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insideNEWS FEATURESOPINIONS SPORTS
PAGE 2
The sound of sirens disrupt Random Night Dinner
Speaking out against media hype over nuclear power
“Coloring a world without cancer” Relay for Life on Friday
Softball team rides five-game winning streak
PAGE 3 PAGE 4 PAGE 6
DES MOINES, IOWA | THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 | VOL. 129, NO. 34 | WWW.TIMESDELPHIC.COM
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
THE TIMES-DELPHICGoing the extra mile
Muslim-American author to discuss her latest book, personal experience
Nearly 100,000 dimes will cover the floor of the Knapp Center on April 17, as part of business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi’s community service project.
The event, called the Mile of Dimes, asks participants to bring their spare dimes to the Knapp Center and lay the change end to end on the March of Dimes logo, which will be tapped on the floor of the basketball court. The winding logo will be blown up and stretched out, using a mile’s worth of tape.
“We wanted to do something that would become Delta Sigma Pi’s signature event, something the campus would know us for,” Delta Sigma Pi Vice President of Community Service Amanda Otten said. “This popped up and we just went for it.”
March of Dimes is a national health charity organization originally founded in 1938 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The original organization was dubbed the Foundation for Infantile Paralysis until its name change in 1979. Its original mission was to rid the world of polio–a disease Roosevelt had. Having accomplished the first objective, the organization turned its sights on improving the health of babies by working to prevent birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
If accomplished, the event would raise just over $9,000 for the March of Dimes Foundation in Iowa.
The event was originally set in motion by Delta Sigma Pi former vice president of community service, Megan Kunz, who had been working with the March of Dimes Foundation for other community service projects throughout the year. The idea for the Mile of Dimes was proposed last year, but it’s taken a lot of work to get the logistics of the event hammered out.
“We had to try and figure out where we were going to hold it, how it was going to be set up and how it was going to run,” Otten said.
The event will be run by Delta Sigma Pi members as part of their four required hours of community service per semester.
“As a business fraternity, we have requirements just like any other social fraternity or sorority, so we have to do a set number of community service hours per semester,” Otten said. “We’re trying to build character and moral in people, as well as show them there is more outside of just professionalism, because giving back to the community is very important.”
Delta Sigma Pi President Lindsey Thome is excited to get members involved in the cause.
“It’s important for members of Delta Sig to do community service because it’s always good to give back,” Thome said. “I’m sure other Delta Sigs wouldn’t mind me speaking for them when I say we are all so lucky to have found a home at Drake and especially in Delta Sig. It’s important we don’t forget that others aren’t as lucky.”
While the main attraction is the Mile of Dimes, Otten said there will be plenty of other things to keep participants occupied while they wait. Otten said there will be plenty of free food, carnival games and raffle prizes for participants to enjoy, all of which will be on the track, providing participants with an aerial view of the design and the dimes.
Otten is currently working to get a couple inflatable games and gift card raffle prizes from local area businesses such as Kum & Go, Jimmy John’s, Jethro’s BBQ, Drake Diner and several businesses from the Jordan Creek area.
“The first thing we actually received was a gift card from Sweet Binney’s Bakery in Des Moines,” Otten said. “The owner was actually a former Delta Sig and was gracious enough to donate.”
One of the concerns from the Knapp Center staff was how the tape design would affect the integrity of the finishing on the floor of the basketball court, which will continue to be played on by both the men’s and women’s teams throughout the remainder of the semester.
“To prevent any damage to the floor, we’ll be using a low-tack tape so that when the design is pulled after the event, the finish won’t also be pulled up,” said Associate Director of Recreational Services Michael Ball.
The fraternity is also working on a lot of public relations in an effort to draw in more attention to the event.
“We’re trying to get the community involved,” Otten said. “Not just Drake but all of Des Moines.”
by Bailey BergStaff [email protected]
Anderson Gallery Postcard Announcement Template: size 49p x 29p (8.1667” x 4.8334”)
Beating the back-from-break blues
Many students have begun the countdown until the end of the semester (50 including weekends) but there are plenty of opportunities in the upcoming weeks to keep busy.
Earth Jam 2011 “Let Freedom Leak” “Standing On My Knees”
Downtown Networking BFA Exhibitions“Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You”
Hosted by DEALWhen: March 25, 4:30 p.m.Where: Helmick CommonsFree music festival promoting awareness of environmental issues featuring five live bands. The Student Activities Board will be there with supplies to make potted plants.
Sponsored by Hawley Lecture-ship Foundation, Honors Pro-gram, Honors Student CouncilWhen: March 28, 7 p.m.Where: Sheslow AuditoriumRock critic, author and Emer-son College journalist-in-res-idence Tim Riley will discuss free speech and the conflicts and consequences of war.
A Drake Theatre ProductionStudent Director: Ben RaananWhen: March 24 & 26, 8 p.m. and March 27, 2 p.m.Where: Studio 55This play by John Olive centers around Catherine, a schizo-phrenic trying to attain nor-malcy. She’s joined by her friends and new love interest.
A Drake Theatre ProductionStudent Director: Moira NashWhen: March 25, 8 p.m.Where: Studio 55This biting comedy by Christopher Durang features a nun explaining the basics of Catholicism, but the audiences learns of the trauma resulting from Sister Mary’s unchanging dogma.
Hosted by Student Alumni As-sociationWhen: March 31, 5 -7 p.m.Where: Meredith Corp. down-town campus, bussing from Olmsted. Evening includes music, food and the chance for SAA members to meet and network with some of Des Moines’ leading professionals from a variety of fields.
Bachelor of Fine Arts ExhibitionsWhen: Opens April 8, 5 p.m.Where: Anderson and Weeks GalleriesOpening reception for “Reso-nance.” The Weeks Gallery is also hosting a BFA exhibi-tion, something unique for this space. “Prose,” by Rachel Crown also opens April 8.
International speaker, author and life coach Zohra Sarwari is coming to talk about her book, “No! I Am Not a Terrorist,” and about what it is like to be a Muslim in America. Sarwari was born in Afghanistan but has spent most of her life living in the United States. She has been referred to as ‘the most inspirational Muslim woman speaker in America.’
“I think it is important that Drake students are global citizens and really understand their world,” Jessica Hamilton, vice president-elect of student activities said. “We wanted to bring a speaker who could share with us her experiences and really provide students with a new outlook on her culture.”
Student Body President-Elect Greg Larson said he thinks the presentation will be enlightening.
“I’m especially excited to hear her speak on the topic of religion and how we, as Americans, generally perceive religion based on our eyes instead of with our ears,” Larson said. “We see someone dressed in Muslim garb and we automatically think that person may be a terrorist. Zohra spreads the message that we should learn with our ears about people; we should listen and learn; we should first seek to understand before we seek to criticize.”
Hamilton thinks Sarwari’s strong opinions will be a good thing. “I know Sarwari is Muslim and has strong values about raising her
children. I think her ideas may be controversial but only in a positive way,” Hamilton said. “By bringing new, different and engaging speakers we are
providing students with the opportunity to grow and develop in their understanding of different cultures.”
SAB’s goal is for attendees to gain a new perspectives and knowledge about a subject with which they are unfamiliar.
