TIM GUNN speaks at The Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series. For a Q&A with Tim Gunn about college fashion and “Project Runway,” see page 9. JOEL VENZKE | PHOTO EDITOR
The
TD
timesdelphic.com
Wednesday Sept. 24, 2014
Campus Calendar Wednesday Women’s Soccer vs. South Dakota 5:30 p.m. Cownie Center Complex
Thursday No events scheduled
Friday Chinese Woodwind Instrument Workshop 11 a.m.-12 p.m. Fine Arts Center Room 204 Humanities Colloquium 3:30-5 p.m. Medbury Honors Lounge Civic Music Association presents Los Angeles Guitar Quartet 7:30-9:30 p.m. Sheslow Auditorium
Saturday Admission Visit Program 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Old Main (Levitt Hall) Guest Recital 7:30-9:30 p.m. Sheslow Auditorium Lounge
Sunday Women’s Soccer vs. Evansville 1 p.m. Cownie Soccer Complex
Inside News
Scotland votes against independence from the U.K. PAGE 2
Opinions Read a student’s opinion on crime around campus PAGE 6
Features Learn more about featured Sodexo staff, Keith Griffin PAGE 8
Sports Bayo Philips wins tennis singles title in first tournament play PAGE 10
Campus News
Student Senate
DPS responds to pair of shootings Maxwell Austin Cannon
Managing Editor austin.cannon@drake.edu
Drake University Public Safety and the Des Moines Police Department responded to a pair of shootings near campus last week. The first occurred Sept. 17 at around 7:15 p.m. on the corner of University Ave. and 23rd St. in front of the Platinum Kutz barbershop. The victim was shot in the left buttock and transported to Mercy Hospital. The second incident happened in the McDonald’s parking lot on the corner of Forest Ave. and 30th St. early Saturday morning. At close to 12:30 a.m., a 19-year-old male was shot in the leg. Both victims were members of the Des Moines community, not Drake students. In both cases, Drake Public Safety sent out campus-wide Bulldog Alerts within minutes of the shootings being reported. Any time DPS sends out Bulldog Alerts there is concern, especially if it’s twice in four days. “As you can imagine, we had a number of parents, students, faculty and staff who were concerned about safety with those events occurring so close to campus,” said Scott Law, director
Campus Events
of DPS. Vice President of Student Life Josh Duden was with friends at the time of Saturday’s shooting, and most of the people around him found the Bulldog Alert concerning. “It kind of sparked a little bit of panic at the time, because you never really know how to respond in the instance when you’re like, ‘Please stay inside. Avoid this area,’” Duden said. Duden did his best to field his fellow students’ questions but also focused on keeping those around him safe. “The Des Moines Police Department was responding along with Drake Public Safety, and we were kind of just trying to roll with the punches at the time,” Duden said. “I was trying to make sure people didn’t leave.” DPS reacted to each shooting by increasing patrols, placing officers at strategic spots at the edges of campus and calling in extra manpower. Law wanted the additional presence to assure Drake students and staff that DPS was doing its best to keep everything safe and under control. “Public Safety staff did an excellent job of responding to those situations,” Law said.
DMPD also increased its patrols around the Drake neighborhood and even parked its patrol cars in Drake parking lots to deter any other potential crime. Law thought both shootings and their proximity to each other was an isolated incident, noting that crime rates in the Drake area are actually down over the last year. But, that doesn’t mean it’s totally absent. “As I often remind everyone, low crime doesn’t mean no crime,” Law said. Law urged students to make sure their Bulldog Alert contact information is up-to-date and to travel in groups and with caution when off-campus. After the initial panic died down on Saturday morning, Duden witnessed a change of attitude in his classmates. A change that made the best out of a troubling instance. “It switched less from being like, ‘What’s happening?’ to ‘How can we help and make sure people are safe?’” Duden said. “It kind of created an environment that was positive, where this inherently negative thing got to switch to being a positive community where we were helping each other and watching out for one another.”
