The Times-Delphic (03.28.18)

THE TIMES-DELPHIC Wed., March 28, 2018

Vol. 137, No. 21

www.timesdelphic.com

PHOTO BY JESSIE SPANGLER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

NATIONAL NEWS

Students join March for Our Lives protest at capitol Caitlin Clement Staff Writer caitlin.clement@drake.edu Around 3,000 Iowa students and residents came together in snowy conditions at the capitol building in Des Moines to protest in favor of gun control as part of the national “March for Our Lives” demonstration in the wake of the most recent mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

The march was led by student activists in Iowa with help from the non-profit Progress Iowa. It focused on topics such as a ban on assault weapons, universal background checks and a ban on high capacity magazines and addons such as bump stocks.

Students led chants like “Enough is Enough,” “Books not Bullets” and “Stop the NRA” throughout the march. Many of the speakers were students in

high school and college as well as teachers and witnesses to gun violence.

Jamie Izaguirre, a Drake University first-year, was one of the speakers at the march this past Saturday.

“People like the Parkland students are going to start using their influence and their voice to be heard,” Izaguirre said. “It’s just as simple as saying ‘I don’t agree with what’s going on’… that small statement can influence a legislator, maybe, to vote a different way.”

Activists began to chant “Vote Them Out” when Izaguirre listed off the amount of funding the NRA gave to individual senators, one senator even in the millions, to show the amount of financial control they have over legislators.

An NRA representative was present at the march to witness this.

In between speakers, there

was a memorial dedicated to the 17 people who lost their lives during the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Floida. Each victim’s name was read aloud to the silent crowdand the echoes could be heard reverberating across the city.

“How many more parents need to bury their kids until we draw the line?” said Melissa Zapata, a student at Des Moines University.

Zapata grew up in Parkland and attended Stoneman Douglas High School. She said before the shooting she hated when people asked where she was from because no one knew where it was. Now, Zapata said, she hates when people ask her because of the event her home town is now known for.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

PROTESTORS show off signs they made on a snowy day in Des Moines.

PHOTO BY JESSIE SPANGLER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

STUDENT SENATE

DRAKE MEN’S BASKETBALL

Students vote Garcia-Fuerte to presidency

Medved out as coach after one year

Caldwell and Moresi elected VPs in uncontested elections Ian Klein Staff Writer ian.klein@drake.edu In a tight election, sophomore Jose Garcia-Fuerte edged out fellow sophomore Nick Johnston to secure the position of student body president for the 201819 academic year. Running

unopposed, sophomore Bakari Caldwell and junior Giada Morresi won the offices of vice president of student life and vice president of student activities, respectively.

The campaign for student body president was won by a narrow margin, as Garcia-Fuerte won 417 votes to Johnston’s 374. Caldwell received 676 votes

JOSE GARCIA-FUERTE edged out Nick Johnston in the student body presidential election. PHOTO COURTESY OF STUDENT SENATE

with 132 voters abstaining, while Morresi received 690 votes with 118 abstentions.

In a Facebook post, GarciaFuerte thanked his supporters: “Thank you all for the support … I look forward to all of the amazing things we will accomplish together and where we will take the student body.”

Central to the Garcia-Fuerte platform was promoting equity and inclusion at Drake. GarciaFuerte currently sits on the Senate as one of two equity and inclusion senators. He led the UNITY Roundtable in its first Multicultural Festival in the fall of 2017 and the creation of the Unity Voices newsletter, which seeks to give voice to historically marginalized communities at Drake.

Garcia-Fuerte plans to “ensure that resources and mediums for students to be actively engaged in (cultural awareness and cultural literacy) are made more available.”

In his campaign for vice president of student life, Caldwell stressed addressing the campus

climate and furthering equity and inclusion. Caldwell said in his campaign platform he hopes to make “an exceptional environment for campus student life, as it is the responsibility of Drake University students.”

As vice president of student activities, Morresi will focus on collaboration, innovation and representation.

The vice president of student activities is also the president of the Student Activities Board (SAB). Morresi is currently on the senate as the technology and facilities senator and has been a member of SAB for two years.

Morresi said that in her role she will promote greater interaction between campus organizations and create opportunities for students to attend networking, political and sporting events.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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Maddie Topliff Staff Writer maddie.topliff@drake.edu @Top_Dog30 After only one season, former Drake University men’s basketball head coach Niko Medved has left the Bulldogs for a head coaching position at Colorado State University.

