On Campus - Stories
September 10, 1999 - Vol.52, No. 15

• Martin to give Stalnaker Lecture
• Justice Thomas to deliver the Opperman Lecture Sept. 24
• Drake to host conference on intolerance Tuesday
• Drake Medals, Levitt Award to be presented at convocation
• Web courses prove popular
• Faculty, staff invited to be listed in Media Guide, Speakers Bureau
• Wanted: volunteer interpreters
• Law School to host open house for Drake faculty, undergraduates

Martin to give Stalnaker Lecture Bruce K. Martin, professor of English and endowment professor of humanities at Drake, will give the annual Luther W. Stalnaker Lecture on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is titled "Song, Modern Writing and the New Textuality." It will start at 8 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. A reception will follow in Levitt Hall. Professor Martin joined the Drake English Department in 1967 after receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati. He served as department chair from 1983 to 1989. During the 1986-87 academic year, he was visiting Fulbright professor in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore, where he returned in 1991-92 as visiting professor of English. He also spent 1995-96 as a visiting Fulbright professor at Kwangju University in South Korea. Although he has taught the great majority of English courses listed in the Drake catalog and developed new courses as changes in the curriculum and in his interests dictated, Professor Martin's principal teaching and research continue to center on British literature of the 19th and 20th centuries and on literary theory. Besides papers and published articles on various British and American writers, as well as on aspects of teaching and literary theory, he has written three books: Philip Larkin (1978), British Poetry Since 1939 (1985), and David Lodge (1999). His current projects concern aspects of David Lodge's fiction not covered in his book, as well as a possible critical edition of the classic 19th-century Australian novel, My Brilliant Career. Martin's lecture will be the 15th of the series at Drake University honoring the memory of Luther W. Stalnaker, dean of the College of Liberal Arts from 1940 to 1954. This series is a joint undertaking of the College of Arts and Sciences and its emeriti faculty. Justice Thomas to deliver the Opperman Lecture Sept. 24 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will give the Dwight D. Opperman Lecture in Constitutional Law at Drake on Friday, Sept. 24, at 3 p.m. in the Drake Knapp Center. The lecture is free and open to the public. During his visit, Thomas also will attend a breakfast meeting with student leaders of the law school, participate in a question-and-answer session, tour the law school facilities and attend a law faculty luncheon. Since his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1991, Thomas has been an influential jurist whose opinions affect the conduct of our government and the routine of our daily lives. Other justices respect his keen intellect, powerful logic and extraordinary research. It has been said that his opinions are written with such clarity as to be understood by ordinary citizens. Both praised and criticized as an independent thinker, Thomas remains resolute in his commitment to the framework of the Constitution. Again and again, his written opinions on such diverse issues as term limits and interstate commerce have struck down long-standing Supreme Court doctrines in favor of looking at them from the historical vantage of the framers' original intent. "Justice Thomas has shown himself to be an independent and energetic constitutionalist," said Thomas Baker, law professor and director of the Constitutional Law Center. "Unlike some other originalists, though, who research what the framers of the Constitution practiced, Thomas pursues the principles they preached, and whether or not they lived up to them. He seeks to recover the principles of the Declaration of Independence in our day." This year's lecture marks the eighth time a current or former U.S. Supreme Court justice has visited Drake to deliver the Opperman Lecture. The event was endowed in 1988 by Dwight D. Opperman, a 1951 graduate of the Law School and 1998 recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree, to recognize the importance of constitutional law to the nation. Drake to host conference on intolerance Tuesday The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) and The Honest Conversations Working Group will team up with Drake to present a program on racial, ethnic and cultural intolerance in America on Tuesday, Sept. 14. Host Greg A. Naylor, chair of the NCCJ Board, will first present a video, "The Shadow of Hate: A History of Intolerance in America" and then lead a discussion with the audience and five panelists. