Drake Blue spring 2005

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DRAKE

Spring 2005

BLUE

6x6 TAKE

SIX DRAKE ALUMNI (ONE FROM EACH SCHOOL)

WHO GRADUATED

SIX YEARS AGO

AND YOU GET A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

Presidential perspective SOMETIME IN THE PAST YEAR, I began to notice

that I was no longer referred to as the “new” president of Drake University. It is truly surprising to Madeleine and me that we have been at Drake for more than five years; it has gone by very, very quickly. We came to Drake because of the people — the students, faculty, staff, board members and alumni whose love for, and commitment to, the University was (and continues to be) infectious. For all members of the Drake community, these five years have been a period of challenge, opportunity, very hard work and occasional uncertainty. Having reached, in a sense, this milestone, I’d like to share an overview of just some of the major outcomes of our collective efforts over the past five years.

IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS, DRAKE UNIVERSITY HAS:

• completed the largest capital campaign in Drake University’s history, raising $190 million in cash and pledges; • completed Program Review — a thorough and systematic evaluation of every single aspect of the University to ensure excellence, relevance to the University’s mission, appropriateness to student learning goals and societal needs, and cost effectiveness. Program Review resulted in the streamlining of Drake’s budget and the significant reallocation of resources to match University goals and priorities; • developed and implemented a five-year, rolling Drake University Strategic Plan,

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grounded in our institutional mission and focused on our vision and aspirations for Drake in the coming years; • developed and implemented a strategic budgeting process that ensures an operating budget with integrity and resilience, and resource allocation consistent with our strategic goals; • added $3.4 million in new money to the University’s compensation budget, as one component in a strategy to ensure that we continue to attract and retain the very best faculty and staff (another large increment is planned for next year); • seen a 30 percent increase in undergrad-

Germany and China that afford exciting opportunities for Drake students, faculty and staff; • invested nearly $29 million in the campus physical plant, much of it focused on supporting the quality of student life; • continued to be ranked among the very best master’s universities in the Midwest in major publications and scored very high in national survey research on student engagement.

The past five years have been a period of excitement, progress and growth for Drake.

But while it’s rewarding to look back, it is essential that we keep looking forward — to our vision of the future of Drake University and at the challenges and opportunities ahead of us. We have set very high standards for ourselves — that’s why we are consistently ranked academically as one of the very top institutions in the Midwest.

As we look at the years ahead, we have even higher expectations of institutional progress and accomplishment. In future issues of Drake Blue, I plan to share in some

The past five years have been a period of excitement, progress and growth for Drake. But while it’s rewarding to look back,

it is essential that we keep looking forward. uate applications, an 11 percent increase in first-year undergraduate enrollments and a nearly 5 percent increase in our retention rate; we’ve also had a significant increase in Law School applications and in the quality of the applicant pool; • founded the Center for Global Citizenship and the Center for Digital Learning & Technology — two vital interdisciplinary initiatives that bring together students and faculty from across the University; we’ve also seen dramatic growth in new interdisciplinary programs such as Law, Politics & Society and Biochemistry/Cell & Molecular Biology; • become the home of the American Judicature Society, a national organization dedicated to quality and integrity in the court system; • established important new exchange relationships with universities in France,

detail our vision for the University’s future and to look at some of the challenges that we must manage in order to achieve that vision. We are blessed with superb faculty and staff who are enthusiastically committed to the mission of the University and — most of all — to our students. With their efforts, and with the generous support, encouragement and guidance of our Board of Trustees, our alumni and friends, we have every reason to believe that we will realize our aspirations for Drake University.

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The Magazine of Drake University

contents

President Dr. David E. Maxwell

Features

Vice President of Institutional Advancement

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John H. Willey

‘BULLDOG DON’

So genuinely warm, consistently sincere, so real, he’s almost unreal

Director of Marketing & Communications Brooke A. Benschoter

EDITORIAL STAFF Editor Casey L. Gradischnig

Assistant Editor

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Michelle Rubin

6X6: TAKE SIX DRAKE ALUMNI

(one from each school) who graduated six years ago and you get a formula for success

Graphic Designers Matt Kuhns Andrew Maahs

Blue blue blue Contributing Writers

Daniel P. Finney, JO’97 Lisa Lacher Michelle Rubin

Interns

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Kristi Bochman Kristin McLaughlin Elissa Koc Stephanie Peterson

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To submit news or update your alumni file, contact Drake’s Office of Alumni and Parent Programs.

Call: 1-800-44-DRAKE, x3152 E-mail: recordsinfo@drake.edu Surf: www.drakealumni.net

WINDY CITY FASHIONISTAS

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Three Drake alumnae turn hobbies into trendy accessories

Departments CAMPUS

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Drake ranks among top producers of Fulbright Awards • Prof. to research cultural changes in small town Iowa • Groundbreaking set for stadium project • Drake to celebrate 125th • Drake ranked a ‘Best Value’

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FACULTY

McMahill named dean • Prijatel guides Journalism School • Pharmacy faculty explore neuroscience • Wright, Strentz receive Drake medals • Zeff, Frank, Beisser honored

Drake Blue is published as a service to Drake alumni, parents and friends by the Drake University Office of Marketing and Communications. Views expressed in Drake Blue do not necessarily reflect opinions of the editors or the University. We welcome articles by and story ideas from and about Drake alumni.

Send correspondence to Editor Casey L. Gradischnig, Drake University, 2507 University Ave., Des Moines, IA 50311-4505. E-mail: casey.gradischnig@drake.edu.

SPORTS

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Drake senior leads team to championship victory

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ALUMNI

Seven recent grads teach in China • Reunions scheduled for Relays and Commencement weekends • Alumni award winners announced • Two galleries offer new ‘Drake University’ print • Drake’s oldest alum dies

Copyright Drake University 2005

The Magazine of Drake University

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campus buzz DRAKE RANKS AMONG TOP PRODUCERS OF FULBRIGHT AWARDS Two talented recent grads won Fulbright Awards in 2004-05, and Drake ranked among the top producers of Fulbright Awards for students among the nation’s master’s universities. Shalene Breci, AS’03, is teaching English in South Korea for 13 months.

Mira Yusef, AS’03, is working with Muslim Filipinas who work in domestic positions in the Middle East.

Secretary of State Colin Powell recently released the official list of U.S. student Fulbright recipients for the 2004-05 academic year, a total of 1,099 grants. In his statement, Secretary Powell said, “As Fulbrighters, these Americans have important responsibilities. First and foremost, they engage in serious academic study or research abroad.

In addition, they will immerse themselves in learning about their new host country and will have opportunities to share their perspectives of the United States with their hosts.”

MOOT COURT TEAM PLACES SECOND IN NATION Drake Law School’s National Moot Court Team took second place in the National Moot Court Competition held in New York City in February.

Drake defeated Wake Forest University in the semifinals to advance to the final round with the University of California Hastings College of the Law in a competition involving the top 28 teams in the country.

The team went to nationals after placing first at the regional competition held at the Drake Legal Clinic Nov. 11-13. Another Drake team placed second at the competition, which involved 14 teams from seven law schools.

The first place team also won the Best Respondent’s Brief and Best Overall Brief awards. The second place team won the Best Petitioner’s Brief award at the regional competition.

Eric Schewe, a first-year law student, was named the First Place Outstanding Mediator in the fourth annual National Law School Mediation Tournament,

BEFORE THEY ATTENDED THEIR FIRST DRAKE CLASS, more than 650 new first-year students performed community service projects throughout Des Moines as part of welcome weekend activities. The students, seen here working at Drake Park, volunteered at NBA Ramsey Retirement Home, Drake’s Adult Literacy Center and the P.A.C.E. Juvenile Intervention Program.

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the HOT list which was hosted by Drake Law School Nov. 19-20.

Three more Drake law students were among the Top Ten Outstanding Mediators.

MUSIC STUDENTS EXCEL AT COMPETITIONS Drake music students recently took home honors from the Music Teachers National Association State Collegiate Artist in Voice Competition.

Ten Drake students participated in the competition and three received top awards.

Drake students also delivered award-winning performances at the recent Iowa State National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition. More than 350 singers competed in the event, and eight Drake students received awards recognizing their outstanding performances.

PHARMACY STUDENTS RECEIVE NATIONAL RECOGNITION Fourth-year pharmacy student Anne Corbet has been chosen to serve on the National Community Pharmacists Association Student Leadership Council, the national student executive committee for NCPA. Corbett has served two years on the NCPA Student Regional Council. Together the SRC and SLC represent the Pharmacy Student Entrepreneurship Section of the NCPA. The charge of the NCPA-PSES is to determine the direction of NCPA Student Affairs by providing guidance on programming for pharmacy student members.

