Bulldogs chase butterflies for betterment of environment David Courard-Hauri and Keith Summerville, assistant professors of environmental science, are leading a team of student researchers who are catching and marking butterflies at the Kuehn Conservation Area near Van Meter in Dallas County. The tracking will allow the team to learn more about butterfly movement patterns and whether they take to newly restored or managed habitats such as those found at Kuehn. “I don’t want my grandchildren to ask me what a butterfly was and what it looked like,” said Ashley Wick, a Drake senior environmental science major. “I want them to know for themselves.” Demand for quality farmland led to about 98 percent of the natural prairie habitat in Iowa to be plowed under, Courard-Hauri said. The researchers spend Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays at Kuehn capturing butterflies with nets, in particular the small, brown spotted Little Wood Satyr. Using special wax paper envelopes, tweezers and black permanent markers, the team marks the butterflies and then hopes to recapture them later in different areas to track their movements. The team makes small dots on the wings using the pen – which does not harm the insect, but allows them to recognize the butterfly when they find it again. The research will help environmental scientists learn if restored habitats can draw insects and other creatures back to their native areas. “This research will allow us to know if native insects and animals need to be reintroduced in these areas or if they can make it there themselves,” Courard-Hauri said. “There is little known about the grassland butterflies in this area, so this type of work is important for conservation.” Drake, the Iowa Academy of Science and the National Geographic Society fund the research. The program has gained attention from the Des Moines Register, WOI-AM and the Associated Press. The summer Management 133 class tackled the issue of diversity within the College of Business and Public Administration and last week delivered their recommendations to Dean Charlie Edwards. The course, Managing Diversity in the Workplace, is a non-required elective taught by Professor of Management Delaney Kirk. “Dean Charles Edwards presented the students of Management 133 with the challenge of conducting a pilot study to see what issues regarding diversity in the CBPA need to be addressed and to make recommendations,” said Jennifer Bins, a senior and presenter. “Dean Edwards wanted the students’ perspectives in regards to diversity in the college.” The class of eight students spent four weeks collecting data from Drake, as well as peer institutions throughout the Midwest, on diversity policies and strategies on how to increase multicultural appreciation and knowledge on campus. The class also heard from various special guest lecturers and participated in activities to broaden their perspectives. “We got to spend some time going around Meredith Hall in a wheelchair to experience just how difficult it can be,” Bins said. “The sad thing is, we can stand up at the end of the day, but they cannot.” Kirk believes these experiences helped give the students a better vision of what some people deal with everyday. “I could have had a speaker, but it was so much more powerful for them to live it,” she said. Overall, Drake’s statistics were very comparable with its competitors, according to the “Pilot Study for Diversity Initiative.” For the most part, Drake ranked in the middle in regards to racial breakdown. However, as part of Goal 4 of the University’s Strategic Plan, Drake is continually striving to improve its diversity to ensure students “function effectively as members of diverse local, national, and global communities.” The study also pointed out that CBPA has more international students than any other school within the University, and suggested that it find ways to capitalize on this. At the end of the presentation, the class offered some recommendations on how to better equip business students to handle diversity issues once they enter the corporate world. The myriad of suggestions ranged from forming a student committee to surveying students to hiring a more diverse group of faculty members to better incorporating diversity issues in the new Business 001 course, also known as Dean’s Hour. Kirk posed an interesting question about what approach to take: “…is diversity something we need to have a course specifically on, or something we need to include within all our courses in our business curriculum?" “This change will be difficult to make,” said Dean Edwards. “ Some students don’t know why they need to take a course in diversity in the first place. We will have to build from the ground up.” Goldford was quoted in approximately 30 newspapers nationwide about the potential bruising political battle brewing in the nation’s capital over who would be come the next justice. Many papers mentioned Goldford’s book, “The American Constitution and the Debate over Originalism,” published by Cambridge University Press. The book is a highly praised scholarly work that looks at the continuing debate over whether the Constitution should be interpreted