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Bulldog Theater in Olmsted Center from 6 to 8 p.m. with a reception to follow the discussion. Panelists will be Kiep Baccam, of the Asia-American Cultural Association; John C. Cortesio Jr., a Des Moines attorney and member of the Iowa NCCJ Board of Directors; Mark Finkelstein, representing the Jewish Community Relations Commission and Iowa NCCJ Board; David Kier of the South Sudanese Friendship Association; and Sandra Sanchez, of the Migrant Rights Project, American Friends Service Committee. For more information, call 274-5571. Drake Medals, Levitt Award to be presented at convocation All faculty and staff are invited to attend the annual Fall Faculty/Staff Convocation at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, in Sheslow Auditorium. President David Maxwell said this meeting provides an opportunity to reflect on the continuing development of the University and to consider the major goals and challenges facing Drake this year. In addition, President Maxwell said, it is an occasion to welcome new faculty and staff colleagues to Drake and to recognize the recipients of the 1999 Madelyn M. Levitt Award for Distinguished Community Service and the Drake Medal of Service. Web courses prove popular More than 460 students completed a Web-based course at Drake this summer. The University offered 28 courses as an alternative to the traditional forms of summer schooling and plans to offer 40 such courses next summer, according to Sandra Smeltzer, coordinator of the summer session. Web-based courses are aimed at Drake students who are not able to or choose not to take on-campus courses. This past summer's Web-based courses served students from 23 states as well as international students from Austria, Belgium, England, Egypt, India, Japan and Malaysia. David Biede, a senior finance and insurance major, opted to take an English course over the Web this past summer. "This is my second year taking Web-based courses and I found the course to be very convenient and I could easily fit it into my busy schedule," he said. "You don't have to know a lot about computers. As long as you can operate e-mail, you can do this course." Gretchen Wilhelmi, a graduate student in public administration and a mother of 3-year-old triplets, also decided to take the summer Web-based courses. "With three kids at home and a full-time job, this is the only way I will be able to complete my master's program," she said. "Working all day long and then sitting in class for three hours a night while missing after-school activities, supper and bedtime routine with the kids is difficult. That's why the Web-based course works for me." Dan Alexander, assistant professor of mathematics, has taught the Math 50 Web-based course for the past three years. He's enthusiastic about the program and believes it has increased summer enrollment. "With the traditional summer classes, we had difficulty in attracting students," he said. "But with the Web-based course, we had an overwhelming response." Biede and Wilhelmi both are so impressed by the summer program that they have recommended the Web courses to other students. "I would strongly suggest this program to my friends," Biede said. "Besides being convenient and easy to schedule, you do get a lot of contact with your professors through the e-mail." Wilhelmi said, "I have been telling others of my experience and it has generated a lot of interest in people getting their master's." Next summer Drake plans to offer about 40 Web-based classes. There will be an informational meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 5, and Wednesday, Oct. 6, from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m. in Howard Hall 212 for any faculty interested in becoming a part of this program. Faculty, staff invited to be listed in Media Guide, Speakers Bureau The 2000 Speakers Bureau and Media Resource Guide are being compiled by the Office of Marketing and Communications for distribution in late December. The Speakers Bureau is a public relations effort through which civic and business organizations statewide may contact Drake faculty and staff for speeches and programs. The Media Resource Guide will be distributed to news media, creating a resource network of Drake faculty and staff. Both the Media Guide and Speakers Bureau will be posted on Drake's Web site. Information forms will be sent to faculty and staff next week and must be returned by Friday, Sept. 24. Anyone who does not receive a form and would like to participate in the Speakers Bureau or the Media Resource Guide should contact the Office of Marketing and Communications at x2169. Wanted: volunteer interpreters Campus Security is seeking volunteer interpreters who are fluent in any of the following languages: Vietnamese, Laotian, Bosnian and Spanish. If you can help, please contact Capt. David Foley at x4567. Law School to host open house for Drake faculty, undergraduates Drake undergraduate students who are considering law school, and faculty members who advise prospective law students, are invited to attend an open house at Drake Law School on Tuesday, Sept. 14. The event will take place from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Quiet Lounge on the second floor of Cartwright Hall. Faculty, staff members, law students and alumni will be on hand to answer questions. Students also are invited to walk through Opperman Law Library to see those facilities. "Many of our successful law school graduates received their bachelor degrees from Drake," said Kara Blanchard, director of admission for the Law School. "We want to make sure current undergraduate students know about the excellent opportunities that are available at the law school located right on their very own campus." Refreshments will be served. For more information, call x2782. Stories | Faculty & Staff Notes | Calendar