THE TIMES-DELPHIC The weekly student newspaper of Drake University
Vol. 134 | No. 18 |March 11, 2014 timesdelphic.com
OPINIONS
FEATURES
SPORTS
“Saturday Night Live” is taking heat surrounding the controversy over a skit depicting “Fifty Shades of Grey” actress Dakota Johnson running off to join the terrorist organization ISIS. One writer thinks that sometimes laughter in the face of fear is necessary during hard times. | Read more on page 5.
Every year Drake gives 25 graduates the opportunity of a lifetime: The chance to live and teach in China for an entire year. Graduates are placed in five different locations throughout China to teach schoolchildren English. Find out how this program got its roots and how to get involved. | Read more on page 8.
The Men’s Basketball season met its end as the Bulldogs were nixed by Bradley University in overtime in the first round of the MVC Conference Tournament. The Women hope to fly further in the tournament as they sealed their second seed ranking in the conference with two wins this week. | Read more on page 10.
NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS
Music venue to replace The Dublin in coming weeks Cole Norum Staff Writer cole.norum@drake.edu @ColeNorum
It might get loud. It will sound awesome. That’s the mentality behind Lefty’s Live Music, a new concert venue slated to open this spring in the Drake neighborhood. “We want to have the bestsounding music venue anywhere around,” the booking manager and co-founder of Lefty’s, Erik Brown said. “A lot of times (the sound) seems like an afterthought,” Lefty’s co-founder and owner, said Anne Mathey. “We want to ... create an epic sound system that really brings in bands that may be too big to play the room.” At this moment, that room is delineated by a half-wall partition inside 2307 University Ave— the sound system that really brings in bands that may be too big to play the room.” At this moment, that room is delineated by a half-wall partition inside 2307 University Ave — the location better known to Drake students as The Dublin. On March 17, according to Brown, the final papers will be signed and the transaction entirely completed, a transfer of ownership and occupancy, from a bar with a DJ booth to a fullfledged music hall that happens to have a bar. “Bands are brought in to bring people to the building to buy booze — that’s kind of how the business model of a venue works,” Mathey said of the traditional approach to combining music and drink. “We want to flip that on its head.” That will start with construction on the location’s interior. The founders plan on knocking down the partition to allow for subsequent increases in performance space, including the construction of a 28-inch high stage. Smaller changes, such as softening the walls and placing
curtains over windows and behind the stage will aid in improving acoustics. Then there’s actually delivering the sound. “We’re using all commercial equipment … not stuff that you can get in a Guitar Center catalog,” Brown said. Brown and Mathey anticipate their commitment to sound quality will draw established music acts as well as serving as a model experience for up-andcoming musicians. “The importance of sound quality couldn’t be overstated,” senior marketing major Chris Fairbank said. Fairbank, a member of the Drake a cappella group Fermata the Blue, has performed at a number of venues around Des Moines, including Vaudeville Mews and The Grapevine in Clive. “Every room has its own sound … you won’t get a good performance out of a bad venue,” Fairbank said. “Sound quality in venues around town is quite high.” Brown and Mathey had been searching for a possible location for several months before the spot housing The Dublin went on the market. Immediately, it was a prime target due to more than just its sheer availability: the building itself has a rich history of hosting live music. Before The Dublin opened in 2007, the location hosted two music venues. Archives of the Des Moines Register and Cityview document tales of the building’s musical past. It first hosted music under the name of the Safari Club and was owned by Slipknot drummer Shawn Crahan, who sold it in 1997. Soon after, it served as the reincarnation of Hairy Mary’s, a legendary venue whose original downtown Des Moines location once hosted the Smashing Pumpkins and a then-unknown Dave Matthews Band. The second iteration of Hairy Mary’s was the setting
THE DUBLIN, a popular local bar in the Drake neighborhood, will close its doors for good in the next few weeks, after opening in 2007. A music venue, called Lefty’s Live Music, is coming to take its place. JOEL VENZKE | PHOTO EDITOR of a late 1990s show, played by an unknown duo in front of reportedly nine people. The duo called themselves the White Stripes. “Everybody has a little place in their heart for that location,” Mathey said of 2307 University Ave. “I kind of like the romance of … having this cool music place rise back up.” Mathey and Brown are no strangers to the Des Moines music scene, with Brown fronting local progressive-rock band The Maw and Mathey managing for more than a decade the daily operations of the recently closed House of Bricks. The Lefty’s founders are also well versed in the Drake area — Mathey graduated from Drake’s school of journalism in 2001 — and the neighborhood is not the only thing Brown and Mathey seek to share with the university. “As we just started saying we’re in the neighborhood, there’s just so much more everyday that opens up,” Brown said. “The idea … of interning someone on the soundboard, interning someone