“Living in the Midwest, when someone says the word religion, the first two words that come to mind are Lutheran and Catholic. This is not to say that I don’t fully understand the vast diversity in theology around the world just that this is where I’m from, and this is what I grew up knowing,” Larson said. “The reason why it’s important to have Zohra speak at Drake is precisely because of this. She comes from a background that is very common in other parts of the world but is not as common here in Iowa.”
Larson said students should come with open minds and not be afraid to talk about confusion concerning the Muslim religion.
“I’d encourage students to come armed with honest questions about things they don’t understand related to religion and the Muslim community,” Larson said. “The most powerful learning mechanism is the simple act of asking a question.”
by Nicole MittelbrunStaff [email protected]
”“By bringing new, different and engaging speakers we are providing students with the opportunity to grow and develop in their understanding of different cultures.
-Jessica Hamilton
Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity helps bring March of Dimes event to Drake
6 EVENTS YOU SHOULDN’T MISS
Craig Owens found himself caught up in a “bad romance” with Iowa weather as tornado sirens cut his discussion short on Tuesday.
Owens, associate professor of English, held his discussion, “Going GaGa,” in Medbury Hall as part of the monthly Honors program event, Random Night Dinner. The first-year representatives on the Honors Council–Lillie Schrock, Nate Repay and Jordan Payne–helped plan the event with help from Vice President Molly Wilensky.
Students entered to the smell of vegetable and pasta soup cooking on a stove and chocolate cookies in the oven. Owens came in and introduced himself to a few of the students gearing up for the discussion. Once all of the food was served everyone moved up to room 221.
“How many of you are familiar with the work of Lady Gaga in some way or another?” he asked the crowd. He then told an anecdote about how he listened to her “Fame” album while he was running over the summer.
“You have to think about something [while running],” he said. “I sort of thought, ‘I wonder if there is an argument to be made about the way Lady Gaga’s music, lyrics and celebrity person and music videos represent identity and represent the possibilities of identity.’”
He ran some of his ideas past English majors during fall 2010 and then ended up presenting a paper in February 2011 on Lady Gaga and a bit on Madonna. He even said he hasn’t solidified his entire hypothesis on Lady Gaga, but can hope to clarify it in time.
“I am not speaking from an area of expertise,” Owens said. “I need a number of other eyes and brains looking at this stuff.”
He then showed the audience Madonna’s “Material Girl” video to compare to those of Lady Gaga.
Once the video was over, Owens asked what was funny or odd about it.One person cited the red set that looked like a motel and the fact the
video plays up the theme that women grow up dreaming of being spoiled and lavished.
An audience member said she became bored watching it. First-year student Ethan Clevenger said it was mainly boring because
Madonna was just “walking around.” Owens also mentioned people now view the video as boring, but when
it was made, it was considered to be a performance. “Something has changed,” he said. “The video obviously hasn’t
changed; something has changed about our expectations about music videos.”
When discussion ended, he switched gears and showed Lady Gaga’s video for “Paparazzi.” That is when the first rumblings of weather issues began. As the video played, rain pounded on the window and lightening loomed outside the windows.
Owens asked the audience if they thought the video was boring in the same ways as Madonna’s video. One audience member spoke about how the scene changes in the video kept his attention.
Clevenger said that he feels Lady Gaga embraces celebrity culture to mock it.
“Gaga is still a mystery to me,” Owens said. Merely minutes after he uttered this statement, the tornado sirens rang
out and everyone left Medbury Hall to run to a nearby building to find shelter, as Medbury does not have a basement.
The mood among students and staff gathered in Meredith basement was filled with excitement and worry about the possibility of a tornado. Sirens went off multiple times as they awaited the “all is clear” call or could brave the rain to flee to other buildings. The electricity in the small hallways was matched only by the lightning pulsating outside in the sky.
Payne and Repay said there have been no discussions about rescheduling the event, but the council still has time to make the decision before April’s RND, which has yet to be set.
10:35 a.m. March 7 Staff from the University Book Store reported two suspicious females in the store and books came up missing. The description of the women fit that of two women who had stolen books from the Grandview College Book Store.
7:06 p.m. March 7A male student reported his wallet was stolen from an unlocked and unattended locker in the Bell Center between 5 and 6 p.m. on March 7.
1:20 p.m. March 8Security responded to the American Republic Health Center based on report of a male student who was intoxicated and unresponsive. Fire and Rescue was contacted and the student was transported to a local hospital.
3:11 a.m. March 9A security officer observed a male pulling on doors to Aliber Hall. The male student stated he was merely walking around and trying to clear his head of decisions he had to make and wanting to make peace. The matter was coordinated with the assistant dean of student affairs in the College of Business and Public Administration.
2:30 p.m. March 9A female student reported she received an attempted fraud letter on her Facebook concerning a friend who was a victim of a crime. Money was asked for to help the friend out. The student was a little wiser than the sender of message and checked with her friend, who was OK.
9:45 p.m. March 10 Security and the fire department responded to St. Catherine’s Neuman Center based on a staff member reporting a fire alarm. It was determined the alarm was false.
10:07 p.m. March 10Security, police and fire/rescue responded to the convenience store parking lot at 31st Street and University Avenue based on report of an unconscious person. After several attempts the security officer was able to waken the female who was in a motor vehicle and the vehicle was running. The security officer was able to remove the keys from the vehicle. Police and fire/rescue arrived and the female was arrested for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.
8:47 p.m. March 15 Security received a phone call from a male friend of a Drake student. The male stated the student’s parents had called him and was looking for their son who had not been heard from in over two months. Security was able to make contact with the male student who was at a movie theatre in Minneapolis, Minn. The student was hesitant about contacting his parents in Asia but stated he would e-mail them at a later time.
12:26 a.m. March 16 A security officer observed five males walking around the Helmick Commons area. The security dispatcher was monitoring the males on CCTV and observed one of the individuals steal a bicycle near Herriott Residence Hall. All five were apprehended by security officers in different locations on and near the campus. Two of the males admitted to taking the bicycles. Police were called and a 16-year-old, two 17-year-olds, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old male were advised on trespass for the Drake Campus. The bicycles were confiscated and placed back in the Herriott bike rack. It was determined that one of the subjects was on probation for a felony aggravation and robbery.
1:15 a.m. March 16Security and the fire department responded to the McCoy apartments based on report of a fire alarm. There was no smoke or fire and it was determined that someone had pulled a pull station.
“
“THE TIMES-DELPHIC NEWS THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 | PAGE 2
news
SEND YOUR STORY IDEAS TO [email protected] FOR BREAKING DRAKE NEWS, CHECK OUT WWW.TWITTER.COM/TIMESDELPHIC
It’s important to tell the story fast and tell it well, but don’t senselessly scare people who don’t know the full story the way so many news outlets did this past week.
—MATT NELSON, ON COVERING JAPAN’S NUCLEAR REACTORS | PAGE 2
quotedayof the
A security officer found an underage-for-drinking female student and a male student in Olmsted Center. They were making out and in the process of removing clothing. Both had been drinking and the male stated it was at a bar located in the 2300 block of University Avenue. They were seen outside of the building. The dean of students was advised.
FORBIDDEN LOVE
SECURITY REPORTS2:34 a.m. March 11
by Lauren HorschCopy [email protected]
Gone “GaGa”
LAUREN HORSCH | copy editor
Storm interrupts Honors Program Random Night Dinner discussing Lady Gaga’s societal influence
STUDENTS took shelter in Meredith Hall basement after severe storms in the area forced the early conclusion of the Honors Progam’s Random Night Dinner.
opinions&editorialsThe week after Spring Break is stressful. Returning from naps on the beach or on your couch is not always fun, but remember there’s only seven weeks of classes left!
