Drake law graduate takes first in national writing competition Drake law graduate takes first in national writing competition The writing competition was established to encourage and equip law school students to work on cases involving domestic violence. The competition is open to all students at ABA-accredited law schools who have written a paper that furthers the legal needs of domestic violence victims and their children. Knief's winning article will be published in the Autumn 2006 issue of the Women Lawyers Journal. In addition, she has received $750 and a commendation from the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence. Knief, an Iowa native, is working as a judicial law clerk for the Fifth District Court in Des Moines. "I originally wrote the paper for the International Human Rights seminar taught by professor Hunter Clark in fall 2005," Knief said. "I am especially proud of this paper because it combines two legal areas that are important to me: international human rights and women's rights. I hoped the competition would give me the opportunity to share my passion for advocating human rights with others. I am honored to have my paper chosen to contribute to the national discussion about the needs of victims of domestic violence." "Amanda is extremely dedicated to the prevention of domestic violence and an award from a national organization like the ABA recognizes her effort and talent. She was in competition against law students from top schools nationwide and to have a Drake Law student place at the top is quite an honor," said professor Andrea Charlow. Knief studied journalism at Iowa State and graduated in May 2006 from Drake University Law School. She also served as an intern at the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence in Des Moines. Clubb, who gained a broad range of experience in all aspects of athletics administration during her 16 years at Arizona State University, will discuss "The Vision for Drake Athletics." The lunch, sponsored by the Drake University Central Iowa Alumni Chapter and the Greater Des Moines Partnership, will start with networking at 11:30 a.m. followed by lunch at noon at the Polk County Convention Complex, 501 Grand Ave. The cost is $15. To reserve tickets, contact the Office of Alumni and Parent Programs at x3848 or send an e-mail message to Uchida, a native of Japan, came to Des Moines in August, 2005, to teach piano performance and musical theory at Drake University. The day after moving into her new apartment, she slipped and fell, breaking her right arm. That setback had her teaching classes and lessons for two months without being able to play. When the cast was removed, Uchida discovered her arm had not healed. Uchida explained her situation in an e-mail to Nicholas Roth, assistant professor of piano at Drake, who forwarded the message to Dr. Dana Simon at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. Dr. Simon called Uchida and referred her to Dr. Stephen Taylor of the Des Moines Orthopaedic Surgeons, who said she required surgery within 10 days or she might never be able to play again. He immediately volunteered to perform the surgery - for free. "It all happened so quickly," Uchida said. Within days she'd undergone surgery with Dr. Taylor at Iowa Methodist Medical Center. Finally, 11 months later, Uchida feels ready to perform again and she'll give her first performance at Drake at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, on the Jordan Stage in Sheslow Auditorium in Old Main. She's dedicating her recital, which is free and open to the public, to Drs. Taylor and Simon and the staff at Iowa Methodist Medical Center. Her best friend, Mio Aoike, is coming from Oregon to join her on stage. Aoike is pursuing a doctoral degree in piano performance at the University of Oregon and has won a number of piano competitions across the nation. The musicians rehearsed for four weeks in Oregon and Aoike will be in town a week early so they can brush up before the big night. They'll be performing three of their favorite pieces: Lutoslawski's "Variations on a Theme by Paganini," Ravel's "La Valse" and Rachmaninoff's "Suite No. 2 Op. 17," all for two pianos. Uchida's favorite piece is the Rachmaninoff suite. She first heard it performed by one of her professors and his wife at the University of Oregon, where she earned her M.A. in music theory and D.M.A. in piano performance. "I heard it and I thought, 'I've got to learn this!' But I just love this whole program so much. I want my students to come because finally they can see me performing as a pianist." She's been playing since she was three years old. It's what she was born to do, she said, but she didn't know that for sure until she had investigated other fields of study. She said liberal arts colleges like Drake are extremely valuable. "It's important for students to have a broad educational experience," she said, "Drake gives students a lot of chances to explore what's possible." As for the ordeal of the broken arm, Uchida now sees it as a "miracle." "Meeting with Dr. Taylor and Dr. Simon was the best thing that's happened to me since coming to Des Moines," she said. "They've been very generous. I feel so thankful and I owe them so much." Button-Harris gave nearly all 18 inches of his blond strands to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to children with a rare hair loss disease. He got the idea from his sister, who had previously donated her long hair to Locks of Love, and Josie Poppen, the costume director for "The Boyfriend." "Sam, not even two weeks on campus, is already showing his dedication to his craft," said Poppen, who described his hair as "a beautiful, golden-brown mane." After two years of growing his ear-length locks to reach the small of his back, Button-Harris is apprehensive about how the new "do" will suit him. "I haven't had short hair in a long time," Button-Harris said before the