On Campus - Stories March 29, 2002 - Vol. 54, No. 35 Ken Burns to give Bucksbaum Lecture April 10 Loras College administrator to head Arts and Sciences Author to discuss censorship Everage to be honored April 11 Zaccanti to speak at Drake Business Days Awards Banquet Drake to host conference Friday Law School rated 'good value' Entrepreneurial consultant to speak on 'E-Myth' Wednesday Renowned flutist to give recital Prof to discuss Mexican women Holocaust play set for April 8 Performance poet to visit Drake Met tenor to perform at Drake

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns - acclaimed for award-winning films such as "Civil War" and "Baseball" - will give the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture on Wednesday, April 10.

The lecture, which is free and open to the pubic, is titled "American Lives: Mark Twain, Frank Lloyd Wright and More." The event will start at 7:30 p.m. in the Drake Knapp Center. A reception and book signing will follow.

Also on April 10, Burns will have lunch with a group of journalism students and give an informal talk at 2 p.m. in the Cowles Library Reading Room. Reservations are required for the informal talk. For reservations, call x3994.

From his groundbreaking film, "Brooklyn Bridge," over 20 years ago, to more recent films such as "Jazz" and "Frank Lloyd Wright," Burns is recognized as one of the most prolific documentary filmmakers in the world. He has turned his camera to significant aspects of American history and focused on the impact each piece of history has made on the current national psyche, culture and society. His most recent film, which explored the life of famous author Mark Twain, debuted on PBS in January.

Burns received his B.A. in film studies and design from Hampshire College in 1975. Since then, he has received 16 honorary degrees and created 17 documentaries (five of which have been produced as highly successful books). His films have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Peabody Award, the Emmy, the Grammy, the Television Critics Association Award, the CINE Golden Eagle Award, as well as top awards at international film festivals, and been nominated for an Academy Award.

The Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series, established at Drake University in 1996, is made possible by a gift from Melva and the late Martin Bucksbaum, former chairman and president of General Growth Corp. and a long-time member of Drake's governing board.

John M. Burney, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean of Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, has been named dean of Drake University's College of Arts and Sciences and professor of history, Drake Provost Ronald Troyer announced today.

Dr. Burney, who was selected through a national search, will begin his new position by July 1, 2003, to give him time to complete several major initiatives at Loras. "We are so convinced that he is the best person for the position that we're willing to wait for one year," Dr. Troyer said. Interim Dean Susan Wright will continue to lead the college for another year.

"I am delighted that someone with John Burney's exceptional talents has agreed to become dean of arts and sciences," Dr. Troyer said. "He is an outstanding academic leader who has demonstrated a capacity for working with faculty members to bring about curricular innovation. I am confident that he is the best person for the position and look forward to working with him to achieve our educational goals."

Drake sociology professor Joseph Schneider, chair of the search committee, said the group was impressed with Dr. Burney's "appreciation of the student at the center of the process of learning and inquiry as well as his experience with and passion for undergraduate, liberal arts education; his leadership in setting up a first-year seminar experience and developing a core curriculum at Loras; his personal manner that invites people to speak and be heard; and his deep commitment to interdisciplinary and collaborative projects."

"It is with great anticipation that I look forward to becoming dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Drake University in the summer of 2003," Dr. Burney said. "I am impressed with many of the qualities of Drake, including the high caliber of its students, the impressive combination of scholarship and good teaching that is practiced by the faculty, the strength of the alumni support, and the vision displayed by the University and its leadership in carrying out an extensive Program Review to establish clear five-year goals for further development.

Dr. Burney, 49, holds a bachelor's degree from Creighton University as well as two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in modern European history from the University of Kansas. He taught at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Southwest (Minnesota) State University before joining Loras College in 1986 as assistant professor of history. He was promoted to associate professor and then professor before becoming vice president for academic affairs in 1999. He is the author of a book on French educational history that appeared in both English and French editions as well as several articles and essays published in scholarly journals.

At Loras, Dr. Burney chairs the General Education Committee, the Academic Council and the Faculty Council. He also coordinates the First Year Experience program and directs a $400,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant to develop a Modes of Inquiry First Year Seminar project. He has earned many honors, including the Loras College Cardinal Newman Award for Teaching and Service.

Tim Riley, author, rock critic and a regular contributor to National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" and The Washington Post, will give the 2002 Hawley Foundation Lecture on Thursday, April 4.

The lecture is titled "Find the Cost of Freedom: Sex, Satanism and Flag Burning at the Dawn of Censorship." The event will start at 8 p.m. in room 101 of Olin Hall.

Riley is the author of three books: Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary, Hard Rain: A Dylan Commentary, and Madonna: Illustrated.

Wanda Everage, associate provost for academic services, will be honored Thursday, April 11, at the annual "Visionary Women" dinner sponsored by the Young Women's Resources Center. She was selected for the honor because of her outstanding work with students at Drake and Roosevelt High School, where she worked as assistant principal before joining Drake in 1988.

There will be a reception at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. in the Val Air Ballroom, 301 Ashworth Road, West Des Moines. Tickets are $45. For reservations, call 244-4901.