THE TIMES-DELPHICTHE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
The Times-Delphic strives to represent student views as accurately and honestly as possible. We rely on readers to provide us with criticism, comments and new ideas so that we can continue to serve the interests of the students in the fairest possible way. We encourage interested readers to submit letters to the editor. Letters must include the author’s name and phone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Deadlines for guest submissions are noon Tuesday for the Thursday edition and noon Friday for the Monday edition. The Times-Delphic reserves the right to edit letters and submissions for space and in the interest of taste. Letters and submissions reflect only the opinions of the authors and should be limited to 250 words.
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PAGE 3 | THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 OPINIONS & EDITORIALS THE TIMES-DELPHIC
LIZZIE PINE, [email protected]
JESSICA MATTES, Managing [email protected]
MATT MORAN, Sports [email protected]
CONNOR MCCOURTNEY, Photo [email protected]
KRISTEN SMITH, Copy [email protected]
REED ALLEN, Business [email protected]
JILL VAN WYKE, Faculty [email protected]
ANN SCHNOEBELEN, News [email protected]
KATIE MINNICK, Sports Design [email protected]
KAILA SWAIN, Digital [email protected]
LAUREN HORSCH, Copy [email protected]
MARY HONEYMAN, Ads [email protected]
SHENG PENG | CARTOONIST Peng is a senior international relations major, music and economics minor and can be contacted at [email protected]
The UN Security Council “Saves” Libya
Imagine a pot of spaghetti on the stove with the lid on it. The stove heats up. The water starts to boil. If you don’t turn down the heat or take off the lid, it boils over.
Every first-year student and Sodexo worker inevitably faces this situation. Last week, the technicians at the Fukushima nuclear reactor did as well. The only difference between their predicaments was when the student’s pot boiled over, the mainstream media didn’t immediately assume a radioactive apocalypse was underway.
As an aspiring science writer, I was disgusted by the way the mainstream media treated the recent nuclear crisis. I watched reporter after reporter using volatile language, describing in-creasing radiation levels and explosions without describing their consequences. This led au-diences to assume the worst, when in fact the danger at all times was, believe it or not, fairly minimal.
Here are the five biggest myths I’ve seen per-petuated by the media:
1. The amount of radiation released is some-how lethal.
Many outlets reported that radiation levels had increased by “10 or 100 times” above nor-mal. That’s true, but what most reports failed to mention was that these levels still aren’t dan-gerous. According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, one micro sievert of radiation was released per hour between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on March 15.
That amount is not hazardous to your health. In fact, if you were continuously exposed to this level for a year, the total radiation level would be
roughly equal to getting one CAT (CT) scan, ac-cording to the NISA. Additionally, this elevated level of radiation was never likely to continue.
2. Explosions have released radiation.This one is true — but still not much of a
concern. Imagine that the Fukushima reactor is a pot of Easy Mac on the stove, except the bits of noodle are radioactive fuel rods that must be kept cool. The easiest way to do that is to con-tinuously pump several tons of water over the rods, which briefly heats up before it is flushed out and new water enters.
The 9.0 magnitude earthquake knocked out the water pumps, which meant the water al-ready in the reactor was sitting still, and began heating up rapidly. Like Easy Mac, when water boils, steam is released. At Fukushima, some of this steam was composed of volatile hydrogen and a little iodine radiation. This hydrogen was vented out of the reactor, but built up in the building housing the reactor, which culminated in the reported explosions.
While these pictures looked frightening, they were of no major concern since the chamber containing the fuel rods had not been danger-ously compromised. The amount of radiation was nothing compared to Chernobyl, which involved an explosion of the innermost contain-ment unit. Many reports said that “explosions at nuclear reactors have taken place,” but hardly any said that “explosions have taken place but minimal radiation released.”
3. The Fukushima explosion is somehow worse than Three Mile Island.
This scary statement started when the In-ternational Atomic Energy Agency decided to bump up the rating of the Fukushima crisis from a 4 to a 5 on their International Nuclear Event Scale. This 7-step scale is supposed to provide a general idea of just how bad a nuclear crisis is.
First flaw: Fukushima is rated at the same level as Three Mile Island–not worse. Second flaw: Chernobyl is rated as a level 7, which doesn’t seem much worse, except for the fact the scale is logarithmic.
Translation: Chernobyl was 100 times more deadly than the Fukushima incident. Since no-body has died at either the Three Mile Island or Fukushima incidents, it’s hard for me to un-derstand exactly why Fukushima is supposed to be the worst of the two. Is it in terms of prop-erty damage? Reported injuries? It seems this would be an important point the media should be specifying.
4. Workers have been exposed to radiation.There’s a germ of truth here, but again, the
media makes it sound much worse than it actu-ally is. While people have been injured in the hydrogen explosions, none have come close to dying of radiation. According to an update from IAEA on March 18, 17 employees had received some dosage of radiation, but none had been hospitalized because the levels were so low.
5. People have been evacuated and given anti-radiation tablets.
True–but only as a precaution, not because they were in imminent danger of death. Plus, it makes sense to clear the area of potentially
panicked pedestrians when emergency officials need to focus their attention on restoring lost electricity.
The “anti-radiation” tablets were actually io-dine pills. The thyroid gland in humans absorbs iodine, so if the Fukushima reactor released radioactive iodine, the thyroid wouldn’t absorb any more. However, the amount of iodine re-leased seems to be so small it won’t accumulate in dangerous levels.
The word ‘nuclear’ stirs up all kinds of emo-tions. Decades ago, it stopped the largest war the world had ever seen.
Future Drake journalists: Don’t forget that pot on the stove. Don’t let the ‘nuclear’ topic get too hot before you cool it with the correct infor-mation. It’s important to tell the story fast and tell it well, but don’t senselessly scare people who don’t know the full story the way so many news outlets did this past week. It is an unethical, ir-responsible and cruel thing to do.
MATT NELSON | RELAYS EDITOR Nelson is a junior secondary education major, physics minor and can be contacted at [email protected]
Going nuclear: Five myths the media perpetuated about radioactive reaction from 9.0 earthquake
“
The Drake community will gather this week-end for 12 straight hours at Relay for Life to cel-ebrate those who have battled cancer, remem-ber those who have died from the disease and to fight back by walking to raise money for cancer research.
Relay for Life, which is in its sixth year at Drake, is a walk consisting of teams that raise money by collecting donations. Proceeds from the event go directly to the American Cancer Society. While the substantial goal may be rais-ing money, the overall reason for the event is to raise awareness and to share in an experience of fighting back against cancer.
“Relay for Life is an event for people to share in how cancer has effected their lives and to cre-ate a sense of community with other people who have shared in their sense of pain or suffering because of cancer,” said Erin Hogan, co-presi-dent of Colleges Against Cancer.
Colleges Against Cancer, in partnership with the American Cancer Society, has gone through great efforts over the last year to ensure the suc-
cess of this year’s Relay for Life. The on-campus organization is broken up into various commit-tees, which each organize a different aspect of Relay for Life to make the event run as smoothly as possible.
