The Times-Delphic (02.14.18)

THE TIMES-DELPHIC Wed., Feb. 14, 2018

Vol. 137, No. 16

www.timesdelphic.com

PHOTO BY JAKE BULLINGTON | DIGITAL EDITOR

CAMPUS NEWS

Student enjoy reviving ‘Hubbelling’ tradition on snow day Kathryn Gaito Staff Writer kathryn.gaito@drake.edu This winter has allowed Drake University students to participate in a tradition that does not come around very often: Hubbelling.

Hubbelling is a Drake tradition that started when students would take the blue plastic dinner trays from Hubbell and use them to sled down Hubbell Hill with, according to Drake tradition.

This winter, brought a large amount of snow which led to the prefect Hubbelling conditions.

According to Ashley Blazek, president of the Student Alumni Association, Hubbelling “is all about timing and the snow.”

The Student Alumni Association is the organization on campus responsible for keeping Drake traditions like this one alive.

The Student Alumni Association was prepared for this to happen. Knowing that snow was in the forecast for the day, Blazek and her team were ready with the trays, Blazek said.

With the university closed, the Alumni Associated thought it was the perfect time to bring out those trays, Blazek said.

“It was encouraging when we (the members of SAA) got here, there was already a presence and people are continuing to show interest in keeping the traditions alive,” Blazek said.

“I thought it was a cool Drake tradition I have yet to be a part of,” junior Christina Teufert said.

Teufert said that she thought the tradition was a myth because it does not come around very often and she did not know what to except.

Overall, the experience was exciting, and she enjoyed being part of the traditions, Teufert said.

The last time Teufert could have Hubelled was her first year at Drake, but she missed out because she thought it would come around every year.

In Teufert’s opinion, there was a good turnout for the event, with most being first-year.

“What I loved was how inventive the freshmen got even though they didn’t know that

it was necessarily considered Hubbelling. They were using laundry baskets, cardboard boxes covered is wrapping or Frisbees attached to their feet,” Teufert said.

“Everyone wanted pictures with the blue Hubbell trays and wanted to highlight that it was a Drake tradition,” Teufert said.

Every school has their own traditions, each being as unique as the next one.

The Student Alumni Association prides itself on working to keep the Drake traditions alive. It does this with the Bulldog Bucket list, which students get as a first-year. This is a list of all the different activities or events that students should do or attend during their time at Drake.

“The Drake traditions are a great way to get involved with your school and stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before you,” Blazek said, attributing the last part to a phrase said by choir director Dr. Aimee Beckmann-Collier.

LEFT: Students pose before going down Carpenter hill with various sleds. RIGHT: Two students slide down a hill while others look on. LEFT PHOTO SUBMITTED BY SIGNE MATTSON, RIGHT PHOTO SUBMITTED BY ASHLEY BLAZEK

twitter: @timesdelphic | instagram: @draketimesdelphic | facebook: Times-Delphic

02 | news

Feb. 14, 2018

NEWS NATIONAL NEWS

Students conflicted for influenza shot in harsh season

DRAMATIZATION BY LÓRIEN MACENULTY | FEATURES EDITOR

Phong Ly Staff Writer phong.ly@drake.edu

Flu season is wreaking havoc across the United States. Since last October, there have been over 18,068 laboratory-confirmed cases of Influenza A reported, and the disease has claimed the lives of 53 infants and children, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC has rated this year’s flu as “widespread” in 49 states, the most prevalent the virus has been in that many states at once in the past ten years. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that annual flu epidemics result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness globally and about 300,000 to 650,000 deaths.

Most would think that people usually would not die from a flu, but these statistics say otherwise.

So how could this so common illness be so lethal?

According to Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, influenza and its complications mostly affect those 65 and older, and that age group accounts for 80 percent of deaths, according to vanderbilt.edu.

But young children and people who have an underlying illness, such as heart disease, lung disease or diabetes, are susceptible to dying from the flu as well, Schaffner said.

There are three most common reasons that account for flu related deaths: Pneumonia is an infection that causes the small air sacs of the lungs to fill with fluid

or pus (purulent material), according to Mayo Clinic. It can cause coughing with pus, fever, chills and difficulty breathing.

It claimed the life of a secondgrade teacher, Heather Holland, in Texas at the beginning of this year, according to Fox 2.

According to Mayo Clinic, sepsis happens when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a cascade of changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail.

Flu stimulates an immune response in everyone’s body, but for some people, this natural response can be “overwhelming,” Schaffner said.

A new study published by the New England Journal of

Medicine found that chances of a heart attack are increased six-fold during the first seven days after a flu infection. The study looked at nearly 20,000 cases of flu in Ontario adults 35 and older.

“The most effective way to fight any disease is to make sure you don’t get it in the first place,” said Anna Readman, a sophomore studying neuroscience at Drake.

Readman said she got her flu shot this year and isn’t worried about a thing.

According to WHO, a flu shot is the most effective way to prevent influenza and its complications.

However, some people don’t feel comfortable getting flu shots.

Kemi Mugangala, a digital media major at Drake, is not going to get a flu shot this year. She said she got a flu shot once before, but she didn’t think it did her any good.

“I’m very aware that there is

a flu outbreak going on across the nation,” Mugangala said. “I feel like the substances in there would just harm me rather than help me, and one of them would be mercury.”

Mugangala said her way to avoid catching the flu now is just to stay away from people who are sick, stay warm and take advantage of the of the hand sanitizer dispensers that are placed around campus.

Flu shots are available to students at the American Republic Health Center for $25. p\Places like Walgreens and CVS charge around $30 or more for the seasonal flu shot.

news | 03

Feb. 14, 2018

NEWS CAMPUS NEWS

J-Term takes on advertising challenge for Des Moines Playhouse Ashley Flaws Staff Writer ashley.flaws@drake.edu Ten students at Drake University collaborated with the Des Moines Community Playhouse over J-Term to create and execute a marketing strategy.

Their J-Term course, Agency One-Nine-Nine, was led by two journalism school professors, Sandy Henry and Todd Evans.

Students first met with the Playhouse and immediately began drafting ideas for the marketing strategy.

“We started with outlining what we wanted to do and what kind of path we wanted to take as a team, and then it came down to the nitty-gritty of this is what we have to do, this is who we have to communicate with,” said Olivia Decelles, a junior digital media production major who took the course.

Mitch Kedzior, another junior digital media production major who took the course, said that the Playhouse is under construction.

However, the Playhouse wanted people to know that their productions and educational services are still being provided but in a new temporary location.

The students used this knowledge to form their strategy.

“We came up with this idea of road trip,” Kedzior said. “You know, theatre is as much about the experience of going to the

show as it is the show itself, as is a road trip, and we came up with this idea because it’s fun. On a road trip, you go somewhere and you have a lot of fun, and then you come right back.”

Kedzior and Decelles were on the video team that filmed and edited footage for the Playhouse to use on their website and social

media. Other students in the class formed a graphics team to help come up with a logo for the company and designs for promotional materials, such as posters and flyers. There was also a copywriting team that created copy for the videos and promotional materials, suggesting what the Playhouse

write and when to write it as a part of their marketing strategy.

Decelles said that the collaboration between the students was an important part of this project.

“I really depended on my two other video producers and our other video graphic producer,” Decelles said. “I don’t think I

would have been able to get through this class or finish this project without them.”

As part of the process, Decelles said students also had to communicate with their professors and the Playhouse to ensure everyone was on the same page with the strategy. This sometimes meant that students had to go back to the drawing board.

“It was really hard to create something and create something you’re proud of and then be told that they want it changed,” Kedzior said. “A lot of times it was us working on the same product for hours, for days hoping that they would like it.”

Since the course was three and half weeks long, Decelles said the deadline was tight and strenuous. “It was a challenging experience but well worth it in the long run,” Decelles said. “I think it’s something that I can take to future careers and explain what I did, and I can be proud of what I did.”

Decelles and Kedzior alike were happy with their experience in the course.

“This experience was incredible,” Kedzior said. “It was the best immersive class that I’ve ever had. It was the closest thing I think I will ever get to a real job from a class … It was very rewarding, and I’m glad I took my time during J-Term to take it.”

MITCH KEDZIOR and Olivia Decelles (left) discuss their J-Term project on CW Iowa Live after working on an advterising campaign for the Des Moines Playhouse. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DES MOINES PLAYHOUSE

STUDENT SENATE

Student Senate discusses upcoming campus projects Senators to also review upcoming budget submissions in near future Ian Klein Staff Writer ian.klein@drake.edu

In the student senate’s second meeting of the spring semester, student senators shared with each other details on personal projects for Drake University’s campus.