The American Pharmacists Association Foundation has announced that fourth-year pharmacy student Jill Flaherty is

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Eclectic offerings were abundant at Drake throughout the fall semester. Musical highlights included performances by renowned violinist Jorge Avila and pianist Duane Funderburk. Drake theatre productions included “Proof,” “The School for Scandal” and “Anton in Show Business.”

The Anderson Gallery hosted “Looking At/Looking Through” by Chicago-based artists Adelheid Mers and Patrick McGee and “Model City” by Kendall Buster.

The Writers and Critics Series brought author Dana Johnson and poets Emily Wilson, Tom Pickard, Devin Johnston and Eula Biss to campus. Julieanna Richardson, founder of the video oral history archive “The History Makers,” also spoke as part of the Live! at the Cowles Library series.

Nationally acclaimed public relations professional and multicultural marketer Marilyn KernFoxworth presented “Myths, Lies and Stereotypes: Media and the Visual Enslavement of Black People.” Highlights from The Center of Global Citizenship were speakers such as former U.S. Ambassador George Moose and Saudi Arabian Fulbright Scholar Hend Majid Al-Khuthaila, and a presentation by the Tianjin Children’s Palace Art Ensemble.

The International Students Association produced a cultural night. Drake hosted The Great Ape Crisis, a symposium on the threat of extinction faced by ape species. Events like the screening of “The Cost of Freedom: Civil Liberties, Security and the USA Patriot Act” and a DebateWatch engaged students during the presidential campaign.

one of four winners of the 2004 APhA Auxiliary/APhA $1,000 Foundation Pharmacy Student Scholarships. The student awards, including two named (continued on page 6)

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spotlight

‘Bulldog Don’ SO GENUINELY WARM, CONSISTENTLY SINCERE, SO REAL, HE’S ALMOST UNREAL HOW DOES A FRESH-OUT-OF-COLLEGE KID FROM LISCOMB, IA , population 320, come to

oversee the 20,000 students in Michigan State University’s student residence hall system, the largest in the world? How does one fathom the ability of a 30-something flattopped guy to gain the trust and respect of restless Drake students during the Vietnam War era?

With his personal integrity, compassion for students and willingness to listen, Don Adams pioneered the concept of “student life” at Drake. He’s continued to do so in the nearly 35 years since.

AN OVERWHELMED FRESHMAN: At the

University of Northern Iowa, Adams was ready to drop out when a resident assistant literally took him by the hand and helped him register for classes. He eventually took on student leadership positions and, in his senior year, became director of the freshman men’s residence hall. Four years later, he was the Michigan State director of residence hall programs, with a staff nearly three times the size of his hometown. He practiced his hallmark tactics of being respectfully straightforward with students and empowering them — to a point.

Shaping every aspect of the student experience at Drake, and nearly every student, Adams has overseen residence halls, admissions, financial aid, international programs and the career center and advised University presidents on alumni, community and government relations. On the academic side, the Donald V. Adams Leadership Academy was created in 2000 to help students gain leadership and communication skills.

While he’s met every president since John F. Kennedy and has won numerous prestigious awards, Adams describes his greatest accomplishment by pointing to the card on his desk, sent by a grateful student he’s recently mentored.

“Helping another person gain an advantage in life — that’s what we’re on earth to do,” he says. “Where could I have had a more rewarding life?”

—Barb Dietrich Boose, JO’83, GR’90

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Don Adams, who served as assistant to Presidents Ferrrari and Maxwell, and most recently as special counsel in Institutional Advancement, is preparing to retire. He’ll be honored at several events this spring, including the all-alumni party during Relays Week. To contribute a story or comment to a memory book being put together for Adams, visit www.drake.edu/adamsmemories.

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campus buzz (continued from page 4) scholarships, recognize high academic performance and demonstrated leadership skills through active involvement in APhA Academy of Students of Pharmacy chapters.

JOURNALISM STUDENTS RECEIVE NUMEROUS HONORS The spring 2004 edition of the student-produced Drake Magazine received the Best Design in a Single Issue of an Ongoing Print Magazine award in the AEJMC Magazine Competition last summer.

515 magazine won second place for editorial content and the magazine’s Web counterpart received a third place in the online magazine competition.

The student newspaper The Times-Delphic earned first place in the Associated Collegiate Press’ Best of Show competition for its 80-page Drake Relays edition.

Senior news-Internet major Elizabeth Owens is one of 10 college journalism students from

across the U.S. to be awarded a $10,000 scholarship from the Scripps Howard Foundation through its Top Ten Scholarship competition. Owens was editor of The Times-Delphic and now works for The Des Moines Register.

LAUDED BY THE PRESS AS A “HIGH-VOLTAGE PERFORMANCE ARTIST” AND “GIFTED CHAMELEON,” Sarah Jones performed “Waking the American Dream” as part of the Bucksbaum Distinguished Lecture Series to a receptive crowd at Drake Knapp Center last fall. The playwright, poet, activist and actor’s latest one-woman show — “Bridge & Tunnel” — is currently running on Broadway.

DRAKE TO CELEBRATE 125 T H Times have changed since Drake’s founders broke ground in 1881 on land that was then separated from the city of Des Moines by farms. Now an integral player in an ever-growing metropolitan area, the University is preparing to celebrate its history throughout two years’ worth of festivities that will begin during the May 2005 commencement weekend.

Watch your mailbox for information regarding events and check the pages of future editions of Drake Blue for a look

back at Drake’s 125 years of tradition and innovation.

GROUNDBREAKING SET FOR STADIUM PROJECT The University’s race to revitalize Drake Stadium is about to cross the finishing line. A formal groundbreaking ceremony to launch the project will take place during the 2005 Relays. If all goes as planned, the fall football season will not be disrupted by work, and the

admission update DRAKE RANKED A ‘BEST VALUE’

U.S.News & WORLD REPORT

DRAKE HAS JUMPED TO THIRD FROM SIXTH PLACE in the “best value” category for Midwestern institutions classified as Universities-Master’s in U.S. News and World Report magazine’s 2005 edition of America’s Best Colleges.

“Our improved ranking demonstrates the success of Drake’s commitment to offer the highest quality in educational opportunity that is more affordable than many students and families realize,” said President David Maxwell. “People know that we’re one of the ver y best; it’s impor tant for them to know that we’re financially accessible.

Overall, almost 95 percent of our students receive some form of suppor t from the University, and the average award is approaching $15,000 per year.”

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The magazine compares academic quality to the net cost of attendance of an average financial aid package. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the ranking.

In the overall rankings Drake advanced from fifth to fourth and remains as one of the top-rated institutions in reputation for academic quality among 143 universities in the Midwest.

Best

Colleges 2005

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project will be completed well in advance of the 2006 Relays “There’s been a lot of creative thinking and the early vision has evolved into what we believe will be a spectacular facility,” said John Willey, vice president for institutional advancement, who reports that generous alumni, friends and corporate business partners have contributed $13 million to the project.

Plans include reconfiguring and resurfacing the track to meet international standards; installing an artificial field surface; adding lighting and a new sound system; renovating the throws venue; installing a new scoreboard; repairing the stadium’s structure while making improvements to seating; building new restrooms and concessions; and enhancing the press box.

“I’m thrilled we’ve come so far so quickly,” said Drake University President David Maxwell. “As we look toward the future, I’m sure the energy that drove initial interest in the project will create excitement for additional enhancements to the stadium. We want to make sure everyone who wants to be involved in contributing to this historic landmark has the chance to do so.”

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DRAKE STUDENTS FINALISTS FOR TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP Two Drake University students are finalists among the 800 students from more than 400 colleges who were nominated for the prestigious Truman Scholarship.

Brittany Buchholtz, a junior from Cedar Falls, IA, and Renae Steichen, a junior from Madison, SD, are among the more than 200 finalists for the approximately 80 Truman Scholarships being awarded this year.

“The Truman Scholarship is the most prestigious scholarship in the United States,” said Julian Archer, professor of history and the Truman faculty representative at Drake. “Being a Truman Scholar is comparable to being a Rhodes Scholar in England.”

The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation awards merit-based $30,000 scholarships to college students who plan to pursue careers in government or elsewhere in public service, and wish to attend graduate or professional school to help prepare for their careers.

“It’s very exciting to be a finalist. It’s also kind of nerve-racking. The interview process is very rigorous,” said Steichen in anticipation of the mid-March interviews she faced.

