THE TIMES-DELPHIC THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
DES MOINES, IOWA | THURSDAY, DEC. 8, 2011 | VOL. 131, NO. 26 | WWW.TIMESDELPHIC.COM
Republican presidential candidates will be on campus this weekend to participate in the ABC Debate.
JOEY GALE | photo editor
Drake students welcome GOP debate
Campus-wide straw poll being held Students asked to participate in electronic ballot system
by Lauren Horsch
Managing/News Editor lauren.horsch@drake.edu
On Saturday, Drake students will have a unique opportunity offered to them. Besides being privy to witnessing the ABC-Des Moines RegisterRepublican Party of Iowa Debate, they can also vote in the very first Drake Straw Poll. Sophomore Sam Pritchard, chair of the Student Senate ad hoc committee said the idea of a straw poll came out of conversations he had with Eric Baker, an intern for the Republican Party of Iowa and a member of the ad hoc committee. Pritchard said that the committee was looking for an overarching theme for the events this week, and that is when the two had a “light bulb” moment. The poll, which will be conducted on Dec. 10, will be sent out campuswide via an email with a link to a Qualtrics online survey. Students will have until 11:59 p.m. that night to cast their ballot. Usually, students are asked to vote through blueView, but Pritchard said
an ID number would have been required for each candidate. This straw poll, is the first of it’s kind on a campus-wide scale. Pritchard said the closest event took place at Illinois State University last month, with only about 400 student participants. Pritchard said the straw poll would serve a few purposes. “It gives a reason for campaigns and candidates to take our student events seriously, and gives them a reason to meet with students and campaign a bit on campus,” he said. Pritchard added that it would allow campaigns to become “fired up.” He said it also gives students a way to feel actively involved in the debate. He expects about 1,200 votes to be totaled in the poll. This number is based off of the votes that are usually calculated in other elections on campus. With about a third of campus expected to vote, Pritchard said he feels the poll will be taken seriously. Besides the straw poll, the Election 2012 ad hoc committee has a flurry of events planned for this Saturday. Starting at 10 a.m. in Olmsted, there will be “Pancakes and Politics.” Students can take the opportunity to
eat pancakes and talk to people involved with campaigns and possibly a candidate or two. Pritchard said this event was going to be a more relaxed atmosphere for those directly involved in the debate to get to know students at Drake. “We hope that students can shake some hands, take some pictures and just really have a low-key event,” he said. Students are urged to pay attention to the Student Senate’s Twitter account (@DrakeStuSenate) for updates on who is in attendance at this particular event. There will be facility tours of the Knapp Center and the Performing Arts Hall, which will hold the pressroom and spin room respectively. Then, at 7 p.m., the debate watching parties will open up in Meredith and Harvey Ingham. “We really want it to be like a sporting event — high energy — being able to watch with a lot of your friends and peers,” Pritchard said. On a personal level, Pritchard said he is excited for the pre-debate show where the all-male, a cappella group Brocal Chords will be singing the national anthem. Pritchard is also excited for all
events that are happening, and encourages students to attend all of the events and pay attention to social media this week for updates on everything that is going on. “It (the straw poll) will give the Drake University student body an option to express their opinion in a strong way,” he said. “It’s something that is important to students, and we want students to be involved and engaged.” He also advises students to be smart this weekend. “This is a huge opportunity for Drake University,” he said. “Be responsible, be respectful, and essentially show the world what Drake has to offer.”
Staff Writer kathryn.kriss@drake.edu
As of last Dec. 3, the Beta Delta chapter of Pi Kappa Phi ended its 17-year hiatus and become an officially chartered fraternity at Drake University. Originating in 1949, but disbanding in 1994, the men of Pi Kappa Phi recognized the need to resurrect the fraternity to make their status as a national brotherhood official. After over two years of countless hours of work,
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member of the fraternity. “Now that we have been chartered, we are considered an active chapter on campus and can get the full potential out of the fraternity by going to active-member-only events, touching base with more alumni, and focusing on other goals for the fraternity,“ Soni said. Members said that as a newly chartered chapter, the fraternity will have more opportunities around campus and will be able to make its name well known. The chapter will still maintain the fraternity’s signature friendly, easy-going attitude
Staff Writer kelsey.johnson@drake.edu
while adhering to the high standards it has set. When a fraternity is relatively new on campus, it would seem much harder to recruit new members, but this is not the case. All of the current members of Pi Kapp will be able to call themselves founding fathers, which was a huge pull for the rushing class. Many men were intrigued by the idea of being able to help build a fraternity from the ground up. Because the new members were
SEE PIKAPP, PAGE 2
SEE POLITICS, PAGE 2
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courtesy of ALLY CARROLL PHOTOGRAPHY
volunteering and fervent recruiting, the men of “Pi Kapp” can call themselves the chartering class. So what exactly does chartering entail, and why is it so important? Senior Pi Kappa Phi president Benjamin Hoffman said that chartering is a way of making the chapter official on a national level. The men had to prove their commitment and dedication by passing written tests about the history of the fraternity, organizing philanthropy events, designing protocols and meeting regulations. Sophomore Shardul Soni is also a
by Kelsey Johnson
Catching a glimpse of Republican presidential candidates, or maybe even the next president of the United States, will be possible this weekend. Drake will host all of the potential 2012 Republucan presidential candidates for a debate in Sheslow Auditorium this Saturday, and a few lucky students have received tickets to attend the event. However, despite Drake’s push to increase publicity for the event, do students actually care about the debate on campus? Or have looming final tests and projects eclipsed the event’s importance? While some students jumped on the opportunity to gain first-hand experience working with ABC, many others are still in the dark about what is really going on this Saturday. “I know that the debate is sometime this weekend, but I honestly don’t even know where it’s being held,” said first-year actuarial science major Jessica Narr. “I just never sought out anything about the debate, so I’ve only really heard about it through my Drake email.” Narr isn’t alone when it comes to not knowing much about the debates. Though most students are conscious of the event being hosted at Drake, only a few are aware of any additional information. “I know that the caucus is being held in Iowa, and that a debate is going to be on campus, but that’s about it,” said junior biology major Laura Jones. “Because I’m a science major, politics and current events are rarely brought up in class, and I haven’t seen any posters or flyers hanging around campus for the event.” Peter Ryan, a second-year pharmacy student, also said he thinks that Drake could be doing more to increase the event’s publicity. “I think Drake has done a good job promoting the event electronically — the home page of the Drake website is dedicated to it — and students have received emails from the university,” Ryan said. “However, I still think it would be a good idea to put up paper posters.” Other students, however, could not be more excited about being so in
The re-newed house on the block
by Kathryn Kriss
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