THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
THE TIMES DELPHIC DES MOINES, IOWA | MONDAY, FEB. 27, 2012 | VOL. 131, NO. 37 | WWW.TIMESDELPHIC.COM
Senate elections to begin today
Learn about the candidates before casting a vote We’ve seen the posters, and we’ve heard the chatter. Who are these people running for Student Senate? These people will be representing us as a student body, so we should probably know who they are, especially with elections beginning today. Here are quips from each candidate regarding three questions each was asked. Be sure to get on blueView and cast your vote before Tuesday at midnight.
events they wanted SAB to bring to campus. I also interned for the community outreach senator on Student Senate, where I was able to learn how Senate functions as an organization and (how it) plans community service opportunities. This year, I serve as the bands chair for SAB. I, along with my committee, plan SAB’s musical events, including the Homecoming Foam Dance and the Relays Concert. I am also an organizational senator on Student Senate, which allows me to share student organizations’ opinions and promote organizations’ best interests around the Senate table.
How have you contributed to make Drake University a high quality institution?
What top three goals/prioritis do you hope to address during your term in office?
AL: This past year as the academic affairs senator, I have had the privilege to serve as the chair of the academic affairs committee as well as the Faculty Senate liaison. Both of these roles have allowed me to meet some of Drake’s most influential faculty, staff and administration. I am confident that this mutual respect will put me steps ahead and allow Drake’s student body to be heard. Most importantly, I pride myself on always being a friendly face on campus. I am a very accessible person and love to listen to students’ concerns and ideas — feel free to talk to me anytime.
AL: 1. Be an active liaison for students to Drake’s faculty, staff and administration. 2. Make Student Senate understandable and approachable. 3. Question the familiar. Be the advocate who asks why and fights for the student body’s needs and opinions.
by Ethan Clevenger News Editor tdnewsed@gmail.com
Name: Amanda Laurent Year: Junior College: Journalism and Mass Communications Major: Public Relations Position Seeking: Student Body President
photos by LAUREN HORSCH
Name: David Karaz Year: Sophomore College: Arts and Sciences/Business and Public Administration Major: Politics/Accounting Position Seeking: Vice President of Student Life
DK: I have had the opportunity to contribute to Student Senate my entire Drake career. My passion to raise student voice and participation has been a part of my Drake experience. I molded the role of the FirstYear Senator position into one that will represent incoming student interests for years to come. I have worked with faculty to make the J-term include everything students deserve it to include. I have worked on long-term Drake initiatives with administration. Most importantly, I have taken every student opinion to heart. CK: My first year at Drake, I had the opportunity of being the organizational development chair on the Student Activities Board. In this position, I promoted SAB as a whole, as well as surveyed students to see what
Name: Carly Kinzler Year: Sophomore College: Arts and Sciences Major: Biochemistry , Cell and Molecular Biology Position Seeking: Vice President of Student Activities
Colleges making transition to e-books How paperless affects you by Alec Hamilton
Staff Writer alec.hamilton@drake.edu
Textbook prices continue to rise dramatically, and e-textbooks look to be the rising alternative as technology continues to improve. One alternative to printed textbooks that keeps popping up is etextbooks. Ever since the invention of digital readers such as the Kindle or Nook, tech experts have tried to anticipate when e-textbooks would take off. The fact is, they haven’t. This can be attributed to the lack of volume of textbooks available and resistance from book publishers to convert. While few students use e-textbooks, it does not mean there is a lack of interest. As a part of the Indiana University’s eTexts Initiative, 60 percent of surveyed students said they
preferred e-textbooks to hard copies and that the ease of use of e-textbooks was just as important as price. The Indiana survey closely resembles students’ opinions at Drake. While price was the most important factor to Drake students, they certainly would prefer to use their iPads, Kindles, etc., if they were able. Student Body President Greg Larson recently bought an e-reader and was ready to buy textbooks on it. “I bought it and was all excited to get my textbooks on it,” said Larson. “However, when I got looking, I was surprised by how few there are out there. They are cheaper, but they didn’t have the ones I needed. It was disappointing.” Numerous colleges across the
SEE EBOOKS, PAGE 2
inside
DK: First, it is troubling that our most outgoing acts as senators happen during elections. On a daily basis, I will push our Student Senate to reach out and listen through outreach office hours, strategic student interest meetings and greater student awareness through promotional tools. Second, I will create an inviting environment for Senate work so students will feel the legitimacy of coming to us when they have a complaint to voice. Last, I will work with administration and the board of trustees in order to voice concerns that students address daily: food, Internet, etc. Along with my aptitude for this responsibility, I have a passion for Senate that will always drive me to raise student voice and participation. CK: My first goal is to bring the events you want. Unfortunately, we are not able to bring acts like Drake and Ke$ha due to our budget. However, I plan to bring larger scale events and promise to listen to students’ requests, while using the student activities fees in the most effective way.
