Fall 2017
Keeping the buzz Ian McKenzie steps up to make a difference for the environment.
Holiday Drinks to Keep You Warm | Stay Stylish at an Interview
A Note from the
Editor When you go to college, you expect to learn a lot. It’s what you came for: to get the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in your field. But you also learn life skills, like how to do laundry, how to manage your budget, how to cook for yourself without burning the building down. Perhaps most importantly, you learn about yourself, and on a campus as small as Simpson’s, you learn about others. Even so, it’s impossible to know everyone’s journey. So take a look at these Simpson stories highlighting a person’s adventure at Simpson. Learn how Ian McKenzie got started taking care of bees in “The Keeper of The Bees” (page 28). Hear about what it was like for Rosa Gude to step outside of campus to set foot in Italy to benefit her music talent in “Small Campus, Big World” (page 20). Discover the stories and perspectives of Simpson students and how gun violence affected their lives in “Gun Violence, a New Norm for the US (page 24). Lastly, adventure outside of campus to eat at some tucked away restaurants to try in “Hidden Foods of Des Moines” (page 10). Welcome to the Fall 2017 edition of ID Magazine. We hope you enjoy!
ID Magazine Editor-in-Chief Jayde Vogeler
Advertising Manager Baillee Furst
Photography Jonathan Facio Madison Hermon Jayde Vogeler
Design Jonathan Facio Jayde Vogeler
Special Thanks: Mark Siebert What are your reactions to this edition of ID Magazine? Email idmagazine@ simpson.edu to share your thoughts. Also check out ID Magazine’s website at idmagsc.com.
Copyright © 2017 ID Magazine is created and produced by students at Simpson College. Opinions stated or implied by the magazine are those of the students involved and are not approved or endorsed by Simpson College no material may be reproduced without written permission send all comments, questions and concerns to idmagazine@ simpson.edu.
Jayde Vogeler Editor-in-Chief
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Editorial Philosophy: ID Magazine is a publication created for Simpson Students. Our main goal is to share the many personallities of our student body and vice some of our perspective in regards to the world around us. We want to maintain an aesthetic that appears to our young people. Of course we want to be taken seriously, but this is not your mother’s magazine.
Britteny Johnson Zoe Seiler
Johanna Beierle
Gun Violence, a New Norm in the US pg 24
Jonathan Facio
Rosa Gude
Style Wise pg 14
Megan Myers
Hidden Foods of Des Moines pg 11
The Keeper of the Bees pg 28
Going Against the Grain at Simpson pg 22
Dorm Room Desserts pg 7
Madison DePover
Hidden Foods of Des Moines pg 11
Morgan Frideres
Laura Wiersema
Editorial Staff
Small Campus, Big World pg 20
Making Spirits Bright pg 6 3
Table of 24
pg
4
Making Spirits Bright
6
Hidden Foods of Des Moines
10
Dorm Room Desserts
7
Style Wise
14
Contents 10
pg
28
pg
Small Campus, Big World
20
Going Against the Grain
22
Gun Violence: a New Norm in the U.S.
24
The Keeper of the Bees
28 5
Making Spirits
Bright
Story and photos by Megan Myers Design by Jayde Vogeler
Holiday Sangria Combine in pitcher: 1 bottle of red wine 1 cup cranberry juice 1 cup Sprite Optional: 1/3 cup Smirnoff Pineapple Vodka Stir in: 1 sliced apple 1 sliced orange 1 handful of cranberries
Apple Margarita Combine and Stir: ½ oz. lime flavored vodka 1 oz. tequila 5 oz. apple cider Garnish with sliced apple and cinnamon stick. Serve over ice.
Combine and Stir: 1 serving of hot chocolate ½ shot of RumChata ½ shot of Smirnoff Peppermint Twist Top with whipped cream and add a candy cane.
Serve chilled Aldi carries a brand of wine called Winking Owl that has a variety of wine flavors around $3.
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Hot Chocolate with aTwist
Dorm Room
Desserts
Don’t let dorm life hold you back from quality desserts. An oven isn’t always needed to bake desserts. A waffle iron is a way to bake delicious treats.
