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THE TIMES-DELPHIC
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MONDAY, OCT. 11, 2010
For me, National Coming Out Week is an important reminder to discuss issues relating to sexuality and identity in the classroom.
—ASSISTANT PROFESSOR JOAN MCALISTER, SEE PAGE 5
Celebrate Drake attracts large group of students
photo by HEATHER BOONE
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Staff Photographer
CELEBRATE DRAKE featured numerous activites that students could participate in such as salsa-making and lazer tag. The events lasted from 9 p.m. till 3 a.m. last Friday. by Lauren Horsche
Staff Writer lauren.horsche@drake.edu
Students and faculty members came together at Celebrate Drake this past Friday evening and into the early morning hours of Saturday in Olmsted Center. The event started at 9 p.m. on Friday night and ended at about 3 a.m. on Saturday morning after a pancake breakfast. Greg Larson, the president of the Student Activities Board (SAB), said that Celebrate Drake was a good event to help “boost morale” on campus after multiple moments for the Drake community, and that it was “really nice to see everyone pitch in.” Planning for the event took about three weeks in total from the idea to completion, and SAB has been involved since the beginning. The event started off with a line of students forming at both side entrances of Olmsted Center. The first 50 students received free T-shirts that read “Celebrate Drake.” Once students were inside they were greeted by the smell of food in the Olmsted Coffee Shop area and music from the band, EGG. Sophomore Kaylee Gibney was in the EGG’s performance. “They rock,” Gibney said. She was just one of the many students who had heard about the
event and thought it would be a great time. “It sounded like a cool event, and I wanted to support my friends in SAB and Student Senate,” she said. In upper Olmsted students could participate in laser tag, salsa dancing lessons, a salsa-making competition, henna tattooing and a Guitar Hero tournament. In lower Olmsted, Bulldog Theater was used for various competitions, and a poker tournament was played in the main area. Vice Provost Wanda Everage was one of the administrators present at the event to support and celebrate the students and community of Drake. Said she she loves the variety of activities that were created for the event and especially that the event was a student initiative. Students, faculty, administrators and general staff were all out for Celebrate Drake which helped bring together all of the Drake community. “Students need to see that we support them,” Everage said. Jan Wise, the director of student leadership and service programs, was also out and greeting students as they entered Olmsted. “We just need to celebrate what people we are,” Wise said. She also added that it was a good break from getting ready for midterms and a great alternative to going out on a Friday night.
As the night progressed, bands changed over sets, and activities also changed. At 11:30 p.m. Ryan Price and Billy Battistone took over Bulldog Theater for their version of “The Price is Right,” where students’ names were pulled from a bag and they could compete to win prizes using the C-Store prices. After “The Price is Right” finished up, the “Singing Bee” started up in the theater. Students were given a song to sing along to and then had to finish a line of the song after the music ended. The contestants and crowd rocked out to songs such as “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” by the Backstreet Boys and “Closing Time” by Semi-Sonic. There was even a Disney song round for the finalists of the contest. Junior Seejo Valacheril got up and did his rendition of “Alejandro” by Lady Gaga for the crowd. Upstairs on Pomerantz Stage, students and faculty were enjoying the comedic styling of the SHOWOFF Show, where Jonathan Burns and Evan Young told jokes, innuendos and performed some tricks that enticed the crowd. Kaylee Brewer and Amanda Wollert, both first-year students, were in the audience for the show and enjoyed their time at Celebrate Drake. “I like that it’s a legitimate lock-in,” Wollert said. Once Pomerantz Stage had cleared, it was
time not only to hand out some prizes for attending, but also to watch selected individuals have pies thrown in their faces. Vice President of Student Life Byron Spears, and Battistone began pulling tickets from a box for the prizes including T-shirts and a business card holder. As soon as all of the prizes were handed out, it was time for pies to be thrown. Spears was the first to have a pie thrown at him, followed by Crawford Hall Assistant Resident Hall Coordinator Aliza Rosenthal, and then lastly, Battistone took his place on stage to receive his pies. As soon as the excitement over the pies had ended, it was time to hand out the Organizational Prize and the Grand Prize. Alpha Phi Omega received the $100 Sodexo credit for the Organizational Prize. Katie Richardson won the Grand Prize of two roundtrip tickets. Dean of Students Sentwali Bakari was at the event and was impressed by the attendance. The days prior to the event celebrated “Alcohol Awareness Week,” and Bakari said that this was a type of finale for the week. He said it was great to see administrators and students connecting at the event, and he hopes it will happen again. “I know we can do this every year,” he said.