The meeting lasted for less than half an hour, as no funding or club authorization requests by campus organizations were presented this week.

President Nathan Paulsen shared with senate that he learned in a meeting with Drake University President Marty Martin that admissions for the

class of 2022 are on pace with university goals.

Paulsen also noted how Martin expressed support for the creation of a Political Action Committee (PAC), which is a project student senators have been working on since last semester. The PAC would seat representatives from politically active groups on campus and whose purpose would be to create a civil dialogue around politics at Drake.

Student Body Treasurer Trevor Matusik reminded senators of the upcoming budget submissions from campus organizations that the Student Fee Allocation Committee (SFAC) will be reviewing.

“Between the time that I send out all the materials and March 1, (campus organizations) have to both get the budget all completed and filled out as well as meet with their SFAC liaison who is assigned to their organization,” Matusik said.

After each organization submits a budget, the group will present the budget before SFAC. The budget presentations will be on March 2.

Student Services Sen. Samantha Bayne reported that an additional Drake Bus will operate on Thursday through Saturday nights. Bayne is also in collaboration on a project that would allow students to rent cars

through Enterprise starting next semester.

Students would rent the cars for one hour for up to five days.

Bayne mentioned that students can now use Bulldog Bucks at the University Book Store and that a “crisis line” is in the works.

“We are looking at making a line that is similar to VIP (Violence Intervention Partner) but online, so that someone that is having a crisis of any sort, whether it is mental health or harassment, would have an anonymous way to report that,” Bayne said.

Technology and Facilities Sen. Giada Morresi reported that Drake University is working on making the admissions process

easier for prospective students whose first language is not English. The project seeks to translate information into other languages, such as Spanish.

The Senate also welcomed two new members to the table: Public Affairs ex-officio Maegan Valencia and Student Body Auditor Robert Schroeder.

This week’s Student Senate meeting will be busy for student senators. Vice President of Student Life Anna Gleason noted that six new motions will be on the floor for debate at the meeting.

Student senate meets weekly on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. in Room 201 of Cowles Library.

WHERE

FRESH & FAST MEET

®

WE DELIVER! VISIT JIMMYJOHNS.COM TO FIND A LOCATION NEAR YOU

04 | opinions

Feb. 14, 2018

OPINIONS MUSIC REVIEW

Black Panther’s soundtrack is a perfect companion piece

KENDRICK LAMAR curated the soundtrack to the upcoming “Black Panther” movie. It features contributions from SZA, The Weeknd, Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Vince Staples, Travis Scott, Future, Jay Rock, Anderson .Paak, Swae Lee, Khalid, and others. PHOTO TAKEN FROM INTERSCOPE RECORDS

Parker Klyn

Opinions Editor parker.klyn@drake.edu @parkerklyn Back in 2015, the movie “Straight Outta Compton” was released. Even with numerous valid criticisms about the film’s historical accuracy and depiction of women, the fact remains that “Straight Outta Compton” was a wildly entertaining romp with a tangible love of G-funk’s origins, the type of high-budget, respectful exploration of black culture that only comes along once every few years.

The real highlight of that movie’s release, however, was its soundtrack. Dr. Dre, NWA member and Los Angeles hiphop pioneer, dropped his first album in 16 years as a companion to “Straight Outta Compton”.

Concisely titled “Compton”, the album was not content to ride the wave of a popular film; instead, it was Dre’s most

experimental release yet, with scorched, tortured instrumentals attempting to prove just how desperate life in Compton can be. It changed the idea of contemporary film soundtracks – the standard was raised.

The soundtrack to Marvel’s “Black Panther,” which opened in theaters last week, raises the standard even further.

Curated by Kendrick Lamar and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, the record is equal parts trendy and experimental, underground and mainstream. It’s as indebted to the ultra-popular sounds of trunk-knocking trap as it is to the riddims of world music, as pop music mainstays like The Weeknd and SZA co-exist alongside prolific Bay Area scrappers and South African femme-c’s.

But this is a Kendrick Lamar album through and through; even for tracks on which he isn’t credited as a vocalist, he frequently shows up for a hook or a verse. It’s a stark contrast to the paranoid nihilism of last year’s “DAMN.”, where Kendrick – in jest or not, it’s hard to tell – chalked up Black strife in America to acts of God, rather than institutional problems. On this record, that cynicism is replaced with constant affirmations of Black pride, as Kendrick, rather than worry about that status, instead embraces “Black Panther” and its domination of the cultural zeitgeist.

Each of the first 13 lines on

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

The student newspaper for Drake University since 1884

JESSIE SPANGLER, Editor-in-Chief jessica.spangler@drake.edu JILL VAN WYKE, Faculty Advisor jill.vanwyke@drake.edu

KATHERINE BAUER, Managing Editor katherine.bauer@drake.edu

JACOB REYNOLDS, News Editor jacob.reynolds@drake.edu

IVY BECKENHOLDT, Design Editor ivy.beckenholdt@drake.edu

JOSH COOK, Sports Editor joshua.cook@drake.edu

HILARY PADAVAN, Photo Editor hilary.padavan@drake.edu

PARKER KLYN, Opinions Editor parker.klyn@drake.edu

HALLIE O’NEILL, Digital Editor hallie.oneill@drake.edu

LÓRIEN MACENULTY, Features Editor lorien.macenulty@drake.edu SAMANTHA OHLSON, Copy Editor samantha.ohlson@drake.edu

JUNA SCHMITT, Media Editor arjuna.taykowski-schmitt@drake.edu KIMBERLY MESSMER, Business Manager kimberly.messmer@drake.edu

LEO MCGRATH, Copy Editor leo.mcgrath@drake.edu EVAN GUEST, Ads Manager timesdelphicads@gmail.com

the opening title track starts with the word “king”. Kendrick’s had a fascination with the connotations that come with a loaded word like “king”; he declared himself “the king of New York” on his world-shattering “Control” verse, the final single leading up to “To Pimp A Butterfly” was titled “King Kunta”, and he constantly refers to himself as “King Kendrick.”

On this track, he goes into the various qualities that come along with being anointed, rightfully so or not, as a representative or spokesperson for an entire race of people. Kendrick may be the king of a vibrant culture with an incredibly perseverant past, but others expect him to answer for the mistakes of a select few; Kendrick is also the king of “shooters, boosters, looters, and ghettos popping” and “the problem and the forsaken.” He didn’t ask to be king literally, but he also recognizes that his art has given him the platform to change the world for the better, even if that change is just a secured embrace of Black culture.

One quality of this record is very similar to “DAMN”: Kendrick’s effortless use of boundary-pushing yet accessible sounds. Sometimes this gets a little bit cloying, like the generic radio-R&B of “All The Stars” or “Pray For Me”. But for the most part, this soundtrack is hardcore hip-hop, with occasional moments of bliss in between.

“King’s Dead” is an absolute

banger, with a rattling Mike WiLL Made-It beat and three cold verses from Kendrick, Jay Rock, and Future. The latter’s playground chant “La di da di da, slob on me knob” is one of the most memorable lines in years, while Rock’s repeated refrains of “I gotta go get it, I gotta go get it” make me want to get up and get money.

“X” would be standard trap fare in less capable hands, but with great verses from Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, and Saudi – along with a ridiculously catchy hook from Kendrick himself – it sets itself apart as one of the better posse cuts in recent memory.

Underground hip-hop collective SOB x RBE destroy the percussive rattle of “Paramedic!” as they get King Kendrick himself to perform ad-libs throughout the track. Travis Scott and Kendrick create a fitting sequel to their hit “Goosebumps” with “Big Shot”, where Kendrick interpolates his “New Freezer” verse into a thrilling hook. “Are we on 10 yet?”, “I wish a n**** would”, and “Big shot!” are all great hooks, and these guests push the boundary for what we can expect from a Disney release. In fact, the majority of guests bring their A-game, as this is immediately the most high-profile release that many of these performers have been involved with.

An immediate highlight was “The Ways”, a stunningly blissful piece of soulful pop. Khalid (as

well as Jorja Smith on “I Am”) appears composed far beyond his years as he anchors the track, but the true highlight is Swae Lee’s gorgeous verse, proving what an immensely talented vocalist he is. Zacari also extends his hot streak after a star-making turn on Kendrick’s “LOVE” with some beautiful singing on “Redemption.”