You can make a lot of different foods in a waffle iron, from hash browns to French toast. If you’re looking for a decadent dessert, try out these three recipes for some easy-to-make cake waffles. Story by Morgan Frideres
Phot os b y
Jon ath an Fac io De sig n
de ay yJ
b
ler ge Vo
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Red Velvet
Start to finish: 7-9 min | Servings: 5-10 Ingredients Extra moist red velvet box cake (plus ingredients indicated on box) Cream cheese frosting 1 quart vanilla ice cream Whipped topping (optional) Plug in the waffle iron so it has time to heat up. Prepare the cake batter as indicated on the box. Then scoop a cup full of batter and pour into the waffle iron. Check on the waffle after two minutes and cook until golden brown. Remove with a fork or tongs. Let the waffle cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile melt a half cup of frosting in the microwave at 30 second intervals until melted. Drizzle the melted frosting over the waffle and add three scoops of ice cream. Top it off with whipped topping and sprinkles. Serve immediately.
Cookies ‘n’ Cream Start to finish: 7-9 min | Servings: 5-10
Ingredients Extra moist devil’s food cake box mix (plus ingredients indicated on box) Vanilla butter cream frosting (or frosting of choice) Cookies ‘n’ cream ice cream Package of regular stuff Oreos Whipped topping (optional) Chocolate syrup (optional) Plug in the waffle iron so it has time to heat up. Prepare the cake batter as indicated on the box. Then scoop a cup full of batter and pour into the waffle iron. Check on the waffle after two minutes and cook until solid. Remove with a fork or tongs. Let the waffle cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile melt a half cup of frosting in the microwave at 30 second intervals until melted. Drizzle the melted frosting over the waffle and add three scoops of ice cream. Top it off with whipped topping, Oreos and chocolate syrup. Serve immediately.
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Birthday Cake
Start to finish: 7-9 min | Servings: 5-10 Ingredients Extra moist funfetti box cake (plus ingredients indicated on box) Vanilla buttercream frosting (or frosting of choice) Vanilla ice cream Whipped topping (optional) Sprinkles (optional) Plug in the waffle iron so it has time to heat up. Prepare the cake batter as indicated on the box. Then scoop a cup full of batter and pour into the waffle iron. Check on the waffle after two minutes and cook until golden brown. Remove with a fork or tongs. Let the waffle cool for a few minutes. Meanwhile melt a half cup of frosting in the microwave at 30 second intervals until melted. Drizzle the melted frosting over the waffle and add three scoops of ice cream. Top it off with whipped topping and sprinkles. Serve immediately.
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Hidden Foods
Bubbly Tea House
Story and photos by Laura Wiersema
2312 University Ave., Des Moines
- of -
Des Moines Des Moines is not a huge city. All it takes is a few trips to familiarize yourself with roads and landmarks. What you might be missing, though, are some holein-the-wall, diamond in the rough restaurants. Whether it’s drinks or dinner, domestic or worldly, you can find it in Des Moines. It may be a small city, but it’s not smallminded when it comes to food.
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t’s time to put down the coffee and pick up some tea. No, not the kind of tea your 80-year-old grandma drinks. There’s a new tea in town and there’s only one place to get it: Bubbly Tea House in Des Moines. Established in February 2017, Bubbly is located on University Avenue in the Drake Neighborhood and is the only place in the greater Des Moines area to offer bubble tea. Chances are you’ve seen someone drink bubble, or boba, tea before. You might have even wondered what the blackishbrown goop is at the bottom of their drink, or why their straw is so big. Originally from Taiwan, it is an iced, tea-based drink with chewy, tapioca bubbles, also known as boba or pearls, at the bottom.
Design by Jayde Vogeler
tea. It’s a refreshing iced drink, brewed with black tea and milk to make it creamy with the pearls sitting in the bottom. Other venues in Des Moines have milk tea on their menu, but only Bubbly has the bubbles. For those who aren’t fond of having to chew their drink, Bubbly offers smoothies and other flavored teas, like strawberry and mango, served without the pearls. You can also choose from flavored boba, which burst open with juice when bitten into, like those found in frozen yogurt restaurants.
