On Campus
- Stories
September
5, 2003 Vol. 56, No. 11
Awards to be presented at convocation Sept. 16
Three recipients of the Drake Medal of Service will be honored at the
Fall Faculty and Staff Convocation at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, in Sheslow
Auditorium. The medal honors significant service that has been sustained
over time to the Drake University community, as well as personal commitment
to the University's heritage and aspirations.
This year's recipients are Robert Weast, the late Mary Collier Baker
and the late Marion J. Cubbage.
Weast, professor emeritus of wind instruments, came to Drake in 1956
and throughout his career became well known as a consummate musician,
teacher and performer. He served as principal trumpet for the Des Moines
Symphony, the Tucson Symphony and the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.
He has organized performances by Drake music majors in prisons, nursing
homes and hospital wards to bring music to those who may not have access
to concerts. He also has been involved with several swing and dance bands,
including Bob Weast and His Swingin' Big Band.
Baker, an elementary and secondary education teacher who shared a lifelong
passion for learning and education with her students and her two sons
- James, GR'70, and John - was a strong supporter of both education and
Drake University, where she took graduate classes. She died in 1999,
and the next year Drake received $5 million from her estate: $1 million
to establish the Mary Collier Baker Student Scholarship fund; $1.5 million
to support Drake's National Alumni Scholar Program; $1 million to fund
additional scholarships and $1.5 million to create and endow the Mary
Collier Baker Chair in the School of Education.
Cubbage, who died in April, demonstrated a fierce devotion to the university
and its students during her 25 years with Drake. She joined Drake in
1967, working in the admission office reviewing transfer and international
student applications. Soon after, she became the assistant to the president
and loyally served presidents Wilbur Miller and Michael Ferrari. Managing
the president's office and working with the many personalities who entered
it made her position critical to the success of Drake University. In
her later years at Drake she also served as secretary to the University.
She was noted for her loyalty, hard work and ability to stay focused
on the University's overall goals.
In addition to the Drake Medals of Service, two other awards will be presented
at the convocation: the 2003 Madelyn M. Levitt Award for Distinguished Community
Service and the 2003 Madelyn M. Levitt Employee Excellence Award. Following the
convocation, a reception will be held in Levitt Hall.
Gallery to feature the work of visionary German designer
 |
| A basketball pictogram from the 1972 Olympics |
Opening Sept.
12 and
on view through Oct. 30 at the Anderson Gallery, the exhibition "Practical
Utopia: The Design Work of Otl Aicher"presents the work of a German visionary
designer who transformed the fields of graphic and industrial design.
The opening reception will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, with
a gallery talk at 5:30 p.m. by Birgit Wassmuth, professor of journalism and mass
communication.
Aicher, who was born in Ulm in 1922 and died in 1991, believed graphic and industrial
design had a transformative power. This exhibition is the first in the United
States to present large selections from Aicher's work, which is represented in
the Museum of Modern Art's design collection. The Anderson Gallery will showcase
Aicher's corporate identity projects for Braun and Lufthansa Airlines, his collaborations
with British architect Norman Foster, and his design program for the 1972 Olympic
Games in Munich, Germany, which included sport pictograms.
Aicher's work was very spare, very sure - he was a sculptor who renounced art
to engage industrial issues. His designs embodied ideas, passion and humor.
"Practical Utopia: The Design Work of Otl Aicher"will present a survey
of
Aicher's career with work drawn from the collection of Tom Strong of New Haven,
Conn. Other exhibition highlights include a description of the collaboration
between Aicher and Foster. The exhibition will be accompanied by a brochure with
an essay by Foster. The exhibition is co-curated by Cira Pascual Marquina, director
of the Anderson Gallery, and professor Ian McLaren of
De Montfort University in the United Kingdom. McLaren is an expert on Aicher
and one of his former collaborators.
Memorial service set for Hock
A memorial service for Raymond Hock, professor emeritus of philosophy and education,
will be held on Oct. 25 in San Jose, Calif. A member of the Drake faculty from
1960 to 1989, he died Aug. 14 in Riverside, Calif.
Professor Hock was an avid fan of the Drake women's basketball team, and his
family has requested that any memorial contributions made in his name to Drake
University go to the women's basketball program.
Survivors include two sisters and a daughter, Mary Ann Nyberg, who can be reached
at P.O. Box 56, Hot Springs, MT 59845 or (406) 741-3430.
Writers to visit Drake Sept. 11
The Drake Writers and Critics Series will present a roundtable discussion featuring
four
writers from the University of Iowa International Writers Program from 2 to 3
p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, in Cowles Library Reading Room. The event is titled "America
Abroad: A Discussion of America's International Role."The roundtable, sponsored
by Drake's English Department and Center for the Humanities, will feature Paddy
Woodworth, a non-fiction writer from Ireland; Agata Bielik-Robson, a philosopher
from Poland; Leopoldo Brizuela, a novelist, poet and translator from Argentina;
and Kim Young-Ha, a fiction writer from South Korea.
Campus Security officer sweats it out in Iraq
By Joe Lewandowski
Brian Johnson joined the Iowa National Guard to go places. The Campus Security
officer probably never figured he'd travel thousands of miles to Baghdad, Iraq,
where he endures unfurnished and cramped living quarters and temperatures as
high as 130 degrees.
 |
| Sgt.