Undoubtedly the song that best fits the topic of “Black Panther” is “Opps.” Vince Staples and Yugen Blakrok come through with the two hardest-hitting verses on the entire project. Staples spits about how black power is inconvenient for American elites: “They don’t wanna see me gettin’ to the check/ They just wanna see me swimming in the debt.” Blakrok relegates police brutality, to a simple, devastating line: “Brown bodies that the blues wanna shoot through.”

Ultimately, “Black Panther” will likely go down as Kendrick’s version of Drake’s “More Life” playlist/mixtape; both rappers curated a group of artists and producers that ultimately came together to fit a vision. In the case of “Black Panther”, that vision is a celebration of black life, not just in America, but throughout the world. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting companion to the film.

The Times-Delphic is a student newspaper published weekly during the regular academic year and is produced by undergraduate students at Drake University. The opinions of staff editorials reflect the institutional opinion of the newspaper based on current staff opinions and the newspaper’s traditions. These opinions do not necessarily reflect those of individual employees of the paper, Drake University or members of the student body. All other opinions appearing throughout the paper are those of the author or artist named within the column or cartoon. The newsroom and business office of The Times-Delphic are located in Meredith Hall, Room 124. The Times-Delphic is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The editor-in-chief sits on the Board of Student Communications.

LETTERS & SUBMISSION POLICY The Times-Delphic strives to represent student views as accurately and honestly as possible. We rely on readers to provide us with criticism, comments and new ideas so that we can continue to serve the interests of the students in the fairest possible way. We encourage interested readers to submit letters to the editor. Letters must include the author’s name and phone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Deadlines for guest submissions are noon Sunday for the Wednesday edition. The Times-Delphic reserves the right to edit letters and submissions for space and in the interest of taste. Letters and submissions reflect only the opinions of the authors and should be limited to 250 words. Emailed letters can be sent to tdeditorinchief@gmail.com.

ADVERTISING POLICY The Times-Delphic’s business office is located at 2507 University Avenue, 124B Meredith Hall, Des Moines, IA 50311.

The Times-Delphic is published on Wednesdays during the university’s fall and spring academic terms. The newspaper is distributed for free around the Drake campus. All advertising information is to be submitted noon Sunday for the Wednesday edition. Advertisements can be designed by The Times-Delphic or submitted via e-mail. We accept cash and check. A 10 percent discount is offered for prepayment on advertisements. The business office can be contacted at 515-271-2148.

© The Times-Delphic

opinions | 05

Feb. 14, 2018

OPINIONS STUDENT LIFE

Valentine’s Day advice for those of us who are alone

Phong Ly

Contributing Writer phong.ly@drake.edu

It is finally that time of the year again, Valentine’s day, when people celebrate romantic love with their significant others. It is also a time to reflect on your relationship and remember all the reasons why you love each other.

However, if you are one of the people who find themselves alone on Feb. 14, you probably view the holiday a bit differently. You might feel alone, unloved and insecure, which eventually will fill you with a bundle of self-doubt.

But lighten up buttercup, just because you don’t have someone special to share it with, doesn’t mean that the day itself can’t be special.

As a matter of fact, you might be better off than your friends

who are coupled up. Just put some thoughts into it. You don’t have the pressure of trying to think of a perfect Valentine’s Day plans, or spend way too much money on flower, chocolates, jewelries. You don’t even have to put any thought into make the day special for anyone but yourself, and I think we all know you deserve it. No one knows you better than you know yourself, so why expect someone to make the day special when you yourself can do it.

Here are some suggestions of awesome things you can do to when you’re single on Valentine’s Day. 1) Treat yourself. Why need anyone else to take away the time you could be spending with yourself? College is stressful enough. You barely have time to sleep eight hours a day, so why do you need someone to take some more of that time you could spent taking care of yourself. Go on a shopping spree, get yourself some nice clothes, binge-watch your favorite tv show or rewatch a show you know for sure is good.

Order something you know is bad but so good at the same time, like the 12-piece bucket meal from KFC. What can possibly be better than that?

2) Learn something new.

Remember all the time you said you will try to learn something interesting but have never

actually got around doing so?

Well Valentine’s might just be the perfect time for just the thing.

Whatever it is, from knitting, sewing to making ratatouille, or even change the brake lights of your car. With your friends out with their significant others, you have no distractions and can finally get some studying done.

3) Single does not equal singular. Who said being single

means you have to be alone all the time. You can’t be the only one who’s single in your friend group. Gather some of your single friends and figure something fun to do together. And the best part about this is you don’t even have to go out at all. Binge-watch Netflix with them, watch the Winter Olympics, have a facial day. You do you honey.

Bonus activity: if you want

free food and are willing to drive 130 miles on this special day, Hooters will help you shred a picture of your ex, in any Hooters restaurant — or virtually, through the Hooters website — and get 10 free boneless wings with a purchase of 10 wings of any type.

You are single, sufficient and special. This Valentine’s, celebrate it by loving yourself.

VALENTINE’S DAY is a holiday that generally exists to celebrate romantic love. Contributing writer Phong Ly provides advice for those of us without significant others. PHOTO TAKEN FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

POLITICS

Democratic socialism is an ascendant political movement

Natalie Larimer

Contributing Writer natalie.larimer@drake.edu

Ever since the 2016 presidential race, new discussions have been opened up about the future of our political system.

One conversation that gained some popularity was the idea of democratic socialism. I talked with Joe Ellerbroek and Caroline Schoonover from the Des Moines chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) to figure out exactly what this movement is and what they stand for.

“The best theoretical way to think about it is expanding democracy into the economy,” Ellerbroek said. “So many decisions are made by the private

sector… but they’re made by a small handful of people and millions of people are affected by it and don’t have a say otherwise.”

The DSA website says essentially the same thing, where they want to have the economy run democratically as well.

“It’s really important to understand that it is an intersection of many different issues, and not limited to economic analysis,” Schoonover said. They focus on eliminating white supremacy, the patriarchy, and capitalism as a whole.

They want everything to be a democracy, so rather than tearing down structures in society and leaving us with nothing, they aim to replace those structures with the idea that the American people can build them as they wish.

Democratic socialism is an interesting idea that I believe holds a lot of promise. When people complain about the state of our government, they usually look at two things; war and the economy. If we are in a war, we are generally less happy than in peaceful times, and when the economy is doing poorly, we tend to blame the presidency for it. The part where democratic socialism could help is in the economic sector. If we could vote for how we want our economy to be run,

we would have a lot more success with people’s perceptions of the economy.

The drawback, of course, is that not a lot of people understand the economy well enough to be trusted with this kind of power.

My argument against that is that if we can be trusted to vote in a congress and president who affect our economy anyway, then why can we not vote in the people who directly make decisions for the economy?

On the DSA website, www. dsausa.org, they list three reforms that they fully support.

The first is to decrease the influence of money in politics, which is where corruption tends to happen, the second is to empower ordinary people in workplaces and the economy, and the third is to restructure gender and cultural relationships to be more equitable.

Democratic socialism is like a utopic democracy. Everything is controlled by the people, maybe not directly, but we at least vote in the people who do. This allows citizens to have a say in not only the economy, but social structure of the nation they choose to live in. It can lead to much happier people who feel more in control of their lives, and it allows us to skip the part where injustices happen

and go straight to policies and direct influences in our laws and customs.

While this system may not be perfect, I believe it is a huge step up from where we are at now. The problem is that the

word “socialism” strikes fear in the hearts of many Americans, to which I say this. Get over it.

Things change.

DSA stands for Democratic Socialists of America. Pictured is a flier for a DSA meeting in Iowa City. PHOTO BY PARKER KLYN | OPINIONS EDITOR

06 | opinions

Feb. 14, 2018

OPINIONS CONCERT REVIEW

Microwave put on an energetic, fun show at Vaudeville Mews

Natalie Larimer

Contributing Writer natalie.larimer@drake.edu

On Feb 11, I ventured out to Vaudeville Mews to see one of my favorite bands: Microwave.

Their Twitter bio defines them as a “legendary adult mid-tempo contemporary rock band from Atlanta, GA”, which I find to be an apt description.

Their 2014 EP Stovall gained them some steam and they opened

for Motion City Soundtrack (my absolute favorite band) for their Commit This to Memory 10 Year Anniversary Tour back in 2015.

I was at that show and fell in love with their band and music, buying myself a t-shirt and CD at their merch table, which then allowed me to meet them and tell them how much I liked their live show.

Their Vaudeville Mews show on Sunday is the first time they have been back since 2015, and I was ecstatic to go see them again.

They were still an opener for The Dangerous Summer, but a lot of fans showed up specifically for Microwave.