The only menu item to automatically come with these bubbles is also their most popular one: the signature pearl Signature Pearl Tea
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The Cheese Bar
Story and photo by Madison DePover
2925 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines
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ocated in the heart of restaurant row on Ingersoll Avenue, the Cheese Bar invites all cheese lovers of Des Moines to dine with one thing in mind: cheese. The Cheese Bar’s grand opening in June replaced the Cheese Shop of Des Moines from its basement to churn out a great community place with an extensive menu of cheese items for everyone. You walk in the door and immediately are hit with the amazing smells of all the food. They serve grilled cheese, mac and cheese and more. When you sit down you get a feel of the community right away with two long tables put together for seating that is very communal along with a bar.
in. The Soon to be Famous Cast Iron Mac & Cheese is a great try. A great time to go is during happy hours called “Bubbles and Bites”. It is Tuesday through Friday 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. For $5, adults can get food or drinks, or as they call it “bubbles and bites.” The Cheese Bar is usually a busy place with great service and may have a wait for your food, but it will be well worth the wait. The Cheese Bar is a great community restaurant that is worth giving a try.
The service is very nice, with people who know a lot of information about what they are serving. Most of the employees also work at The Cheese Shop of Des Moines, giving great recommendations if you are not sure what you would like to try. As you look at the menu, it may be overwhelming because there are so many different items to try. If you are a cheese lover, all the options draw you
Soon to be Famous Cast Iron Mac & Cheese
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Krunkwich
Story by Madison DePover Photos by Madison DePover and Madison Hermon 2721 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines
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s a college student, you like to eat cheap, fast foods on a small budget, like the staple of ramen noodles. If you are someone that enjoys ramen noodles, try Krunkwich Ramen House on Ingersoll Avenue on restaurant row. They put a twist on the ramen you already love. Everyone can find something they will like, including vegetarian and vegan-friendly dishes. If you have a gluten allergy, their #22 Gluten Free Ramen dish is for you. Their ramen dishes vary from mild to spicy to fit each person’s liking. Even if you don’t like ramen they will still have something for you with a full menu including rice, sandwiches, and tots too. They have KrunkTots,
tater tots covered in cheese and spices or a sandwich, like the Pulled Pork “Cheesesteak” to pair with ramen.
The food is cooked to order and well prepared. You are able to sit down and enjoy a great meal in a unique place.
With a great atmosphere and unique experience, Krunkwich Ramen House is an enjoyable restaurant for anyone. The setup is like a fast food restaurant; you walk up to order at the counter and there will be no waiters or waitresses.
The owner really cares about how his food is prepared and showed it when his restaurant first opened. Back on April 15, 2015, opening day, the Krunkwich Ramen House had a great turn out of people that really enjoyed their food.
But the food is not that way at all.
But in the kitchen, they had some problems, running out of noodles at the end of the day and getting complaints that the noodles we still hard, and the owner wanted to fix this right away. Krunkwich waited six days to reopen the restaurant to better prepare their ramen. Opening with better products that are loved by many from then to now, Krunkwich Ramen House is a great place to try for any food lover.
Krunkwich Ramen – Chicken Tare, Pork Belly, Pulled Pork
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Palmer’s Deli & Market Des Moines, West Des Moines, Urbandale, Ankeny
Story and photo by Laura Wiersema
the price of a sandwich (about $7) + $3.50, you can get a full sandwich, a non-meat salad, a bag of chips, a pickle spear and a Palmer’s brownie or cookie. “I don’t know, $11 sounds like a lot for lunch.” Not so fast. The portions at Palmer’s are often so large, it’s not hard to get two full meals from a Box Lunch. Recently, Palmer’s on Ingersoll Avenue started serving breakfast on Saturdays as well. Of course, there are sandwiches. (It is a deli, after all.) But they can also serve you omelettes, from their menu or made to order, if you’d like. With everything from waffles to bacon on their menu, you can be sure you’ll get a breakfast fit for Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope. Palmer’s also understands that it can be hard for people to eat gluten-free. That’s why they offer a wide variety of gluten-free options including soups, sandwiches and salad dressings. Market turkey, garlic pasta and Palmer’s brownie
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ooking to get the most bang for your buck at lunchtime? Look no further than Palmer’s Deli & Market. With five locations in the Des Moines area, they’re never far away. In 1990, a year after opening their first location in Urbandale, Palmer’s introduced their best deal, The Box Lunch. For
Working an internship downtown during the school year? In the winter months, you don’t have to brave the cold, bitter winds to get this delicious bargain. You can find Palmer’s in the skywalk. No need to even put on a coat. Thinking of calling our bluff on how good they are? Then don’t take our word for it. Over the years, Palmer’s has received several awards. Des Moines Cityview has voted them the Best Deli for five years and Best Soup for six. Or, of course, you could just try it yourself.
