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October 8, 1999 - Vol.52, No. 19

DRAKE TO CELEBRATE HOMECOMING, INAUGURATION

Drake will welcome hundreds of alumni and friends to campus this weekend as the University community celebrates Homecoming and the Inauguration of David E. Maxwell.

More than 200 people have registered for today's luncheon forum on Drake in Higher Education, which will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Parents Hall at Olmsted Center. Many additional visitors are expected to attend the other forums, which will be held throughout the morning and afternoon in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. All of the forums in Sheslow Auditorium will be televised live on cable TV on the College Channel (ATT/TCI 46/98).

Inauguration Day festivities will start with a pancake breakfast from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 9, in Hubbell Field near the Hubbell Dining Hall. More than 700 people are expected to attend the breakfast. Admission is free with a nonperishable food item for the Des Moines Area Religious Council Food Pantry. The Drake Marching Band will play during the breakfast and then lead the crowd over to Drake Stadium for the Homecoming Football Game, which starts at noon. The Bulldogs will face Saint Mary's of California. Saint Mary's will be the first scholarship NCAA Division I-AA team to play at Drake Stadium since 1985.

Following the football game, Dr. Maxwell will be installed as president in a ceremony featuring faculty and delegates from other colleges and universities in full academic regalia. Approximately 700 people have made reservations for the event, which will start at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, in the Drake Knapp Center.

The ceremony will include President Maxwell's inaugural address and a speech by his mentor and friend, Sol Gittleman, senior vice president/provost of Tufts University. In addition, the Drake Symphony Orchestra will perform "Veritas," an inspiring piece composed for the occasion by professor William Dougherty, chair of the music department at Drake.

The ceremony will be followed by an inaugural celebration featuring food, music and fellowship at the Drake Knapp Center. President Maxwell has promised to join in the festivities by playing his guitar with Drake Jazz Ensemble I.

FACULTY WORKSHOP TO FOCUS ON WRITING

Faculty members who teach first-year seminars are invited to attend a Workshop on the Writing Workshop at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, in the Honors Lounge in Medbury Hall. Refreshments will be served.

Tutors from the Writing Workshop will discuss their work with students enrolled in first-year seminars. They also will address faculty questions about:

For more information, contact Bruce Horner


CAREER CENTER PLANS OPEN HOUSE

All faculty and staff are invited to attend an open house at the Career Center from 2 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 13, at The Point. This event will provide an opportunity to meet the staff and become acquainted with the many services the center offers to students and alumni. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, call the Career Center at x3721 or visit the center's Web site.

BLACKSTONE, GABRIELSON NAMED CO-RECIPIENTS OF HOWLETT AWARD

Matt Gabrielson, a nine-time All-Missouri Valley Conference track performer, and Tammi Blackstone, a two-time All-MVC performer on the women's basketball team, have been named co-recipients of the Jerry Howlett Memorial Award as Drake's top athletes for 1998-99.

The award, presented each year since 1974, is named in honor of Jerry Howlett, a long-time resident of Des Moines.

It marked the second straight year Blackstone was named a co-recipient of the award after sharing the honor with Jason Grove of the Drake football team last year.

Blackstone, a native of Cherokee, Iowa, led the Drake women's basketball team to the semifinal round of the 1999 Women's National Invitation Tournament. She averaged 17.6 points and 7.2 rebounds, while finishing fifth in the NCAA in field goal percentage shooting 64.2 percent. She also was ranked eighth nationally in blocked shots, averaging 2.7 per game. She earned honorable mention All-American honors by The Associated Press and was selected as a finalist for the Kodak All-American team after being named to the Kodak District VI squad for the second straight year.

Gabrielson, a native of Belmond, Iowa, has been instrumental in guiding the Drake men's cross-country program to a number two ranking in the latest NCAA Midwest District Coaches' poll. He was fourth in the mile at the 1999 MVC Indoor Championships and also anchored the distance medley relay team to its second straight MVC indoor title. He ran the anchor leg on Drake's distance medley relay team which was ninth at the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championships. He set a school indoor record in the 3,000 (8:19.32) at the 1999 UNI-Dome Open and then ran the anchor leg on the distance medley relay team which set a school record of 9:40.03 at the Iowa State Open.

MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM PREPARES FOR NEW SEASON

All five starters will return for the men's basketball team, which showed the most improvement of any team last year in a Missouri Valley Conference that distinguished itself by ranking as one of the premier leagues in the country.

After going winless in the league for two straight seasons, the Bulldogs posted a 5-13 record in the MVC, which was ranked as the eighth strongest conference in the nation last year. Drake enjoyed its first winning home campaign in three years, posting a 9-5 mark. There also were near misses at home against Iowa (78-74) and Southwest Missouri State (89-85), which both advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

The Bulldogs are on the move getting ready for the challenges of the 1999-2000 league race. They're a year older and a year wiser. "I thought we made strides last year," said Kurt Kanaskie, head coach. "We played more competitively in the conference, especially at home. But there were two factors that really hurt us: when Richardson injured his knee because he was our best athlete, and also the injury to Lee because we were playing very well in December. When we lost those players we weren't nearly as deep."

While fans will recognize the veterans, for the second straight year the Drake coaching staff reeled in a solid recruiting class. Heading the list of talented newcomers is 6-3 junior college transfer Lamont Evans (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), who should make his presence known immediately in the backcourt after ranking third nationally in assists at 10.3 per game, while averaging 16.2 points.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM LOOKS FORWARD TO NEW SEASON

For the Drake women's basketball team, the 1999-2000 season is one of tremendous possibilities. The team includes a group of five seniors who have won two Missouri Valley Conference regular season titles and two MVC Tournament titles, and have twice played in the NCAA Tournament. This year, they are ready to go even further.

"Like most years, I'm going into this year feeling very positive," said head coach Lisa Bluder. "We have the makings of a great team, and it seems like everything is in place for us to have an especially great year. We have five seniors who have quality experience and have gained tremendous leadership abilities, and there's a sense of urgency among the seniors that this is their last chance at a great season. They also have great chemistry, which is a vital element."

Drake will find out early if it can beat some of the nation's top teams. A rigorous nonconference schedule starts Nov. 19 at Kansas State, a 1999 WNIT participant. The Bulldogs then start a stretch of five straight games against teams that reached the 1999 NCAA Tournament. Drake hosts Marquette, which Drake defeated in last year's season opener 85-71, then travels to Cancun, Mexico, to compete in a Thanksgiving tournament against perennial powers North Carolina State and Alabama. Drake then visits Lincoln, Neb., to try to avenge a tough 75-72 defeat last year to the Cornhuskers, before hosting Iowa State, an NCAA Elite Eight qualifier, in a key instate rivalry.

"We have established the most difficult nonconference schedule we've ever had here," Bluder said. "We always try to play tough nonconference teams but this one is incredibly tough. Last year's schedule was ranked as the seventh most difficult nonconference schedule in the country and this year's is even tougher, so we've really challenged ourselves. But our players want to play this type of schedule. Playing high caliber teams will prepare us for the conference season and the NCAA Tournament and hopefully get us a better seed or at-large bid if necessary."

Once the conference season begins, things don't get any easier. Drake seeks its third MVC title in four years after finishing second last year, but this could be the strongest the Valley has ever been from top to bottom.

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