O T E M O C L WE
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
THE TIMES DELPHIC DES MOINES, IOWA | MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2012 | VOL. 131, NO. 56 | WWW.TIMESDELPHIC.COM
WE ARE CHAD STEPHENS New payment
system at Drake
This article was reported by Gabriella Bedore, Bailey Berg, James Glade, Alec Hamilton, Lauren Horsch, Alyssa Martin, Erin McHenry and Elizabeth Robinson.
jors, began planning right away. They gave Stephens an online presence through social media, created a persona for him and developed a strategy for his campaign. “Initially our message was to sort of poke fun at Senate while talking about things that our peers have said about Senate,” Erixon said, “like about how Senate doesn’t represent them, they don’t care about Senate and how it doesn’t affect their daily lives.”
Three months after Drake University raised tuition 4.11 percent, officials announced last week that students will have to cover an additional 2.75 percent surcharge if they pay by credit card. A full-time undergraduate student paying full tuition, including room, board and fees, would lay out an additional $1,051.49 in new credit card charges. In the past, the university absorbed the annual $250,000 cost for allowing students to use cards, but President David Maxwell said the university could no longer afford to shoulder that cost. “It’s part of the operating budget, and this is passed on to all students in the form of tuition,” he said. “By doing this, it will be the people who choose to pay with a credit card who are paying the charge, not everyone else.” The new fee did not sit well with some students. “A 2.7 percent fee is ridiculous,” Alicia Atwell, a P2 from Omaha, Neb. said. “Especially if it’s like $1,000 for your tuition.” The new fee assessed directly to students was enough to make Atwell switch payment methods: “I’ll probably just walk over to Old Main and write a check.” Other students said they will change their payment methods as well. “I won’t be paying with a credit card for sure,” Eric Liu, a sophomore prepharmacy major, said. “That’s a lot of extra money, and we already pay a lot.” University officials said they could not estimate how many students pay with credit cards or how much the average student would pay with the surcharge. Maddie Alcon, a sophomore sociology and anthropology major from Minneapolis, has no problem with the new system. “It seems fair, but what I saw on Twitter briefly was a lot of anger against it from at least five students,” Alcon said. “At first it was presented to me as very problematic but after the details were explained, it seems more fair.” Drake joins a host of hard-hit colleges and universities across the country that have forced students to bear the processing fees if they use credit cards. Iowa’s three public universities do not accept credit card payments, according to their websites. The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) said that 28.7 percent of payments to universities and colleges are via credit card. At small institutions such as Drake, 24.3 percent of payments are made through credit cards. Drake will not receive any portion of the surcharge. In the past, Drake has handled credit card payments directly with banks. Now the university has outsourced those functions to TouchNet, which will accept MasterCard, American Express and Discover. It does not accept the widely used Visa card. Debit cards or E-Checks will be processed without a fee. The extra fees will apply to all charges made on a credit card, such as Bulldog Bucks or eSuds. Heather Fenton, director of marketing and product management for TouchNet, said that schools using the fee program typically have 15 percent of students paying with credit cards. Several students said they were frustrated that Visa isn’t accepted. “Visa is the biggest credit card I know,” first-year actuarial science student Nick Iwan said. “That’s like not having drinking fountains on campus.” Junior magazines major Lindsay Dressen said she thought Visa was universally accepted. “You shouldn’t be penalized for that,” Dressen said. “We are already paying enough money. This is just another way for (Drake) to squeeze more money out
SEE STEPHENS, PAGE 7A
SEE SURCHARGE, PAGE 7A
KRISTEN SMITH | RELAYS EDITOR by Kristen Smith
Relays Editor tdrelays@gmail.com
The name and face of the selfproclaimed “Dark Knight” of Drake University could be seen all around campus during the The name and face of the self-proclaimed “Dark Knight” of Drake University could be seen all around campus during the weeks leading up to the Student Senate elections. Write-in candidate Chad Stephens ran a campaign based on leadership, promoting di-
versity and encouraging students to “Live every week like it’s shark week.” Students and faculty alike thought this candidate sounded like a well-rounded potential representative. The only catch: he isn’t real. Three students — senior Nate Baggett, junior Casey Erixon and junior Bryan Hays — created Chad Stephens as their final project for their modern political satire class. Erixon came up with the idea on the first day of class back in January. The three friends, who are all politics and rhetoric double ma-
Students discuss tensions on campus Stories of racism shared by Coalition of Black Students *Editor’s note: This story was originally intended to be over a spectrum of multi-cultural organizations’ experiences with racism on campus. After hearing the stories of these students, we decided to focus on their experiences, because of the emotion and strength shown in them. by Lauren Horsch
Editor in Chief tdeitorinchief@gmail.com
On a blustery day in April, members of the Coalition of Black Students met to hold its elections. The members of the organization gave thought-provoking, passionate speeches for why they should be elected into certain positions. After all the speeches were done, four students sat down to share their thoughts and experiences about racism on campus. The students all had different stories, but they all had shared experiences. Juniors Briana Isom-Brummer, Alexis Davis and Freddie Fulton all spoke about their experiences on campus since joining the student body three years ago. From incidents at street painting to ones in the classroom, all three of them have dealt with situations involving racism. Isom-Brummer is currently in an African-American literature class. She is one of two black students in the classroom. One frustration shared was “feeling obligated to speak” because she is one of the few AfricanAmericans in the class.