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Style Wise Interviews can be scary enough, but finding the perfect outfit for your interview can be scarier. You want to make sure you look professional but not boring. When you are interviewing, the biggest struggle can be showing your personality. One way to showcase your personality is through your outfit. Here are four ways to show your personality in your interview ensemble.
Story by Johanna Beierle Photos and design by Jayde Vogeler Models: Allie Karpurk & David Goldsmith
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Allie decided on a black and white dress for this interview ensemble. She wore black heels and finished it off with a red jacket. Pops of color are a great way of catching the eye of the individual interviewing you. She added silver jewelry for extra shine. Pair this outfit with flats if heels are not your thing.
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Want to class it up? Add a watch and a tie clip for a little something extra.
David styled a blue suit for this interview ensemble. A suit may be needed when you are applying for a high-level internship or job. He paired the suit with brown dress shoes and a brown belt. You can switch brown out for black but remember to match your belt to your shoes. He finished off the look with a maroon tie.
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David paired khaki dress pants with a blue dress shirt under a grey sweater for this interview outfit. Switch out the blue dress shirt to customize to your liking for a pop of color. This look is great for a more laid back and creative environment. He paired the look with a brown belt and brown dress shoes.
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Add some bling! Pick a sparkly necklace or watch to make the look stand out.
Allie chose a pant suit for this interview look. This look is perfect for the colder months when you can’t wear a skirt or dress. She chose a pair of gingham dress pants and a bright red top. Switch out the pants for any fitted dress pants and pick any color top. She added a black pea coat and black heels to finish off the look.
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Small Campus,
Big World
Rosa Gude takes a step back to look at her experience abroad thanks to Simpson.
Story and photos by Rosa Gude Design by Jayde Vogeler The Simpson Music Department has a lot to offer its students, from two fully-staged productions per year, to recital and performance opportunities. As important as these are, it’s always a good idea for young performers to branch out and take chances to become better as an artist. Something I’ve learned since being at Simpson is that taking chances is worth it. There’s no doubt performing is scary, but not taking the risk could leave you with no chance at all of achievement. Without taking a risk, I would have never studied opera in Italy this past summer. Last January, Benjamin Wayne Smith, a stage director from the University of Memphis and the Italian summer program, Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti, was invited by Simpson College Opera Director Bernard McDonald to come and teach us how to become better actors. While there, Smith talked to us about the program in Lucca, Italy. This was right around the period of my sophomore year I was trying to figure out what I wanted to
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do after Simpson. I decided to take on Smith’s audition opportunity, thinking I might as well give it a shot. I forgot about it for a while until I received a confirmation email saying I was accepted into the program. Something I originally intended to be just for fun became a reality. Italy is pure bliss. The wine, food and people are perfect. Even better, I was living in Tuscany, the perfect first impression of Italy. When not studying, I traveled to Florence, Pisa, Siena and enjoying all Tuscany had to offer. Lucca had so many opportunities for performance since it’s the birthplace of famous opera composer, Giacomo Puccini. His music still influences their festivals and programs like the one I attended. While in the city, we toured his famous childhood home and performed for the Puccini Society, a group of individuals that work to preserve Lucca’s history. My classmates and I spent six hours in class per day. We had two hours of
Italian language, and filled the rest with coaching and lessons from some of the United States’ most prestigious teachers. I was fortunate to study with a professor from Sam Houston State University, as well as coach with Dean Williamson, director of the Nashville Symphony. My voice teacher and coaches at the school taught me how to shape my voice and my characters into ones I can take with me as I grow in opera.