based on the ideas of the document’s framers or through a series of evolving standards decided upon by the government’s current caretakers. Kende provided expert commentary to WHO-TV’s “Live at 5” in an in-studio interview and his quotes appeared in a number of area newspapers on the day after O’Connor resigned. Kende, director of the Drake Law School’s Constitutional Law Center, noted the “unique and unprecedented” nature of the coming debate. “This will be played out not only on Capitol Hill, but also on the Internet, in blogs, on every talk show on radio and on the 24-hour cable news networks of every political preference,” Kende said. “There have already been Supreme Court justice TV commercials in some areas and that was before O’Connor’s announcement.” Lauri Pyatt, assistant sports information director at Drake University, earned the Excellence in Sports Information award from Soccer Buzz Magazine as one of the nation's top women's soccer sports information officers (SID) for 2004-05. Pyatt, who enters her fourth year at Drake, was named the No. 18 women's soccer SID in the nation by Soccer Buzz, which is the exclusive magazine on the Internet devoted to women's collegiate soccer at the NCAA Division 1 level. Since 1996, Soccer Buzz Magazine has recognized the top sports information publicists for his or her work with a women's soccer program. "This is a well deserved honor for Lauri," said Mike Mahon, sports information director at Drake. "She takes a lot of pride in her work with the soccer program." Members of the RaySociety will attend a Jazz in July concert featuring Kurt Bowermaster and his band at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14, at Wesley Acres, 3520 Grand Ave. There will be reserved seating for 50 RaySociety members as well as reserved parking. Members of the RaySociety are invited to a special reception to meet author Cokie Roberts from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, at the home of Jim and Roxanne Conlin, 2900 Southern Hills Circle. Attendees are asked to make a donation in the amount of $50 per person to the Des Moines Library Foundation. At 7 p.m. that evening, Roberts will give a public lecture at Hoyt Sherman Place, 1501 Woodland Ave., as part of the Des Moines Public Library's AVID Series. Reservations are required for the reception. For reservations, contact Betty David at x2500 or On Monday, July 18, Drake will host the Jazz in July concert series with a performance by Thelonious Assault at 6 p.m. in the courtyard of the Harmon Fine Arts Center. Andrew Classen, associate professor of trumpet and director of jazz studies, directs the band, which takes its inspiration from legendary jazz musician Thelonious Monk. The concert is free and open to the public. In case of rain, the performance will move to the Performing Arts Hall. Helping integrate creativity and design with traditional workplace leadership skills and goals is the focus of a workshop hosted by Drake University from 9 a.m. to noon, Tuesday, July 26. Graphic designers and marketing and communications professionals from a wide array of industries will explore how to exercise different parts of the brain to maximize success in the 21st century workplace. Right-brain thinkers tend to be creative with gifts in writing and art. Left-brain thinkers tend to be more analytical, tending toward math or other linear and analytical skills. Facilitated by Michael Wagner, president of the White Rabbit Group, the workshop will demonstrate how skills in design, empathy, inventiveness and understanding are as key to success in today’s business world as left-brain computer skills. “If you’re a creative-type person, (a right-brain thinker) this workshop will help you learn to better communicate with your clients and or boss,” Wagner said. “If you’re an analytical-type person (a left-brain thinker), you’ll learn why design is practical, regardless of the business you’re in.” The American Institute of Graphic Arts, working with Drake’s Department of Art and Graphic Design and College of Business and Public Administration, sponsors the event. The workshop costs $30 for members of the American Institute of Graphic Arts or $50 for non-members if they register before Friday, July 15. After that, non-members will pay $70 before the Tuesday, July 19, registration deadline. Seating is limited. Registration includes a continental breakfast.
For more information, contact Sharon Sodar at (515) 282-7145
or Drake will celebrate its 125th anniversary at the Iowa State Fair with Drake Day at the Fair from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13. Stop by wearing Drake apparel and get a free Bulldog knickknack or come over at 4 p.m. that day to get free cupcakes with Drake VIPs to celebrate our University’s birthday. Volunteers are still needed to fill shifts at Fair. Helpful souls will receive free admission to the event, a parking pass (though parking is not guaranteed) and a Drake t-shirt. If you’re interested, contact Bryan Klopack, volunteer coordinator (and next year’s student body president!), at The next issue of OnCampus will be Monday, July 25. |
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