Students unite to help hurricane victims Approximately 50 students at Drake University have organized a week-long Mardi Gras-themed relief effort to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Several smaller efforts by individual organizations were put aside to instead participate in a campus-wide fundraiser. "I am amazed at the effort that was put forth by the students. There has been an outpouring of concern from numerous organizations since the disaster first struck and in just two weeks this group has managed to plan an extensive week of events," said Melissa Sturm-Smith, assistant dean of students. "We never would've been able to do it without their willingness to contribute their time and many talents." The week began Monday, Sept. 19, with the Mardi Gras Relief Party in Helmick Commons that drew 550 people. Students as well as faculty and community members enjoyed a Cajun-style meal with a donation of $5. Sodexho Campus Services donated all of the food for the event. Other events included the sale of Mardi Gras beads and T-shirts, a silent auction, a dance marathon and a kickball tournament. The Quing Mei Jing Yue Chinese String Quartet from Beijing will celebrate Gov. Robert D. Ray's birthday at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27 on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Chinese Cultural Center of America. Gov. Ray and his wife, Billie, both Drake alumni, will attend. The band recently performed at Carnegie Hall in Chicago. Since his 1994 appointment by President Clinton, when he received bipartisan support for his confirmation, Breyer has developed a reputation as a political moderate, a supporter of abortion rights and an advocate of using international law to shape court decisions. In January, Breyer debated fellow Justice Antonin Scalia about the issue of using foreign laws and decisions as guideposts for Supreme Court issues at the law school of American University in Washington, D.C. "If here I have a human being called a judge in a different country dealing with a similar problem, why don't I read what he says, if it's similar enough, maybe I'll learn something," "The New Yorker" magazine quoted Breyer as saying at the event. In 1999, Breyer objected to the court refusing to hear the appeal of a prisoner who had spent two decades on death row. The convict argued such status violated his Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. Breyer, "The New Yorker" reported, quoted opinions from Jamaica, India, Zimbabwe and the European Court of Human Rights on the subject. Breyer's new book, "Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution," spells out his philosophy regarding Constitutional interpretation, which is in stark contrast to the views of some of his colleagues on the high court. Justice Scalia, for example, adheres to "originalism" and the view that the court should follow the original intentions and strict text of the document. Breyer's approach to Constitutional issues, however, argues "judges can undercut the democratic system the Constitution's Framers sought to build if they adhere too literally to legal text and disregard the 'real world' consequences of the decisions they render," a Wall Street Journal review of Breyer's book said. "Active Liberty" will be on sale at the lecture with proceeds benefiting the Drake Student Bar Association. Goodall generously gave her time to students and the public. She meet privately with Drake students and professors at Cowles Library several hours before her lecture and, following her talk, stayed until well past midnight signing autographs of her book. Drake University began its fall semester with 809 first-year students - the second-largest first-year class in 12 years. "The growth in our first-year class is testimony to the hard work and creativity of our admission and financial aid staff, and to the participation of dozens of faculty and staff in a coordinated, collective effort that clearly bore results," Drake President David Maxwell told faculty and staff in the University's annual Fall Convocation. The University's total full-time enrollment is 3,917 - up about 1 percent over the same time in 2004 and the largest enrollment for Drake since 1997. Including part-time students, Drake boasts a total headcount of 5,277. Drake's enrollment figures include five visiting students displaced by Hurricane Katrina who came to Drake after the storm devastated the Mississippi Delta region. Myron "Mike" Marty, professor emeritus of history, was awarded the Drake Medal of Service for his leadership of the College of Arts and Sciences from 1986 to 1994 as well as his scholarly work and passion for teaching. "Mike is the definition of scholar and teacher that we so greatly value here at Drake," Maxwell said. "He has taught at all levels from elementary school in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to high school and community college in St. Louis and finally to Drake." June F. Johnson, director of faculty and site development in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, was awarded the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community. Johnson was nominated for her tireless work on behalf of individuals with diabetes. Among her contributions is work on a grant to improve access and the quality of care for patients at the Community Access Project Pharmacy - a pharmacy serving the under and uninsured population - in Des Moines. In addition, she volunteers her time with Operation Diabetes - a program offered through Walgreen Pharmacies that provides diabetes screening and education to the public. Johnson also works extensively involvement in Camp Hertko Hollow - a camp dedicated to providing a camp experience for children and youth with diabetes. Shawn Madsen and Sofia Turnbull each won the Levitt Employee Excellence Awards. Madsen, Systems Administrator for the Drake University Law School, was nominated for his exceptional performance and ability to anticipate the needs of those he works with and for. His nominator cited several critical projects to which he has made exceptional contribution, including the development of a Case Management System for the Legal Clinic, development and maintenance of the Law School web page and his installing of a wireless network. The nominations noted that "Excellence and Shawn are synonymous." Turnbull, program assistant for the English, Math, Culture and Society and Computer Science departments in Arts and Sciences, was also credited with providing service excellence to students. Significantly, the nominator noted that Sofia is often on the receiving end of both praise and appreciation from