“
I brought back so much from the program, including maturation in my voice and acting skills I didn’t have before.
- Rosa Gude
Each week, we prepared an opera aria or scene to perform. Our venues were gorgeous; the botanical gardens, Puccini’s summer home in Torre di lago and Piazza di Puccini in the heart of Lucca. I brought back so much from the program, including maturation in my voice and acting skills I didn’t have before. Simply going to another place by yourself can instill a certain confidence
Lucca
that adds to one’s character onstage. It helped me grow as a performer, and especially as a person.
Rome
Rosa performed “Terra e mare” in front of Puccini’s childhood summer home, torre di lago. She sang other arias and art songs for the Puccini Society.
I have no doubt my experiences in Lucca will help me find other opportunities like it. I think programs like Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti which incorporate cultural, language, and musical concepts are so beneficial to singers.
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Going Against the Grain at Simpson Eating on campus is not a walk in the park for students with different dietary needs and learn how to manage their lifestyle.
Story by Britteny Johnson
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Illustrations and design by Jayde Vogeler
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aking changes to your health and fitness can be hard. It’s even harder when the food available to you isn’t what you need. For some on this campus, it is hard to be truly vegan or vegetarian because of the lack of options available to them. For others, they are lucky to have someone who supports them and accommodates their needs. Sophomore Erayle Amacker became a vegan in May of 2017 and has been struggling to keep up her chosen lifestyle while on campus. In a hurry, Amacker ate a sandwich with meat on it because that was the only quick option that was available to her. She claimed that sometimes she must break her habits out of lack of convenience of vegan options and lack of time available to wait for food. During the summer at home, Amacker said that it was an easy transition becoming vegan. A lot of the food many people already have at home can make a delicious vegan meal. Amacker looked at Pinterest for ideas and found delicious vegan options. When she came back early to campus as the international UGA, she found the options were readily prepared in Pfeiffer, but once the rest of campus came back that changed. “Every day they would make a vegan meal for me and they said that would be how they continued to do it throughout the school year,” Amacker said. “But for breakfast lately, I would have to come in and have to remind them every day that I was there. They kept saying they would
have one tomorrow when I came in, but they never did.”
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I would have to come in and have to remind them every day that I was there.
-Erayle Amacker
Amacker said the hardest part of eating on campus has been the communication and the attitudes that she faces. “The communication of saying you are vegan is so much more difficult than if you are eating a burger, every time I would have to come and say ‘Hey, it’s me again.’ What are my vegan options, what can I get? They would always end up having to make it and they seemed to have an attitude.” Junior Emilie Hulse knew she was gluten-intolerant for the past four years. After getting three to four migraines a day and not wanting to take prescription medicine numerous times a day, her doctor suggested trying a gluten-free diet. She decided to give it a month try, and the results shocked her. “Within the first two days that I was on it (gluten-free diet) I was feeling a lot better. I didn’t have any migraines and it’s been pretty good since then,” Hulse said. Hulse spent one semester with a board plan her freshman year. The spring semester she moved in the Tri Delta sorority house and the house chef, Beth Elbert, has been more than accommodating to her dietary needs.
The few times Hulse has ate on campus since, she has either gotten sick or felt bad having to ask for gluten-free accommodations. “There have been instances where I’ve gotten sick on campus from food catching gluten,” Hulse said. “The times that I have eaten on campus, like camp week for cheer, they’ve been able to accommodate for me, but I feel bad because they have so much else to do, I wouldn’t want to have to do that every day.” Hulse says that the biggest thing that she wants people to know is that gluten clings to food and causes problems if gluten-free food touches gluten filled food. “It’s not just eating food that doesn’t have it, but eating things that haven’t touched gluten. It’s not something you can see or that you can brush off the crumbs,” Hulse said. “It sticks to the food and regardless if it was a piece of bread or something that was sitting off to the side, it’s contaminated and it can make someone sick.” Whether you have an alternative diet because of an intolerance or a disease or whatever reason you choose, finding the right foods is hard and you should be cautious. Knowing what is out there is important, and finding people to support you can make a world of difference.