On March 23 at 9:30 a.m., Medved called and delivered his decision to Brian Hardin, the Drake athletic director.

In a press conference Thursday evening, Hardin relayed a timeline of events leading up to Medved’s morning phone call, painting the picture that the news on the other line came as quite a shock.

The video from the press conference is available on the Des Moines Register’s website and has been retweeted by the TimesDelphic’s Twitter account.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

02 | news

March 28, 2018

NEWS CAMPUS SPORTS

Drake rowing gives novices athletic accomplishment Abbey Fouts Contributing Writer abbey.fouts@drake.edu Fields, tracks, courts and swimming pools are all common sporting event locations.

However, the Drake women’s rowing team is just one exception to this rule, hosting their races on rivers across the U.S. The team consists of 31 members, ranging from firstyears to seniors.

“Rowing is cool because it’s the only sport you can start in college,” said Betsy Bayliss, assistant coach of the women’s rowing team. “You don’t need to have any experience.”

Members of the team are divided into two groups, novice and varsity. Novice members are those who have had no rowing experience. Although this is mostly first-years, any student is able to join.

Varsity members consist of recruited first-years through seniors. The coaches aim to

recruit 10 members each year, but usually get eight. This year, the team recruited eight rowers.

Angelica Hyles, a first-year law, politics and society major, started rowing in 2014 after a tornado hit her house in Moore, Oklahoma.

“A tornado hit my house and so we (Hyles’ family) were staying at the University of Oklahoma and the rowing team talked to me and got me to join the team,” Hyles said.

After rowing for the Oklahoma City River Sport Rowing team for three years, Hyles was recruited for the Drake women’s rowing team, ready to continue racing.

Rowing races, often called regattas, are divided by length: 5,000 meters and 2,000 meters.

5,000 meter races are held in the fall and are similar to cross country meets, where rowers are lined up one by one and go off one by one. The boats can hold up to nine rowers, with the number of people in the boat varying based on the race.

2,000 meter races are held in

the spring and are similar to long distance sprinting. In these races, teams race side by side, making it easy to see which team wins and

“The thing that is different about rowing is the connection you feel with the people in your boat” Abby Rundquist Drake first-year which team loses.

“Rowing records are really funny because we don’t play games. It’s races, and how you finish,” Bayliss said.

Winners for both types of races are determined by time or the team rowing the fastest.

“Some of the races are so close, they are like super dramatic,” Bayliss said.

Because of the location, rowing races are not the most spectator friendly, as it is often hard to spot the boats the entire distance. Even with this difficulty, the sport is beautiful to watch as rowers are moving in synchronous units, Bayliss said.

Abby Rundquist, a first-year biochemistry cell and molecular biology student and member of the rowing team, believes this feeling of unity is one of the best feelings in the world.

“The thing that is different about rowing is the connection you feel with the people in your boat,” Rundquist said. “(It’s) so much stronger than what you would feel just playing on a team because you have to sync every single movement up with the person in front of you and behind you to get the boat to move.”

The rowing season lasts

all year, as the team is able to practice outdoors in the Des Moines River and indoors, in the Knapp Center, when the weather is too cold. Outdoor practices consist of rowing the boats in the Des Moines River, while indoor practices consist of utilizing ERG machines, exercise machines that mimic the motion of rowing, located above the track level in the Knapp Center.

Traditional rowing practices are held from 5:30 to 8 a.m. every day except for Sunday. Team members are also required to attend two weight lifting and conditioning practices each week with varying times based on students’ schedules.

This semester, the team will be participating in six races, all out of state. Next fall, two races will be held in Iowa.

NATIONAL NEWS

Des Moines university students speak to advocate for gun control reform

A WOMAN raises her arms during the “March for Our Lives” protest in downton Des Moines. PHOTO BY JESSIE SPANGLER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Drake student and first-year Natalie Sherman was another activist that gave her support to the march.

Having recently been in high school, Sherman gave her opinion on the lock in or lock down

procedures high schools have implemented since Columbine almost 20 years ago.

“Although I do think it’s important and saves a lot of lives in an active shooter scenario, I do think there are better actions we can take. We are hiding kids instead of taking away the guns,”

Sherman said.

Sherman further said she wants to see a ban of assault style weapons, thorough backgrounds checks and raising the age limit to buy a gun from 18 to 21.

The march started on Capitol grounds and went left down E Grand Ave, down Pennsylvania

Ave and then back up the steps towards the capitol. The march was led in front by volunteer students for the event starting the chants.