Sophomore Ashley Beisch is the head of the entertainment committee for this weekend’s event. Beisch lost her brother to leukemia and therefore has a special connection to Relay for Life.
“Ever since he was diagnosed, I’ve been involved in Relay for Life with him as a survi-vor and now without him as a lost loved one,” Beisch said. “Since then, I’ve always known Re-lay was my way of giving back and to honor him and the difficult struggle he went through.”
Cancer has affected the majority of people in one way or another, which is the primary rea-son behind Relay for Life’s growing success. Last year, Drake’s Relay for Life brought in around 350 participants and somewhere between $24-25,000. This year’s Relay has improved sig-nificantly with a count of 478 participants and around $24,500 at the start of the week. Over the week leading up to Relay for Life, the num-ber of participants and donations has been ex-pected to increase due to last minute additions from the 48 teams participating.
“I think we’re really ahead of the game for fundraising, team recruitment and participa-tion,” Hogan said. “Some years we haven’t met our goal and a lot of years we get really close, so we’re in pretty good shape this year.”
Other than simply walking at Relay for Life, which will be taking place in the Knapp Cen-ter rather than the Field House as in previous years, there are several other events that take place throughout the evening. The beginning of the night will kick off with an introduction of all the teams who will walk their initial laps. As the night proceeds, teams will continue walking but will also be able to enjoy several entertainment opportunities such as Henna body art provided by dRAAStic, massages provided by massage therapist Barry Lowe, a special performance from Drake’s dance team, a concert by the lo-cal band The Throwback and a juggling perfor-mance from SAB’s Ivan Pecel.
One of the most important components of the night is the luminaria ceremony. Small bags called luminarias will be displayed through-out the gym. These bags will be decorated or written on to honor or remember loved ones who have overcome, died from or are battling through cancer. The luminaria ceremony is a
time when those people are recognized. A slide-show will be shown consisting of names and pic-tures of loved ones that are being honored and remembered. Luminarias are being sold for $1 to have the person’s name in the show and $5 to have their name and picture.
“The luminaria ceremony is such an emo-tional experience for everyone,” Hogan said. “We want it to be seamless.”
The result of all of the planning, hard work and donations collected for this event will be seen this Friday night starting at 6 p.m. and
ending at 6 a.m. on Saturday. The hundreds of students, faculty, staff and Drake community members participating will all be able to gather together for a cause that affects so many people.
“Every Relay for Life I am reminded that I am human and my life could be changed or tak-en away at any moment. Cancer knows no race, age or gender, and, therefore, it brings people together to fight a common cause,” Beisch said. “It gives me that burst to be happy that I’m alive and healthy to help the people who are strug-gling with getting their life back due to cancer.”
Relay for Life is an event for people to share in how cancer has effected their lives and to create a sense of community with other people who have shared their sense of pain or suffering because of cancer. -Erin Hogan
featuresFEATURESTHE TIMES-DELPHIC THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 | PAGE 4
don’tmissthisFriday night at 7 p.m. the SAB-sponsored juggler Ivan Pecel will perform at Relay for Life.
Relay to promote a cancer-free world
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by Elizabeth RobinsonStaff [email protected]
Saudi Arabia’s female participation lacking
About 40 students and faculty members attended the second lec-ture in the Principal Financial Center for Global Citizenship spring 2011 “Global Perspectives” series. Moham-med Alshagawi, assistant professor of strategic management at King Faisal University in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia, led the lecture titled “Saudi Women En-trepreneurs: Are They Still Standing in the Shadows?”
The lecture discussed the economic participation of women in Saudi Ara-bia. Alshagawi explained that women’s participation in the economy is still lacking. Saudi Arabia’s female partici-pation is the lowest in the world as a result of cultural, political and social barriers restricting women from enter-ing the workforce.
Saudi Arabia is ranked 132 among 134 countries in terms of female eco-nomic participation and opportunity. Entrepreneurship could provide op-portunities for women to create their own jobs regardless of women’s limita-tions in Saudi Arabia.
“I thought it was interesting. It is hard to imagine being in their shoes,” junior Christine Setsodi said, “being born into such a strict culture and try-
ing to fight so hard for something that comes easy to us. It is amazing how we can just go get a job, we don’t have to fight for basic rights.”
Alshagawi spoke about why it is important for students to learn about different global perspectives.
“Education at the moment is a global perspective,” he said. “It is im-portant for students to understand global relations and the Middle East. It is also important to understand part of what is happening and why it is hap-pening.”
Mohammed Alshagawi is a visiting Fulbright Fellow at Smith College in Massachusetts. He received his Master of Science degree in management and organization from the University of Colorado Denver, his Bachelor of Sci-ence in business administration from King Falsal University and his doctor-ate in strategic management from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
The Global Perspectives Series aims to bring international scholars to Drake from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds including law, business, political science, sociology and agron-omy. The next lecture in the series will be held on April 4 at 7 p.m. in the Bull-dog Theatre. Events are free and open to the public.
by Cori ClarkStaff [email protected]
CONNOR MCCOURTNEY | photo editor
FILE PHOTO”
PAGE 5 | THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 FEATURES THE TIMES-DELPHIC
It’s in the eyes. It’s the one body part that can reflect fear, happiness and anger all within a split second. They also see into the soul of the home that houses a family that is anything but “Next to Normal.”
“Next to Normal” presented the question of what really is the mainstream to a crowded opening night at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. Behind suburban front doors there are people, emotions and problems.
Popularity of “Next to Normal” could lie in the many impactful moments of the plot. Anyone who has seen his father cry or been in contact with drug use, depression, anxiety, bipo-lar disorder or counseling can form an intrinsic bond with the show. Even those who have had a fight with a significant other or a mother can relate to the show. “Next to Normal” highlights how we need one another to make it through the trials and tribulations of everyday life.
The small but strong cast fit well and played to the height of their roles. Diana, the main character mother played by the 2009 Tony Award-winning Alice Ripley, turns the stage into a roller coaster of emotions. She plays the stereotypical modern housewife and then hur-tles the plot into discomfort.
Ripley’s voice was a bit off opening night. It wasn’t wrong or cringe-worthy, just different. The audience had to trust it was good as she is an award winner, yet it faltered in comparison to her co-stars.
Daughter of the family, Natalie, played by Emma Hunton, hits notes with anyone who has ever played second-string to another “perfect” sibling. She grows into her character through her voice, actions and appearance as she experi-ments with drugs.
Natalie’s unlikely love interest Henry, played by Preston Sadlier, bounds onto the stage with the carelessness of the stoner he portrays and the sensitivity of a protagonist.
Sadlier expressed an affinity for getting to present such hard-hitting issues on stage.
“Artistically, it’s rare to feel like you are align-ing yourself with something so important and eye-opening to people,” Sadlier said. “I liked something I read the other day that Brian Yor-key pointed out via David Foster Wallace, some-thing like ‘the point of fiction is to help people feel less alone.’”
Because, with mental illnesses, the normalcy of “Just Another Day,” as sung in the opener, becomes a challenge. Some of the most power-ful vocals were sung by Curt Hansen, playing the role of an omniscient deceased son.
With the over-arching themes so heavy on mental illness, the Civic Center presented the show in conjunction with the National Alliance of Mental Illness of Greater Des Moines.