My second goal is to plan innovative events. In the past few years, SAB and other student organizations have done a great job bringing unique events to campus, such as Dogtown After Hours, flash mobs and the foam dance. If elected, I hope to continue that tradition and challenge SAB to think creatively when planning events. My third goal is to work with the organizational senators to assist student organizations and promote collaboration. As a current organizational senator, I have enjoyed working with student organizations on campus, and I hope that next year I can further assist organizations in meeting their goals. What motivated you to run for office, and what do you hope to get out of this experience? AL: Personally, I hope for a challenging experience in office in which the student body will hold me to the highest standard of representation. Drake is currently in a very exciting time, and there are many tangible changes ahead. We need student input in these changes, and I am determined to get it there. I am certain that my passion for this university and my hardworking personality will propel this campus and its student body forward. I want to be “part of the solution” at Drake, helping our university progress towards a better future. DK: As the first ever First-Year Senator and this year’s campus advancement senator-at-large, the opportunities to prepare for this role have been substantial. Given my extensive involvement, I will have as much experience as any senior senator would have been able to have in years past. My passion for Student Senate lies in the repeating complaints that students have had for years. I truly believe that I will have a unique opportunity to create a lot of constructive goods for our student life. CK: I am running for vice president of student activities because I am passionate about bringing quality campus programming that students want to Drake University.
Drake Vagina Monologues raise over two thousand dollars Tenth anniversary of event aimed at empowering women by Kensie Smith
Staff Writer mackensie.smith@drake.edu
This weekend, Bulldog Theater was littered with rose petals, scattered pillows and women. Fourteen women shared tales centered around the one thing that is often left unspoken. Words hit high points with laughs and moans to lulls of tears and the wrenching kind of pain felt when hearing of pain, rape and abuse. They were there to champion vaginas. Student Activists for Gender Equality, formerly known as Students for Women’s Issues, presented “The Vagina Monologues” on three nights to full audiences. A packed theater licked chocolate vagina pops and fondled female condoms as the guests were exposed to an arsenal of hardhitting stories. Junior Heather Boone performed one tear-inducing monologue, “The Little Coochie Snorcher That Could.” “I wanted to challenge myself to do something I wasn’t completely comfortable with,” Boone said. “I believe that discomfort with it is powerful as well.” Senior Randi Rumbold, co-director of “The Vagina Monologues,” said she was at first hesitant to get
involved with the show her first year at Drake, but she said that she had much in common with the dedicated, engaged women. “Nowadays, combating sexual violence against women and girls is a passion of mine, and I think it all started with that first show,” Rumbold said. “At the time, I was unaware of the scale to which gender and sexual violence has reached across the world. Now, one in three women in the world will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.” Both halves of the show began with a performance by the all-women a cappella group, The Drake Treblemakers. Voices joined together for their second song, which was called “My Vagina is 8 Miles Wide. This year marked the 10th anniversary of V-Day at Drake University. V-Day is a nonprofit grass roots movement dedicated to ending violence against women around the world, created by the author of “The Vagina Monologues,” Eve Ensler. Ensler wrote “The Vagina Monologues” in 1996 based on interviews with more than 200 women as a way to “celebrate vaginas.” “At first, women were reluctant to talk,” Ensler wrote. “They were a little shy. But once they got going, you couldn’t stop them.” The show has been performed in
20 countries and translated in 24 languages. The Vagina Carnival occurred every night before the show. Amidst the milling audience learning about vaginas, decorating vaginas and drinking “Orange You Glad I Have A Vagina mocktails,” ushers directed audience members inside the theater. Senior usher Cara Pratt reflected on the diversity of the audience. “I’m always impressed with the maturity of the men in attendance,” Pratt said. Fellow senior usher Grady Reuler said that the monologues are always “thought-provoking.” One of the men in attendance was vagina warrior Brian Adams-Thies, assistant professor of anthropology. The “vagina warriors” are people who help with education and activism to stop the violence against women. He was awarded with a plaque to hang proudly in his office and given a coveted “Vagina Monologues” Tshirt. “Every time I see the show, it empowers me even though I don’t have a vagina,” Adams-Thies said. “It’s good to see the energy and excitement surrounding the show on Drake’s campus.”
SEE VAGINA, PAGE 2
NEWS
OPINIONS
FEATURES
SPORTS
Check out what’s happening on campus this week
How the media recognizes Occupy Wall Street
Drake’s girl gamers share their experiences
Men’s basketball earns seventh seed in MVC tournament
PAGE 2
PAGE 3
PAGE 5
PAGE 6