Bruce Zaccanti, senior manager of actuarial and insurance services and director of risk management in the Chicago office of Arthur Anderson, LLP, will be the featured speaker at Drake's 23rd annual Business Days Awards Banquet on Thursday, April 11. His speech is titled "The Events of September 11 and the Impact on the Economy and the Insurance Industry."

Members of the business community as well as Drake faculty, students, alumni and friends are invited to the attend the banquet, which will begin at 5 p.m. in Parents Hall at Olmsted Center.

Prior to joining Arthur Andersen, Zaccanti was the director of insurance and risk management and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission compliance officer at Jupiter Mechanical Industries, Inc., one of the nation's largest full-service commercial mechanical contractors. Zaccanti's accomplishments at Jupiter earned him the 1995 Risk Management of the Year Award from Business Insurance Magazine.

Drake's Business Days is made possible by Arthur Andersen. Tickets for the banquet are $14 per person or free for students in the College of Business and Public Administration. To make reservations, call x2871 by 4:30 p.m. on April 5.

In an effort to ensure the state's status as a center of agriculture, the Iowa Food Policy Council will hold the first-ever Iowa Food Policy Conference from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, April 5, at Olmsted Center.
"The goal of this conference is to create an environment where those interested in Iowa's food system - from farmers and consumers to processors and marketers - can discuss policy developments," said Neil Hamilton, Iowa Food Policy Council chair and director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake. "The focus is to call attention to opportunities for institutions in Iowa to create alliances with farmers and, in turn, benefit the state."

The conference boasts topics such as institutional purchasing of locally grown and processed foods, rural development, hunger in Iowa, and risk management among others. Registration is $30 in advance ($35 at the door), which includes materials, lunch and reception. For more information, call x4956.

Drake Law School backs up its tuition price with a first-rate education and services according to a new survey. In its March 2002 cover story, National Jurist magazine ranked Drake Law School a "Very Good Value" among the nation's more than 75 private law schools. Of the 23 private schools recognized as a "value," 12 placed higher than Drake.

"While we are honored to be recognized, it is no surprise to its faculty, students and alumni that Drake Law School is a very good value," said Law School Dean C. Peter Goplerud III. "The Law School has always strived to meet the needs of students in all of the determining factors set by this study. We're also committed to meeting the needs of our students that this survey does not address, such as technology and curriculum."

Michael Gerber, a business consultant specializing in entrepreneurial ventures, will give a speech about "The E-Myth" on Wednesday, April 3, in Sheslow Auditorium. The speech, sponsored by the Greater Des Moines Partnership, will run from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Although tickets for the general public are $35, faculty and staff may obtain free tickets by contacting Meg Fitz at 286-4934 or mfitz@desmoinesmetro.com.

Flutist Sandra Seefeld, a faculty member at Miami University in Ohio and a member of the Miami Wind Quintet, will give a free guest recital with pianist Ron Matson at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium.

Seefeld has performed as a soloist and chamber musician through the United States and Europe. In addition to the recital, she will conduct a master class at 10 a.m. April 11, in Sheslow Auditorium.

Anne Rubenstein, assistant professor of history at York University in Toronto, will present a lecture titled "The Short-Haired Girls and Their Sisters: Mexican Women and Transnational Modernity, 1920-1940" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 8, in the Medbury Honors Lounge.

The Drake Women's Studies program will present Claudia Stevens in "An Evening with Madame F," at 8 p.m. Monday, April 8, on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium. The performance is free and open to the public.

"An Evening with Madame F" explores the life and death experience of music performance in concentration camps, drawing upon survivor accounts, including that of Fania Fenelon, who performed in the Women's Orchestra at Auschwitz. On a more contemporary note, the piece also deals with the dilemma of treating the Holocaust as a subject for art and theatre.

Performance poet Sara Holbrook will give a poetry reading and performance at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, as part of Drake's Writers and Critics Series. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Medbury Honors Lounge. She is the author of several books, including Chicks Up Front and What's So Big About Cleveland?

Stanford Olsen, one of the world's leading light lyric tenors, will perform the Edwin Earle Ferguson Artist-In-Residence Concert on Friday, April 12, at Drake. The concert will start at 8 p.m. on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium.

Olsen made his Metropolitan Opera debut on an hour's notice as Arturo in I Puritani opposite the legendary soprano Joan Sutherland in 1986. Since then, he has performed over 150 times with New York's Metropolitan Opera, and has been heard in such major venues as La Scala, Australian Opera and San Francisco Opera.

He received his bachelor's degree in music from the University of Utah and the artists diploma in opera from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His recordings of Bach, Mozart and Rossini have received critical praise, including a 1995 nomination for a Grammy Award for Rossini's Tancredi with Alberto Zedda on the Naxos label. His 1999 Telarc recording of Dvorak's Stabat Mater, with the Atlanta Symphony under the baton of Robert Shaw, also received a Grammy nomination.

Tickets, which are $10 for adults and $5 for student, are available at the Drake Fine Arts Box Office, x3841. Olsen also will conduct a master class at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 13, in Sheslow Auditorium. The class is free and open to the public.