“I don’t always want to feel obligated to talk just because I’m the black girl in the classroom,” IsomBrummer said. Being a theater major, Fulton has had troubles with representation. He said black culture isn’t discussed until students have to learn about “black face.” Even with these experiences, he has some classes that encourage open dialogue. He is currently in “Black Christianity and Prophetic Politics,”
or. In March, students walking back from a theater production were yelled at from a Jewett Hall window. The yelling insinuated that those students walking on the painted street did not belong on campus. This incident was the crux of a petition circulated around campus and a flurry of discussions on how to change the climate of campus. But that incident isn’t the first and only instance of racism on campus. The three students all said that there
We have to educate ourselves, and then we can educate the world. –Freddie Fulton a class taught by professor Jennifer Harvey. In this class, he is encouraged to have open and honest discussions. “It opens my eyes, and it opens others’ eyes,” Fulton said. Davis said that she appreciates interaction in the classroom more when they express how they feel instead of staying quiet. “I’d rather you say it and understand why you feel that way,” she said. “When we have those conversations together, in the classroom especially, that makes an ultimate difference.” She said there is a fakeness around Drake concerning issues of diversity. She wants conversations to start being “real.” Issues within the classroom aren’t the only issues facing students of col-
are little incidents that happen almost every day. Whether it’s a lack of representation on campus or use of the word “nigger.” They’ve all had to deal with it. “(The lack of representation of diversity) has made it clear to those that are diverse, and are from different backgrounds, that sometimes we have to show that we are welcome to be welcome,” Davis said. Isom-Brummer had one incident last year during street painting. “Everyone steals paint, that’s what everyone does,” she said. “But once we stole paint, it became a huge problem. We were called ‘bitch niggers’.” She continued saying they were all just trying to have fun, and she just let
the comment go. Fulton said he has had apples thrown at him. “It seems like everyone is doing just enough (concerning diversity),” Isom-Brummer said. She recently had a meeting where she discussed that students are more comfortable seeing more representations of themselves. “One of the professors said ‘Oh, we do have a black teacher,’…You’re saying one is enough. He wasn’t trying to be racist, but he says that there was only one black professor — who doesn’t even identify as black — when there is [sic] how many white professors?” Isom-Brummer said. The problems of racism transcend not just the minority population on campus, the students believe that it comes from all groups on campus. “Racism is a problem, but it’s not just from a majority,” Fulton said. Isom-Brummer has had a different experience because of her status as a student-athlete. “Being an athlete, you get to be surrounded by more of the same people,” she said. “I do experience racism outside of sports, but I don’t see it as much because I can relate to people for most of my time here (at Drake).” The three students said they have never really felt unsafe on Drake’s campus because the incidents they have dealt with haven’t been on the violent side. Davis’ cites something her mother told her about small acts of racism:
SEE RACE, PAGE 7A
WEATHER relays weather forecast *
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high: 73° low: 49° chance of rain: 10%
high: 68° low: 50° chance of rain: 0%
high: 71° low: 55° chance of rain: 40%
high: 72° low: 56° chance of rain: 40%