They were preceded by The Band Camino, who gave a decent performance. The problem with their show was that they kept playing songs from their first EP, My Thoughts on You, which has a Dave Matthews Band feel, mixed in with their more recent songs, which is more pop-punk. I was not impressed by their earlier

songs, but their later ones were pretty good, so I would suggest looking them up on Spotify.

Microwave came on next, so my friends and I fought our way to the front of the crowd.

Vaudeville is a no-barrier venue, which makes it really fun to watch bands because they are literally five feet away from you. Our problem was that we were right in front of one of the speakers, so we got an audio overload during some parts, but once our ears warmed up to the intense volume, we could enjoy the show. I know all the songs they played like the back of my hand, so even when I could not make out what they were singing, I could sing along.

The set list was incredible, a mix of songs from their most recent album, Much Love from 2016, some songs from Stovall, and one from their 2015 split EP with Head North. They were crunched for time (even though one of the openers, Iowa natives Exit, Emergency, did not show) so

they had to change the set list a bit as they went. The crowd wanted to hear their song Neighbors, which they were not playing on this tour, and they listened and played it for us. We asked for (in my opinion, their best song) Trash Stains but they said that they were so out of practice with that one that it would not be fun for anybody.

Their energy is so fun and they make sure to play the songs incredibly close to how they record them, while also putting on a fun show for us. I was really impressed by their performance specifically because they were all vaguely sick, their lead singer, Nathan Hardy, took a couple breaks in between lyrics to cough, but they did not let it affect their performance.

The crowd itself was fun to be in. A couple times we started chanting the drummer’s name, Tito, just because he is super awesome. Hardy encouraged us and Tito gave us a couple waves

and laughed us off. During the songs, we were jumping up and down, screaming the lyrics out, and honestly just being really respectful. There was nobody pushing people around to get closer, everybody let a girl in a wheelchair straight to the front of the crowd without complaining, and between songs we bonded over various bands on our t-shirts.

Overall, it was a really wholesome experience.

Microwave is one of the best bands out there. Their lyrics are honest and explore his break from the Mormon church and how he is finding himself out in the real world where he is not protected by his parents and church members. They deal a lot with the concept of love and if it is actually achievable for these guys, which I will not get into now.

Next time they roll into town, make sure to catch Microwave’s show. They deliver an experience you will not forget anytime soon.

POLITICS

Billionaires aren’t benevolent, and they’re not your friends

Parker Klyn

Opinions Editor parker.klyn@drake.edu @parkerklyn People really, really like billionaires. It would take me more than one hand to count the number of times in class I’ve heard Elon Musk or Steve Jobs or Oprah Winfrey listed as someone to aspire to be, as beacon of lights in an otherwise dark society.

Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Musk were among the 13 people to gain statistically significant support in a Gallup poll of Americans’ most admired

people in the world. “What if they are the next Steve Jobs?” is a frequent response to anti-refugee sentiment, as if the potential to become unrealistically wealthy is a major qualifier in letting someone into a country.

Last week, Musk launched his Falcon Heavy rocket into outer space, re-igniting an interest in space exploration that has mostly been dormant since NASA’s partial shuttering of its shuttle department.

The symbolic aspect of the launch – firing Musk’s signature Tesla into orbit around Mars blasting David Bowie – failed, as it completely overshot its intended trajectory and instead will drift into obscurity in the asteroid belt. The Falcon Heavy – a less powerful rocket than the ones operated by the United States in the 1970s – had a mostly successful launch, but I gained a sordid mix of smugness and disgust at the revelation that the Tesla wildly missed its mark.

The launch evoked this reaction because of the total cost of the basic launch endeavor: $150 million. I’m not generally

one for comparisons or judgments on what people do with their money, but to see such an obscene amount of money thrown towards what was essentially a publicity stunt that partially failed.

There is not a more damning indictment of modern American inequality; a capital-e Event that functions as an advertisement under the guise of “innovation” and “the future.”

Of course, this isn’t the first example of the super-rich squandering their immense fortunes doing ostensibly beneficial things. One of the heroes of Hurricane Katrina, which displaced around 600,000 households, was Brad Pitt, who pledged millions in support of building new homes for New Orleans residents.

But instead of going the practical route by making durable, generic homes or something more direct like providing food, water and medical support, Pitt made a complete fool of himself by hiring an all-star cast of architects with creative designs and an eye for the renewable. The result? 10 years after Katrina, the crew had

built less than 150 homes.

The Pitt and Musk examples are comparatively tame when contrasted with those who use immense wealth for clearly negative ideas. The Koch clan has dedicated their obscene wealth -- $82 billion, according to Forbes – to making America as libertarian as possible, with the main goal of lowering taxes, so they can increase their fortune even further.

This leads to people like Wyatt Koch, a man who offers no distinguishable skills but still has all the resources he could ever need at his disposal. What does he use those resources on?

Designing hideous, expensive shirts. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so infuriating.

There are 40.6 million Americans in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By accumulating wealth at the same time that these people suffer, billionaires don’t just allow that suffering, they exacerbate it; wealth is finite. It is an absolute travesty that people can literally buy islands at the same time that hundreds of kids in Des Moines

can’t afford lunch.

It doesn’t matter whether these billionaires “earned” their wealth – and I’d argue they didn’t, as their hard work has not been millions of times more exhaustive or impactful than your average citizen. It matters, though, that they have it, despite the incredible good they could do.

Billionaires are not people to aspire to be, because simply being billionaires makes them immoral people that contribute to proliferation of poverty. They are not your friends; they would gladly put you out of a job if it meant increasing their wealth. It doesn’t meaningfully matter that many of them donate millions to good causes, because they could do exponentially more. Until that happens, I’ll continue to turn up my nose at SpaceX news -- It’s what Musk would do to me.

features | 07

Feb. 14, 2018

FEATURES HEALTH

The

Case of the

Disappearing

Proposed Iowa Legislation could have a big impact on the sexual health of Drake men and women the Obama administration. The Caitlin Clement Staff Writer caitlin.clement@drake.edu One of the biggest and most talked-about controversies among the political atmosphere today is how women’s access to abortion and contraceptives should be regulated and where to draw the line.

Due to the debate surrounding abortion, it’s harder for women, especially in low-income families, to access services such as contraception and cancer screenings.

As the number one provider of abortion, stated in an article

by CNN, Planned Parenthood has been the recipient of backlash from movements like the pro-life and anti-abortion movements In addition to these services, Planned Parenthood has been a major advocate in sexual education among women and a promoter of access to safe sex for all women.

Sami Peick, a senior music education major, stated how Planned Parenthood had helped her in times of confusion surrounding sex and birth control when she didn’t feel comfortable asking women she knew.

“Planned Parenthood has been very helpful in situations in which, I haven’t really known where to go or I haven’t known who to ask,” Pieck said. “I got birth control from them when I was sexually assaulted in high school and I needed to get Plan B and they helped me and didn’t make feel judged.”

Peick was even able to get a discount for being a student because she wasn’t making a consistent amount of money, which she says has been helpful since she has had to try different types of contraception over he college years.

In the Interview Peick also refers to the amount of education she received at Planned Parenthood from types of birth control and side effects to payment methods and health insurance.

“They make sure I’m comfortable with what’s happening to my body and they know and I know of the consequences,” Peick said, “(which is) something that I didn’t always feel happened at the OBGYN/Gynecologist’s I’ve been too.”

It’s no secret that the Trump administration and Republican Party have made the issues on abortion and contraception rights one of their campaign topics thus far.

At the beginning of his term, President Trump signed a bill that would nullify a rule from

Contraceptives PHOTO BY CASSANDRA BAUER | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Obama administration sought to effectively barr state and federal governments from withholding funding from family planning services related to contraception, fertility, pregnancy care, and breast and cervical cancer screenings- regardless if they provide abortion services.

This legislative action gave permission to the states to defund family planning services, such as Planned Parenthood, who offer abortion.

summer.

These numerous legislative changes are making it harder for women, especially in lowincome families, to access services such as contraception and cancer screenings. Both of which are provided by Planned Parenthood.

In a press release responding to data on the effects of defunding compiled by the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS), Erin Davidson-Rippey, public affairs director of Planned Parenthood of the Heartlands, said “…this initial report appears to show exactly the dangers we warned lawmakers about. There have

More recently Trump made a public address during the March for Life on Jan. 19 giving his support to the cause.

Earlier in 2017, former Gov. of Iowa Terry Branstad passed a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and allocate funds towards the state-run Family Planning Network. This prompted the shutdown of four Planned Parenthood sites later in the

been sharp declines both in the number of people enrolled in the program [state] and the number of people accessing services.”

