NEWS
THE TIMES-DELPHIC
QUOTE of the
PAGETWO
DAY
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010
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If we decide to fight it out with nuclear weapons available to everybody, we are very likely to make this planet unlivable. Those are the stakes of the game we are playing right now.
— STEVE LEEPER, SEE PAGE 1
Program designed to meet the nation’s need for fluent foreign language speakers FROM BOSWELL, PAGE 1
photo by SARAH ANDREWS | Photo/Design Editor
MARS CAFE hosted local band Van Stellenberg, which is made up of three Drake students. Mars is located on University Avenue.
Student band Van Stellenberg rocks Mars Cafe Local venue provides space for variety of musical tunes by REBECCA MATALONI
Staff Writer rebecca.mataloni@drake.edu
Mars Cafe hosted a free concert for local band, Van Stellenberg, last Friday at 8 p.m. The band is composed of three Drake University students: juniors Stella Hart and Adam Gallenberg on vocals and guitar and freshman Devin van Holsteijn on keyboard and saxophone. Van Stellenberg originally started for a “Cover-Up Concert” that took place at Drake earlier this year. After the response from the crowd, they decided playing at a local venue should be the next step. “I was under the impression we were just going to jam and hang out, and then I find out from [Stella] we were going to play at a concert,” Gallenberg said, who has played guitar for seven years. The members began by covering charttopping artists such as Britney Spears, T.I. and Lady Gaga. For the concert, the set list featured those same artists’ hits plus Aerosmith, songs from Pocahontas, Pokémon and an original by Hart. “We like to give our audience a wide range of entertaining music,” Gallenberg said. The band started a group on Facebook and had at least 42 confirmed guests. The group was very excited to perform for their first time off campus and encourages students to come to future performances. “We had a nice turnout and our friends and fellow Drake students made it fun for us to play,” Gallenberg said. Hart says Van Stellenberg had a fun time and was grateful to play at Mars Cafe. She was proud of the band’s performance, especially their cover of ‘Promiscuous Girl’ by
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Timbaland. “Of all the songs, I thought we got the best response from ‘Promiscuous Girl,’” Hart said. “It’s such a philosophical song, and it has a lot of hidden subtext. Our goal as musicians was to bring Timbaland’s artistry to the forefront of our medium, and, hopefully, we accomplished that.” Iowa State University freshman Stephanie Swenson attended the concert because she wanted to support a local band of students and was impressed with the show. “I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw the gold turtlenecks, but the show turned out to be really funny,” Swenson said. “The musicians were really talented, yet entertaining at the same time.” The show had a large turnout of students, local community members and also a few professors, says freshman public relations major Bryn Goldberg. “I thought the show had a great and entertaining mix of music and people,” Goldberg said. “A variety of music made it enjoyable for anyone.” n
U.S. for some time, so he was excited to help Drake’s efforts. “We all know the need is there,” Boswell said after Friday’s press conference. “This might be the springboard that will propel us forward and it will spread across the country.” Drake’s language program uses a virtual classroom (complete with a “whiteboard” and slideshow capability) where students from Drake and four other universities are connected via Web cam with professors and native speakers of their target language. Program director Jan Marston said the setup lends itself well to language learning. “It’s exciting to see how different it is to teach in this way,” Marston said. “I thought it would be cold and it’s hard to get used to at first, but when you can see each other on the screen the distance vanishes.” Three Drake language students also gave their thoughts on the program and shared some class projects during the press conference. All agreed that the program is unique and will help them in their future careers. “(I) have come to the conclusion that the triweekly native speaker session, coupled with the
professor meetings, creates the best environment for learning to speak a foreign language—second only to immersion,” freshman writing major Mariah Marconi said. n
Drake is collaborating on the project with students and faculty from four other colleges and universities: • Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas • Davis and Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia • Russell Sage College in Troy, New York • Southern Vermont College in Bennington, Vermont
Cowles to host atomic bomb exhibit through March FROM SENATE, PAGE 1 Students running in the general elections will be able to access their petitions on March 22. Zhang says all students should be able to view the rules, however, on the Student Life Center section of Drake’s Web site under “Resources & Forms.” Senate also approved a motion to grant funds for Drake Live Drive, a three-week drive started by first-year seminars to secure donations
of goods for homeless shelters throughout Des Moines. “We want to see if we can hit 5,000 items that benefit five shelters this year,” said sophomore Lanon Baccam. Last year, the Live Drive raised over 4,000 items that benefited three shelters. “We’re trying to get Live Drive to be a longstanding, momentous organization on campus and keep it going for years to come,” said sophomore guest speaker Lauren Bavitz. n
Scented Vinyl Every Monday night from 7–10 p.m. Mars Cafe features live performances and interviews showcasing local Iowa musicians. For the schedule of events, visit scentedvinyl.com. Mars Cafe is located at 2318 University Ave.
Visit www.timesdelphic.com to participate in the new poll: What is our favorite Olympic event to watch? Bobsledding, figure skating, snowboarding or biathlon?
FROM A–BOMB, PAGE 1 ted when human bodies were burned.” The next day, Shintaku traveled to the hypocenter to search for his second-eldest sister who had not returned. Many of the things he saw are illustrated in the drawings on display at Cowles Library. “There was a man holding onto the hand straps, dead and as black as coal in a street car, a man pulling a horse and cart who was dead and looked as if he had been snuggling up to the horse,” said Shintaku. “There were countless numbers of truly tragic corpses. I searched desperately for my sister, but could not find her anywhere. Even today, I still do not know what happened to her.” Despite the trauma he received, Shintaku said he doesn’t harbor resentment toward Americans. “I saw American troops in trucks, approaching children,” Shintaku said. “I thought, if they hit those children, I’ll (go after them). But
they stopped and gave them candy and chocolate. After that I realized everything I had been told about Americans was a lie.” Steve Leeper, chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, also spoke at the event about the nuclear climate. He specifically discussed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is reviewed every five years and will again be reviewed in May. Leeper described the history of the treaty and said that until 2000, the U.S. was in favor of nuclear disarmament. Because of the Sept. 11 attacks, however, the country no longer seeks to give up nuclear weapons completely. Leeper felt that the 2005 review conference was a failure. “One of the main points we are trying to make through our exhibition and through survivor’s accounts is that if we decide to fight it out with nuclear weapons available to everybody, we are very likely to make this planet unlivable,” Leeper said. “Those are the stakes of the game we are playing right now.” n
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