“I don’t think ‘Next To Normal’ professes to be the medical answer to everyone’s questions but rather, a beautiful piece of fiction that really helps people feel less alone,” Sadlier said.
“Next to Normal” was a sight to see with the stage set-up. Pure symmetry of the three-story scaffoldings provided a sharp contrast to the confusion of the characters. As they run up and down the stairs, illuminated by colored lights, the structures of life are flashing, falling and yet, still metaphorically standing at the end of the scene. Ripley is also to be admired for her pure talent at running up and down levels in heels.
The pure chords of the rock musical ring clearly through the distinct style of Michael Greif, who also directed the 1996 hit “Rent.” Listeners can tell in the refreshing dialogue and modern lyrics that, it’s modern rock and ap-plicable to the times. It’s uncomfortable, crass, snarky and a bit profane. Like one of the show’s most upbeat, thematic songs replaying through the mind, you will feel just a bit more alive, per-haps even more normal.
by Kensie SmithStaff [email protected]
photos from nexttonomal.com/media
ALICE RIPLEY (above) playing Diana in “Next to Normal.” Ripley’s role in “Next to Normal” earned her a Tony Award in 2009 for best actress in a musical performance.
CO-STARS (right) Ripley and Jeremy Kushnier performed in “Next to Normal” at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines from March 16 to 20, 2011. The show investigates Ripley’s struggle with bipolar disorder, its treatments and effects.
Missed “Normal”? Check out the upcoming Willis Broadway Series’ shows at the DSM Civic Center.
“Rock of Ages” April 19 − 24“Young Frankenstein”May 3 − 8“Chicago The Musical” June 2 − 5
‘Angles’ released after five-year wait
Julian Casablancas has been pretty busy over the past five years from his solo project, his ap-pearance on the Danger Mouse and Sparkle-horse collaboration “Dark Night of the Soul” and a superb performance with the Lonely Is-land on the chorus to “Boombox.”
However, we haven’t heard much from his flagship group, the Strokes. “First Impressions of Earth” was released in 2006, and since then, the group has been pretty mum, other than the occasional rumors of a new album in the works. On March 22, the Strokes finally released “An-gles” to scores of drooling fans, eager to hear the garage rock gods that made flashy guitar hooks cool again.
During those five years off, however, it seems that the Strokes have actually been working on a time machine. One need only look at the styl-ized album art to see that this record is straight from the late ’70s and early ’80s—a colorful, geometric design that would be right at home on the sleeve of a release by Queen, The Po-lice, Cars, etc. It’s very fitting because more than ever, The Strokes are letting their influences show on “Angles.”
The guitar riff that closes out the opening track, “Machu Picchu,” is evocative of the song “Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’” by Michael Jackson. If you can’t hear The Police’s influ-ence on “Two Kinds of Happiness,” you must be deaf. And as usual, Casablancas models his crooning after Tom Verlaine from 1970’s CBGB mainstay band Television. Listening to tracks like “Under Cover of Darkness,” the Strokes’ interlocking, shimmering guitar lines harken back to the intricate work of Verlaine and Rich-ard Lloyd.
Name any rock or pop act that mattered from that era, and it’ll show up in some form or another on “Angles.” Granted, some artists may take offense at having their influences so easily identified and plucked out.
The Strokes do hold their own to be sure, but the sound of “Angles” is so distinctly new wave-esque that it’s hard to say that they are breaking much new ground musically. In fact, sometimes the essence of the ’80s is a bit too ubiquitous. Rarely does one find so much reverb heavy snare hits on a modern album. There’s a reason for that; it’s so hard to hear that particu-lar sound without associating it with the dark, over-synthesized pop music hell-scape that was
the mid to late 1980s. Tracks like “Games” and “Two Kinds of
Happiness” at times sound like the drums were recorded in a cave miles away from the studio. Setting aside my personal bias to 80’s drum recording techniques, drum machines used in tracks like “You’re So Right” seem unnecessary and distract from what are otherwise well writ-ten and well produced songs.
Certainly, everything has its place in the mu-sic world, but on “Angles,” a lot of it seems out of place. This release was a more collaborative effort for the Strokes, allowing all members of the group to have input in the songwriting pro-cess.
However, there are points where the tunes sound awkward — as if one member wrote the verse and another member wrote the chorus, perhaps most flagrantly on “Machu Picchu.” This results in an album with songs whose tran-sitions sound forced. In fact, some of the tunes sound more like a band attempting to write a Strokes song than an actual song written by the Strokes. There is a lack of organic flow to the record, which is a real shame considering how successful the Strokes were in their previous ef-forts like “Is this It.”
“Angles,” however has many redeeming qualities. The guitar work here is as polished as it has ever been, with a myriad of shiny infec-tious lines. The song “Gratisfaction” has a beat so catchy it’s sinful.
Check out “Taken for a Fool,” “Under Cover of Darkness” and “Life is Simple in the Moon-light” as well. There are a lot of solid tracks on “Angles” that are totally worth the time (and at 35 minutes, it’s not much time to sacrifice). The album just suffers from a general awkward feel-ing that’s hard to shake. Really, the Strokes are just cursed; it’s hard to make a rock ‘n’ roll al-bum much better than “Is this It.” But God bless ‘em for trying.
by Frank MerchlewitzStaff [email protected]
“”
Certainly, everything has its place in the music world, but on “Angles,” a lot of it seems out of place.
A band that has been off the charts since 2006 has surfaced again with a genre of its own
Get the background story on The StokesMembers:of Julian Casablancas, Nick Valensi, Albert Hammond, Jr., Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio MorettiAlbums:“Is This It” (2001), “Room on Fire” (2003), “First Impressions of Earth” (2006) and “Angles” (2011)
photo from new.thestrokes.com
‘Next To Normal’ presents heavy theme and strong vocalsTHEATER REVIEW
ALBUM REVIEW
THE TIMES-DELPHIC SPORTS THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 | PAGE 6
sportsSenior defensive linemen Dain Taylor and Andrew Asbell had a chance to work out in front of the best on Tuesday, performing physical tests for NFL scouts. Asbell performed a series of speed, leaping and defensive linemen drills for a scout from the Philadelphia Eagles, while Taylor travelled north to Ames to work out for 25 different scouts with other Iowa State players vying for NFL stardom.
PRIMETIMEPERFORMERS
The season came to a close for the Drake women’s basketball squad when it failed to get past the Missouri State Bears in the State Farm MVC Tournament quarterfinals.
Drake fell behind at the half 47-30, but was able to make a game of it thanks to junior Ra-chael Hackbarth and senior Kristin Turk, who combined for 51 points. The comeback attempt fell short and the Bulldogs lost 86-77.
The team was incapable of figuring out a dynamic Missouri State team for the third time this season. Not only did the Bulldogs get swept by the Bears, but they also surrendered a whop-ping 89 points per game in their three contests.
“Missouri State seemed to play really well against us, which was frustrating,” Turk said. “They hit shots that they don’t usually hit. We made a run at the end, but it was too little, too late.”
And with that, Drake had to go back home with no postseason tournament for the third consecutive year. The Bulldogs finished 15-15 overall and 9-9 in the Valley, good for sixth in the conference.
“I wish our record could’ve reflected our hard work and determination,” Turk said. “We fought hard, which I think will carry on to next year’s team and help the program grow as a whole.”
While this young Bulldog squad felt some growing pains throughout the course of the season, there were also a lot of memorable mo-ments and bright spots during the year.