students. Turnbull's nominator said, "Every institution is made of individuals who contribute to the whole; Sofia Turnbull's contribution to Drake University should be recognized and valued. She is tireless, thoughtful, patient even in trying circumstances, and we all would have much more difficult jobs if it were not for her presence here in Howard hall. She makes my job easier by doing her job so well. I am a better more prepared teacher because I can rely upon Sofia in so many ways." Drake University returned to its roots last Tuesday - quite literally. At 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 20, Drake leaders, including President David Maxwell, returned an elm - a disease-resistant hybrid - about 50 feet from the location of the original Chancellor's Elm in celebration of Drake's 125th anniversary. University lore says that George Carpenter, founder of Drake, climbed a tall, strong elm tree in a densely wooded rural area on the edge of the budding Des Moines in the summer of 1881 and declared, "Here we will build our university." The elm, known to Drake students, faculty and staff as the Chancellor's Elm, stood outside Old Main and became a place for young lovers to kiss and a central meeting place for Drake for decades. The tree, which dated back to before the Revolutionary War, stood until 1969 when Dutch elm disease wiped it out along with nearly every other elm West of the Mississippi. The Sept. 20 planting marks the first day of classes at Drake in 1881. The 125th Anniversary Elm will honor Drake's heritage and founding vision as well as stand as a symbol for the University's continued vitality, growth and strength. Des Moines police issued 15 citations during a morning rush-hour sting in locations around Drake last week. Eight tickets were issued to drivers for failure to yield pedestrians in the crosswalk and three pedestrians were warned about crossing in areas other than designated crosswalks. Two drivers were sited for speeding. Police also issued one ticket each for failure to wear a seatbelt, failure to have an insurance card and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license. Bring up the houselights and draw back the curtains. Drake University School of Fine Arts and the Friends of Drake Arts are giving the public the ultimate backstage pass to theater, music and art at Iowa's largest private university. Drake will host an open house and reception at the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 6. Curious patrons may tour the Drake campus' historic architecture, interact with artists as they install complex and beautiful sculptures in the Anderson Gallery, learn to move like a thespian or get a free music lesson courtesy of Drake faculty. Guests are free to sample all the activities, or just take in one or two of their favorites. Come the entire time or come for part of the time. Refreshments will be served in the main foyer of the Performing Arts Hall throughout the open house. For a complete list of events and activities, visit The Drake University Theater Arts Department will present playwright Steve Tesich's meditation on emotional disconnection, "Arts and Leisure," opening Thursday, Oct. 6 in the Studio 55 of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue. "All the world's a stage," William Shakespeare opined in his play "As You Like It." Alex Chaney, the lead character "Arts and Leisure," takes Shakespeare's maxim to next level - going through the world with an almost clinical detachment from everything and everyone around him. While that has made him a well-known and respected critic, it's made him emotionally dead. Chaney critiques his life as if it was a performance on stage, because he can no longer tell the difference. As his mother, ex-wife, daughter and finally, his maid confront him, the audience sees how his emotional paralysis has destroyed the lives of those around him. This production contains adult themes and language not intended for children. Tesich developed his gift for play writing while doing postgraduate work at Columbia University. He struggled with commercial success until his 1979 screenplay "Breaking Away" won an Oscar. Other screenplays include an adaptation of "The World According to Garp." His plays include "On the Open Road," "Division Street" and "The Speed of Darkness." He died of a heart attack in 1996 at the age of 53. Michael Rothmayer, assistant professor of theatre arts, directs the Drake University Theatre production. Performances will start at 8 p.m. Oct. 6, 7 and 8 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9, in Studio 55 of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, 25th Street and Carpenter Avenue. Tickets are $5 for the general public, $3 for students and senior citizens and $1 with a Drake ID. Reservations are required due to limited seating. Call the Drake Fine Arts Box Office at x3841. South African-born sculptor Ledelle Moe will present her most recently completed collection of work, "Memorial (Collapse)" at Drake University's Anderson Gallery. The exhibit opens Friday, Oct. 7 and runs through Nov. 4. Both the opening reception and the exhibition are free and open to the public. Moe's pieces take the farm of steel and concrete heads that look as if they've tumbled from some grand monument that has crumbled and collapsed either through natural entropy or destructive force. The work draws from the 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the willful destruction of religious statues of Hindu gods in Indian and political statues in the Middle East. "The same themes that we as a culture are continually confronted with: permanence, impermanence, strength and vulnerability, are continually explored in Moe's work," said Nora Wendl, Anderson Gallery director. "Her language is the monumental scale and her vocabulary is drawn from the fragmented human form." Memorial (Collapse) will be supplemented by a gallery talk, public programs, a lecture the night before the opening, and educational gallery guides. At 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 6 (following the Friends of Drake Arts' Open House), Ledelle Moe will reveal insights into the process of her large-scale sculpting. Held in Room 336 of the Harmon Fine Arts Center, Moe will discuss her work and answer questions until 8 p.m. The Anderson Gallery is located in the Harmon Fine Arts Center, at 25th Street & Carpenter Avenue in Des Moines. Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For images of the work or further information about the exhibition and gallery, call x1994 or send an e-mail message to |
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