According to the report there was a 48% decline in members for the Iowa Family Planning Network Waiver from Oct. 1, 2016, before the bill, to October of 2017. Of the 6,897 who are enrolled, only 2,664 people actually accessed services this

quarter.

The data is showing that it is becoming increasingly difficult to attain contraceptives in Iowa due to the war on Planned Parenthood. Many women who are of low-income count on Planned Parenthood and the federal/state funding, in order to receive health care services.

The Data from DHS shows that the fewer than 500 providers participating in Iowa’s new family planning are not enough to handle the absorption of patients coming from Planned Parenthoods.

This further bridges that gap towards affordable and accessible healthcare for women.

Statistics provided by Planned Parenthood show 2,840,000 people count on such access to healthcare, not just for contraception, around the country each year. Shutdowns of Planned Parenthood sites, like those in Iowa, are a hit for those who rely on the affordable healthcare it provides.

NPR found that only 42 percent of women use birth control to prevent pregnancy.

For the other 58 percent, it’s been used for treating acne, endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, hormone imbalances and has been shown to prevent types of cancer among women.

“Providing birth control for women of all socioeconomic statuses will save a lot of money and resources from being used on unwanted pregnancies,” first year Alee Bruns said. “Women who are being sexually responsible and seeking out birth control should not be denied it.”

Women’s healthcare in the United States has seen a decline in recent decades. As a result the U.S has the highest rate of maternity deaths than any other developed country, Renee Montagne said in an NPR article.

In fact the amount of deaths per year are still rising.

Montagne stated in the article that only 6 percent of block grant funding toward “maternal and child health” actually go towards

the mothers.

In another recent press release done by Planned Parenthood of the heartland, Davidson-Rippey gave a statement saying “Iowans are fed up with politician’s ongoing sense of entitlement to tell women what to do with their own bodies.”

This emotion towards the political climate around women’s healthcare is shown in the introduction of a recent bill in the Iowa legislature, Senate File 67, bringing a possible win for those advocating for more accessible birth control.

The bill would allow for pharmacists to prescribe and dispense self-administered oral hormonal contraceptives.

The pharmacist can also dispense these items even if someone doesn’t have evidence from a previous prescription given by a practitioner for the contraceptives.

It will also require all pharmacists to go through a standardized training program approved by the Department of Public Health, provide a selfscreening risk assessment tool to the patient as well as making sure the patient is educated on all forms of birth control before prescribing.

In theory, effectively protecting birth control by separating it from those offering abortion services and allowing for an easier access amongst all women in Iowa.

However the bill has yet to pass, so it is a waiting game for some to see what the lobbyists and representatives will decide.

For more details on Senate File 67 visit the Iowa Legislation website.

2017 was a big year around the fight for better access to contraception and women’s healthcare, but the women who believe in the cause must continue to advocate for their bodies.

“The less locations of Planned Parenthood or organizations like Planned Parenthood there are, the less that women would be able to advocate for themselves… for their bodies,” Peick Said.

08 | features

Feb. 14, 2018

FEATURES CULTURE

Monologues seek to dismantle vagina taboo with carnival, thrift shop Shannon Rabotski Staff Writer shannon.rabotski@drake.edu @shannonrobot Seldom can a word evoke such reaction as the three syllables and six letters of ‘vagina,’ and that’s exactly what the Vagina Monologues is working to change.

“The Vagina Monologues is not uncontroversial, obviously, and that’s kind of the point,” said Phoebe Clark, a performer in this year’s Vagina Monologues.

The Vagina Monologues, an episodic play written by Eve Ensler, originally premiered in 1996 and is still used today to spread awareness and end violence against women. The monologues cover a variety of topics from sexual assault and normalizing women’s bodies to eliminating the taboo around women and sex.

“This has real world impact,” Isabelle Barrett, this year’s event chair, said. “On its own, it doesn’t write policy, it doesn’t shape

legislation, but it can inspire people to do those things., Colleges and organizations throughout the world participate in the production yearly by bringing the event to their own campuses and groups. The script can be purchased year round but is offered free during February to promote sexual awareness month.

This year, Drake students will be putting on 22 of Ensler’s pieces, in a celebration meant for Drake’s community specifically, on Feb. 23. The show starts at 6 p.m., and the Vagina Carnival, which includes tabling clubs and local organizations, a thrift shop and more, begins at 5 p.m. on Feb. 24. The show will start at 7 p.m. with the carnival starting at 6 p.m. in Sheslow Auditorium.

The pieces will be put on by Drake students and will include genres ranging from humorous pieces to traumatic experiences and a reading of an article written by Eve Ensler for TIME magazine. The monologues may be emotional or hard to watch

for victims of sexual assault or misconduct.

The Vagina Monologues is free to anyone with a Drake ID, $7 for adults not affiliated with Drake and $5 for children 12 and under and seniors. Tickets will be available at the door.

“This particular performance of the vagina monologues is meant to fit this campus and this community,” Barrett said.

Attendees can expect a weekend full of education and fun, all while coming together as a feminist community.

“It’s a good opportunity for feminists on this campus to think critically about our own politics and about how we can better serve our community and to take it as an opportunity to look at what we’re still doing wrong,” Barrett said.

The theme for this year’s event is Embracing Cosmic Femininity, or the idea of the vastness and wonder of femininity, and will feature an intermission openmic poetry slam session, a signlanguage interpreter and many

organizations tabling outside the auditorium.

Clark, who ran the event last year, has been involved with the monologues for four years and sees them as an opportunity for

TWO PARTICIPANTS of last year’s Vagina Monolgue production Molly Clark (left) and Phoebe Clark (right) read lines. PHOTO BY MARY TRAXLER |

young women to learn about themselves and their bodies while also being exposed to stories similar to their own.

“There are so many people out there who haven’t had a chance to really think deeply and feel deeply about their bodies, and they haven’t really had exposure to other people’s stories, and so they don’t know that the experiences that they’re having in their bodies and with their bodies and with other people’s bodies too, they’re not alone in those experiences,” Clark said.

The Vagina Monologues will be an opportunity for the Drake community to embrace femininity and learn about themselves.

“I don’t want to say I found the Vagina Monologues. I want to say they found me,” Barrett said.

“This gave me the opportunity to look at myself and go ‘Wow, no, my body is actually kind of cool.’”

COURTESY OF CURRENT PRODUCTION

MATHEMATICS NEWS

PRIME Time

A

Tuma Haji Staff Writer tumaorthegap.haji@drake.edu

Large numbers are difficult to grasp, and the existence of digits extending past one million is almost unfathomable. On Dec. 26, 2017 a deacon by the name of Jonathan Pace discovered one such unfathomable number: a prime number with 23,249,425 digits, the largest prime number known to mankind.

This prime number referred to as M77232917A is not just any prime number, that is, an integer that is only divisible by one and the number itself. It’s a Mersenne prime number, which means its magnitude is equated to the function 2n - 1, where n is also a prime number. The new discovery made by deacon Pace is the 50th known Mersenne prime and corresponds to the integer n = 77,232,917.

They are rare and difficult to discover.

The Greek mathematician Euclid first discussed the existence of Mersenne primes, but the numbers were studied more in depth by French monk Marin Mersenne.

Pace used The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) to discover the 50th Mersenne prime. GIMPS is a client software program created by George Woltman to discover large Mersenne primes. GIMPS, also known as Mersenne Research Incorporation, is considered a 501(c)(3) science research charity.

According to the organization’s press release, “...GIMPS automatically harness(es) the power of thousands of ordinary computers to search for these ‘needles in a haystack.’ Most GIMPS members join the search for the thrill of possibly discovering a record-setting, rare and historic Mersenne prime. The search for more Mersenne primes is already underway... Anyone with a reasonably powerful PC can join GIMPS and become a big prime hunter, and possibly earn a cash research discovery award.”

Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Drake Christopher Porter said he agrees with GIMPS’ claim that aside from the development

Computer

Science

for

Drake’s math and comp-sci department chronicle the discovery of the 50th and largest Mersenne prime number

of important cryptography algorithms, there are “at present few practical uses for this new large prime.” Porter said the discovery is just another shoutout to human achievement that has little effect on the advancement of both mathematics and computer science.

“It’s like a novelty,” Porter said.

“It doesn’t advance knowledge in any way. It’s a great achievement to be, ‘Wow! We’ve found a new number that’s a million digits longer than the previous one!’ But we don’t get new developments in theories...What’s striking about this is that it’s number 50 ...with the visibility of this, more people will download the software…It’s a very collective endeavor.”

