ROWING The women’s rowing team opened its season with the Head of Des Moines Regatta on Saturday, battling rain and local opponents.
PAGE 7 SPORTS
THE TIMES-DELPHIC THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
Des Moines, Iowa • Monday, Sept. 27, 2010 • Vol. 129, No. 6 • www.timesdelphic.com
Student presses assault charges against fellow student
WINDOW PAINTING
by Jackie Wallentin
Staff Writer news@timesdelphic.com
photo by KYLE GLASER | Digital Editor
Students come together to color the windows of Meredith Hall by Lauren Horsch
Staff Writer lauren.horsch@drake.edu
Homecoming week is blasting off here at Drake University. This year it started off with the “Blast Off Lunch” at Hubbell Dining Hall on Saturday, and continued on with the window painting at Meredith Hall and powder puff football game on Sunday. Homecoming co-chairs Ashley Seidel and Megan Browning are both excited for this year’s homecoming celebrations and, of course, the traditional window painting at Meredith. The process for planning homecoming week begins in the spring semester of every previous year when the homecoming committee holds a brainstorming session. Once some of the final decisions are made the Student Activities Board is surveyed for their opinions of the themes. This year’s winner was “Bulldog Blast Off.” A tradition that started at least 10 years ago is the painting of the windows of Meredith Hall. Over 20 organizations have participated this year. The organizations had to come up with a rough sketch four days prior to the event and have at least one team member attend a ladder training session before they could get down to work. “Other than that there are no other requirements,” Seidel said. Greg Larson, the president of SAB, added that the paint is supplied for the organizations involved. “I think it is really cool to just see the ideas people have go from paper to windows,” Lar-
son said. Planning for the window painting involved getting the word out to organizations and hiring a window cleaning company to help avoid any frustrations with the paint later on. While window painting was in full swing, the bystanders were able to watch and cheer on participants in powder puff football in Helmick Commons. Painters from the Alpha Kapi Si business fraternity were especially excited for the opportunity to have a window. “It’s great – We’re a business fraternity so we get to show off our creative side,” said team member Amanda Sykora. Two other particpants, Rachel Bump and Robin Sautter were also enjoying their time outside painting and the opportunity to shed light on their organization. “It’s [window painting] is a good way to show what organizations are out there,” said Bump. Sautter also added that it was “beautiful” on campus for the event. This year, there are a few new aspects of the homecoming celebrations. One of those is the Live Band Karaoke in Helmick Commons on Oct. 1. Live Band Karaoke is taking the place of “Yell like Hell” which had been losing participation from groups. Now, karaoke is a more individual event that would be a “fun event anyone can come to,” Browning said. Along with the Live Band Karaoke, SAB is working very closely with the alumni department during the week to help with the annual fundraiser. Browning also encourages everyone to attend because there will be free food and giveaways at almost all of the homecoming events.
A Drake student was taken to the hospital during the early morning hours of Sept. 19 after being punched and beaten with a wooden stair rail, according to a Des Moines police report. The victim was in his residence at 1219 34th Steet at 12:30 a.m. when junior James John Hoopes trespassed and broke through two doors to enter the room where the victim was located. Hoopes beat the victim with a wooden stair rail in the head and repeatedly punched him, according to a Des Moines police report. The victim later received treatment at Mercy Medical Center for a nasal fracture, a black right eye and bruising and swelling of his forehead and the back of his head. The victim pressed civil charges against Hoopes. Hoopes was arrested Thursday following the investigation on charges of willful injury and assault with a weapon. Des Moines police took Hoopes to the Polk Country Jail and set bond at $5,000. His bond was posted on Friday. Both Hoopes and the victim live together and are members of the same fraternity. Hoopes is now removed from the fraternity and is living off campus. Dean of Students Sentwali Bakari says the university is taking the report seriously and is fully investigating the matter.
