THE TIMES-DELPHIC The weekly student newspaper of Drake University
Vol. 136 | No. 5 | Wed. Sept. 28, 2016 timesdelphic.com
OPINIONS
FEATURES
SPORTS
Tom Krell, also known as How to Dress Well, has recently dropped a new pop album that has received praised from students. Junior Parker Klyn explains why he thinks Krell’s album, “Care”, adds to the pop music scene. Read more on page 5.
Six students were interviewed by National Public Radio regarding their views on being first-time voters. Don Gonyea of All Things Considered challenged their beliefs on the two-party systems and each candidate. All six students were liberals. Read more on page 9.
Drake Football was able to even their losing record up with last weekend’s homecoming game against Morehead State University. Morehead scored most of their points in the first quarter, but the steadfast Drake defense came through. Read more on page 12.
CAMPUS EVENT
ELECTION 2016
Free speech and civility: students, faculty respond to campuswide email Adam Rogan Managing Editor adam.rogan@drake.edu @adam_rogan
ACTIVISTS used their posture to draw attention to sexual assault on college campuses on Sept. 21 in Helmick Commons. PHOTO BY LÓRIEN MacENULTY | STAFF WRITER
‘Lay-in’ starts conversation about sexual assault Lórien MacEnulty Staff Writer lorien.macenulty@drake.edu @LorienMacEnulty The events known as “layins” are relatively new means of peaceful protest to advocate for change. One such event occurred on Helmick Commons last Wednesday in response to Brock Turner’s release from jail three months early and the rising rate of sexual violence on college campuses. “If someone were to ask me to lay down in a pretty populated place for a certain amount of time, even if it was just two minutes, I’d be uncomfortable,” said Zoey Wagner, host of the lay-in. “I’d feel very vulnerable.” This is exactly why Wagner, a Roosevelt High School senior, organized the protest in conjunction with Drake’s
Student Activists for Gender Equality (SAGE). Their unusual behavior was intended to spark a conversation. “We laid on the ground for 11 minutes because 11 percent of college students are going to experience sexual assault in one way or another,” Wagner said. The silence incited the conversation that students at the lay-in think need to happen: how to eliminate sexual violence on college campuses. The protest was short. Over 60 individuals, young and old, male and female, attended the demonstration in solidarity with the victims of sexual violence. After the event, participants gathered to reflect on the impact on the community. “It was strange watching the people try to ignore us,” one activist said after the event. A few passers-by did divert their attentions elsewhere. Yet
many looked at the group of students. Some even stopped at the staff and community member booth for more information. “It’s something that is so uncomfortable and not something that you see everyday while walking to class,” Wagner said. “Hopefully that’ll start a conversation.” Wagner referred to her passion for the subject of violence against women. “Sexual assault is a topic that hits close to home for me, and I wanted to figure out a way to channel all of the anger, the confusion into something progressive,” she said. Wagner said that the fight against sexual abuse would take more than a localized movement to achieve significant societal change. “I think it’s a conversation that we need to keep on having in our government, both local
and national, and I need it to be a non-partisan discussion that happens,” Wagner said. “In order for us to have a more just and safe society, we need to start off by eliminating rape culture and eliminating this kind of violence against women.” Student Services Senator Grace Rogers, who was at the demonstration, had a few ideas on how to achieve this goal. “(Rape culture) is everywhere,” Rogers said. “Anything from something as seemingly major as a guy who yells at you on the street to something goofy like saying, ‘Oh, I’m dressed like a slut,’ or ‘Oh, that test raped me.’ “From the way we use language to the actions we take to the way that we stand up for ourselves, it’s important to think about how the culture is impacting you and how you’re either raising up or deconstructing the culture.”
CAMPUS NEWS
Safe Space training begins for the fall semester Jessica Lynk Editor-in-Chief jessica.lynk@drake.edu @jessmlynk Rainbow Union, an organization that offers a safe place for LGBT students at Drake, has been facilitating Safe Space training for years. “(Safe Space training sessions) have been totally student driven, student organized, student run, which is wonderful and we want to maintain some really strong aspects of that,” said Tony Tyler, director of student engagement, equity and inclusion. But this year it is going to look a little different. “A challenge that presents then is that students are busy … and we don’t want to rely on our students to make sure that
this important thing is always happening. We want them to focus on other things, like school work and being involved,” Tyler said. “We said ‘Let’s make this a part of what the university does.’ This is one step in doing that. We still want students leading students to understand these things.” Tyler, alongside Rainbow Union and One Voice, a group that advocates for the LGBT community, is planning a Safe Space facilitator training so that students can become certified in leading safe space dialogue. The Safe Space facilitator training will take place this Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The main goal of the event is to develop students’ understanding of what a Safe Space is. They also want to discuss
what a Safe Space looks like and help students develop their skills surrounding facilitating the space. According to Safe Space Network, a Safe Space is a place where anyone can “be able to fully express, without fear of being made to feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, or unsafe on account of biological sex, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, cultural background, religious affiliation, age, or physical or mental ability.” Tyler also mentioned that the event was a good way for students to connect with leaders of the LGBT community and not training in isolation. From there, Tyler hopes this will spread to campus. “The hope is that we will build this base of students that are prepared, if any student
organization, any group, any floor of a residence hall, any class, it could be anyone who says ‘Hey we want to go through some safe space training,’” Tyler said. The more people equipped to facilitate a Safe Space, the better the campus community, Tyler said. “We know that when that happens, students development and learning happens in a better way,” Tyler said. “If we are in a community that is inclusive, and students are coming to safe space training and learning how to do that in very tangible ways, we know that the entire campus community gets better. And there whole purpose of being at college is more deeply fulfilled.” Students, faculty and staff who are interested in attending the training can sign-up at bit.ly/DUSafeSpace
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With four presidential debates and town halls in the past two presidential election cycles, Drake University has become a hotbed for political and social debates. This is redoubled every four years when politics comes to the forefront of daily conversation, particularly since many students will be casting their vote for the first time in November. On Sept. 13, President Marty Martin sent an email to the entire student body encouraging debate and discussion as the election nears. Martin welcomed the expression of beliefs on campus and the prospect of candidates making visits to campus once again. However, he warned against “incivility,” particularly in the form of trying to silence another’s beliefs that are contrary to one’s own. Martin’s caution reminded upperclassmen and staff of debates where the boundaries of civil discourse and Freedom of Speech rights were tested on Drake’s campus. “While the First Amendment theoretically doesn’t apply on Drake’s campus because we’re a private institution, we’ve always pretended at Drake that it does apply and we’ve always embraced a culture that is very much supportive of free speech that encourages a sharing of opinions and views,” said Kathleen Richardson, dean of the Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication. During the 2014-15 school year, a fraternity house was vandalized with the words “END RAPE, KILL RAPISTS”, an antiLGBT slur was graffitied on a prop during Pride Week and several hundred copies of The TimesDelphic were destroyed because of an anonymous individual’s disapproval of an advertisement. Instances of ideological battles waged in chalk on Drake’s sidewalks over issues ranging from abortion to politics are a constant from year to year. Although they sometimes anger students, the debates are still viewed as productive by many in spite of any negative emotions caused. Junior economics major and secretary for Drake Republicans Kasey Clary was confused by why Martin felt the need to bring up the controversies. “I don’t know what the actual point of that email was,” Clary said. “It seemed really long and it seemed pretty unsubstantive. It really didn’t seem like it needed to be sent; I don’t really understand what his point was there.”
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