Gunn speaks on experience Cole Norum
Staff Writer cole.norum@drake.edu
On Sept. 17, Tim Gunn delivered the 33rd segment of The Martin Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series. As with past Bucksbaum speakers, Drake University’s president, David Maxwell, introduced him. “As remarkable and fantastic as our previous 32 Bucksbaum lecturers have been, I think he is the first superhero,” Maxwell said. This was a reference to Marvel Comics’ crimes-against-fashion fighting hero based on Gunn, titled “Loaded Gunn.” The Knapp Center, while not filled to its capacity of 7,150, accommodated an audience that buzzed in anticipation to see Gunn deliver his lecture, the 33rd in a series that has hosted prominent literary, cultural and sports figures including Maya Angelou, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Salmon Rushdie. Students were excited to listen to Tim Gunn speak. “I always go to the Bucksbaum lectures, and I was super excited when I found out Tim Gunn was going to be the speaker this year. I’m a huge fan,” said Kelsey Rooney, junior creative advertising major. Cards handed to those arriving described in detail
THE TIMES-DELPHIC |TIMESDELPHIC.COM
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
Gunn’s accomplishments as Chief Creative Officer of Kate Spade and as co-host of the Emmynominated fashion series “Project Runway.” But only two minutes into his lecture, Gunn elaborated on one short piece of information. “I do have one comment to make about “People’s Sexiest Man Alive,” Gunn began, referencing his 2006 distinction by the magazine. “It was a bad year,” Gunn said. The crowd of nearly five thousand erupted with laughter, the first of more than a few moments when Gunn’s modesty elicited laughter and applause from the audience. The “A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style” author never deviated from recounting his experiences in the fashion industry. Gunn spoke directly to the crowd, a casual cadence that at times appeared as if he were improvising. At one point he paused in the middle of a lengthy tangent to ask a question. “Why am I babbling like this?” Gunn said, only to answer himself moments later, “I don’t know!” Gunn talked in detail about the process of writing his first book, a laborious process that left him with admiration for those who have written a book, and a piece of advice for any aspiring authors. “If you have written a book, my hat is off to you and I congratulate
TWITTER @TIMESDELPHIC
you.” Gunn said. Then turning to anyone thinking about taking on the challenge, “And if you have not written a book and are contemplating it, don’t.” Gunn was quick to give praise to those who had helped him throughout the process, revealing a number of universal themes he would draw from his abstruse profession. “I’m always saying ‘life’s a big collaboration,’ and when I see people like me writing books and only their names are on the front, I think ‘Really?’” Gunn recounted his time at Parsons School of Design, where he served as chair beginning in August of 2000 and has been credited with re-invigorating a stagnant, archaic program. It was a significant portion of his lecture, a remarkably academic approach from someone heavily, at times solely, touted as a fashion icon. Gunn looked at Parson’s faltering design program, burdened with curriculum and ideologies, and realized its severity extended beyond fashion. “This was about altering a culture, because … as students, you were not allowed a voice in your class,” Gunn said. “A critique
JUMP TO page 2
addresses senate Cole Norum
Staff Writer cole.norum@drake.edu
Student Senate met in Cowles Library on Sept. 18, passing unanimously Resolution SS 140918-C, or the Senate 60: an ambitious list of objectives and measures the senators expect will provide for continued engagement with the student body. President David Maxwell was in attendance, discussing the academic, economic and cultural challenges highereducational institutions face and the commitment to students Drake University has made in facing those challenges. President Maxwell also commented on the impressive scope of the Senate 60. “Drake University has four goals. You have 60,” Maxwell said, referencing the four extensive objectives outlined in Drake’s Strategic Plan 2013-2017. The Senate 60 is in response to feedback from a survey compiled by Student Body President Joey Gale, Vice President of Student Life Josh Duden and their fellow student senators. Distributed in early August, the survey aimed to determine students’ interest in and perspectives on topics regarding student life, both campus and academic. Those aspects contribute to what Gale has emphasized is the “Drake experience.” “How can we make it better? It’s really almost a segway to what (the students) are asking to what we should be doing,” Gale said. The Senate also compiments Drake’s own vision of bettering the “quality of the student experience.” “There are some real points of connection … (The Senate 60) really connects well to the many objectives and strategic goals of the University,” President Maxwell said. The Student Senate also passed unanimously an allocation of $9,000 grant to fund a group of nine Drake students to attend The Model Arab League Conference. The grant will fund the students lodging and transportation from Chicago to Cairo, Egypt this November. The weeklong conference allows students the opportunity to simulate parliamentary procedure, acting as diplomats of Arab League nations while working with students from around the world on a multitude of issues. Olivia O’Hea, junior law, politics and society and public relations double major and a member of
JUMP TO page 2
Drake University, Des Moines
THE TIMES-DELPHIC
Vol. 134 | No. 4 | Sept. 24, 2014