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Gun violence: a new norm in the U.S. Story by Zoe Seiler Photos and design by Jayde Vogeler
Las Vegas. Sutherland Springs. San Bernardino. Orlando. Sandy Hook. Gun violence and mass shootings have become a regular in news cycle this year. This issue
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I was scared shitless to say the least. It was not a comfortable feeling. - Madi Strecker
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hits too close to home for Simpson students, leaving them wondering how someone could be so violent toward another human being.
High School Shooting Dec. 13, 2013, began as another normal day for freshman Madi Strecker at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado. She arrived around the same time as usual. She was preparing for finals by studying and meeting with teachers. Strecker sat in the cafeteria during fifth period waiting to meet with a teacher in the library, 30 feet from the cafeteria. On her way to the library, she was quickly pulled into the counseling office when gunshots started firing from the library. Arapahoe High School senior Karl Pierson brought a “bandolier of ammunition strapped to his chest. He carried a machete, three Molotov cocktails and the pump-action shotgun that authorities said he bought days before to avenge a grudge he had against his debate coach,” a Denver Post article said. At 12:30 p.m., Pierson entered the school searching for the debate coach. He fired his shotgun down a hallway, striking and killing another student. He fired a total of five times and ignited a Molotov cocktail that set three bookshelves on fire in the library, according to the Denver Post. Strecker sat in the counseling office for about an hour and half before being evacuated from the school. “I was scared shitless to say the least,” Strecker said. “It was not a comfortable feeling.” The school was placed on lockdown while authorities investigated the situation. At Arapahoe High School, students go into a room away from windows and sit on the floor. The lights
are turned off and doors and windows are locked. A shade is pulled over the door, Strecker said. “When you’re in lockdown, your security guards are supposed to check the doors, so when our door got checked it almost felt like someone was trying to get in, which didn’t help anything,” Strecker said. Luckily, students were safely evacuated and Strecker reunited with her family. Since the shooting happened the week before finals, the school cancelled finals and began winter break earlier than scheduled. Students returned the second or third week of January, Strecker said. “I was nervous. I hadn’t been in the school since that day,” Strecker said. “I would drive by it and it would give
Stricter guns laws would be a step in the right direction, Casaretto said, but all shootings cannot be prevented with more screening or stricter access to guns. “If we had the psychological examination in place before a person can buy a gun, that might catch some of that stuff, but mental health can change instantly,” Casaretto said. Gun owners have their reasons for having guns. Non-owners have their reasons for not having a gun. Both sides of the argument seem to simplify the argument too much. “One side says ‘Well, I’m a free person I can buy this gun if I want it’, while the other side says ‘I’m a free person, I want to live.’ Both sides don’t try to see the other side,” Casaretto said.
me anxiety.”
Losing a Friend
Unfair Blame
Sophomore Monica Dale joined the shooting team at Wilmot Union High School in Burlington, Wisconsin. This is where she met her friend Darin, a funloving kid who enjoyed skeet shooting.
When a mass shooting happens, some first thoughts are, “It was a terrorist attack, the shooter was connected to ISIS.” In some instances that has been the case, like in San Bernardino, California. But not every shooting has that religious connection. Senior Andrea Casaretto, who practices Islam, fears shooters are Muslim when she hears about a shooting and feels blamed for one person’s actions. “To me, it’s a violation of our religious principles, to kill innocent people,” Casaretto said. “Every other Muslim gets worried about who will retaliate against [them] or is someone going to beat up [their] kid while they’re at school. We all get blamed for that even though we don’t have anything to do with it. It’s not fair.”