Buchholtz is majoring in international relations with a minor in anthropology. Her passion is global health issues. She helped found the pro-choice student organization Drake University Voice of Choice and has worked with NARAL Pro-Choice America, Advocates For Youth Comprehensive Sexuality Education Campaign and HIVAIDS education in Iowa’s Black Hawk County Health Department. Her studies have taken her to San Antonio, TX; Washington, DC; Amman,

The Magazine of Drake University

Jordan; South Africa and Mozambique.

Steichen has a double major in environmental policy and politics with minors in environmental science and business studies. She has lead the Drake Environmental Action League, interned at the Sierra Club and been a co-author of environmental science articles with Drake Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Keith Summerville.

LAW SCHOOL RANKS HIGH IN TECHNOLOGY National Jurist recently ranked Drake Law School 15th in the country on its Technology Honor Roll. This ranking appears in the January 2005 issue, which notes some of the factors considered are the wireless network, computer exams, technology in the courtroom and laptop usage.

“In the last National Jurist technology ranking Drake finished in the top 40, so this most recent survey helps further affirm Drake’s position as a leader in effective use of technology,” said John Edwards, director of the Law Library and professor of law.

DRAKE PROF. TEACHES CLASS FROM IRELAND David Wright, associate dean of Drake University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, did not let a trip to attend a wedding in Ireland last semester prevent him from teaching his Communications in Society class in Des Moines.

Using the a Polycom auto video conference unit, students in Meredith 106 were able to see and hear Wright on a large screen and ask questions while Wright stood across the ocean

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at the Waterford Institute of Technology in Waterford, Ireland, which also has a Polycom unit. In Ireland, Wright also had the ability to see and hear the students in Meredith and point to specific students to answer questions.

The Polycom unit allows groups to communicate with each other regardless of distance as long as both parties have the unit. This device is different from other technologies because it works much like a computer by using standard Internet protocol so there are no additional costs.

During the class Wright and his students compared and contrasted the news coverage in the United States and Ireland.

PROF. TO RESEARCH CULTURAL CHANGES IN SMALL TOWN IOWA Thanks in part to a $15,000 grant from Humanities Iowa, Jody Swilky, professor of English,

will be researching “A Little Salsa on the Prairie: The Changing Character of Perry, Iowa.” The project builds upon Swilky’s fieldwork and interviews of citizens with contrasting perspectives on cultural change in Perry.

The pilot project will focus on the challenges many American communities face in the 21st century, as they are transformed from racially homogenous towns into more multicultural communities. Humanities perspectives will be used to document the changes in the character of Perry and facilitate community-wide civic engagement and dialogue between diverse residents.

The project will include a documentary to summarize the history of Perry, particularly immigration, ethnicity and changes in economy, society and physical environment, as well as a community-wide dialog process.

DRAKE STUDENTS CHOW-DOWN DURING THE HOMECOMING TAILGATE, just one of the many events that was held on campus during Homecoming/Parents and Family Weekend last October.

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faculty focus MCMAHILL NAMED DEAN Janet McMahill, ED’71,GR’76, interim dean of the Drake University School of Education and director of extension education, was named dean of the School of Education, effective Jan. 1.

McMahill began her career as an English teacher in the Des Moines Public Schools. She joined Drake in 1989 as associate dean of the SOE and director of Extension Education — the School’s distance learning division, which serves more than 10,000 students a year across North America. She is nationally recognized for her achievements in distance learning.

PRIJATEL GUIDES JOURNALISM SCHOOL Patricia Prijatel, the E.T. Meredith Distinguished professor of magazine journalism, has been named director and associate dean of Drake University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Prijatel is now responsible for SJMC faculty and curriculum development and the School’s budget management.

“In her 21 years at Drake, Professor Prijatel has made the magazine sequence ‘arguably the best in the country,’ in the words of our national accreditors,” said Charles C. Edwards Jr., dean of Drake’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and its College of Business and Public Administration. “She has brought extensive resources to the School of Journalism, not least of which is development of the Meredith Center for Magazine Studies.”

PHARMACY FACULTY EXPLORE NEUROSCIENCE One sign of the College of Pharmacy and Health Science’s growing efforts in neuroscience 8

research: CPHS faculty members and students presented posters and an invited lecture at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in October.

The department has received a number of grants in the area.

Much of the CPHS neuroscience research involves the study of Alzheimer’s, and some of it is interdisciplinary, involving psychology faculty.

Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Craige Wrenn presented “Galanin Impairs Performance on Learning and Memory Tasks,” as well as a poster titled “The Role of the GAL-R1 Subtype of Galanin Receptor in Mediating the Cognitive Effects of Galanin,” which he authored with collaborators.

Associate Professor of Pharmacology Ronald Torry, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Gregory Clodfelter and pharmaceutical sciences student Luke Freml presented a poster titled “Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) Protects Cultured Hippocampal Neurons from Beta-Amyloid Mediated Toxicity.”

Department Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences Robert Soltis and student Matt St. George authored “Injection of GABA Antagonists into the Basolateral Amygdala Increases Plasma ACTH and cFos Labeling in the Paraventricular Hypothalamus of Conscious Rats.”

ZEFF, FRANK, BEISSER HONORED Sally Beisser, associate professor of education, recently received the Iowa Talented and Gifted Distinguished Service Award for her lifetime contributions in educating Iowa’s talented and gifted youth. The award is the highest honor bestowed

by the Iowa Talented and Gifted Association.

Eleanor Zeff, assistant professor of politics and international relations, was honored by the Iowa Council for International Understanding for her numerous contributions and work with global issues.

Zeff has conducted research around the world including in Africa and France, researched

women and politics, as well as European governments.

Law professor Sally Frank was among the recipients of Central Iowa Activist Awards sponsored

by Drake and Cityview, a Central Iowa alternative newsweekly.

Frank received the Central Iowa Activist Award for Civil and Human Rights for her tireless work as advocate in the protection of civil liberties.

WRIGHT, STRENTZ RECEIVE DRAKE MEDALS DRAKE PRESENTED ITS DISTINGUISHED MEDAL OF SERVICE TO PROFESSORS R. DEAN WRIGHT AND HERB STRENTZ in recognition of their sustained service to the Drake community and for their personal commitment to the University’s heritage and aspirations.

Wright, the Ellis and Nelle Levitt professor of sociology (pictured above at left, with Maddie Levitt and Strentz) retired in May after more than 30 years at Drake. He came to Drake as assistant professor of sociology and later served as chair of the sociology department and director of the criminal justice program.

Wright has earned numerous honors for his years of public service, working extensively in issues of homelessness, racial disparity and juvenile justice.

Before retiring in May, Strentz, professor of journalism and mass communication, served Drake in a variety of roles at the highest levels. He came to Drake in 1975 as dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and associate professor of journalism. Throughout his career, Strentz focused much of his work on communication law and ethics, social responsibility and information policy. He is highly respected in national freedom of information circles for his legal knowledge and vigilance.

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faculty

“I’ve been teaching for 23 years. I have to shake it

up and bring other things I’m doing into classroom, or I get bored.

I figure if I’m bored, my students will be bored.”

Laying down the law PROFESSOR TEACHES OTHERS HOW TO SUCCEED IN THE CLASSROOM STUDENTS ARRIVING LATE, letting cell phones ring

during class and sleeping through lectures.

That’s how Drake Professor of Management Delaney Kirk describes her first “class from hell,” which came when she was already 20 years into her teaching career.

Unable to find any resources to help her improve the classroom environment, Kirk simply apologized to her students for not fully conveying her expectations and established new rules for the rest of the semester.

She expected students to resist, but instead “I found they respected me more for having set these rules,” she says. “And, they learned

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more because I didn’t have to deal with behavioral problems.”

BECOMING AN EXPERT: That was three years ago.

Since then, Kirk has emerged as a pioneer in classroom management. In talking with other educators, she found she wasn’t the only one looking for help in putting the smack-down on students. So she has written a book on the subject that is scheduled to be published in the spring. In September she was featured in an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education and fielded questions in an online chat for the publication.

In addition to traveling the country presenting workshops on regaining control of the classroom, she consults with businesses on diversity issues and directs the Drake Business Link, which serves as a resource for local business people.

All of this work comes back to the classroom. “I’ve been teaching for 23 years. I have to shake it up and bring other things I’m doing into classroom, or I get bored,” she says. “I figure if I’m bored, my students will be bored. It also keeps me current with issues in the workplace, and that helps prepare my students.” — Michelle Rubin

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A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN DRAKE’S JOURNALISM SCHOOL AND BUSINESS COLLEGE WILL GIVE STUDENTS IN BOTH SCHOOLS EXPOSURE TO HOW THE OTHER HALF WORKS. s a magazine major in the late 1990s Kim Hildenbrand never gave much thought to accounting, budgets or managing other people’s time. Hildenbrand, who graduated in 2001, saw herself as a “truth-seeker or a story-teller,” not a “project manager or accountant.”