In recognition of the opposing side Izaguirre said he understands the want people have to go and shoot certain guns in a gun range

VARIOUS PEOPLE WALK with signs they made on the protest on March 24. PHOTOS BY JESSIE SPANGLER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF (left) and CAITLIN CLEMENT | STAFF WRITER (right)

but believes the lives of U.S citizens and those affected by all gun violence is more important.

“Is it really worth doing nothing, is it really worth losing lives,” Izaguirre said.

news | 03

March 28, 2018

NEWS CAMPUS NEWS

Marathon funds medical treatment for children nationwide Bailey Coronis Contributing Writer bailey.coronis@drake.edu According to the Children’s Miracle Network website, more than 300 colleges plan a Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon every year.

For the first time ever, Drake University will host their own.

Several students are working to plan the event, which will take place on Apr. 7 at Olmsted Center.

Student Stephanie Theofilis is the executive director of the event and said the event will last for

seven hours.

Aside from the members on the executive board, there are also morale captains who are in charge of keeping the energy at the event positive and fun.

There are also volunteer dancers who are raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network. Families and patients of the Children’s Miracle Network will also be attending.

Currently, there are 85 people signed up to attend, but Theofilis is aiming for at least 115 people to be in attendance. There is no registration fee to attend.

Theofilis said that though

planning the event is stressful, she finds satisfaction in raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network. She said it’s all about “doing something for someone I don’t even know.”

Victoria Meier is the dancer relations chair and works directly with the morale captains to make sure they can be successful.

“I want to blend my passion for dance with a really incredible cause,” Meier said.

Meier said the music for the event will include artists who have chart-topping hits, such as Beyoncé, Justin Bieber and Drake.

She is also in charge of organizing one of the main events that will occur at the dance marathon: The Morale Dance.

“The Morale Dance is a bunch of fun songs that people know,” Meier said. “We choreograph a dance to it and teach it throughout the night. It’s something that the patients can also be involved in.”

First-year Kasey Springsteen is a student who is looking forward to attending the event.

“I think it’s a good opportunity to get involved in something that I can’t have a direct effect on, but can help by raising money for this event,” Springsteen said.

Springsteen said, participants are encouraged, but are not required, to raise money. All students start with a goal of $100 and work toward raising this money for the Children’s Miracle Network.

“I’m just excited to hang out with a bunch of other students who are passionate about this organization, and you get to have a good time,” Springsteen said.

STUDENT SENATE

Senate approves Drake Dance Marathon, soon will approve yearly budget “I see friends that go to other universities that are really active in their own respective Dance Marathon and it’s something that I see has a ton of student involvement at other universities,” vice president of student life Anna Gleason said. “I’m kind of surprised that it hasn’t already spread to Drake,” she added, while showing excitement that there is a significant amount of student interest in the event. The Senate voted unanimously to approve the funding.

Next on the senate’s agenda are new bylaw changes and approving the annual budget for the 2018-19 school year proposed

by Student Body Treasurer Trevor Matusik.

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

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Student Senate also held its weekly meeting on March 22, where senators approved a funding request of $1,942. Drake University Dance Marathon is a group that will assist families that are undergoing treatment through Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals with “emotional and financial support.” The senate motion states that the purpose of the dance marathon event, which will take place on Apr. 7 at 5:00 p.m. in Olmsted, is “to spread awareness and create a night for the kids they support fighting through their illnesses or injuries and for the students who help support them to celebrate.”

Senators were impressed by the organization’s ability to have already secured funding for the event from local community businesses and to have more than 90 people interested in the event.

JOSE-GARCIA-FUERTE gives a speech as to why he should be elected as the Student Body President. PHOTO BY IAN KLEIN | STAFF WRITER

CAMPUS LIFE

A furry love affair with Drake’s most famous bulldog Sabrina Smith Contributing Writer sabrina.smith@drake.edu The sun beat down on the podium stage as then first-year Ashley Blazek approached the slobbery wrinkled bulldog that was Griff. She would later recall that morning as the beginning of their love story.

Three years later, Blazek works as a tour guide for Drake University Office of Admissions, and on Fridays, she transforms into a Griff handler.

Griff was hand-picked to become Drake University’s second official live bulldog mascot in the fall of 2015 and continues to be a furry ambassador for all things Drake.

