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February 25, 2000 - Vol.52, No. 36

Board of Governors elects three new members

Drake University's Board of Governors recently elected three new members: Patricia Hines Cownie, a community volunteer in Des Moines; Paul D. Seyb, president of Paul Seyb and Associates Inc. of Eden Prairie, Minn., and David N. Walthall, principal of Walthall Asset Management Corporation in Dallas.

Patricia Hines Cownie

Paul D. Seyb

David N Walthall


All three new members will serve three-year terms on the Board of Governors, which meets four times yearly and serves as the University's policy-making and governing body. Cownie will be a member of the board's Academic Affairs Committee and Student Life Committee. Seyb has been appointed to the board's Enrollment Committee and Student Life Committee. Walthall has joined the board's Institutional Advancement Committee.

Although Cownie is a graduate of the University of Iowa, she has many family ties to Drake. Her father, a physician, took classes at Drake, and her mother, brother and sister are Drake graduates. In addition, three of her children have attended Drake and her daughter-in-law is a third-year Drake law student.

Cownie is active in numerous community organizations, including the Civic Center of Des Moines Board of Trustees and Officers as well as the Des Moines Arts Festival Board of Directors and the Des Moines Metro Opera Board of Directors. She also is a member of the Mercy Medical Center Foundation Board and St. Augustin's Foundation Board.

Seyb received his bachelor's degree in retailing from Drake in 1966. For most of his career, he has been in the brokerage business as a manufacturer's representative. He specializes in developing programs for retail operations, such as Target Stores, in conjunction with manufacturers throughout the United States, Asia and Europe.

At Drake, he has served as chair of both the Drake National Alumni Association and the Presidents Circle Council of the Francis Marion Drake Society. He also has been active in student-recruitment efforts and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Drake alumni chapter.

Walthall received his MBA from Drake in 1971. He also holds a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Kansas. He worked in Des Moines as a banker and cable television executive until 1987, when he moved to Dallas as a co-founder of Heritage Media Corporation, a New York Stock Exchange-listed broadcasting and marketing services firm. He was chief executive officer of Heritage when it was sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Ltd. in 1997.

Walthall then became president and chief executive officer of Lyrick Corp., the parent of Lyrick Studios, which produces and distributes "Barney and Friends" and "Wishbone" for PBS. He left Lyrick in 1999 to establish his own investment firm.
Edelman to give Bucksbaum Lecture March 8

Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, will give the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is titled "By What Shall We Live?" A reception will follow in Levitt Hall.

Edelman has been an advocate for disadvantaged Americans for her entire professional career. Under her leadership, the Washington-based CDF has become a strong national voice for children and families, particularly poor and minority children and those with disabilities.

A graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School and the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar, Edelman is the recipient of many honors, including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize. She also is the author of several books, including Families in Peril: An Agenda for Social Change and Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors.

In connection with Edelman's visit to Drake, a Public Service Advocacy Panel will be held from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. March 8 in the Cowles Library Reading Room. Panelists will be Don Nickerson, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa; Martha Willits, president and chief professional officer of United Way of Central Iowa; Mike Hudson, state coordinator of the Children's Defense Fund; and Elizabeth Salinas Newby, director of the Iowa Office of Latino Affairs.

Edelman will be available for informal conversation from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. March 8 in the Cowles Library Reading Room. Both the panel discussion and informal talk are free and open to the public.


Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, human rights activist and former professional boxer, will speak at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, in Parents Hall at Olmsted Center. Carter, the subject of the "The Hurricane" movie, will answer questions following his speech.
Mock trial teams sweep regional

Drake University's two mock trial teams placed first and second in the Regional Mock Trial Tournament held recently at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. Both teams will advance to the National Mock Trial Tournament, which will take place in Des Moines April 14 through April 16.

Teams from 13 colleges and universities participated in the regional contest for undergraduate students on Feb. 19 and 20.