Yet when she joined the workforce, Hildenbrand started to see that as often as she was pounding out stories on a tight publication deadline, she was also being asked to do things such as make a budget proposal, manage thousands of dollars of other people’s money and even perform personnel tasks.

“The magazine program was just perfect for me,” says Hildenbrand, now an assistant editor with SPC Custom Publishing in Birmingham, AL. “But even though my title is ‘editor,’ the work is more like a project manager. I’m taking classes on things like making budgets, making schedules and even managing different kinds of personalities.

I definitely could’ve used more preparation

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for this side of my career.”

A new partnership between the College of Business and Public Administration and the School of Journalism and Mass Communication will provide future journalism and business majors the kind of preparation they need to work and communicate in the evolving workplace.

Faculty from both schools and Dean Charles C. Edwards, who serves as dean of both the SJMC and the CBPA, began working in early 2004 on a series of courses that could be shared between the two schools and produce mutual benefits.

Starting in the next academic year, journalism students will be able to take classes that teach an overview of business structure and function designed to give the students hands-on familiarity with budget proposals, basic accounting and management skills.

Business students will be able to take a writing course that sharpens their communications skills and prepares them to make

presentations, both orally and in writing, in their future careers.

The courses are in direct response to feedback received from alumni and current students about what Drake’s journalism and business programs respectively can do to prepare students for a 21st century workplace.

“As far back as 10 years ago, I was reading articles in business and finance publications saying business school graduates needed to be better communicators,” says John Rozycki, associate dean of the CBPA. “Surveys of CEOs indicate the No. 1 problem with students is that they can’t write or talk effectively about what they’re doing.

What better experts do we have for effective and clear communication than our colleagues in SJMC?” Jobs in the news media and elsewhere in mass communications have increasing amounts of business-related daily tasks.

Newspaper business reporters, for example, often must learn to read accounting state-

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business ments, tax documents and Securities and Exchange Commission filings on the fly.

The new courses will give the students a foundation in those areas and a head start when they hit the workforce.

“I think this partnership will serve as a model for how you actually do interdisciplinary education not only in these two schools but in all of the University,” says Patricia Prijatel, director of the SJMC. “These are both

ethical decision-making processes essential, Edwards says.

“There have been a lot of major screwups in both business and journalism in the last few years that have shaken the public’s confidence in their companies and the people who disseminate information about them,” he says. “This new ethical component of education in journalism and business will address the issues and situations

“There is no way that school can teach you everything you need to know when you start work … but the more you can learn before you start work, the better off you’re going to be.”

—Kim Hildenbrand, JO’01 professional schools with sometimes similar needs. Sharing the resources of the two schools can help faculty and students create some new and exciting opportunities.”

Faculty members from both schools are planning to offer more rigorous and indepth ethics courses in both business and journalism. Recent high-profile ethical lapses in both professions — from Enron to The New York Times — make a foundation in

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that students face when they get out there on their own.”

The partnership between SJMC and CBPA has already yielded new staff. The schools share a dedicated institutional advancement officer whose sole job is to raise money for the journalism school and the business college as well as for the joint venture.

Drake is adding a career development manager to work specifically with the

internship coordinators already in place in SJMC and CBPA to develop more work opportunities for students, including internships, professional training, apprenticeships and even post-graduate employment. As part of career preparation, more courses and seminars will be offered on searching for a job, interviewing skills, preparing résumés and cover letters and negotiating for salary and benefits.

The SJMC and CBPA are working on expanding graduate programs, including a new master’s in communications, which would share classes with journalism and business.

All of the work, faculty and administrators say, is to help future Drake graduates be better prepared for the workplace. That’s something alumna Hildenbrand can get behind.

“There is no way that school can teach you everything you need to know when you start work,” she says. “There will always be stuff you need to learn on-the-job. But the more you can learn before you start work, the better off you’re going to be.”

— By Daniel P. Finney, JO’97

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x 66 TAKE SIX DRAKE ALUMNI (ONE FROM EACH SCHOOL) WHO GRADUATED SIX YEARS AGO AND YOU GET A FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

By Michelle Rubin

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SK MANY 1999 DRAKE GRADS, and they’ll tell you that it seems like

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just yesterday they were busy ordering their caps and gowns and looking forward to commencement. But as the six profiles that follow show,

six years is plenty of time for Drake grads to build a great career.

Leah Ellen Kucera, AS’99 Artist, Hudson Valley area of New York Future art historians might one day look back at a recent stay in Los Angeles as a turning point in Leah Ellen Kucera’s artwork. It’s not as though the few months she spent there were particularly eventful; rather, the change in landscape from the likes of her native Iowa or Rosendale, NY, where she’d been living for a few years, could make a difference for someone whose environment informs her artwork.

“Since my relationship to the landscape and space around me is a lot of what my work is about, being in L.A. did change what I was thinking about in that way,” Kucera says.

In her sculptures, Kucera utilizes found objects, such as nails, twigs, unraveled baseball covers or wire mesh, to create earthy pieces that evoke an intriguing intersection where nature meets human artifacts.

It’s that approach to sculpture that caused one New York Times reviewer to write that the work in Kucera’s 2004 show “Fossils” had the ability to “inspire and delight.”

“It’s exciting to hear what someone out there who is thinking about art and influencing it in that way is thinking about your work,” Kucera says about the New York Times review. “Of course, it’s also scary because you don’t know what their verdict will be, but I think it worked out for me.”

Since graduating, Kucera has exhibited her work nearly continuously throughout the country. In 2002, she took a leave of absence from her job at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY, to become an artist-in-residence at Franconia Sculpture Park in Shafer, MN. In the larger space of the 16-acre park, Kucera’s work took on a

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larger scale with “Shelter,” a 13' x12' x7' 6 piece made of dirt and steel.

“My work grew,” she says. “I was like a lizard — I was put in a bigger cage and just grew.”

Jonathan Azu BN’99 Marketing Director, Infinity Broadcasting New York, NY To say that Jonathan Azu works in New York is somewhat misleading. New York does serve as his home base, but last year Azu flew 30,000 miles, and 70,000 the year before.

“I love my job,” he says, “but it’s not easy.”

The guy who, as president of the Student Activities Board, brought Dave Matthews to Drake in 1999, now works for the vice president of marketing for Infinity, the radio division of Viacom. Among his duties, he oversees major accounts and helped create Street Date, a new music marketing campaign that treats the release of new albums much like that of movie releases.

Though demanding, the job allows him to work with the likes of Bon Jovi and Duran Duran. Late last year Azu coordinated an event at which Lenny Kravitz performed a private concert for contest winners at the Palms Resort in Las Vegas, complete with an after-party in the “Real World” Suite.

So it’s no wonder he loves his job. But despite the hectic schedule, Azu still takes time to maintain his connection to Drake — volunteering for his reunion committee and regional alumni activities — because Drake has had a role in his success.

“I think a lot of my success has come from the connections I made at Drake,” he says.

“I had a chance to do things — such as bringing Dave Matthews to town — that I

wouldn’t have been able to do in a major city.

“Drake grads are always doing something in a big way,” Azu adds, noting that Louis Carr, JO’78, an executive at BET, has a New York office on Azu’s floor. “It seems like everyone I know from Drake is doing really cool things advancing humanity or their industry in major ways.”

Sharon Ingebrand GR’99 Administrator, Downtown School, Des Moines As Sharon Ingebrand gives tours around the Downtown School in Des Moines, her enthusiasm is enough to make the childless want to have kids just so they can enroll in the school.

Ingebrand herself has three children enrolled in the school, a non-graded elementary that features research-based education, and taught there after receiving her master’s from Drake in 1999. Now as the director of the school’s professional development center, Ingebrand works with educators, parents, administrators and other community members to show them what innovative education looks like and how it can be used in their own schools. She also teaches master’s classes on research-based education for Drake’s School of Education.

The Downtown School places significant emphasis on hands-on experience and individual learning. One class Ingebrand recently taught for Drake focused on a project-based approach, which involves going beyond textbook memorization to more experiential learning, with students studying dentistry with a hygienist or studying elections by setting up their own government.