For a team with only two seniors, the Bull-dogs hung tough in the Valley, earning notable victories over Illinois State and rival Creighton. Not only that, but Drake had some quality wins during its non-conference schedule.
Over Thanksgiving break the team cap-tured the Hilton Garden Inn Northern Arizona Thanksgiving Tournament by throttling Cen-tral Michigan and host Northern Arizona. The team also came close to defeating Wisconsin, another quality opponent.
“With every game we only got better and by the end of the second half of conference, we were connecting on all parts,” junior Alex Montgomery said. “It was fun to get better and improve and see the results in the wins we got.”
And while the season might have ended ear-ly for the Bulldogs, there is still a lot of promise for next year’s young squad. The biggest chal-
lenge, however, may be replacing Turk’s offen-sive prowess.
“Turk will be greatly missed on both ends of the court, but everyone just has to step up their game one more notch,” Montgomery said.
The Des Moines native had a career year, leading the Bulldogs in scoring, assists and steals. Turk finished the season averaging 20 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.7 steals per game. She led the conference in scoring and steals as well and was named to the All-MVC first team for the only time in her career.
In order for the Bulldogs to remain competi-tive in the MVC they will need their upperclass-men to step up their game and their young play-ers to contribute even more.
“I think being a senior next year, my role will change, and I will have to be more of a leader than I have been in the past,” Montgomery said.
Junior co-captains Amber Wollschlager and Hackbarth will have to be huge in order for Drake to have a successful year.
“Rachael is going to be huge from a lead-ership standpoint on and off the court,” Turk said. “She was playing extremely well at the end of the season, and if she has a good offseason, she could own the Valley next year.”
Hackbarth will have to get used to more contact and more double-teams. Without Turk on the court for the outside-inside game, Hack-barth will command extra attention from the rest of the MVC, as she also had the best season of her career, averaging 14.6 points and 8.1 re-bounds per game.
Drake will also get back junior Brittnye Mc-Sparron, who has torn her ACL the last two seasons.
“She is playing some of her best basketball right now, and she is going to be a stud next year,” Turk said.
The Bulldogs also get back freshman Angela Christianson, who missed the last 10 games of the season for the Bulldogs (except for the one minute of action she got in the MVC quarterfi-nal). She was the team’s third leading scorer and will need to increase her production.
With the continuing growth of this young Bulldog squad and the return of some pivotal players, Drake might just be able to gear up for another competitive year in the Valley. They will need to continue improving, but the squad still has high expectations for next season.
“My expectations for next season only go up from this year,” Montgomery said. “I think as a team we will build off of the end of this year and only get better.”
Tourney loss shuts door on seasonWOMEN’S BASKETBALL
by Eduardo ZamarripaStaff [email protected]
Third loss to Missouri State ensures 15-15 finish for Drake
CONNOR MCCOURTNEY | photo editor
JUNIOR RACHAEL HACKBARTH passes the ball away from a pair of defenders. Hackbarth is sure to see more double teams next year with the graduation of the team’s leading scorer, senior Kristin Turk (23), but appears up for the challenge after ending the season with four straight 20-point games.
After Drake finished the Bayer Crop Science Classic with two wins and three losses, they re-sponded with five wins and one loss last week. The Bulldogs’ overall record is now 15-11, and the team has opened up MVC play at 3-0.
Drake lost to Pacific before it took down St. Mary’s College and Northern Illinois, then won three straight against Missouri Valley Confer-ence rival Indiana State last weekend.
“Being on a five-game win streak is a new feeling for sure,” senior Jenna DeLong said. “It feels great to get off to such a good start right out of the shoot in conference play.”
DeLong took the circle in the first match-up against Indiana State, winning 2-0 and moving her record to 8-4 on the season. Brynne Dordel started the second game, but it was DeLong giving her the early lead with a first inning solo home run. In the middle of the fourth, Indiana State held the lead at 3-1 thanks to two home runs, but didn’t keep the lead for long. Fresh-man Jordan Gronewold hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the fourth, and Drake went on to win 5-4.
“It’s a team sport, and we are really starting to play like it,” DeLong said. “Every play con-tributes to our wins.”
Drake took on Indiana State for the third time in two days on Sunday, coming out with another victory over the Sycamores. DeLong moved to 9-4 on the season in the circle and hit yet another lead-off home run, her sixth of the season. DeLong shut out the Sycamore offense and allowed only two hits, and she received help on the offensive side with two hits from junior Torey Craddock and one from senior Erin Mol-lohan.
The Bulldogs started the MVC season at 3-0 for the first time under head coach Rich Cal-vert and are tied for first with Southern Illinois (3-0) and Illinois State (2-0). With such a long conference season for softball, getting out to an undefeated start is crucial for Drake, as every
win brings it closer to its season goal. “Our focus is one game at a time, and we
can’t focus on past success or failure,” DeLong said. “It’s important we focus on the game at hand and forget about the rest, otherwise, we might end up losing sight of what we are trying to achieve, which is an MVC title.”
The Bulldogs will continue MVC play this weekend, traveling to Peoria, Ill., to face the Bradley Braves this Saturday and Sunday. Brad-ley is 0-2 in the Missouri Valley and is ninth in the conference.
Drake wins five straight, starts MVC play 3-0SOFTBALL
by Blake MillerStaff [email protected]
FILE PHOTO
SENIOR ERIN MOLLOHAN tosses the ball back to the pitcher. Mollohan has provided a consistent bat in the lineup this season, hitting .293 while starting 25 of Drake’s 26 games behind the plate. Mollohan also leads the team defensively with 161 putouts, and has thrown out 12 runners on the basepaths.
Red-hot Bulldogs sweep three-game set over Sycamores
HOW IT HAPPENED: The sixth seed Bulldogs fell 86-77 to the third seed Missouri State in the quarterfinals of the State Farm MVC tournament in St. Charles, Mo., on March 11. The Bears built up a 17-point lead at the half, and Drake’s 47-point rally in the second half was not enough to advance to the semifinals. Senior Kristin Turk scored 25 points in her final game, and junior Rachael Hackbarth continued her strong finish to the season with 26 points and nine rebounds. The Bears advanced to the tournament final, where they were ousted by regular-season champion and top seed Northern Iowa.
>>Season ends with loss in MVC quarterfinals
compiled by Matt Moran | Sports Editor | [email protected]
BATTING AVERAGE1. Jenna DeLong, .3552. Sam West, .3152. Molly McClelland, .315
HOME RUNS1. DeLong, 62. Torey Craddock, 43. Erin Mollohan, 3
RUNS BATTED IN1. DeLong, 182. Mollohan, 163. Craddock, 15
>>2011 Season Stats
PAGE 7 | THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 SPORTS THE TIMES-DELPHIC
MEN
Drake posted a perfect 4-0 record over Spring Break. The Bulldogs posted wins over Saint Louis, the University of Alabama-Birmingham and Murray State, but the trip down south was highlighted by a 4-3 win over the Memphis Ti-gers that pushed the team all the way into a No. 71 spot on the Intercollegiate Tennis Associa-tion’s national rankings.
The Bulldogs started off their trip in St. Louis against the Billikens. The team’s first out-door match of the season was a brief one, as the Drake squad clearly had more talent through-out its doubles and singles lineups.
