On Campus - Stories
Oct. 31, 2003 Vol. 56, No. 18

• Drake signs agreements with 2 Chinese universities
• Anderson Gallery to feature "Fallout" by Chuck Nanney
• Lecture to explore Latino issues
• Marsalis draws rave reviews during his visit to Drake
• Chapman to speak at luncheon
• Conference set for Friday
• Recital set for Saturday afternoon
• Two poets to give readings here

President Maxwell seals an agreement with a handshake with Wang Ying, president of Hebei University of Economics and Business.

Drake University has reached agreements with China's Hebei Normal University and Hebei University of Economics and Business that will enable the institutions to explore faculty and student exchanges and joint programs.

Drake President David Maxwell signed the agreements during a recent trip to Hebei Province, Iowa's sister state. He traveled with a delegation of four other Drake officials and two leaders of Iowa Sister States.

"The agreements are a first step in creating exchanges," President Maxwell said. "There are lots of operational details to work out, but the initial agreements suggest that we are in complete agreement on what we're trying to accomplish. We all want to create opportunities for the exchange of faculty, staff, students, academic information and materials in the belief that the research and educational pursuits of all three universities will be enhanced by this endeavor."

One of the first opportunities to be developed would enable recent Drake graduates, especially those with degrees in education, to teach English for a year in Hebei provincial middle and high schools. Both Hebei Normal University and Hebei University of Economics and Business are willing to consider recent Drake graduates as teachers of English as well.

"This would be the biggest addition to educational opportunity that we could offer the most quickly," said Drake Provost Ron Troyer.

Drake officials said they hope exchange programs will be developed to enable Drake students learning Chinese in the Drake University Language Acquisition Program to study Chinese in China. "To become fluent in a second language, it's essential to spend a significant amount of time with native speakers in an immersion environment," President Maxwell said. "Developing exchange programs with the Hebei universities will enable our students to achieve their goals of communicative competence."

Hebei University of Economics and Business is interested in developing joint programs that will help train Chinese students for careers in that country's fledgling insurance industry. "They're not certain exactly what they want in this area, but there's certainly great potential for developing short-term programs that would enable Drake faculty and insurance professionals in Des Moines to teach at Hebei University of Economics and Business," President Maxwell said.

The Hebei Finance Department has expressed interest in sending some of its employees to Drake to study English, finance and public administration.

" However, obtaining U.S. visas for Chinese students could be a major stumbling block for such exchanges," President Maxwell said. When he and Troyer visited the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, they were informed that the U.S. law that applies to visas assumes all applicants intend to become permanent U.S. residents. Therefore, applicants have the difficult task of proving that they do not want to become permanent U.S. residents.

" Students often find it difficult to present evidence consular officials find convincing," Troyer said. "We were told that students wanting to come to Drake would likely be granted visas if there was a history of those students enrolling in our programs returning to China. How to establish such a history if students have trouble obtaining visas is a challenge."

In spite of the potential problems with visas, Drake will go ahead and develop proposals for exchanges and joint programs, President Maxwell said.

"Space Oddity" by Chuck Nanney.

"Fallout," a new site-specific installation by New York-based artist Chuck

Nanney, will open at the Anderson Gallery with a public preview from 5 to 7 p.m. and a live musical performance on Friday, Nov. 7. Together, the exhibition and performance mark a new turn in the development of an artist who is famous for works that skillfully combine political and emotional content.

"Fallout" marks Nanney's first solo exhibition in an American public space. He has had more than 60 solo and group shows, including exhibitions in Paris and New York City. His work has been featured in The New York Times and other publications.
"Fallout" will transform the Anderson Gallery into a dimly lit bubblegum-pink space. The installation is a meditation on what the artist calls "a fallout of the great American consumer dream." Nanney adds: "The pink gallery is like bubblegum and at the same time it's the color of Pepto-Bismol to coat the ulceric stomach lining of an ailing nation."

At 6 p.m. on opening night, Nanney will give a half-hour live performance - an electronic musical excursion with a sci-fi subtext titled "Red Mutant Eyes." Together with a recent performance in New York City's conTEMPORARY, "Red Mutant Eyes" is Nanney's first musical performance ever .

Federico Subervi, director of the Latinos and Media Project, will give a lecture titled "Latinos and the Media: Images and Participation of the Nation's New Majority Minority in the Communications Industry" at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, in Sheslow Auditorium. He will discuss the changing demographics of Latinos, how they are portrayed in the media, and to what extent they participate in it. He will also address the implications of the recently announced merger between Spanish-language TV giant Univision and the Hispanic Broadcast Corp.

"Marsalis inspires with his words and music." That's how a Des Moines Register headline writer described the impact that jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis had on the Drake community when he visited campus on Oct. 22 to meet with students, give the Bucksbuam Lecture and perform a concert with his band.

Approximately 2,000 people attended the lecture, in which Marsalis described how much he valued the encouragement he received as a young musician from Drake President David Maxwell's father, Jimmy Maxwell, an internationally renowned trumpeter. Marsalis answered an hour's worth of questions before going on to the concert on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium, which was packed with jazz lovers.

Wynton Marsalis confers with President David Maxwell in the Morrison Room before giving the Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture.	Wynton Marsalis, Carlos Henriquez and Wes Anderson, along with Eric Lewis and Ali Jackson Jr. (not pictured), play to a full house.	Students in Drake's jazz ensembles listen intently as Wynton Marsalis discusses his music.

Steven G. Chapman, a member of Drake's Board of Trustees, will speak at Drake University's "Let's DU Lunch" speaker series on Wednesday, Nov. 5. He will discuss the "Drake University Business Alliance - Defining the Potential of a Very Important Partnership." This new alliance will bring together Drake University and the Greater Des Moines business community to exchange ideas, share resources and maximize learning experiences. Members of the alliance will gain access to Drake's management, faculty and other resources.

The luncheon will start at 11:30 a.m. in the Younkers Tea Room in downtown Des Moines. The cost is $15. For reservations, call x3848.

Pam Murphy, administrative assistant in the Dean of Students' Office, paints the front porch of the Bernie Lorenz Recovery House during "Make a Difference Day." She was one of several staff members who joined more than 100 students in painting the house at 4014 Kingman Blvd. and picking up litter throughout the Drake Neighborhood. Other staff members lending a hand that day included Dolph Pulliam, director of community outreach and development; Dan Garringer, real estate manager; Jay Goodell, special skilled maintenance person; and Heidi Slinker, associate director of alumni and parent prorams.