“After learning about research-based learning, people tell me, ‘I had no idea

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these techniques existed,’ or ‘this has changed my life as a teacher,’” says Ingebrand. She recently received a letter from a teacher explaining that for the first time in his 20-year teaching career, he was excited about what he was doing and couldn’t wait to come to work each day.

It’s all part of Ingebrand’s plan to spread the gospel of research-based learning.

“I realized pretty early in my career that I wanted to teach others about this,” she says.

“Part of that was how isolated I felt when I first started in the classroom, and I knew that I just couldn’t go back to how we’d always done things. As a teacher I could see that it wasn’t working for kids. I wanted to help other teachers learn that there are other methods out there that work.”

Nicholas Fonseca, JO’99 Staff Writer,

Entertainment Weekly

New York, NY It all started with his mother and David Lynch.

When Nicolas Fonseca was 12 years old, his mother showed him a copy of Entertainment Weekly with “Twin Peaks” creator David Lynch on the cover. He was hooked.

Now every week you can find the EW staff writer’s byline buzzing around pieces on everything from Rory Gilmore’s haircut to his adoration of “Apprentice” spoiler Omarosa.

“I’ve been watching a lot of TV since graduation. It was my favorite hobby before I started working at Entertainment Weekly, and it’s my favorite hobby now,” says Fonseca, on the phone from New York, where he lives with his partner Ben Grill, JO’00, whom he met on Grill’s first day at Drake.

When Fonseca was a junior in the magazine program at Drake, an American Society of Magazine Editors internship at EW made his dream a reality.

“It was huge,” he says. “I had put everything I had into my application because I had basically decided this was my moment to stake my claim.”

Fonseca’s internship helped him land a position as fact checker just a few months

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after graduating from Drake. From there he worked his way up to staff writer.

Since then, he’s written enough for his own anthology, but among the standouts was a feature on “Queer Eye For the Straight Guy,” which Fonseca profiled in an August 2003 cover story just as the show was becoming a hit.

“It’s really great to get your finger on something right as it breaks in this industry because there are so many magazines looking to do the same thing,” he says.

So if Fonseca were grilling himself what would he ask? “What I want to do next, because it’s the one question I don’t know how to answer.”

Rebecca Bishop, JO’96, LW’99, GR’99 Partner, Altera Law Group, Minneapolis, MN When Rebecca Bishop argued her first case that went to trial, it ended up in the Eastern District of Virginia, which may not mean anything to those unfamiliar with the phrase “rocket docket.” Bishop’s trademark infringement case, which normally might have lasted more than two years, flew through this district court in just eight months.

“It was extraordinarily fast, but it was a great experience,” she says, adding. “And we won.”

But Bishop is used to getting things done quickly. While at Drake she finished three degrees — a bachelor’s and a master’s in journalism and a juris doctorate degree — in six years through Drake’s 3+3 Program.

Now she’s as a partner at Altera Law Group, where she practices primarily in the area of intellectual property law, working in trademark and copyright prosecution, as well as intellectual property litigation and dispute resolution.

“I think what I like most about this area of the law is that it really allows me to use all of my degrees at one time,” Bishop says. She particularly enjoys teaming up with clients who are just starting a company and want to select a strong, legally defensible brand at the outset.

“In my opinion, there are two kinds of

lawyers: the ‘Oh, man, I need a lawyer now’ kind and the ‘What can I do proactively to make my business strong’ kind. I enjoy being that latter kind.”

Gianna Rigoni, PH’99 Consultant, Premier Group, Raleigh, NC Gianna Rigoni says she still doesn’t know what she wants to do when she grows up.

But for now, Rigoni is enjoying working as a consultant for Premier Group, where she analyzes pharmaceutical research and provides pharmaceutical companies information on how their products are performing in hospitals.

The job allows her to combine her pharmacy education from Drake with the master’s degree in outcomes research she received from the University of North Carolina a few years later.

Rigoni’s other jobs have included a stint as independent contractor with Glaxo Smith Klein, a teaching appointment at the University of North Carolina and an ongoing part-time job as a pharmacist at Wal-Mart — just to keep her skills sharp.

“From the day I graduated from Drake, I have always worked in a pharmacy,” she says.

“No matter what my other jobs have been, I always put in about 30 hours a month.”

But Rigoni’s highest-profile position has been as an epidemiologist for the Federal Drug Administration’s Office of Drug Safety.

It was at that job that she spoke before two advisory committees, one involving the narcotic OxyContin and the other the use of antidepressants in children. The latter presentation briefly made Rigoni popular with the press, and a simple quote from her report to the committee appeared in papers all over the country and had her fielding calls from the likes of National Public Radio.

But though she maintains a connection with a community pharmacy, she credits Drake with her ability to put her pharmacy degree to use on more nontraditional jobs.

“Drake always encouraged creative thinking about your pharmacy career,” she says.

“I think that’s why I’ve done so many different things — because Drake taught me I could.”

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TEACHING&LEARNING

Stacks alive COWLES LIBRARY ADDS MUSIC, DVDS AND EVEN BOARD GAMES TO MEET THE EVOLVING NEEDS OF DRAKE STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF

By Daniel P. Finney, JO’97

ven now, four years into the 21st Century, the word “library” con300 music CDs being added to Cowles collection, everything from jures an image of a bookish old woman with her gray hair pulled Mozart to Barry White. back into a bun and looking over the tops of her black-rimmed Cowles is aggressively buying new DVDs — including everything glasses at noisy patrons and giving a harsh “Shh!” to decibel offenders. from feature films to science documentaries — to beef up its media It is hardly the kind of place one would expect to find students collection. In recent years, the library has added a state-of-the art rolling the dice in an updated version of the Monopoly board game, viewing classroom to watch DVDs, laser discs and other visual media. strumming the air guitar to a U2 CD or checking out a copy of the Faculty members have taken advantage of Cowles’ growing media cult film classic “Pulp Fiction.” collection. One first-year seminar course had the DVDs of “Hamlet,” In fact, you won’t find many users within the library at all. Instead “Fargo” and “Fight Club” on reserve. An English class had a series of you will find them in Assistant Professor Heidi Sleister’s biology class videos and DVDs about the ethics of the atomic bomb and race and doing research at lightning speed all from the classroom. Electronic science on reserve. An advertising class had a series of VHS tapes databases are providing students with the containing popular TV commercials ready chance to access information in their classes, for students to view. labs and residence halls; information that was The library even has a pair of Monopoly seldom available in the small teaching libraries games on reserve, part of an educational exerof the past. cise in professor Jim Dodd’s “Profit Planning It’s also changing the way teachers are and Control” accounting class. Students play approaching curriculum. Associate Professor Monopoly for seven years — actually seven Mark Vitha sees opportunity in changing his weeks of class time — and record their busichemistry classes to include the new breadth of ness transactions. Each week, Dodd changes research materials — not just recent publicathe rules of the game, making the students tions but old issues now available online — a work the game differently and pick up a new testament to the evolution of chemistry. And accounting principle. all without visiting the stacks.

“I use the library because it is centrally Cowles has more than 70 online databases located and I am a tactile-type person,” Dodd Drakes students can access a librarian through a virtual assisthat can be accessed on or off campus, putting says. “It’s an environment where the students tance service from the library’s Web site anywhere, at any time. students, faculty and staff one or two clicks are free to do a lot of different kinds of learnaway from 15,000 scholarly journals. This puts Drake on par with most ing. This is a place where they can develop a deeper understanding large research libraries. and thinking about the subject.”

The days of a university library being just a place for books, acaIn the final seven weeks of the course, Dodd plans to have the studemic journals and newspapers on microfilm have blown away like so dents build a product out of LEGO blocks and develop a business much dust atop a bound volume of The Times-Delphic. The building’s plan to market it. All of which will be done at Cowles. redbrick walls can’t contain the library anymore.

Oh, and as for the image of librarians as stuffy bookworms, forget it.

There are still plenty of books, journals and periodicals — and Drake librarians are full-fledged members of the Drake faculty. The more being added every day — within the library, but the 21st centulibrarians teach in nearly every first-year seminar course and teach ry version of Cowles is a multimedia extravaganza. courses to help students learn how to research and use the ever-grow“This is the overarching concept that has been used to shape the ing pool of resources at Cowles. library in recent years: bringing information, access and new ways of Students can access a librarian through a virtual assistance service learning directly into the curriculum and making more effective use from the library’s Web site, connecting to the library from anywhere, of technology,” says Rod Henshaw, dean of Cowles Library. at any time, bringing vast amounts of knowledge into the classroom As Drake makes more classrooms wireless next year, every student — or wherever learning happens. with a laptop will be able to enter the library’s Web site and gain imme“This isn’t just about technology,” explains Marcia Keyser, coordidiate access to materials they need while working in a lab or classroom. nator of information services. “It’s more about connecting people “Faculty and student researchers need access to more detailed inforwith people in new ways.” mation than the normal Web searches reveal,” said John Burney, dean For those with a more classical sense of library, they will be comof the College of Arts and Sciences. “They need the most recent forted to learn that Cowles still has a few old-fashioned card cataresearch articles in their fields. Cowles Library provides up-to-thelogues in use — one for certain government documents and another minute high-quality scholarly information for students in every college.” for The Times-Delphic archives.

