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On Campus - Stories
October 29, 1999 - Vol.52, No. 22

Drake receives $2 million from EMC Insurance

Bruce Kelley, president and chief executive officer of EMC Insurance Companies, announced Monday that EMC has pledged $2 million to Campaign Drake, Drake University's $190 million fundraising effort.

Kelley made the announcement at a luncheon for insurance executives at Drake. "We are pleased with the insurance education that Drake University has provided to our employees and agents over the decades," he said. "We hope to further support and expand Drake's efforts with our gift."

Drake President David Maxwell said, "We are very grateful for this gift from EMC, which will enable us to expand the activities of the Kelley Insurance Center and to enhance the insurance and actuarial science programs. This gift will enable us to develop a visiting scholar program that will enrich our academic offerings and be a wonderful resource for the local insurance community. We value this opportunity to expand and strengthen Drake University's partnership with the business community."

Approximately $78,000 of the gift will be used to acquire computer hardware and software and to partially fund a new position for a site manager at the center. Another $350,000 will go for expansion of the center's programs and services and development of a Web site. The gift also will provide $750,000 to fund an EMC visiting scholar and $250,000 to help underwrite the distinguished professor of insurance chair.

"EMC's continued support of the University and College of Business and Public Administration is greatly appreciated," said Joe Alber, dean of the college. "This gift will enable the Kelley Insurance Center and the academic programs in the college to assist the insurance industry in new and exciting ways. It will be possible, for example, to provide information and services through the Internet to a national audience."

The EMC gift also includes $250,000 for the Drake Annual Fund and $130,000 to help students defray the cost of taking actuarial science exams. In addition, the gift provides $84,240 to continue the EMC Music Scholarship Program for four more years.
Drake Knapp Center to serve as GOP caucus headquarters

The Drake University Knapp Center will be the headquarters for the Iowa Republican Party for the Iowa Caucuses, bringing national and international news media to campus. The GOP was forced to find a new headquarters site after the date of the Iowa Caucuses was changed to Jan. 24.

"This event, in my opinion, will give Drake the highest profile nationally since President Clinton and 'Nightline' were here on campus," said Michael Cigelman, assistant athletic director for facilities and director of recreational services. "It gives us a great opportunity to show off the institution and also for people to realize that Drake is an integral part of Des Moines and Iowa."

The Iowa Republican Party is expected to move into the Drake Knapp Center on Jan. 19 or 20 and depart at about noon on Jan. 25, Cigelman said. News conferences featuring the major GOP candidates will be held there three to four days before the caucuses. "This will be an excellent opportunity for students to see how politics really works in this country," Cigelman said.

Drake anticipates that ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and FOX and perhaps more networks will set up sets on the track level. "We are hopeful that the networks will originate their evening newscasts from Des Moines Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the caucuses and, if we're lucky, they will originate from the Knapp Center," Cigleman said. "That would be phenomenal exposure for Drake."

On Jan. 23 and 24, a minimum of 120 TV stations, including one from Japan, are expected to cover the caucuses from the Drake Knapp Center, Cigelman said. "At this point, we know that at least 20 satellite trucks will be parked next to the Knapp Center."

In addition to the Drake Knapp Center, the GOP will lease the Mainstay, Levitt Hall in Old Main and part of the Bell Center.
MIT prof to speak Monday

Joseph Dumit, assistant professor in the Program in Science, Technology and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will speak at Drake on Monday, Nov. 1. He will demonstrate a new browser-visualization tool called Conversation Map, which was developed at MIT. The demonstration will start at 3:30 p.m. in room 212 of Howard Hall.

He also will give a lecture titled "New Social Movements as New Media: Illnesses That You Have to Fight to Get." It will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Medbury Honors Lounge. Dumit is co-author of two books: Cyborg Babies: From Techno-Sex to Techno-Tots and Cyborgs and Citadels: Anthropological Interventions in Emerging Sciences and Technologies.
Charitable Giving Campaign update

Drake faculty, staff and retirees have contributed a total of $17,683 during the first week of this year's Charitable Giving Campaign benefiting United Way of Central Iowa and Iowa Shares.

"Thank you to those who have contributed so generously," said Gary Johnson, assistant director of Human Resources.

Anyone who wishes to make a contribution should return a pledge form to Human Resources, 1331 27th St. (The Point), by Friday, Nov. 5. For more information, call x4804.
Madrigal Dinner tickets on sale soon

Tickets for Drake's 11th annual Christmas Madrigal Dinners, to be presented Dec. 4 and 5 at Olmsted Center, will go on sale on Monday, Nov. 1. Last year the Saturday tickets sold out in 24 hours and the Sunday tickets didn't last much longer.