trim last Friday at Great Clips. "It's so different from what I have now." Button-Harris' nicknames grew from his hair -- close friends called him Legolas, Fabio and Sunshine, to name a few. But the musical theatre major from Grundy Center, Iowa, was willing to make the sacrifice. "I'll lose all my nicknames in one cut," he said. "But it's for a good cause." "I will address the visual and verbal languages that are foundational to my prints and paintings, expressing that art is a matter of both nature and conventionality," Chen said. "Realist artworks such as mine are readily perceived, not as images laboriously made and socially informed, but as revelations of something pre-existent and independent of language. Naturalizing the art-making process is not my aim. I develop my work through the active pursuit and reception of several categories of images, not the least of which is verbal. The optimal result of this 'thinking in images' is a vivid clarity of purpose and methodology popularly romanticized as 'visionary.'" An associate professor in the Department of Art and Design since 1995, Chen teaches courses in drawing and printmaking. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and his master of fine arts degree from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to coming to Drake, he taught full time as a visiting artist at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and was assistant professor of art at Northwestern University. Chen researches most actively in the area of printmaking, with an emphasis on intaglio, lithography and relief techniques. He has exhibited widely nationally and internationally, and his work is included in numerous museum collections that include The San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts, The Des Moines Art Center, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Carnegie Institute Museum of Art and The Brooklyn Museum. He has served as an evaluator for College Art Association, National Endowment for the Arts and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. His research has been supported by the Illinois Arts Council, The National Endowment for the Arts and, most recently, The Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation. The Stalnaker Lecture series is held in 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. All sessions of Global Issues in Higher Education: What the Drake Community Should Know will be held from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Levitt Hall. The program will start with a seminar on China on Tuesday, Sept. 19, presented by Mark Ferrara and Savannah Bao. Ferrara has taught at Kyungnam University in South Korea, Fudan University in China, and on a Fulbright fellowship at Middle East Technical University in Turkey. He currently directs Drake University's Chinese Cultural Exchange Program and teaches world literature in the English Department. A native of Jiangsu province, Bao earned a bachelor's degree in management from Fudan University in Shanghai and a master's degree in educational psychology from University of Colorado at Denver. She is pursuing a doctorate in education at Drake. She is the assistant director of Drake's Chinese Cultural Exchange Program. The station, also known as "94-1 The Dog," broadcasts from Meredith Hall weekdays from 4 p.m. until 4 a.m. and all day on Saturdays. The rock-based Top 40 radio station is programmed and staffed by students in the SJMC. Programming consists primarily of music, but also features sports play-by-play along with drive-time news and information. "This is a radio station designed for Drake students, by Drake students," said Morgan Brigman, operations manager. KDRA-LP broadcasts 80 watts, allowing coverage extending to about four miles from campus. Worldwide listeners can sample the station's programming at "This is great news...and a VERY sorely needed new source of good music for "Congrats to all those who've given life to THE DOG," said Neenah Ellis, JO'77, a National Public Radio reporter. "May she bark loud and long!" Darr was born in Tuxedo, New York in 1920 and moved to California in 1930 when his father became chaplain at Scripps College in Claremont. There he began to take interest in the arts and by his early teens, Darr's artistic talent won him the opportunity to study with Millard Sheets in southern California. He later was invited to work with Diego Rivera in Mexico. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University in 1962 before traveling to Japan on a Fulbright Scholarship to film printmakers in action. Upon his return, Darr became the head of the art department at Earlham College before stepping into the role at Drake. "My viewpoint was that Bill was always looking toward the future and advocating change. His personality really left an impression on the entire art department while he was at Drake" recalled John Hicks, professor emeritus of art. Darr is survived by his second wife, Lillian, and his four children. Lillian Darr described him as an activist, conservationist, and progressive thinker with love for all those around him. Darr was an active member of the Fairfield, Iowa, community, where he helped to build an ecologically sound home that is now owned by the Maharishi University of Management. Paintings by Darr can be viewed in collections and museums across the world. To donate to the memory of William Humiston Darr, please contact Lillian Darr at 406-728-2267. His speech, which is free and open to the public, is titled "How the Constitution Changes: Partisan Entrenchment and the National Surveillance State." The event, sponsored by the Drake University Constitutional Law Center, will start at 4 p.m. in room 213 of Cartwright Hall, 27th Street and Carpenter Avenue. A reception will follow. Balkin holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Cambridge University and received his bachelor's and law degrees from Harvard University. He