One student on Drake's first-place team received a Best Attorney award at the regional competition. He is Matthew Eslick, a junior from Dayton, Iowa. Other members of the first-place team are Megan Allison, a junior from Madrid, Iowa; Marissa Ellsworth, a sophomore from Sheldon, Iowa; Jesse Johnston, a first-year student from Long Grove, Iowa; Kyle Kaiser, a senior from Red Oak, Iowa; Kendra Laffe, a sophomore from Charles City, Iowa; and Cara Stein, a first-year student from Bayside, Wis.

Before participating in the national competition, both Drake teams will compete in a three-day invitational tournament in Milwaukee that starts March 17.

Three individual awards went to members of Drake's second-place team in the recent regional competition. Jennifer Reiger, a junior from Wheaton, Ill., and Sara Drake, a junior from Lockport, Ill., received Best Attorney awards. Nate Reiske, a first-year student from Pewaukee, Wis., earned a Best Witness award.

Other members of the second-place team are Katie Conway, a junior from Shoreview, Minn.; Craig Edwards, a first-year student from Clive; Scott Horrigan, a junior from West Des Moines; Zachary Nunn, a sophomore from Des Moines; and Shelby Queen, a junior from Castroville, Texas.

Drake's winning teams were coached by William Schultz, BN'99, a first-year law student at Drake and a resident of Fergus Falls, Minn.
Drake mourns Leonard Good

Leonard Good, professor emeritus of art and chair of the art department from 1952 to 1968, died of a heart ailment Feb. 13 in Chickasha, Okla. He was 92.
Good's paintings and drawings have been exhibited nationally and are included in both public and private collections.

Gaylord Torrence, professor of art, described Good as "a very dedicated teacher and artist." He added, "Students really loved Leonard. He continued to work actively as an artist after leaving Drake and his work is widely recognized." Good had an exhibition at Drake's Anderson Gallery in 1997.

Survivors include his wife, Yoshie; a son, Leonard of Langley, Wash.; two sisters, a grandchild and great-grandchild. Memorial contributions may be made to USAO Art Department Scholarship Fund in Chickasha or the University of Oklahoma Foundation's School of Art Elevator Fund in Norman, Okla.
Wong to speak at Drake Monday

Shawn Wong, author of American Knees and Homebase, will read from his work when he visits Drake Monday, Feb. 28. The reading, which is free and open to the public, will start at 7:30 p.m. in the Medbury Honors Lounge. Earlier in the day, Wong, professor and chairman of the English department at the University of Washington, will lead two discussions about writing. He will discuss American multicultural poetry and fiction at 12:30 p.m. in 102 Meredith Hall. He will talk about writing fiction at 2 p.m. in 235 Meredith Hall.

Drake Theatre will present "Into the Woods" March 9-12 in the Hall of Performing Arts. A TalkAbout session featuring a light supper and a presentation by director Clive Elliott will start at 6 p.m. Friday, March 10, at St. Catherine's of Siena. For TalkAbout reservations, call x4747.
World music concert March 7 to feature Korean virtuoso

The Drake University World Music Concert Series will present a performance on Tuesday, March 7, by Jin Hi Kim, an internationally renowned composer of major cross-cultural works and a virtuoso on the komungo, a six-stringed fretted board zither that originated in North Korea in the fourth century.

The concert will start at 8 p.m. on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. Tickets are $4 per person or free with a Drake ID or student ID.

A noted ethnomusicologist at Seoul National University, Kim has performed at the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She fuses old Korean and new Western concepts into a rich series of compositions featuring what she calls "Living Tones."

Kim also will give a free workshop and lecture on "Living Tones" at 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 7, in Bulldog Theater in Olmsted Center.
Student soloist to be featured

The Drake Symphony Orchestra, John Canarina conducting, will give a concert featuring flutist Emily Sapa, a sophomore from Bismarck, N.D., and winner of the Drake Soloist Competition, at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 29, on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. She will be heard in Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major. The program also includes Rossini's "William Tell" Overture, Bartok's Dance Suite and Strauss' Salome's Dance. Admission is free.

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