“He was honestly one of the funniest kids I have ever met in my entire life,” Dale said. “He was one of those people that tried to act tough and cool, but was super funny underneath. He would always be laughing around and joking with us.” Over the summer, Darin unexpectedly took his own life when he shot himself. He didn’t leave a note. There was no indication this would happen. It was hard for her to believe she had lost a good friend. Her mom sat her down after work one day and told her the news. “I was like ‘Mom, I just saw him two
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days ago and he was smiling,’” Dale said. “He was getting the same thing he always did, which was Cinnamon Melts and a Big Mac. He was just him.” It was hard for Dale to understand what happened. It didn’t hit her until she attended Darin’s funeral. “I was like ‘Oh my god. This is real.’ I couldn’t believe it,” Dale said. After the funeral, shooting practice became more emotional for Dale. When she started practicing for the season skeet practice was difficult because that was Darin’s favorite discipline, Dale said. She remembered the day Darin shot his first 25 in skeet and the team did a dance with him to celebrate. She said the day she shot a 24 at practice in October she couldn’t help but think about Darin and that dance. “The first competition that I shot skeet at was really, really hard because I just thought of him the entire time. He loved it,” Dale said, with tears in her eyes. “Obviously it’s still kind of hard. He was younger than me. It blows my mind.”
From a Different Country In 1996, a lone gunman in Tasmania killed 20 people with 29 bullets in 90 seconds. A final toll of 35 people dead and 18 seriously wounded by firing a military-style automatic rifle, according to CNN. Twelve days after the shooting, former Prime Minister John Howard called for a nationwide gun law reform. All states and territories banned rapid-fire rifles and shotguns, tightened gun ownership licensing and the remaining firearms were registered to uniform national standards. Australia collected more than a million guns with federally funded gun buybacks by a one-off tax on all Australians. All the guns were destroyed. The Australian government banned imports of new automatic and semiautomatic weapons, according to CNN. Australia hasn’t seen a mass shooting since 1996. Some Australians seem to fear the United States’ guns laws because it easier to get a gun in the U.S. and more people own them.
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Senior Laura Haddad, an international student from Australia, had concerns about coming to the U.S. at first due to the gun laws. “Before I came here, I was telling people I was coming to the U.S. and they were just like, ‘Are you sure you want to go there because they have so many guns and there’s college shootings and church shootings?’” Haddad said. That stereotype has not lived up to the expectations Haddad and friends had initially. She said it did on a national level, but not in Iowa. On a national level, mass shootings have frequently been in the news this year. Other countries notice this increase of violence. “It’s just overall, from an Australian perspective, we are just concerned about why there hasn’t been stricter gun laws,” Haddad said. “How many people does it have to take? How many mass shootings have to happen?”
Gun Control Opinions The Las Vegas shooting is the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Stephen Paddock, sitting in his room at the Mandalay Bay, opened fire at a country music concert down below. Paddock killed at least 59 people and injured hundreds. Mass shootings cause fear and panic among the public. Politicians address shootings with the usual rhetoric about praying for the victims and families and solving the problem, yet nothing has been done. Gun control is a divisive, complicated issue with many arguments. Some
advocate for stricter gun laws, while others argue for more expansive gun laws.
ammunition the shooter had. He had more ammunition and guns than the shooting team travels with Dale said.
“I’m not going to tell anyone not to buy a gun because the government says they can,” Strecker said. “I think age restrictions and the availability of guns aid in a lot of mass shootings and deaths. There should be some kind of restriction, but you can’t restrict everythingSomeone is bound to get or make something that can cause mass destruction.”
When it comes to Dale’s beloved sport, she thinks about what mass shootings portray for it. The perception of shooting as a sport can become complex with the negativity around guns.
Gun control is a nationwide issue that needs to be addressed. Junior Pierce Carey is a strong advocate for stricter gun laws. He said the system right now is unsustainable and politicians need to work together to fix the problem instead of only talking about it after every mass shooting. Carey also suggested looking at other country’s response to gun violence or mass shootings. Most responses have been stricter gun laws. “We have to look to what our values are and the value of safety within our nation,” Carey said. “Based on the facts that we have from nations across the world, I believe that stricter gun laws is the way to go.” Dale, a captain of the Simpson shooting sports club, is saddened and frustrated when mass shootings happen. “It really frustrates me when people do that sort of thing, like shoot up a church, or go to concerts and just shoot as many people as possible,” Dale said. “I can’t understand it. It doesn’t make sense to me why they would do that to themselves, especially when you hear in some cases they do shoot up massive crowds but then they kill themselves.”