Nonetheless, prime numbers in general are important because cryptography, or the art of writing and/or solving codes, requires the multiplication of two massively large numbers to create a public key as well as a secret key in order to decrypt a message.

Cryptography is based off of number theory, and all integers excluding one and zero, are made up of primes.

Drake’s mathematical and computer science fields are also engaging in their own research.

The combined departments recently transferred from Howard Hall to Collier-Scripps Hall for more space, enabling students and faculty to conduct better experiments. The department recently started Friday research groups. Students can engage in activities ranging from video game design to virtual realities.

Porter encourages all students, regardless of majors, to join.

Joe Gonzalez, a computer science and digital media productions major, commends the helpfulness of the faculty.

“All of them are very knowledgeable in their field and make themselves accessible to their students.” he said.

Students who are interested in contributing to the search for a new Mersenne prime should download the GIMPS software for free at www.mersenneforum. com. Students who are interested in joining a research group within the mathematics or computer science departments should contact Associate Professor of Computer Science Timothy Urness.

features | 09

Feb. 14, 2018

FEATURES SCIENCE NEWS

STUDENT LIFE

Science center café hosts free events

PHOTO BY HALLIE O’NEILL | DIGITAL EDITOR

Ellie Detweiler Staff Writer ellie.detweiler@drake.edu

Humans of

This week: Godfried Asante Hallie O’Neill Digital Editor hallie.oneill@drake.edu Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Media, and Social Change Godfried Asante has an acute understanding of his subject of choice.

Born and raised in Ghana but educated post-secondary in the U.S., Asante speaks four languages: English, French, and two local languages from his home city, Accra.

“I’m from Ghana, I speak English, and now I’m here. I quickly understood the idea of discourse, and I really wanted to pursue that a little bit more,” Asante said. “I got really interested in how knowledge is constituted and how it’s passed around.”

“Drake students are very passionate about education. They are willing to open to learning, they are willing to be challenged a lot, so I really like that. They keep me on my toes.”

Godfried Asante

Asante began his position at Drake in the fall of 2017 after completing his undergraduateundergrad and master’s degrees in Minnesota and his PhD in New Mexico.

For Asante, growing up in Accra, Ghana was “great.” He has ten siblings with whom he is still very close.

“I grew up in a time where my generation in Ghana, we saw the transitions from black and white to color TV,” Asante said. “We saw the introduction of U.S. goods, so things began to change.”

The country’s capital hosts

nearly three million people, but he described his community as very tight-knit.

His mother, who also happens to be his biggest life influence, established her own church and showed him what an effective leader looks like.

Though he enjoys living in Des Moines, he still misses home sometimes.

“I’ve always said I wish I could put one foot there, one foot here, and then I could go back and forth,” Asante said.

His interest in social justice, he says, sprouted partly from “my sexual orientation (and) growing up in a place where it’s still illegal, so you tend to really grow some tough skin,” Asante said. “You want social justice. You want things to happen to make people more comfortable.”

For most of his life, he didn’t expect to become a teacher. Even today, his friends are surprised by the path his career has taken.

When he began his teaching assistantship during his master’s program, however, he realized the great influence he could have in social justice as a professor.

“This (teaching) was missing from the picture, trying to give back to my community in some way, trying to challenge them to think,” Asante said. “Although I’m not in a community making those changes, I’m crafting somebody’s mind to help them do that.”

As for his students here at Drake, he finds many of his own qualities being reflected back at him.

“Drake students are very passionate about education,” Asante said. “They are willing and open to learning, they are willing to be challenged a lot, so I really like that. They keep me on my toes. They are always looking for something more, and I’m always looking for something more.”

In his free time, Asante likes to work out, bike, and play the African flute.

When he’s not doing these things or preparing his classes, he’s shaping his current research into a book about how queer men in Ghana navigate discriminatory policies.

You can find Asante this semester teaching Rhetorics of Sex and Gender and Environmental Communication.

The Science Center of Iowa’s public science initiative Café Scientifique is where local experts lead discussions on science, technology, nature and health.

The free events, open to all ages, take place at 5:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month in a specified theater at The Science Center. There is a pre-program reception with beer and wine available for purchase from 5:30 to 6 p.m., and an RSVP is encouraged to cafesci@sciowa. org.

After each session is a “star party” where telescopes are placed outside and attendees are encouraged to search the sky with volunteers and staff experts from The Science Center describing what they are seeing.

The next event, titled “Between Hell and Hoth,” is on Feb. 13 and features Hannah Wakeford, a planetary scientist and Giacconi Fellow at the Space Telescope Science Institute. Wakeford, who is based in Baltimore, MD, will conduct her presentation over Skype on how habitable planets are in our solar system and exoplanets.

Wakeford’s Skype call will be displayed in the Star Theater equipped with a 50-foot,

360-degree domed screen.

Hannah Little and Rachel McCarl work together to find presenters, make informational material and share it with the public to attract the broader Des Moines community.

Hannah Little is a Drake University alumna and the communications coordinator for The Science Center. Little aids in the marketing/public relations department and writes and edits descriptions and promotional media for the event.

“It’s a free opportunity to learn,” Little said. “Something I really appreciated as a student at Drake was having those opportunities to learn about interesting topics outside of my major.”

Rachel McCarl graduated from Central College with a biology major and began her work with The Science Center three years ago.

“It’s a movement to allow everyone to have access to current science and speakers that know what they are talking about involving that science,” McCarl said.

Next month’s event will be on Mar. 13 and will feature Dr. Cory Redman, the lab coordinator and lecturer in the health sciences department at Drake, speaking on “Cretaceous Coastlines” how changes in sea level have affected the diversity on non-marine

animals.

“Because it’s a very informal setting, it’s really easy for students or the general public to ask questions and interact with the speaker,” Dr. Redman said.

Redman said he has attended various Café Sci speeches and acknowledges the wide variety of paleontology, astronomy and epidemiology experts that make the Café Sci events so inclusive of the Des Moines community.

“The speakers are very approachable, very knowledge in answering questions and taking a complex study or issue and making it understandable for the general public,” Dr. Redman said,. “which is no small feat sometimes, depending on what your research is.”

Previous speakers from Drake include assistant professor of art and design Emily Newman on “Art Making for the Environment,” associate professor of history Karen Leroux on “The Roots of Racism: Where Science and History Intersect” and assistant professor of environmental science and policy Dr. Peter Levi on “Nitrogen: Streams, Society & Statewide Impact.”

If you are interested in presenting a topic or hosting an event, contact cafesci@sciowa. org or call (515) 274-6868 ext.

234.

FACULTY NEWS

The Cold, Hard Fax Maddie Topliff Staff Writer maddie.topliff@drake.edu

The telephone rings, but there’s no one on the other line.

No person, anyway. All to be heard are a couple of clicks and a few long beeps. Is this an alien invasion? A secret message from beyond? No, it’s a fax machine!

A sample of Drake University faculty participated in a poll dubbed “The Cold Hard Fax” this past weekend, allowing data to be collected and analyzed to pinpoint the degree of the machine’s usefulness in 2018.

Some form of a fax machine has been around for almost two whole centuries. It is most commonly used today for sending and receiving a physical picture or scan of a document to and from another location, with the use of phone lines.

Faculty answered question about where they use a fax machine (at work or at home), how much they use it on a monthly basis, the personal reasons for/ against using a fax machine, their comfort level with having this data shared in an article and whether they’d be willing to be contacted for a follow-up quote.

Out of 13 responses, a majority of nine faculty members said they don’t use a fax machine here at work. Additionally, eight of those nine faculty members said they don’t use a fax machine at home either, leaving five loyal faxers. The anti-faxers had the opportunity for further feedback where they could cite certain reasonings.

The eight naysayers say they just plain prefer PDFs, which essentially cut out the need for a fax machine altogether, allowing for documents to be received quicker through email.

Four out of the eight faculty also said that fax machines are time-consuming.

Heidi Mannetter, associate professor of practice in marketing, recalls that when she was in the banking business, faxes were a lot more popular, but with the innovation of email and pdfs, why would you prefer a fax?

Three out of the eight faculty– all yielding from different fields of academia–are unsure of where

to find a fax machine. Upon visiting Drake’s Information Technology Support Center, it was revealed that “several” of the large printers–found in campus locations such as Olmsted, Cowles Library and the underclassmen residence halls– also double as fax machines, according to the center’s Student Support Technician Lead and Drake junior Jake Hackman.

While the majority of people polled has left the fax machine in the past, one third of faculty still trudges to it at least once a month, with one faculty member using the machine at least six times a month.