And, if you get too loud, the hip, modern library staff will still A recent antitrust settlement between the federal government and throw down a harsh “Shh!” the major record publishers over price-fixing resulted in more than

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sports sideline MEN’S BASKETBALL Drake’s dogged determination and some exciting games — including an overtime win at Indiana State — helped counter the Bulldogs’ cold shooting and costly turnovers. Standing at 6-9 overall and 2-5 in the Missouri Valley Conference after losing to Creighton on Jan. 19, Drake led the MVC in free-throw shooting at 74.4 percent but at one point ranked last in the conference in field goal percentage at .403.

On the brighter side, Drake shot an MVC single-game season high 68.6 percent from the floor in its 74-69 overtime victory at Indiana State. Sophomore center Aliou Keita, a University of Tulsa transfer from Dakar, Senegal, ranked second in the MVC in blocked shots (2.1 average) and eighth in rebounding (6.3 average). In Drake’s loss to No. 17 Iowa, Keita scored a career-high 28 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked five shots in 26 minutes of play. Forwards Pete Eggers, a senior, and sophomore Klayton Korver contributed as well; Eggers’ consistently high free-throw percentage and careerhigh 23 points against Western Illinois helped Drake snap a fourgame losing streak.

Senior point guard Lonnie Randolph, named the first MVC player of the week for the 200405 season, moved into No. 5 on the school career steals list, surpassing Stephon Butler (198185), who had 134. Randolph also became the seventh player in Drake history to collect 300 or more assists in a career.

Promising freshmen performers included forward Brent Heemskerk and guards Chris Bryant and Leonard Houston.

Heemskerk collected 14 points and nine rebounds against Iowa; Bryant scored a career-high 26

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points in 23 minutes in Drake’s victory over Texas A&MCorpus Christi; and Houston scored 10 points in 18 minutes at Southern Utah.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Picked to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, Drake found power in its newcomers and four returning players.

Freshman guard Lindsay Whorton was named MVC newcomer of the week after scoring a career-high 26 points — including six three-pointers — in Drake’s 75-72 loss at Creighton. Freshman forward Brandy Dahir scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in Drake’s 74-70 win at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Junior college transfer Natalie Raub scored 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, her first career double-double, against Illinois State.

Those performances were backed by team veterans. Linda Sayavongchanh, a junior guard, averaged 16 points and 4.7 assists against Big Ten conference schools Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota. She tallied a seasonhigh eight steals against Indiana State, tying the second-best singlegame effort in school history.

Sophomore forward Jill Martin, Drake’s top scorer with an average 12.5 points per game, by midJanuary had earned four doubledoubles for the season.

Standing at 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the MVC after losing to Creighton Jan. 15, Drake toughened up with challenging nonconference play, including games against No. 24 Iowa and No. 13 Minnesota. By mid-January, the Bulldogs shut down Illinois State, picked to finish third in the MVC preseason poll, with a relentless defense in a 68-47 win.

BULLDOGS WIN PIONEER FOOTBALL LEAGUE The portable lights that illuminated Drake’s home opener — the first night game at Drake Stadium since 1960 — foretold a shining 10-2 season: The Bulldogs won the Pioneer Football League championship, defeating Morehead State 20-17, and became the second team in the 111-year history of Drake football to win 10 games in a season, more than two decades after the 1981 squad finished 10-1.

In his 16th year as head coach, Rob Ash was named PFL North Division coach of the year.

Freshman running back Scott Phaydavong was named the North’s co-offensive player of the year and earned third-team NCAA I-AA All-American honors from the Associated Press. The Air Force Academy transfer set the Drake single-season nonscholarship rushing record with 1,539 yards and led the Pioneer Football League in rushing, ranking sixth nationally with a 128.25yard per-game average.

WOMEN’S SOCCER Drake earned an undefeated Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship in its overtime victory over Creighton.

The Bulldogs built a season mark of 13-5-3 overall and 7-0-0 in the MVC. The Bulldogs then fell to Creighton, 1-3, in the State Farm MVC Tournament Championship match, but landed three players on the all-tournament team: junior forward Andrea Schmitz, the MVC scoring leader and player of the year; junior midfielder Bailey Walkup, who added valuable minutes and leadership after a back injury sidelined her for six matches; and freshman midfielder Sarah Foote, a second team all-MVC pick.

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Phaydavong, senior offensive guard Grant Knowles and senior tight end James Mickley were named to The Sports Network’s 2004 I-AA Mid-Major All-America team. Knowles and Mickley also earned first-team all-PFL honors along with junior punter Ryan Horvath, senior offensive lineman Mark Wilke, senior wide receiver Jason Jones and senior linebacker Eric Papp, team cocaptain. Junior quarterback Connor Jostes ranked among the top in the PFL in passing average and passing efficiency.

Heading into the PFL championship game, Drake ranked in the top 10 in two NCAA Division I-AA defensive categories: ninth in total defense (288.64) and 10th in scoring defense (16.6).

The Bulldogs also ranked in the top 20 nationally with 27 forced turnovers and 17 interceptions.

Making the season even sweeter: Drake historian and resident celebrity Paul Morrison, JO’39, celebrated watching his 600th Drake football game at the Bulldogs’ Homecoming victory over San Diego on Oct. 9.

MEN’S SOCCER The Bulldogs ended the season 8-9-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 1-3 loss to Bradley in the MVC Tournament quarterfinal match.

Forwards Matt Nickell, a senior, and Ryan Samuelson, a sophomore, led Drake’s offensive effort, along with junior midfielders Jesse Baker and Chris Hamburger. Freshman goalkeeper Phillip Breuer recorded three shutouts in the season. Senior defender Adam Zenor anchored Drake’s defense.

SOFTBALL The Bulldogs tallied impressive wins against Upper Iowa, 10-0, and Indian Hills, 8-0, in the Bulldog Classic, followed by a 2-2

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champions finish in the Hawkeye Classic at the University of Iowa. Drake ended the fall season with a 3-1 record at the Iowa Classic. The Bulldogs were impressive in the classroom, too, earning a No. 13 ranking in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I National Academic Rankings with a 3.347 cumulative team grade point average for the 2003-04 year.

CREW The women’s crew team ended the fall season by winning three races — the novice 8B and 8C division, the lightweight 8 and the junior varsity 8 — in a dual against Creighton in November on the Des Moines River. In October, Drake placed second in the 20-team women’s novice 8 in the 16th annual Head of the Iowa Regatta.

VOLLEYBALL Drake’s youth was apparent in the team’s 3-26 season mark, including a 1-17 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference, but sophomores Eve Johnson and Betsy Funk and freshman Samantha Nelson recorded promising numbers of kills, digs and blocks. Senior Lindsay Patterson collected a season total 340 digs, tying her for Drake’s seventh best single season total.

Junior Stacy Boerema exceeded 800 kills in her three-year career.

WOMEN’S TENNIS At its own Lloyd Stokstad Invitational in November, Drake finished the fall campaign with three runner-up finishes by senior Zorana Stefanovic in the A Flight singles, sophomore Allison Wilke in the B Flight singles, and senior Cheen Alkhatib and junior Eve Rusdianto in the B Flight doubles. Stefanovic also took the singles title crown at the Missouri Valley Conference Individual Championships in October.

TRACK Junior Matt Sanderson won the long jump and sophomore Jennifer Whitman captured the triple jump (37 feet, 5 inches) when Drake’s track and field teams opened the indoor season at the Iowa State Holiday Classic in December. At the Missouri Invitational in January, Whitman and junior Katie Sparks turned in runner-up performances in the triple jump and high jump, respectively.

CROSS COUNTRY For the second consecutive year, a Drake runner won the Missouri Valley Conference men’s individual cross country title in October: Senior Bobby Anderson outran 74 other runners, covering the 8,000-meter race in 25 minutes, 3.33 seconds. Drake finished third in the meet with 77 points.