Tickets are $32 per person. For reservations, call the Drake Fine Arts Box Office at x3841.
Learn about academic advising

All interested faculty and staff are invited to attend a live teleconference titled "Academic Advising: Campus Collaborations to Foster Retention" from noon to 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in room 101 of Meredith Hall.
Inauguration gifts on display

Cowles Library has a new display featuring many of the gifts and salutations received by President David Maxwell for his inauguration. The items are in the display cases on the first floor of the library.
Publisher to speak at Drake lunch

Faculty and staff are invited to attend the second "Let's DU Lunch," sponsored by Drake's Central Iowa Alumni Chapter and the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation. The featured speaker on Wednesday, Nov. 3, will be Barbara Henry, publisher of The Des Moines Register. She will discuss the changing newspaper industry, its surprisingly strong future and the Register's responses and roles.

The event will start at 11:30 a.m. in the Embassy Club in Capital Square. The cost is $15 per person. For reservations, call x3152.
Workshop to focus on consulting

On Saturday, Nov. 13, the Drake Small Business Development Center will hold a workshop titled "How to Start & Build a Super Consulting(TM) Practice."

The workshop will teach the techniques and shortcuts professionals use to start a consulting business quickly and grow fast. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Drake Business Center in West Des Moines.

Leading the workshop will be Robert Knotek, a management consultant in private practice since 1984.

There is a special registration rate for faculty. For more information or to register, call x2592.
Ferguson Concert set for Nov. 6

Windscape, a New York woodwind quintet that has been featured on Minnesota Public Radio's "St. Paul Sunday," will perform the Edwin Earle Ferguson Artist-In-Residence Concert Saturday, Nov. 6, at Drake.

The concert will start at 8 p.m. on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. The program includes works by Igor Stravinsky, Kurt Weill, Paul Hindemith, Heitor Villa-Lobos and George Gershwin.

The performance is made possible by an endowment created by the late Edwin Earle Ferguson, a Drake alumnus. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students with an I.D. For tickets, call x3841.
New art exhibition opens Nov. 7

Installation artist Chaden Halfhill and photographer Carola Wicenti will exhibit recent work at the Anderson Gallery Nov. 7 through Dec. 12. There will be an opening reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 7.

Wicenti, who recently moved to Jefferson, Iowa, from her native Germany, has been a professional photographer for nearly 20 years. Her lush, oversized images in this exhibition convey her fascination with nature, especially in moments of transition.

Halfhill, a Des Moines artist, has spent close to a decade creating site-specific installations based on his probing interest in the relationship between man and nature. Halfhill's installation created for the Anderson Gallery, titled Stand, responds to the construction of the gallery as its point of departure. Through the choice of materials used - ranging from cast concrete to stalks of grass, and their unexpected and innovative use of space, Halfhill muses visually on the natural environment and how we relate to it.

Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
Sherrill Milnes returns to Drake

Internationally renowned baritone Sherrill Milnes, FA'57, GR'58, will lead a master class for four selected high school students from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Nov. 10, on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. He also will conduct a master class for six Drake students from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the same location. Both master classes are free and open to the public.

In addition, Milnes will hold a book signing at 7 p.m. at Borders Books, Music & Cafe in West Des Moines. His autobiography is titled American Aria: From Farm Boy to Opera Star.
Y2K workshops offered Nov. 4, 5

On Nov. 4 and 5, Drake will conduct workshops to assist students, faculty and staff in preparing their desktop computers for Y2K. The workshops will be held in Bulldog Theater. Topics and times for the sessions both days are:

Prof. Torry awarded research grant

Ronald J. Torry, associate professor of pharmacology at Drake University, has received a two-year grant of $69,500 from the American Heart Association - Heartland Affiliate. The grant will support his research on interventions that may reduce the severity of heart attacks.

One method that may limit the severity of a heart attack is to restore blood flow to the area of the heart by stimulating the growth of new blood vessels into the ischemic region. This process is known as angiogenesis. Despite its clinical importance, our understanding of the mechanism or mechanisms that control angiogenesis in human heart tissue is limited.

This grant will fund research designed to determine the role a naturally occurring protein, vascular endothelial growth factor, and its receptors have in the stimulation of blood vessel growth in human hearts. Changes in the production of this protein and its receptors will be assessed in normal and ischemic human heart tissue and correlated with indices of angiogenesis. In addition, cell culture models will be used to investigate pharmacological methods to enhance production of this angiogenic growth factor.

"Results from these studies should increase our understanding of the mechanisms that control blood vessel growth in the heart and may provide a therapeutic approach to enhance vascular growth and thereby limit the extent of tissue death during a heart attack," Torry said.

Two Drake pharmacy students - Joanna Schwartz and David Hsu - are assisting with the research.
Drake to present play, TalkAbout

St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Student Center at Drake University and Friends of Drake Arts are co-sponsoring a TalkAbout in conjunction with Drake's production of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play - "A Streetcar Named Desire."

The event will be at St. Catherine's from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12. There will be a "New Orleans" supper at 6 p.m., then director William S.E. Coleman will discuss the literary aspects of the play and history professor Julian Archer will discuss the times in which the play was set. Separate reservations are required for both the TalkAbout and the play.

TalkAbout tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students, and reservations are required. Call x4747.

The play starts at 8 p.m. Nov. 11, 12 and 13 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 14, in the Hall of Performing Arts. Tickets are $5 for adults, $2.50 for senior citizens and students and free with a Drake I.D. Call x3841.

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