Dinah Smith, associate professor of English at Drake University, said that her fax machine needs are less frequent than once a month, but more frequent than never. She said she uses fax machines once or twice a year, especially for when something calls for a signature that isn’t attached to a recommendation letter. Most recently, however, Smith found herself reaching for the fax

machine for necessary conference organizing, where there was no room for error.

“When I was the programming chair for a conference, the international attendees required faxes to get visas as well as secure their university permissions for funding,” she said. “The hard copy still carries some weight in that milieu.”

Mannetter also concluded fax machines still do heavy lifting in certain employment fields, especially when legal documents are involved. Email may be easier, but faxes and tangible copies are sometimes more secure.

It sounds like fax machines haven’t been rendered completely useless yet. Legal documents and other miscellaneous, important forms will save fax machines from extinction at least until a more efficient, but just as trustworthy alternative comes along.

10 | sports

Feb. 14, 2018

SPORTS COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Bulldog’s football hosts free youth camp before UNI game Maddie Topliff Staff Writer maddie.topliff@drake.edu @TopDog_30 On Saturday, Feb. 10, Drake University hosted the second Community Youth Day of the school year for 50 Des Moines area kids aged kindergarten through eighth grade. The event was facilitated by the Drake football team.

After a quick 30-minute setup by current Drake football players and the facilities manager, the free event took place from 1:30 to 2:30 Saturday afternoon in the Shivers Basketball Practice Facility, adjacent to Drake’s Knapp Center.

The event featured multiple football stations and fun activities for kids to plow through. Drake football players were present to offer encouragement and to facilitate the clinic, to an extent.

“Pretty much the kids ran the thing, so we just let the kids do what they want, and we kind of just went along with it,” Drake junior defensive lineman Erin Morgan said.

“If there was a station that was more popular than another, we just let them stay there,” sophomore running back Jacob Clay added. “They really liked the passing station.”

Both Morgan and Clay were student leaders at Saturday’s football clinic, their presence adding an authenticity to the event for the benefit of the kids.

Other stations at Saturday’s clinic included drills such as agility ladders, bags, and hoops for the kids to run through and experience alongside college athletes.

A separate gym had a “carnivaltype setup,” according to Morgan.

The setup featured an autograph station for the kids to get items signed by current players, a signmaking station, beanbags and basketball.

Another Drake football player was dressed up in full pads for the kids to take pictures with.

SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER The football team hosted a youth camp over the weekend, the second of its kind this off-season, after which participants ventured to the men’s basketball game to support the Bulldogs as they defeated UNI. PHOTO BY JD PELEGRINO “I just wanted them to have fun; that was my whole goal,” Clay said.

Morgan added that the preparation aspect of the event was also an opportunity to “rally the guys together,” as the Drake football team is currently in their off-season.

After the clinic, participants had the opportunity to attend the Drake men’s basketball game versus Northern Iowa free-ofcharge, and parents were able

to purchase accompanying discounted tickets. The Drake men’s team didn’t disappoint, earning a win against their biggest in-state rival.

“It’s a good way to give back to the community, but also to help get a few more fans to the game,” director of athletics marketing Aimee Lane said. “It’s always nice to kind of be able to do both of those things.”

By advertising the free and discounted tickets in conjunction

to the event, Drake football returned the favor the men’s basketball team paid them earlier this school year by hosting a basketball clinic before a home football game, offering a similar ticket promotion for participants and their parents.

Last weekend, Drake hosted another clinic that preceded a Drake women’s basketball game, celebrating 2018’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Over 200 kids were in attendance.

“We usually try to do a couple clinics like this throughout the basketball season,” Aimee Lane said.

Basketball season is almost over, but kids of the Des Moines community can look forward to more youth events come Drake Relays time.

TRACK & FIELD

South Dakota State meet garners new PRs and high hopes Bailee Cofer Staff Writer bailee.cofer@drake.edu @baileeGOAT This past weekend, your Drake University Men’s and Women’s Track & Field teams headed to South Dakota State University to compete.

This was their last meet before the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, which will be hosted Feb. 24-25 at University of Northern Iowa.

SDSU is home to a new indoor athletic complex with a 300-meter track. This oversized track hosted more than one thousand college athletes this weekend.

Amongst all the competition, the Drake Bulldogs competed very well. There were numerous PR’s and event victories throughout the meet. One of these belonged to sophomore Xavier Lechleitner.

Lechleitner has had a fantastic season so far, running a new PR each meet.

He’s a sophomore from Edgar, Wisconsin and runs the 800-meter race for Drake. He’s won many of his heats this season and has been instrumental on Drake’s relay teams.

At SDSU, Lechleitner ran a new PR in the 800-meters in a time of 1:53.81, just a half-second off his outdoor PR. Coming into the race, Lechleitner knew it would be a fast field.

He attained good positioning within the first 200 meters, settled in for the next 300 and got ready to make his move.

As the bell rang for the final

Upcoming Events Feb. 24-25 MVC Indoor Championships Cedar Falls, Iowa

March 9-10 NCAA Indoor Championships College Station, Texas

March 23-24 Arkansas Spring Invite Fayetteville, Arkansas

April 13-14 Jim Duncan Invite Des Moines, Iowa

April 20-21 Tob Botts Invite Columbia, Missouri CLOSING IN Drake Athelete competed at an indoor meet at South Dakota over the weekend, the final meet before indoor championships. There’s only so much preperation left before the outdoor season begins.. FILE PHOTO

April 26-28 Drake Relays Des Moines, Iowa

lap, Lechleitner started his final kick for home.

“I tried to hang on as best I could until that bell lap, and then kicked as hard as I could,” Lechleitner said. “It hurt, but I knew it was going to hurt regardless. I just tried to take advantage of the oversized track to run a good time.”

Lechleitner’s time of 1:53.81 is impressive, and sets him up well for the MVC Championships in two-weeks time.

His goal is to advance out of prelims into the finals and then

race for a spot in the top three to get on the podium.

Last year’s preliminary races were very tactical. Most runners waited until the last 200 meters to kick, which makes positioning in the race extremely important.

To make it out of prelims this year, Lechleitner will need to run a smart race, avoid getting boxed in, and find that extra gear in the last 100 or 200 meters to the finish.

Lechleitner enjoys the pressure of being a top contender in the conference this year.

He has a fantastic opportunity to score some points for the Bulldogs at the MVC conference meet.

Make sure to look for the MVC Championships results here in two-weeks time!

May 5 Nebraska Invite Lincoln, Nebraska May 10-13 MVC Outdoor Championships Terre Haute, Indiana

NCAA Outdoor Regionals May 24-26 Sacramento, California

sports | 11

Feb. 14, 2018

SPORTS OLYMPICS

Nathan Chen falls twice in highly anticipated performance Marie Nalan Contributing Writer marie.nalan@drake.edu

The Pyeongchang Olympics are officially underway! It was a week full of exciting events that, while it is still early, are the beginning of overall narratives that will come out of the games.

One competition got started last Thursday that left many asking: “Wait, that’s an event?”

Ladies, gentlemen, everyone, the figure skating team event.

The Pyeongchang team event featured its share of excitement.

It was was won handily by Canada, with Olympic Athletes from Russia getting silver and the U.S. getting bronze.

The team event is a measure of how well rounded a country’s lineup is across disciplines.

The same skaters that compete in the team event compete in their own individual events later in the games, so the team event serves as an interesting preview for what is to come.

Eight teams entered one competitor/competing pair in all four figure skating disciplines: men’s singles, ladies’ singles, pairs and ice dance.

Each discipline showcased a short program and free program, which the individual events did as well.

Many countries used the same entry for the short and free programs, while some split up the tasks among skaters.

Nathan Chen skated the men’s singles short program for the U.S. Chen has been NBC’s main hype athlete going into Pyeongchang.

It is impossible to see a NBC Olympics commercial without seeing Chen’s face. Many say he deserves the hype- I included.

He is a very talented jumper, and at only 18, he is a star.

That being said, there is a lot of pressure that comes along with being watched so closely by the NBC marketing team, and now, the world.

And in Chen’s Olympic debut, that pressure got to him. In the short program, Chen, who usually

Coming Up at Drake Feb. 14 Basketball vs. Indiana State

lands all his massive quad jumps and wows crowds, struggled.

He fell in his quad flip and his triple axel, and turned another of his quads into only a double.

He finished in fourth place in the standings after the short program.

This is big news for those watching U.S. figure skating, and fans are hoping for a Nathan Chen comeback. I want to see him succeed.

Hopefully he lets this performance slide off his back as he goes into the men’s singles event with a clean slate.