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MEN’S TENNIS Junior Jonathan Tishler advanced to the consolation semifinal and junior Chris Lueth advanced to the consolation round of 16 at the ITA Region V Championships in October.

Senior Jack Frankowicz and freshman Dalibor Pavic advanced to the Round of 32 at that event.

GOLF Drake captured an unprecedented third straight Big Four Classic championship in October when junior Jeff Berkshire won a twohole sudden death playoff.

Earlier that month Berkshire tied for ninth and Drake tied for 10th at the 14-team Duke Golf Classic.

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Mayor McDonnell DRAKE SENIOR LEADS TEAM TO CHAMPIONSHIP VICTORY

THEY CALL HIM “THE MAYOR.” Offensive lineman Chris McDonnell, a gregarious public relations senior from Oak Forest, IL, no doubt earned that nickname from his football teammates through his penchant for motivational speeches and tireless campus involvement. The guy who wanted to perform on Broadway when he was a kid and now dubs himself “The Singin’ Football Player” in his résumé cover letters channels his artistic energy into performances on and off the field.

“In 30 years of coaching, I have never coached a better leader than Chris McDonnell,” says Head Football Coach Rob Ash. “When Chris is talking to the team, the players smile as they witness his zealous demeanor, but they nod in agreement that he is right -— this team can accomplish every goal it has set, if we just do our jobs.”

Turns out McDonnell was right — the team ended a stellar season with a 10-2 record and the Pioneer Football League Championship title.

“It’s extremely rewarding to work so hard to achieve something only a handful of teams in college football are able to do each year,” McDonnell says. “And now I’ll have some large ornamentation on my finger that will forever symbolize the fun I’ve had and relationships I’ve developed achieving that goal.”

More than any win, those relationships are what McDonnell treasures most. “If I were to get married tomorrow,” he adds, “I know there are 110 guys I could have in my wedding party.”

McDonnell’s leadership extends far beyond the football field. The lengthy list of his campus activities includes the student athletic board, the student senate and student ambassadors. This semester he’s interning with the Iowa legislature.

“I always tell prospective students that Drake is such a unique place because it mixes the best of a big Division 1 school and a small college environment,” says McDonnell, who was accepted to 10 colleges before choosing Drake, “so you can compete at a high level and get the best education while doing it.” — Michelle Rubin

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alumni update REUNIONS SCHEDULED FOR RELAYS AND COMMENCEMENT WEEKENDS Plans for this year’s reunions are once again in high gear.

Relays Weekend, April 28-30, will find the classes of ’74, ’75 and ’76 reuniting on campus.

This year’s Relays reunions also will include resident advisors, giving them a chance to get together with their residence life friends and share stories with RAs of different eras.

The weekend will include an all-alumni party, which will feature a tribute to Don Adams; a “Breakfast of Champions” pancake breakfast; and reunion-specific gatherings.

On Commencement Weekend, May 13-14, the class of 1955 will be inducted into the 50-Year Club. The weekend will be packed with activities, including a luncheon for the classes of ’35, ’45 and ’55; the 50-Year Club reception and dinner; the 124th Commencement Ceremony; and the all-alumni reception and awards dinner.

For information or to register for either weekend, call the Drake Alumni Office at 1-800-44DRAKE, x3152, or go to www.drakealumni.net.

SEVEN RECENT GRADS TEACH IN CHINA While most Drake students were heading home to enjoy fall break last October, Drake administrators were flying to China to meet with seven Drake alumni (Jane Hansen, Justin Hickman, Casey Lindsay, Marie Mainil, Joseph McAuliff, Melinda Ruby and Stephanie Shay) who teach English to children, teenagers and university students in the city of Shijiazhuang in Hebei, China.

The exchange program stems from a spring 2003 visit to Drake

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by a delegation from Hebei, a sister state of Iowa, with the goal of creating a relationship that would allow Chinese students to study insurance at Drake. A group from Drake visited Hebei in the fall of 2003 as the next step in establishing an exchange program for students and faculty.

Although it has been difficult to bring Chinese students to Drake due to increased visa regulations, a new program that enables recent Drake graduates to teach English in China has evolved under the leadership of Provost Ron Troyer.

Prior to their departure in August, the alums, who have a wide variety of degrees and areas of expertise, were required to complete an online training course to prepare them for their experience. The course was divided into two sections: Chinese culture and teaching English as a second language.

This preparation helped the alums get ready for their transition into a new culture.

A number of Drake faculty members plan to teach and conduct research in China after the academic year has finished.

ALUMNI AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED On May 13, Drake University will honor six alumni at the Alumni Awards Dinner on the Drake campus.

Craig Donohue, AS’83, will receive the Alumni Achievement Award. Donohue is chief executive officer of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and has played a pivotal role in the CME’s successful demutualization and its 2002 initial public offering.

Jack Watson, LW’47, will be presented with the Alumni Loyalty Award. Watson retired as senior vice president of the Principal Financial Group after

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Guests were all smiles at the Francis Marion Drake Society Dinner, the formal event held on campus each fall to celebrate the generous supporters of the University. Picture 1: Larry Weaver, PH’49; Don Davidson, PH’50; and Dee Weaver. Picture 2: Janet Huston, LW’83; Drake First Lady Madeleine Maxwell; Michael “Mike” Huston, LA’64, LW’67; and Linda Grandquist. Picture 3: Bethany Wright, ED’94; James Wright, AS’97; Drake President David Maxwell; Elaine Wright, ED’69; and Andy Wright, BN’69.

39 years with the company and has contributed significant volunteer hours and financial support to the University.

Anne Hilton, BN’78, senior director, finance program office for Qwest Communications, will also receive the Alumni Loyalty Award. Hilton has been actively involved with Drake both regionally and nationally, including serving as president and chair of the National Alumni Board and as a member of the Board of Trustees.

The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Benjamin Ullem, LA’66, LW’69, a senior partner at Whitfield

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and Eddy, PLC Law Firm. Ullem is a Board of Trustees member who served as chair from 2000 to 2003.

Eric Shimp, AS’93, will be honored as the Young Alumni Achievement Award winner.

Shimp is director of strategic international business practice at Hunton & Williams.

James Cohill, AS’92, vice president of group benefits at Principal Financial Group, will receive the Young Alumni Loyalty Award. Cohill serves on the Arts and Sciences National Advisory Board and is a longtime organizer of regional alumni events in the San Francisco area.

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success JEWELER TO THE STARS Her jewelry has appeared on such celebrity necks, ears and limbs as Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Roberts and Kirsten Dunst. But Jill Alberts, JO’87, still gets excited when she hears about celebrities wearing her designs. During a recent interview from her Chicago-area studio, Alberts explains that a New York store just called to say that pop singer Dido had been in and bought “an important gold lace piece.”

With no trace of jaded designer in her voice Alberts adds, “Which is cool because I absolutely love her music.”

FLEA MARKET FINDS: Her designs, which are carried by the likes of Bergdorf Goodman or Neiman Marcus, begin as unique flea market and estate sale finds that become modern, one-of-a-kind gems.

While hunting for pieces to use, Alberts has no particular era in mind. “I’m just drawn to the aesthetic beauty of a certain piece,” she says. “When I see something that I love, I buy it and figure out what it’s going to be after I have it. It’s hard to articulate because it’s not something that’s conscious. It just comes to me.”

As for her jewelry’s celebrity sightings, “It’s flattering,” says Alberts, who once interned for Gary Hart and was a political science professor before she began making jewelry. “Obviously these people have access to everything and anything, and that they choose to wear my pieces is extremely flattering.”

Windy City Fashionistas THREE DRAKE ALUMNAE TURN HOBBIES INTO TRENDY ACCESSORIES

GRABBING FASHION BY THE PURSE STRINGS Jennifer Velarde, AS’95, found that her job at an interior design firm had fallen out of fashion. “I was attracted to fabrics, textures and color elements of interiors,” she recalls, “but what was unsatisfying is that I would draw something and it would take six months to a year before I would see it built.”

So in 1999, Velarde turned to sewing handbags, and 1154 Lill Studio was born.

Velarde and her Drake sorority sister, Robin Newberry, BN’96, have since grown 1154 Lill Studio into a small but popular chain of custom handbag stores headquartered in Chicago.

CREATE YOUR OWN: The concept of their store, which has seen coverage in everything from Redbook and Lucky to The Washington Post, is simple: Customers mix and match fabrics and styles to design their own handbags in the store, online or at parties. In addition to the original store in Chicago, the company now has stores in Boston and Kansas City, as well as representatives — two of whom are Drake grads — who help people design bags at home parties across the country.