Forum talks Muslim-American life in United States by Tad Unruh
Staff Writer tad.unruh@drake.edu
Salaam aleikum, one of the most recognized greetings in the entire world, translated as “peace to you,” rung through the hallowed halls of Sheslow Auditorium last Thursday night. Assistant Professor Mahmoud Hamad moderated an informative forum on the topic of “What it means to be an American Muslim” to a seemingly diverse crowd. That crowd included many older Christians and younger Muslims, skimming on the younger Christian crowd. Hamad hoped to “provide the campus community and the Des Moines community with an interesting and stimulating discussion about American Muslims and the opportunities and challenges they face in this great nation.” The forum utilized some prominent members of the Islamic faith including Dr. M. Zudhi Jasser, president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy; Luai Amro, the president of the Islamic Cultural Center of Des Moines and Bill Aossey, the president of Midamar Corporation and Dr. Saima Zafar, a cardiovascular physician in the Des Moines area. The actual forum touched on various topics such as the attempt to defend Islam from
FROM PHARM, PAGE 1 about this, and every researcher working in the pharmaceutical industry working with drug development will know about this.” In addition to the personalized medicine component of the new lab, it will feature equipment that promotes disease prevention, including equipment that can be used to measure physiological data such as blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, bone density and range of motion. The disease prevention component of the lab will allow students to reach out to the community, ideally serving real patients from Des Moines area hospitals after familiarizing themselves with the equipment. “We’ll be able to bring in people from the
FROM BULLDOG, PAGE 1 Coleman described the day as, “an enlightening experience” and remembered when he was a high school student with many questions. He enjoyed being able to help kids whose shoes he was in not too long ago. All in all, Bulldog for a Day was a huge success. Everage shared that the hopes for the day were that students developed a passion for continued education. She also noted that the Office of the Provost has a program in the works to develop a partnership between Drake and local Des Moines high schools. It will pair current students with prospective ones to mentor
stereotypes and media portrayal and separating practicing Islam from political Islam. Many of those in the audience were able to see a different side and more homegrown view of how American Muslims are very much appalled by those representing their religion in such a violent way. Luai Amro defined the night when he said, “The feeling in the Muslim community is that we always have to defend our faith.” Taboo questions and heated arguments stayed somewhat dormant with a few exceptions. One of the more antagonizing questions was about Jasser’s credentials to be an expert on being an American Muslim. This was put to rest as he stated that his faith is his reason for his belief, and the way he practices it is his authority. Sophomore Bryan Hays attended the program and felt that while it was a very positive discussion, there is still more to sort out. “I think it shows there is not a lot of agreement in the Muslim world on what is the best course of action or face to portray to the rest of America,” he said. One of the major points Jasser continued to hit on was the battle between political and religious Islam. He said there is a very fine line between both ideas. “My view of Islam is more about family,
moral courage, moral clarity, honesty, integrity,” he said. “It’s not about a political system based on Sharia law that employs these techniques.” Although terrorism was an underlying theme of the discussion, the entire panel felt that was not the reason why they were there. They were there to talk about how they must escape that stereotype and inform the United States public that they do not endorse such behavior within their faith. “Very few (American Muslims) have stood up and said we want institutions to fight this (behavior),” Jasser said. “To find out how our faith has been corrupted by these radicals… and to say that Islam is one entity is just absurd.” Amro and Jasser embraced the tangents that occurred on the ideas of political and practicing Islam, whereas Aossey and Zafar tried to stick to the original plans of the forum. Overall, to Hamad, those involved in the panel and the audience, it seemed to be a successful endeavor. “I think everyone should try to learn firsthand about the major issues that he or she does not know much about,” he said. “The media does not do a very good job explaining Islam, among other things, and committed citizens should learn and formulate their own opinion.”
photo by TAD UNRUH Staff Photographer
GUEST SPEAKERS discussed common issues and topics faced by American Muslims in today’s society.
community, counsel them and give them ideas on how to improve their health,” said Bob Soltis, professor of pharmacology and chair of the department of pharmaceutical, biomedical and administrative sciences, Pharmacy and health sciences students will benefit from the cutting-edge technology as well as access to hands-on equipment that they’ll later use in their medical careers. “I’m thinking about going into clinical pharmacy, so a lot of what I’m going to be doing involves the genetics of the person and how a drug interacts with them personally,” said sophomore pre-pharmacy major Nicole McSweeney. “I think it’s great to have handson experience before going into the field, and I think the experience will help Drake students stand out when looking for jobs after college.” them and better prepare them for college. This will be a positive reinforcement of Bulldog for a Day’s goal, which Price said would allow time for Des Moines high school students to meet their Bulldog neighbors and for us Bulldogs to meet our Des Moines neighbors. “We have found that in one day we can have a tremendous impact on abolishing the preconceived notions we held of one another,” “and that is critical for us Drake students as good residents in this community, and critical for high school students who are thinking about college” he said. The next Bulldog for a Day event is scheduled for Nov. 18. Students interested in being a host should contact Price at ryan.price@drake.edu.
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