Drake swept the three opening doubles matches, as the team lost only seven games in total throughout all three matches. Senior Mau-ricio Ballivian and sophomore Anis Ghorbel played at the top spot for the Bulldogs and post-ed an 8-3 win, which was matched at No. 3 dou-bles by sophomore Ryan Drake and freshman Robin Goodman. Sophomores James McKie and Jean Erasmus made quick work of their op-ponents at No. 2 doubles with an 8-1 victory.
The squad was equally dominant in singles, as Ballivian, McKie and Goodman were able to rush out to precise wins and clinch the match at 4-0. Drake was within reach of victory at the three remaining singles positions, but the coaches agreed to end the match as the result was already determined.
The team then travelled to Birmingham, Ala., to take on the Blazers of UAB. The Blazers pro-vided stiffer competition than Saint Louis, but the Bulldogs claimed a 5-2 victory. The Drake squad started out the match in familiar fashion by winning the doubles point after Ballivian and Ghorbel as well as Erasmus and McKie posted wins at first and second doubles, respectively.
Drake extended its lead to an insurmountable 4-0 soon after singles began on the strength of straight-set victories by Goodman, Ghorbel and Erasmus at the fifth, fourth and second spots, respectively. UAB took one of its two matches against junior Jonathan Hadash, who retired in the third set. McKie pushed Drake’s lead to 5-1 after a three-set win at No. 3 singles, but UAB took another match over Ballivian to settle the final score at 5-2 in favor of the Bulldogs.
Next, the Bulldogs travelled to Memphis, Tenn., to take on the Memphis Tigers. Mem-phis had been ranked as high as No. 53 in the nation earlier this year, but the team has since dropped out of the national rankings. None-theless, Drake’s epic 4-3 win over the Tigers is
arguably the most impressive win of the season so far.
Unlike previous victories, the Bulldogs failed to capture the doubles point against the Tigers. The only victory was by Ballivian and Ghor-bel, who have once again cracked the national doubles rankings, resting at No. 72. The duo won 8-5, but the remaining two doubles teams weren’t so fortunate. Drake and Goodman lost 5-8, while McKie and Erasmus lost 6-8.
The Bulldogs’ situation started to look grim in singles as well, as all six players lost the first set in their matches. The Tigers were merely six sets away from capturing a 7-0 sweep of the Bulldogs, but Drake mounted an epic comeback sparked by Ghorbel’s play at the No. 4 position. After losing the first set 2-6, Ghorbel turned the match around and lost only three more games throughout the match as he took the next two sets 6-3 and 6-0.
The Tigers responded with a win over McK-ie at No. 2 singles. Down 1-2, the Bulldogs captured the next three matches to clinch the match. Ballivian, Goodman and Erasmus each lost their first sets in tiebreakers, but came out in the deciding sets in dominant fashion to provide the squad with a match worthy of a national ranking.
The Bulldogs capped the trip with a 6-1 vic-tory over Murray State in Murray, Ky. Drake swept the doubles matches and won five of the six singles matches. The match also marked the return of junior Cesar Bracho, who missed most of last year and much of this season due to injury.
Drake will begin Missouri Valley Conference play this Saturday against the Creighton Blue-jays in Omaha, Neb.
WOMEN
The Drake women’s tennis team won half of its matches during its Spring Break trip to Orlando, Fla., last week, posting victories over Bucknell and Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Bulldogs started their four-match trip against Coastal Carolina University in their first outdoor match this spring season. Drake was dealt a 1-6 defeat by Coastal Carolina, but Drake’s lone senior Jessica Labarte put in a strong performance in both doubles and singles.
Labarte teamed up with junior Amanda Ara-gon to win 8-2 at the third doubles slot, but the remaining teams of Jess Aguilera and Manca Krizman, and Gabby Demos and Klavdija Re-bol couldn’t garner victories.
Coastal Carolina extended its lead to 4-0 by defeating Rebol, Krizman and Ali Patterson before Labarte put Drake on the scoreboard. Labarte’s straight-set win made her perfect on the day, but Aguilera and Aragon also dropped
their matches to fill out the final score.Next, Drake battled Jacksonville for the first
time in school history. Despite dominating dou-bles, the Bulldogs dropped all six singles match-es to lose 1-6.
Drake clinched the doubles point by winning at the first and third slots. Demos and Krizman won 8-6, while Patterson and Rebol won 8-4. Labarte and Aragon, who won at No. 3 doubles the last match, lost 0-8 in the second slot.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Jacksonville was too talented at singles, as each Drake player lost in straight sets to their opponent.
The Bulldogs took on Bucknell in their next match, and the dominance in doubles contin-ued. Drake swept all three doubles matches to take an early 1-0 lead.
The first match finished in singles play was at the fifth spot, where Patterson retired from the match down 2-5 in the first set. Aguilera and Demos retaliated with straight-set victories to put the Bulldogs up 3-1. Krizman fell at the top singles slot to put the match at 3-2 in favor of Drake, and it was the freshman Rebol who pushed the team to victory after a straight-set
win at the second spot. The final score ended at 4-3 in favor of the Bulldogs as Aragon lost at the sixth position.
The Bulldogs ended their trip to Florida on a high note by defeating Fairleigh Dickinson 5-2. Once again the key to victory for Drake was winning the doubles point, which they did on the strength of wins at the second and third doubles positions.
The Bulldogs quickly sealed the victory in singles, as Aragon, Rebol, Aguilera and Kriz-man all won in straight sets to grant Drake victory at 5-0. Demos and Labarte lost their matches to set the final score at 5-2 in favor of Drake.
The Bulldogs stand with an 8-6 record, which gives them more wins entering conference play than they had throughout the entire season last year.
The Times-Delphic will have a full report of Drake’s Wednesday matchup against Nebraska-Omaha in Monday’s issue.
Men earn national ranking with 4-0 weekTENNIS
by Dominic JohnsonStaff [email protected]
CONNOR MCCOURTNEY | photo editor
FRESHMAN KLAVDIJA REBOL (left) returns a backhand shot while junior teammate Gabby Demos looks on. Rebol notched a victory last Friday over Bucknell to push Drake to a 4-3 triumph, and she was named MVC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for her efforts.
Bulldogs sweep Wichita State at Charlie Thomas Memorial Row
Drake swings into sixth at Jackrabbit Invitational
ROWING GOLF
The Drake women’s rowing team won all six races at the Charlie Thomas Me-morial Row in Wichita, Kan., on March 12.
In its first race of the spring season, the rowing team swept head coach Charlie DiSilvestro’s alma matter.
“Sweeping the race helped boost the team’s confidence and is definitely a step in the right direction,” junior captain Hil-ary Dietz said.
The 1,600-meter dual on the Arkansas River between Drake and Wichita State was in memory of former Wichita State coach Charlie Thomas.
“Charlie Thomas was my coach at WSU and was instrumental to my train-ing out east,” DiSilvestro said. “He played a big part in my life in keeping me focused in my athletics in college, and showed me that if I trained hard I could do really well. He was the first coach that really helped me that way and was a great motivator.”
In the first race of the day, Drake’s nov-ice four squad beat the Shockers by eight seconds.
Drake’s varsity eight boat posted the best women’s time for the day in its first race with 6 minutes, 17 seconds to beat the Shocker varsity eight by five seconds. In its second race, Drake’s varsity eight posted a time of 6:23 to win again.