This performance by Chen brings into question how NBC markets athletes for the Olympics, and the subsequent pressure athletes feel.

Ashley Wagner, who went to the 2014 Sochi Games, was hugely hyped by NBC before the U.S. team was even picked, and she failed to even qualify.

Chen, as well as the Shibutani siblings, of ice dancing and NBC poster-athlete fame, have a difficult task ahead as they try to focus on their events while also navigating the maze of interviews, photo ops and expectations.

But like any great athlete, I think after a few opening jitters, Chen is going to blow the world away. We shall see.

Another major talking point is the third place finish of 28 yearold American Adam Rippon.

Contrasting Chen’s short program performance, Rippon delivered a stellar, bird-themed free program that had the crowd on their feet.

The program was quintessentially Rippon- not the biggest jumps, but artistry and storytelling that shined.

In my opinion, Rippon is one of the best male interpretive skaters of the past several years, harkening back to figures like 2010 Olympic Champion Evan Lysacek.

Due to his beautiful program, a lot of people were shocked when Rippon placed third in the team event men’s free skate.

Rippon was behind Canadian veteran Patrick Chan and Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada. Many say he got

robbed.

Others say his artistry is not more important than his lack of jumps that other top men are doing, and that the jumps need to be there for a win.

For me, the answer lies in the middle. It is true that Rippon did not attempt any quads, and he landed all of his triple jumps.

However, most of the skaters that did attempt quads, such as Kolyada, fell, but got away with it.

It partly boils down to critical scoring intricacies, but there is more to this story as well.

An element is scored for its base value of difficulty, and then deducted from if there is a problem with execution, or added to for quality execution.

There is a mandatory one point deduction for a fall. Most men either complete triple or quad jumps.

Quads are very difficult, so the base value for a quad jump is more than twice that of its triple version.

If a skater falls on a quad jump, but the judges determine they still got full rotation, the skater still gets the full base value score for a jump and gets the one point deduction.

This quad base value with a one point deduction for a fall, consequently, scores several points higher than a perfectly landed triple jump.

This conflict is made can be seen clearly in the case of Rippon and Kolyada.

Rippon only did triples and landed them perfectly, but couldn’t compete with Kolyada, who fell on one of his two quads and botched one of his triples, but still racked up the points.

This conflict has been present ever since the new scoring system was implemented in 2010, and it will continue to be a talking point in men’s figure skating.

I don’t have an answer for how to resolve it. But it will continue to be present in Pyeongchang, so watch out for it.

But personally, while it is true that the scoring of jumps is an issue and it affected Rippon, there was more going on here.

While there is the scoring

Scoring Leaderboard (Per Game) All Drake Basketball Players

Feb. 23 Women’s Basketball vs. Bradley

Player Name

Points Per Game

1. Reed Timmer

18.3

2. Sara Rhine

15.8

Feb. 25

3. Becca Hitner

15.1

Women’s Basketball vs. Illinois State

4. Nick McGlynn

11.8

5. D.J. McMurray

10.3

6. Sammie Bachrodt

10.2

7. Maddy Dean

9.6

8. Graham Woodward

9.5

9. Brenni Rose

8.8

10. Becca Jonas

6.7

11. Ore Arogundade

6.6

April 8

12. Nicole Miller

6.4

Softball vs. Southern Illinois

13. C.J. Rivers

5.7

14. Maddie Monahan

5.2

15. Casey Schlatter

4.3

Feb. 24 Basketball vs. Valparaiso

March 30 Softball vs. Bradley

March 31 Softball vs. Bradley

April 7 Softball vs. Southern Illinois

April 13-14 Track & Field Jim Duncan Invitational

TRIPPING UP Nathan Chen has routinely wowed with his quad jumps, but fell twice over the weekend to take fourth place. P H O T O B Y L E A H A D A M S of elements like jumps and spins, there is also an artistic interpretation score given by the judges, often called the components score.

What I find interesting is that Rippon and Kolyada had almost identical components scores- with 86.78 and 86.22 respectively. That’s the part that I find a little strange.

Rippon is a beautiful skater that, for me, stood out from Kolyada, who had (in my eyes) a kind of kitschy Elvis themed program.

Maybe it’s because he’s a Russian doing Elvis, but it seemed odd.

Clearly the judges disagreed, and that’s okay.

But I find that aspect of the scoring between the American and the Russian interesting.

We’ll see how these two stack up against the other competitors in the men’s singles events later in Pyeongchang.

Women’s MVC Basketball Standings

Men’s MVC Basketball Standings

School

Conf. Record

School

Conf. Record

1. Drake

13-0

1. Loyola

11-3

2. Missouri State

10-3

2. Southern Illinois

9-5

3. Northern Iowa

9-4

3. Drake

8-6

4. Southern Illinois

8-5

4. Illinois State

8-6

5. Indiana State

6-6

5. Bradley

7-7

6. Bradley

5-8

6. Missouri State

7-7

7. Illinois State

5-8

7. Evansville

6-8

8. Valparaiso

4-8

8. Indiana State

6-8

9. Loyola

3-9

9. Valparaiso

4-10

10. Evansville

0-12

10. Northern Iowa

4-10

12 | sports

Feb. 14, 2018

SPORTS MEN’S BASKETBALL

Drake beats UNI in front of huge home crowd Saturday

BULLDOG’S BASKETBALL: NOW TRENDING Nick McGlynn celebrates the victory over UNI Saturday, Drake’s first win against the in-state rival in their last seven meetings. PHOTO BY JD PELEGRINO

JD Pelegrino Staff Writer john.pelegrino@drake.edu @jddontdrop Coach Niko Medved and the Bulldogs hosted conference rival, the University of Northern Iowa Panthers, on Saturday in the Knapp Center packed with 5,121 people. To start off the game, the Bulldogs quickly set the pace of the game on a 9-0 run off of two quick jumpers by forward Nick McGlynn and guard C.J. Rivers, a layup from guard Reed Timmer, and a 3-pointer from McGlynn. It wasn’t until almost five minutes into the game where the Panthers acquired their first basket off of the game from a layup.

“This game has meant a lot to everybody on our team, so to come on our home court, one of the biggest home-court attendances we’ve had at the Knapp since I’ve been here to pull out a win like that. It’s really special,” McGlynn said.

The Bulldogs held the lead throughout the entire first half until there was about 1:30 left, where a UNI Guard Spencer Haldeman tied the game up with a 3-pointer.

This would be the only time throughout the game where the Bulldogs didn’t have the lead. It wasn’t too long after did Drake’s all-time leading scorer, Reed Timmer, get fouled on a lay-up to give the Bulldogs the edge again on two free throws.

Saturday was also a special day

for all Drake basketball fans. In attendance were Men’s basketball teams from the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s early 2000s, as well as the 20072008 Men’s basketball team, which placed first in conference and was seeded in the NCAA March Madness tournament. All members from the ’07-’08 team were present except for 28-yearold Josh Young, who is playing professional basketball for a team in Germany and is currently in China.

Concluding the halftime ceremony and moving into the second half of play, the Bulldogs came out ready to play with their 35-28 lead.

Exchanging basket for basket and turnover for turnover, the Bulldogs kept the lead throughout the early stages of the second half.

As the game made its way down to the 9-minute mark, the Bulldogs lead had dwindled to two points 48-46. Right when the team needed him, D.J. McMurray drained two buckets two replenish the Bulldog lead to 52-46.

Soon after another Timmer bucket, the 6-0 run by the Dogs concluded with a forward Casey Schlatter technical foul, sending the Panthers to the line, where only one free throw was made. Throughout the rest of the game, McGlynn continued with a high-level of productivity, helping the Bulldogs pull away with six straight points on three possessions.

“We got out to a fast start tonight and then, you know, they

PACKED HOUSE The “Knasty Knapp” was packed Saturday with more than 5,000 viewers.

(Above) Students came out in a big way to see the Bulldogs take down the Panthers. PHOTOS BY JD PELEGRINO came back. And I thought that run we made at the end of the first half was huge… We went into halftime with some momentum and from there we just came back and were able to hold them off and get a huge win,” Medved said.

McGlynn had a game-high in points with 17, Timmer with

15, and Rivers with 12. The final score of the contest, 71-64 in favor of the Dogs. Coach Medved, Timmer, and McGlynn said how important this conference win was, especially after the loss they took away at UNI just a few weeks ago.

Drake (14-13, 8-6 conf) has

four games left in the regular season, the next one on Feb. 14 against the Indiana State Sycamores (11-15, 6-8 conf) at the Knapp Center. The game starts at 7 p.m.