on PR, someone doing booking … is so cool to me.” Collaboration with Drake may also include hosting recitals and school-associated concerts, a concept welcomed by Fairbank. “Any way to broaden the Drake bubble in terms of social activities is a positive,” Fairbank said. “To have a local business building a relationship … and culture with Drake … is wonderful.” While Mathey and Brown intend to position Lefty’s as a music-first experience, it is also establishment at which alcohol is served and is in close proximity to a school with underage students. It is a plain truth that Mathey recognizes comes with its share of challenges. “I can see how (law enforcement) are apprehensive about putting something so close to the college, because Dublin … and other bars in the area have had problems in the past,” Mathey said. A 2012 application submitted by the Dublin for a renewal of its Class C liquor license acknowledged that The Dublin
“was known for allowing/ serving minors in the bar, noise complaints and over-serving legal aged patrons.” The application also included a number of “agreements,” or commitments pledged by The Dublin to operate more legally and with more consideration of the neighborhood. One such agreement was to “hold staff accountable for customers to prevent over serving and persons under legal age” in the building. “We know Drake students are going to poke at our defenses,” Mathey said. “It’s something you have to be aware of as a bar owner and keep an eye on.” The founders plan to host earlier shows for all ages, cooperating with a local law that allows for patrons under the legal drinking age to attend shows at locations serving alcohol, so long as they are out of the venue at 9 p.m. “I want it to be a good environment for everybody and I want it to be safe,” Mathey said. “I don’t want to be the bad neighbor everybody talks about.”
NATIONAL NEWS
SAE chapter at Oklahoma banned for racist chant
Drake community responds to fraternity scandal, reflects on Greek life system Ethan Fickau Staff Writer ethan.fickau@drake.edu
A shocking video was released this week of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity members chanting a racist slur at the University of Oklahoma (OU). The video depicted fraternity members chanting racist slurs and referencing lynching. The bus chant, to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know it,” declared there would never be a black member in their respected chapter. Brad Cohen, the fraternity’s national president, closed the Oklahoma Kappa chapter, and OU President David Boren has banned it from the campus. “You are disgraceful,” Boren said. “You have violated every principle that this university stands for. Real Sooners are not racist. Real Sooners are not bigots. Real Sooners treat each other with respect. This won’t be tolerated for one second.”
Boren ordered all SAE members to move out of the fraternity house and expelled two of the members yesterday. SAE’s national Associate Executive Director of Communications Brandon Weghorst told NBC, “We were absolutely appalled and shocked at this video. And more so, we were outraged that any member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon would think that this is somehow acceptable.” A statement released by headquarters also said it was unacceptable that the bystanders on the bus did not intervene in the incident. The fraternity is one of the nation’s largest Greek organizations with 219 chapters nationally and approximately 15,000 active members since its founding in 1856. Members of the Drake community, within the Greek system and not, were shocked by the video. “I was surprised, but racism is definitely still around,” said Sydney Schulte, a sophomore and
a former member of Greek life at Drake. “It’s not a thing of the past. My sorority, in particular, would not tolerate anything like this at
“You can hang ‘em from a tree but they’ll never sign with me.” Lyrics from video of SAE members at Oklahoma University
all. The fraternities here seem very friendly. I cannot visualize anybody here saying things like that.” Riley Treadwell is in a fraternity at Drake and said that kind of behavior does not reflect
fraternity life. “The fraternities are very well intentioned and meant to make us well rounded men and help us develop leadership characteristics,” Treadwell said. “I can’t imagine anything like this taking place at Drake. There’s a culture of acceptance here. If I thought that the fraternities here didn’t hold those values then I would not be involved in Greek life.” First-year Caitlyn Morehouse, who is not affiliated with Greek life, said that all universities need to continue to promote racial equality. “Racism is pretty much everywhere. I think awareness and education are the best ways to combat racism,” Morehouse said. Sophomore John Wingert is not involved with Drake Greek life and he said it’s awful that racism is still present on campuses today. “It’s a shame. If they’re going to say stuff like that in representation of the fraternity, they deserve to be removed from campus. You wouldn’t expect
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this to be as common nowadays but I’m not that surprised that it happened.” Kerry Jordan, director of fraternity and sorority life at Drake, said she was disgusted by the actions of the OU students in the video. “I was surprised to see a group of students acting so viciously like that,” Jordan said. “With certainty, I can say that I can’t see my Greek life students doing something like this here at Drake. Our members are very inclusive and very respectful. In my personal experience at Drake, I have never felt that there has been a student who has felt excluded because of their race.” Drake University’s Constitution of the Interfraternity Council states that its purpose is to “promote ethical, racial, sexual awareness and equality of all students at Drake University.” When the Times-Delphic reached out to Drake’s SAE Iowa Delta Chapter President Kendrick Dewdney, he denied comment.