Brian Johnson poses for a photo in one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. |
Johnson's unit, the 186th Military Police Company, was called to active duty
for one year on Feb. 9. After nearly two months of training, the unit was sent
overseas, where the approximately 120 guardsmen spent a month in Kuwait before
arriving in Baghdad on May 1.
"I think about him all the time,"said Johnson's wife, Katy, a fifth-year
pharmacy student at Drake who frequently e-mails her husband and talks to him
via satellite phone about once a week. "He joined the National Guard to
go somewhere. He may complain about being away from me, but he's actually doing
what he wants to do."
Johnson, 23, the only Drake employee stationed in Iraq, joined the 186th in January
1998, but had not been deployed overseas until this mission. The Des Moines native
is a sergeant who guards enemy prisoners of war from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. daily for
two weeks, then spends the next week on escort missions. Then the cycle repeats.
Johnson's duties have been mentally and physically exhausting. He had just three
days off in July, and has lost more than 30 pounds because of the heat, Katy
Johnson said. And, he was shocked when three soldiers in his unit were injured
by a rocket-propelled grenade attack in early August.
"That brought [everyone] back into reality,"Katy Johnson said of the attack,
which required one man to have both legs amputated. "They didn't think anything
like that would happen. They were told they'd be in no imminent danger.
"He hasn't mentioned ever being shot at,"she said. "He always
tells
me that he's safe, whether or not he really is."
Adding to the stress is the fact that between mission duties, the nine-hour time
difference and the expense of calling, Johnson hasn't been able to keep in touch
with his close family, including proud parents and three pregnant sisters, as
frequently as he'd like.
"They're proud of him,"Katy Johnson said. "But they want him home.
He's their baby. When he gets back, I'm going to have to fight for attention."
On a positive note, lately Johnson has gotten the chance to relax a bit. Not
only did he attend a recent USO concert by Kid Rock, but he also plays with his
Game Boy and takes breaks in the unit's new, air-conditioned "morale tent."He
has purchased souvenirs, played with remote-controlled cars and used the Internet
to order an inflatable air mattress, which was shipped directly to him in Iraq.
And every once in a while, he's enjoyed other goodies in the mail.
"We've sent Brian a couple of care packages,"said Hans Hanson, chief of
Drake Campus Security. "We like him to know we're thinking about him. It's
nice to give him a little break from military chow."
Hanson said the packages have included food and hygiene supplies, cards signed
by the entire Campus Security staff and reminders of what his return will bring
- such as a photo of the snow-covered campus.
"Brian is just the best guy you could ever imagine,"Hanson said. "He
always smiles, never brings his baggage to work, never complains and is well-liked
by students and staff. We're holding his position for him, and he'll be back
soon. As soon as he gets back, we're going to put him to work."
Law School to host Constitutional law scholar next week
The 2003-2004 Distinguished Speaker Series, sponsored by Drake University Law
School's Constitutional Law Center, welcomes Akhil Amar of Yale Law School next
week (Sept. 8-12).
On Wednesday, Sept. 10, Amar will deliver a public lecture titled "America's
First Office: The Founders' View of the Presidency."The lecture will begin
at 4 p.m. in room 213 of Cartwright Hall.
Amar, a nationally cited scholar and author, received his B.A. from Yale College
in 1980 and in 1984 earned his J.D. from Yale Law School. He joined the Yale
Law School faculty in 1985 and was named Southmayd professor of law in 1993.
In 1994, Amar received the Paul Bator award from the Federalist Society for Law
and Public Policy and was named in 1995 as one of 40 rising stars in law by the
National Law Journal.
An accomplished writer, he has written on Constitutional issues for national
publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The
Wall Street
Journal. The author of four books, his 1998 work, titled The Bill of Rights:
Creation and Reconstruction, received the American Bar Association Certificate
of Merit.
Established in 1988, the Distinguished Speaker Series invites national law scholars
to Drake's campus to facilitate discussions about current Constitutional law
issues. In addition to a formal lecture, speakers teach a weeklong course and
attend informal lunches with faculty and students. The program offers students
the unique opportunity to question and interact with these distinguished scholars.
Walkers sought for walk-a-thon
Drake officials hope to have 250 students, faculty and staff participate
in the "Walk
as One"walk-a-thon sponsored by the National Conference for Community and
Justice on Sunday, Sept. 21. The walk, which starts at noon at Gray's Lake, funds
NCCJ's youth and community leadership programs across Iowa. Dolph Pulliam, director
of community outreach and development, is leading the Drake effort. "We'd
love to have 250 walkers from Drake,"he said. "If we do, we'll have
the largest contingent in the entire walk."For more information, contact
Pulliam at x3084.
Cowles Library gains coffee cart
Sodexho Campus Services will have a coffee cart in the lobby of Cowles Library
from 6 to 11 p.m. on Sundays, beginning Sept. 7. The cart will stock Starbucks
coffee, juices and other drinks as well as an assortment of snacks. Food and
drinks (with lids) can be consumed in areas of the library where there are no
computers.
"We're starting out with Sundays and plan to add some other times during the week
once things get situated,"said Susan Breakendridge, assistant to the dean
of Cowles Library.
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