But as the company grows, Velarde and Newberry work hard to stay true to its original concept, which they’re reminded of by the name 1154 Lill Studio — an homage to the studio condo where Velarde first set up shop.

“People enjoy designing their own bags because they get to do something individual,” Velarde says. “They aren’t going to see that bag everywhere. You wind up with a product you’re really proud of because you had input in its design — and it’s a memory, too, of the experience of making it.”

— Michelle Rubin

The Magazine of Drake University

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calendar

alumni update April MONDAY, APRIL 25 Beautiful Bulldog Contest Des Moines WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27 Weaver Medal of Honor Lecture • Des Moines

THURSDAY, APRIL 28 THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 30 Relays Weekend • Des Moines THURSDAY, APRIL 28 THROUGH SATURDAY, APRIL 30 Board of Trustee meeting Des Moines

From Portland to Boston, enthusiastic groups of Drake grads gathered around the globe throughout the winter months at local Bulldog Bashes. Jamie Overberg, BN’92, coordinated the Bash for the Denver group seen here, which was held at the Brewery Bar III, owned by Drake grads Doug, JO’79, and Janice, ED’79, Lundstrom.

TWO GALLERIES OFFER NEW ‘DRAKE UNIVERSITY’ PRINT A new limited-edition print titled “Drake University” by internationally known artist P. Buckley Moss is available at two galleries in central Iowa.

The print, which includes Old Main, Meredith Hall and Opperman Hall and Law Library, is available at Country Gallery (800-252-6929) and at Kenneth Paul Gallery (515-278-4378).

Unframed prints cost $120, and framed prints also are available.

DRAKE’S OLDEST ALUM DIES Drake’s oldest alumna, class of 1912 graduate Verona Calhoun Johnston, passed away Dec. 1 in Worthington, OH. A native of Indianola, IA, Johnston was the oldest person in the United States and the second oldest person in the world, according to

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Gerontology Research Group.

John Willey, vice president for institutional advancement, and Claudia Cackler, senior advancement officer, traveled to Ohio to help Johnston celebrate her 114th birthday on Aug. 6.

“She was alert and sharp, with a perky, humorous comeback for every question,” Cackler said. “She loved the proclamation, the beautiful cake and the Drake afghan that the University gave her.”

Willey presented Johnston with the proclamation signed by Drake President David Maxwell.

She added a few quips of her own during the reading. Former Drake trustee Ron Roark, BN’72, arranged for Drake to participate in the birthday festivities, which received substantial media coverage.

FRIDAY, APRIL 29 Pancake Breakfast Des Moines

SATURDAY, MAY 14 124th Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony Des Moines SATURDAY, MAY 14 Alumni Board meeting Des Moines

FRIDAY, APRIL 29 All-Alumni Party/Tribute to Don Adams • Des Moines FRIDAY, APRIL 29 Parent Board Meeting Des Moines

SATURDAY, MAY 14 Alumni Awards Dinner Des Moines

June WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 Windy City Golf Outing Chicago

SATURDAY, APRIL 30 30-year Cluster Reunion for Classes 1976, 1975, 1974 Des Moines

FRIDAY, JUNE 24 Des Moines Arts Festival Des Moines

SATURDAY, APRIL 30 Residence Assistant Reunion Des Moines

July JULY 2005 Drake Day on Ragbrai

May FRIDAY, MAY 13 THROUGH SUNDAY, MAY 15 Reunion Weekend for Classes 1955, 1945, 1935 Des Moines

August SATURDAY, AUG. 13 City Outreach Event Tony Bennett at the Hollywood Bowl • Los Angeles, CA

SATURDAY, MAY 14 Board of Trustee meeting Des Moines

☛ For more information and a full listing of all Drake events — including athletics and fine arts events — visit: www.drake.edu/newsevents/calendar

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The Magazine of Drake University

From stairwell to stadium

connections

RETIRED WALGREENS CEO AND HIS WIFE SHARE LIFELONG CONNECTION TO DRAKE Stalnaker Residence Hall will always be a special place for Dan Jorndt, PH’63, and his wife Patricia McDonnell Jorndt, LA’64. It was in a Stalnaker stairwell that the two met and talked on Pat’s first day at Drake in the fall of 1960. Dan left that initial meeting with Pat’s phone number.

But Dan didn’t get around to calling Pat until November. As he joked at last year’s Weaver Medal of Honor presentation ceremony, “I was working my way through an alphabetized list, so it took me a while to get to Patti McDonnell!”

Nonetheless, the two Drake alums have been together ever since and have raised three children.

PATH OF SUCCESS: When he graduated from

Drake in 1963, Jorndt got a job at Walgreens that eventually led to various store, district and regional management positions. He was named company treasurer in 1982 and president in 1990. He became CEO in 1998 and chairman in 1999, after the retirement of Charles R. Walgreen III from those respective positions. In 1999, he also received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Drake. He retired from Walgreens in 2002.

Last year he was awarded the Lawrence C. and Delores M. Weaver Medal of Honor — the highest award given by Drake's College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Pat has been active in community service and charitable organizations for four decades.

GIVING BACK: Last November the Jorndts made a $10 million gift to Drake that will provide $5 million to endow scholarships and $5 million for the Drake Stadium revitalization project.

The gift is just part of their lifelong commitment to the University.

Pat Jorndt said, “My Drake classmates — from all parts of the country —- introduced me to interests that continue to enrich my life decades later.”

“Attending Drake was a wonderful experience,” said Dan Jorndt. “I so enjoyed the campus life and great Midwestern atmosphere and, most importantly, I met Patti McDonnell. She’s been my adviser and sweetheart for 44 years.”

— Michelle Rubin

The Magazine of Drake University

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Picture 1: Twin Cities alumni enjoyed a casual picnic at a Minnehaha State Park shelter during one of Drake’s City Outreach events. Picture 2: California grads celebrated the holidays in style at the world-famous Newport Harbor Christmas Boat Parade City Outreach event. Picture 3: Fireworks and a concert provided a festive backdrop to the Hollywood Bowl City Outreach event. Picture 4: The Kansas City Outreach event featured a networking evening hosted by Don Fletcher, BN’67, president of Hallmark North America. Picture 5: Drake alum Verona Calhoun Johnston receives a proclamation from John Willey, vice president for institutional advancement, for her 114th birthday on Aug. 6. Formerly the oldest living American, she passed away in December. Picture 6: Drake Law School alumni, students and faculty gathered at an alumni barbeque on campus last fall.

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The Magazine of Drake University

Generosity benefiting generations TWO OF DRAKE’S NEWEST CLASSROOMS , the Langford Patient Care Classroom and the Langford Sterile Products Laboratory in Drake’s Harvey Ingham Hall, are changing the way pharmacy students learn. Made possible by a generous gift from retired pharmacist Jay Langford, PH’44, these state-of-art facilities offer what Drake President David Maxwell described at a dedication ceremony last fall as, “a glimpse of what future learning spaces at Drake will look like.”

But the new classrooms — and Jay Langford himself — also symbolize the sig-

nificant part Drake alumni play in the lives of current students, too.

“Jay Langford’s role at Drake has been to look at the needs of the greater group. As such, he has provided us with a legacy,” College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Dean Raylene Rospond said at the dedication. “Classrooms play a vital role in our efforts and impact not just students and faculty, but alumni as well.”

At the dedication Langford reflected on how his Drake experience made it possible for him to impact the lives of future students

through his generous gift and told those gathered at the event, “The profession of pharmacy has been good to me through the years, and my Drake education allowed me to support my family and help others in need.”

But such an impact isn’t reserved for classroom-size gifts. All gifts to the University enhance the Drake experience by keeping class sizes small, retaining outstanding faculty and offering an affordable, highquality education. Building a great university takes great partners — like Jay Langford and you.

College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Dean Raylene Rospond, center, presents a framed display depicting the pharmacy lab renovation to Jay Langford, right, and his son, Greg.

For more information or to make a contribution, contact Director of Development John Smith at 1-800-44-DRAKE, x2969 or go to www.drakealumni.net and click on “Support Drake.”

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A timely addition THERE’S NOT MUCH EXCUSE FOR BEING LATE TO CLASS THESE DAYS AT DRAKE. Thanks to lead-

ership gifts from Larry Katzen, BN’67, and Susan Nieder Katzen, ED’68 (seen here with Drake President David Maxwell) and the contributions from other partners of Arthur Andersen who attended Drake, the new Arthur Andersen Time Element stands at the southeast corner of Meredith Hall. The structure’s row of curved black pillars inset with blue LED screens displays the correct time as well as messages about campus events — 24/7.

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