>>HOMECOMING WEEK Monday 9/27 Comedians Lee Camp & Nicholas Anthony 8 p.m. | Pomerantz Stage Tuesday 9/28 Outside Movie: Avatar 8 p.m. | Helmick Commons Wednesday 9/29 Homecoming Carnival 4:30–7:30 p.m. | Helmick Commons photo by CONNOR MCCOURTNEY | Staff Photographer
STUDENTS paint the windows of Meredith Hall to celebrate Student Activities Board’s Homecoming 2010: Bulldog Blast-Off.
Thursday 9/30 Quietdrive Concert 9 p.m. | Pomerantz Stage
Delta Sigma Pi presents appeal to use Knapp Center by Ann Schnoebelen
Staff Writer ann.schnoebelen@drake.edu
Delta Sigma Pi President Amanda Otten is facing significant opposition as she tries to bring a new community charity event to Drake’s campus, and she appealed to Student Senate for support during their meeting on Thursday. Otten, a senior, says they have been trying for a year to organize an event with the March of Dimes Foundation, a non-profit organization benefitting premature babies and their mothers. “There’s never been one done in Des Moines yet,” she said. “So it’d be a really big deal and a way to get the community on campus as well.” But, she told Senate, she’s encountered some obstacles while planning, mostly in dealing with the university’s athletic department. Conflict is centered around Otten’s desire to use the Knapp Center as the site for the event, and in particular, on the use of the gym floor. The main focus of the event is for participants to tape a design on the ground and use dimes to fill it in, an activity Otten said the athletic department worries will damage the floor’s surface. “I know that the conservation of the gym floor is a big deal and it would cost a lot of money to repair if something were to happen to it,” she said. “However, I feel that this would be a great opportunity for Drake.” She asked Senate for help. “I was hoping to get some support and backing in a way that we could convince them to let us use the center,” she said.
Sen. Reed Allen was quick to step up in favor. He said that as the former president of Delta Sigma Pi, the March of Dimes Foundation had actually approached their community chair with interest in using Drake as the site for the fundraising event. He, too, faced resistance in the name of protecting the gym floor.
The floor is covered during some events, like graduation, but Allen said, “we were told in talking to them (the athletic department) that it costs a lot of money and time to put that floor down.” He and Otten both voiced their concern that other locations aren’t as well suited for what the organizers want to do. According to Otten, the hope is to have carnival games and other attractions to encourage visitors to stick around for a while, not just come to lay some spare change down on the floor. She’s also looking at teaming up with media outlets and food vendors from around the Des Moines area.
inside
“My vision is huge,” Otten said. “I kind of need the space for it.” Several senators mentioned that the floor was new and very expensive and that they appreciated the effort to maintain it. However, every person who spoke was in favor of finding some sort of compromise. Some were more forthright than others were. “I understand the importance of keeping the Knapp Center pristine,” Sen. Megan Hutcheson said. “But we are also a small school where we don’t have a lot of other space. So the university is going to have to find a way to handle it. Either we have a new space, or they need to let us use it.” As this situation was time sensitive, however, Hutcheson proposed an alternative solution in order to move planning for this particular event forward. She suggested using the Bell Center floor as a space for the dimes and tape, and using other places within the facility for the games or activities that Delta Sigma Pi was planning. Sen. Kensie Smith and Sen. Amanda Laurent also offered their outspoken backing. “This is a really big thing, this is a lot of money raised, this is a lot of Drake students involved, this is a lot of community potential,” Smith said. “I’m willing to support this with whatever means necessary.” Allen said he would move forward to find ways for Senate to provide Delta Sigma Pi with the help they were requesting. “To me it’s a $9,000 potential we could raise for a charity,” he said. “Seems like the university, in my opinion, should do everything in its power to make that available to a student organization.”
NEWS
OPINIONS
FEATURES
SPORTS
‘Baby Wants Candy’ impresses Drake crowd.
‘He said, She said’ column offers dating advice
See the highlights from Parents Weekend
Football team wins its conference opener
PAGE 2
PAGE 3
PAGE 5
PAGE 7
See the final brackets of the powder puff football game at timesdelphic.com/powderpuff