winning jazz ensembles, directed by Andrew Classen, will present a
special program for dancing and listening. Tickets, available at the door, are $10
for adults, $5 for students.
Poetry reading
set for Feb. 12
A poetry reading by Janet Holmes will take place at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12, in
the Honors Lounge of Medbury Hall as part of Drake's Writers and Critics
Series. The event is free and open to the public.
Holmes has published several books of poetry and has had her poems published widely
in poetry magazines and journals, including American Poetry Review, Anataeus, Georgia
Review and Poetry.
Her latest collection of poems, Humanophone, is scheduled to be released by the University
of Notre Dame Press next fall. Two of her books, The Green Tuxedo and The Physicist
at the Mall, have won national awards. Holmes teaches creative writing at Boise State
University.
Order
singing Valentines soon
The vocally challenged get a little help from Cupid -- and the Drake University Choir
-- this Valentine's Day.
The Drake Choir's talented vocalists will sweetly serenade your sweetheart and present
a single red rose or a half dozen red roses. The "True Romantic" package with a single
rose costs $20 and the "Cupid's Favorite" package with a half dozen roses costs $30.
Proceeds from the singing Valentines will help support the Drake Choir's next European
tour.
Small groups of choir members will hand deliver music and flowers throughout the
Des Moines metro area from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14.
Only 100 singing valentines can be delivered, so it's important to submit orders
by Monday, Feb. 12. For more information, call x2841 or x3024.
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