The junior varsity eight crew pulled away slightly at the end to narrowly beat the Wichita State boat, with a time of 6:55.18 compared to the Shockers’ 6:58.49.
The Bulldogs won the junior varsity four race with a time of 7:54.41 after pull-ing away in the last 700 meters.
In the last race of the day, Drake’s nov-ice eight boat won with an eight-second advantage over the Wichita State novice eight, crossing the finish line at 7:25.44.
“The race reflected our work indoors and during the winter training camp,” DiSilvestro said. “We lost to Wichita [State] in the fall, so the win showed im-provements and quicker boats.”
Dietz said she also thought the race dis-played how the team’s training had paid off.
“The race demonstrated that the team came off our winter season really well and is excited to be back on the water and in the competitive spring racing season,” she said.
Following the regatta, the team contin-ued on the road to Catoosa, Okla., for a one week training trip. The team used the University of Tulsa’s indoor facilities and boathouse for daily practices.
Due to high winds, the Tulsa Regatta versus Drake, scheduled for March 16, was canceled.
In place of the regatta, the teams held informal races in an effort to scope out what other NCAA Division I rowing
teams are bringing to the spring season of competition.
“The training trip went really well. The racing against Tulsa was good,” DiSil-vestro said. “They’re a very good team, probably one of the top 30 teams in the country this year. Having a varsity eight competitive with their boats was good. It also showed us the [varsity] four and [junior varsity] eight need to really work hard to get to the next level.”
Not officially racing in Tulsa leaves the Bulldogs with only four races to go.
“With less than a month left before conference, we’re on the right track,” DiSilvestro said. “We set our goal to win conference; that’s not going to be easy. All three boats need to come together as crews, not just physically and technically, but mentally. The girls need to be trusting that each of them is training hard so that when we get out to Princeton, [N.J.,] there is no doubt in anyone’s mind.”
The team’s next race is April 2. The varsity eight will be racing in Shelton, Conn., at the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference Invitational and the rest of the team will be at Creighton in Omaha, Neb.
“Our training with Tulsa allowed us to see a really competitive team with a strong work ethic,” Dietz said. “It reminded us that we need to step it up and put every-thing into our training and upcoming rac-es to get the payoff we want, winning the MAAC conference championship.”
by Monica WorsleyStaff [email protected]
The Drake men’s golf team traveled to Primm, Nev., to participate in the Jackrabbit Invitational, hot off a win in the Quintero Invitational in early March. The tournament was hosted by South Dakota State from March 14-15 at the Primm Valley Golf Club and included a total of 16 teams in the field.
The team placed sixth overall out of the 16 team field, shooting a combined score of 864 over the two-day, three-round tournament. While there was a solid team effort, the se-nior leadership was increasingly evident over the tournament. Head coach Scott Bohlender said he feels he is able to rely on his seniors to get the job done.
“Coming into the year, we weren’t sure where our leader-ship was going to come from,” Bohlender said. “[I told] them [seniors] how I saw them being good leaders of the guys in the program, and that they may have to do something leadership-wise that they may not be comfortable doing, but they have really stepped it up.”
The individual performance of senior Ben Freeman was es-pecially telling of the way the Bulldogs played in Nevada. He jumped from a fourth-place tie at the end of the first day to finish in tie for third.
Freeman started off well in his first round, shooting a 67. He continued his streak by shooting a 71 in round two and then netted a scorching 66 in his final round for a total of 204. He said he felt satisfied with his play.
“Well, I played pretty well,” Freeman said. “I hit the ball really well and saw some putts go in -- overall a pretty good showing.”
Freeman was coming off of a first-place finish in the Quin-tero Invitational. He was also awarded the MVC Golfer of the Week when the team played back-to-back tournaments from Feb. 26 to March 1. Freeman said he was honored by the rec-ognition but didn’t want to let it get to his head.
“It felt really good. It feels good to be recognized,” he said. “I hope to keep improving and get another one or two [weekly awards].”
Other significant performances included seniors Cody Sch-weinefus and Brad Reierson. Schweinefus scored a 209 overall for a 10th place finish, and Reierson tied for 52nd shooting a 224.
The rest of the team did not finish as well, but Freeman said it is all in each athlete’s own play.
“You can only go out and take care of yourself,” he said. “The scores kind of take care of themselves, and you post good numbers.”
With only one more tournament to go before the State Farm MVC Championship, Bohlender said while he was happy with the team’s performance at the Jackrabbit Invitational, he feels the team has room to improve.
“We didn’t play as well against the Big 12 schools as we would have liked,” he said. “We played really well against the mid-majors. And I felt pretty good about it. Our ultimate goal is working towards conference, and that will be the thing we look forward to.”
by Tad UnruhStaff [email protected]
photo courtesy of TAYLOR ARMSTRONG
THE DRAKE WOMEN’S ROWING TEAM edges out a Wichita State boat. The Bulldogs won all six races in the dual meet on March 12. Drake returns to action on April 2, when the varsity competes in the MAAC Invitational and the junior varsity squad takes on Creighton.
Women spend Spring Break in Florida and return with two victories
Last week, six Drake students drove 13 hours to Chavies, Ky., to work over their Spring Break instead of relaxing at a beach.
The students rebuilt the underpinning of a trailer—the area between the trailer and the ground. They worked long hours and dug trenches, put boards up to make it more sturdy, leveled wooden planks and dug some more if it wasn’t level. They completed all this, even though it rained the first two days.
“We got down and dirty,” Michelle Markie-
wicz said. Markiewicz was the only sophomore of the group.
Drake’s Director of Campus Programming and Student Activities Board Adviser Tasha Stiger led the students since it was through stu-dent life programming. There were four first-years: Lucy Stanke, Tanaya Thomas, Samantha Carlson and Katie Elder. Colton Davis, gradu-ating next December, also went on the trip.
“We thought it would be weird because he was the only guy, but he fit in just fine,” Mar-kiewicz said.
The Drake group spent the week with oth-er students from Indiana and an adult church group from Wisconsin. They bunked in cabins with 20 to 30 beds in a single room. They were
split into small groups to work on separate sites. All seven volunteers from Drake worked on the same trailer that housed a family of four.
They family has two daughters, ages 1 and 3. The 1-year-old has a rare genetic bone dis-order, small lungs and had birth complications, Markiewicz said. The Appalachia Service Proj-ect fixes up people’s homes, which in turn helps them feel better about themselves.
“It was just kind of sad to see how they lived,” Markiewicz said. The family didn’t have running water for two to three days. She added the experience made them appreciate the fact that they had bathrooms with flushing toilets and showers that worked.
At the end of the week, Markiewicz said the
family was so happy, especially since they didn’t have to run after the previously broken paneling of the underpinning.
“Even though it was Spring Break and every-one goes to the Bahamas or the beach, it shows you how appreciative you have to be,” Markie-wicz said. “It was a full day of work, but it was worth it in the end.”
After seven days together, the students haven’t stopped talking—even after returning to Des Moines.
“We’re all really close now which I never thought we would; we’re all such a random group,” Markiewicz said. “It’s weird—we’re like a family now.”
THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2011 | PAGE 8 FEATURESTHE TIMES-DELPHIC
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photos from TASHA STIGER
by Lizzie [email protected]
Spring Break away from the sand but in the dirt