“I don’t understand randomly shooting people. It makes me question my sport, because it is heavily revolving around shotguns,” Dale said. “When I meet new people, it makes me very hesitant to tell them I am on the shotgun team. I am proud of what I do. I’m just very hesitant because I don’t know how they’re going to react, just because of all the negative public things that are done.” Dale believes gun control is necessary to prevent those with severe mental illnesses or criminals from owning a gun. She also thinks gun control can be taken too far. “It comes to a point where it’s not preventing people from getting them or who shouldn’t have them, but it’s just making it really, really difficult on the people who have them (guns), who are allowed to have them to get them. But I do believe it is necessary,” Dale said. The United States makes up less than five percent of the world’s population, but has 31 percent of all global mass shooters, according to CNN. Gun violence has become an increasing problem with many mass shootings this year and no change in gun laws. “I think people’s right to life is more important than the supposed right to having a gun,” Casaretto said.
In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, Dale was surprised by the amount of
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the keeper of the bees Why wait until you graduate to change the world? Senior Ian McKenize started a hive of bees to do just that. Story and design by Jonathan Facio Photos by Jayde Vogeler
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Ian McKenzie is many things: a runner, an environmental science major, and a beekeeper. It all started after taking a class with professor Clint Meyer. “There was a lecture where we talked a lot about beekeeping and he mentioned that the Indianola Beekeeping Association puts out a class every winter,” he said. The class talked about the conservation and endangerment of bees at a national and global level. McKenzie, and another student, took the 8-week course, ordered bees online from California and started two hives in early April of 2017. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, bees pollinate around $15 billion in U.S. crops. A
“We (McKenzie and Meyer) actually started out with two hives and then one swarmed, which means they left the hive. We only have one now so there’s a lot of issues that you just deal with but a lot of it is just learning and the next year. You just do better and you just keep learning,” he said. McKenzie has high hopes for his hive and plans on adding another one in the spring. McKenzie said a healthy beehive can be productive for 20 to 30 years with different queens. If the hive is managed right, nothing is stopping it. Since he’s a senior, he’s discussed continuing the hive with Meyer. To keep the project alive there may soon be a Simpson beekeeping club. “I’ve been talking to a lot of students that may be interested in doing a
I decided I’m going to do something about the state of our world and try to help it out and make a positive change. -Ian McKenzie
mix of factors such as global warming, pesticides, parasites and habitat loss are contributing to colony collapse disorder, and the bee population is the lowest it has been in 50 years. These are the reasons McKennzie decided to go out to make a positive difference in the world. “It’s easy to say ‘Oh, I want to be a tree hugger, I want to be somebody who recycles all the time’, but if you don’t do anything about it then you’re not really helping the situation. I decided, ‘okay I’m going to do something about the state of our world and try to help it out and make a positive change’,” he said. McKenzie checks the bees every three to four weeks. The first year of beekeeping is often difficult because beekeepers learn when and how to tend to their hives, according to McKenzie.
beekeeping class, starting a club and doing more hives, building it and making it a successful club on campus.” But if honey is what you’re after you’ll have to wait a while. Ian said beekeepers don’t usually collect honey in their first year, and the bees will need what they have currently to get through the winter. Every time he goes to check on the bees he has a specific goal in mind; check for honey, how many eggs are there, feeding the bees, etc. On a chilly October day, McKenzie hopped into his silver Nissan Sentra, and after a 12-minute drive, with a country music radio station playing, we arrived at the home of Ron Warnet. He walked through the home’s backyard of sporadically growing plants and trees.
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Behind some thorny bushes was the hive. The goal for today’s visit was to make sure his hive of around 25,000 bees were still alive and well and prep them for the coming winter. McKenzie pried open the frames, and the bees stirred. Some were agitated. He noted the bees were densely gathered on one side of the hive, leaving some frames empty. He began measuring and cutting a long sheet of roofing mat to insulate the hive and wrapped the mat around the it. As he went to staple it, there were bees about to be squished which wouldn’t move. McKenzie got irritated. “I’m trying to save your lives, stupids!” he said. It was time to pack up after about 45 minutes, head back to the car. The visit to the bees ended. It seems so simple but the impact goes deeper. The more bees people keep, the better our world gets. Can one person save the world? Maybe, maybe not. But people like McKenzie are trying to do their part, and that’s pretty buzzworthy.
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