served as a clerk for Judge Carolyn D. King of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and practiced as an attorney in New York City before entering the legal academy. He has been a member of the law faculties at the University of Texas and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and a visiting professor at Harvard University, New York University, the Buchman Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University and the University of London. He has written widely on legal issues for such publications as The New York Times, Washington Monthly, The New Republic Online and Slate. He also writes political and legal commentary at the Weblog Balkinization (http://balkin.blogspot.com/). Balkin is the founder and director of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, an interdisciplinary center that studies law and the new information technologies. His books include "Cultural Software: A Theory of Ideology," "Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking," "What Brown v. Board of Education Should Have Said" and "What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said." All educational institutions receiving federal funds are required to present educational programming about the U.S. Constitution on or about Sept. 17 of each year under a federal law enacted in 2004. Sept. 17 was selected as Constitution Day because delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the final time on Sept. 17, 1787, to sign the U.S. Constitution and presented it to the public. Instances of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and many other illnesses could be greatly reduced if more people participated in gardening on a regular basis. Kimmons made his case at the Gardens for All Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, sponsored by Drake University Agricultural Law Center in cooperation with the National Gardening Association. The conference, organized by Drake law professor Neil Hamilton, was designed to explore ways to bring the benefits of gardening to the attention of policy-makers at every level of government. "The conference was a great success in bringing together leaders from across the gardening community to discuss the role of policy," Hamilton said. "The energy and enthusiasm of the conference attendees was very rewarding and proves the conference was well worth doing. Now our challenge is to identify the next steps to continue the progress on identifying sound garden policy objectives." According to the CDC, garden tasks like raking leaves and weeding offer the exercise equivalent of low-intensity aerobic dance or biking at 5-9 miles per hour. More strenuous jobs, such as digging or moving large loads of dirt, are the equivalent of race walking or working out on a stair-climbing machine. As a nutritional epidemiologist, Kimmons is particularly alert to the potential for home-grown fruits and vegetables to improve the average person's diet. "The U.S. has the highest level of malnutrition in the world," Kimmons noted, citing research that shows that fewer than 10 percent of Americans get the CDC-recommended 7-13 daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Kimmons said garden-grown foods are more healthy than those bought in the supermarket. Too many vegetables sold in supermarkets have been "dumbed down," that is, bred for sweetness, pest resistance or industrial production methods at the expense of flavor, he said. Home gardeners, on the other hand, can produce fruits and vegetables at the peak of flavor and nutritional value. Gardening's health benefits extend beyond preventing illness. They also apply to individuals who are already experiencing health problems. According to the American Horticultural Therapy Association, gardening activities can be used to support the physical, social, psychological needs of people who are physically and mentally challenged, regardless of age. Rick Brooks, director of the Health Promotion Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told conference attendees of his experiences coordinating therapy gardens for people with a variety of disabilities. For his work on projects like that one, Brooks was recently named the grand prize winner of the Garden Crusader Awards program run by Gardener's Supply Co. The program recognizes individuals who have improved their communities through gardening activities. Brooks noted that the benefits of his work are not always immediately evident. He related his experience building a garden with two residents of the Waunakee Adult Family Home in Madison, Wis. Due to a communication disorder, the two women rarely spoke, so Brooks was unsure of their reaction to the garden. "We kinda wondered if we made a difference," Brooks said at the conference. The answer came two months later. "I got a package in the mail," Brooks recalled. "It was two jars of tomato jam made from their garden. And there's a picture of both of them smiling with their jam." |
President David Maxwell was interviewed by the Radio Iowa Network for a story about the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on our culture. To listen to his comments, visit this Web site. Eunice Meredith, associate dean of the School of Education, is the author of a new book, "Leadership Strategies for Teachers," which was published this summer by Corwin Press. Steve Scullen, associate professor of management and international business, is co-author of an article in the July/August issue of Across the Board magazine. The article is titled "Are Performance Appraisals Worth the Hassle? A Dialogue about Managers, Employees and Forced Ranking." He also was quoted in a Sept. 10 New York Times story titled "Performance Reviews: Many Need Improvement." The article describes Scullen's study on the effectiveness of forced-ranking systems, which have diminishing returns over the years.
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