“I think he, whether we realize

it or not, resembles what it means to be a bulldog, but also to work hard and to have patience,” Blazek said. “Your experiences as a bulldog are supposed to shape you into a calm and empathetic person.”

Blazek says that the deep and malleable wrinkles represent the hardships a student can face and his calm, even-keeled demeanor characterizes the empathetic qualities found in Drake University graduates.

Erin Bell, Drake University’s live mascot director and Griff’s owner, hopes students will remember their moments at Drake and with Griff forever.

“They’ll think back to their Drake years, and I think Griff will be a part of it … that’s my goal,” Bell said.

Bell and Blazek both relate

their beloved Griff’s personality and looks to the journey many students embark on throughout their time at Drake University.

However, students must remember that in addition to Griff there is another bulldog mascot on campus, Spike, who goes to all athletic events.

Griff represents Drake University on a national level, even being featured in a BuzzFeed article earlier this year. He is an icon on Drake’s campus, even bringing tears to Blazek’s eyes the first time they met.

“It sounds silly, getting emotional over a dog, but he enhances so many people’s days,” Blazek said. “He brightens everywhere he goes.”

FILE PHOTO

04 | opinions

March 28, 2018

OPINIONS POLITICS

The March For Our Lives is a worthy, inspiring movement

MANY DES MOINES residents and students faced the cold weather on Saturday to march for gun reform. PHOTO BY JESSIE SPANGLER | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Natalie Larimer Contributing Writer natalie.larimer@drake.edu

The March for Our Lives was held on Saturday, March 24 and I was lucky enough to be able to attend the march in Kansas City. I was in town for a concert and I met up with some internet friends of mine for the march. My experience there was one that was so powerful that I am not quite sure how to translate it to words, but I will try my best.

I arrived a bit late for the march, mainly because I was tired during my drive down and decided to take a nap in a gas station parking lot, so I just missed the music performance, but according to my friend, they only played one song. I thought it was a bit weird to have a musical performance at a political protest, but I was not about to argue.

When I did arrive, I was able

to hear speeches from many different people, including high school students, teachers, and a woman who was widowed due to gun violence. These speeches were really moving and really hit home the message the whole march was aimed at getting across.

The speech that I remember the most was of the woman widowed by gun violence. She talked about how in an instant her life and the lives of her children were completely changed and she had no say in the matter. Her argument was that if everyone influenced by gun violence came together and spoke out against the NRA and the congressmen and women they control, then there would be immediate change in our gun laws. The problem is, these people do not feel as if they have a voice, though that is changing now through marches such as the March for Our Lives.

There were so many people at this march and I was astounded by the range of people there. I saw a ton of little kids with their parents holding signs that said things like “am I next?” and other heartbreaking sentiments, but also a lot of older people who are not affiliated with schools yet still find this cause to be worthwhile.

There was a ton of teenagers and people in their early 20s, like myself, who are just sick of the targets on our backs.

I have been talking about this

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issue with some of my friends and we are constantly amazed that this march was created and led by teenagers who cannot even vote yet. When I was in high school I was still convinced that voting did not matter and that the further away from politics, the happier I would be (nobody tell my high school self that I am now a politics major) and I cannot imagine the kind of barriers and problems these kids ran into while setting up this march.

I also realized through these talks with my friends that we constantly position ourselves in a safe spot in classrooms so that if there were an active shooter situation, we would be able to protect ourselves. I always sit on the end of a row, not in the middle of a classroom, and I try to put at least a couple people in between the door and me. The fact that I am actively trying to protect myself in my own classrooms tells us that this is a problem and we need to address it and find a solution.

I saw a poster yesterday that advertised a seminar to learn what to do during an active shooter situation. This is a real threat to students and people in public, crowded places, and I am really sick of it being relevant.

That is why I marched and why I encourage everyone to contact their state’s legislators and voice their opinions.

MARCH FOR OUR LIVES was a national event this past Sunday that protested gun violence. PHOTO BY NATALIE LARIMER | CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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.

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opinions | 05

March 28, 2018

OPINIONS STUDENT LIFE

College is tough for everyone, so please don’t be elitist

DRAKE UNIVERSITY’S new science connector building, featured here. It focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. One writer is frustrated with STEM elitism that she perceives. PHOTO FROM DRAKE UNVIERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Natalie Larimer Contributing Writer natalie.larimer@drake.edu

We have all seen those memes about a STEM major talking to a liberal arts major where they completely blow their workload out of proportion and basically invalidate any struggle that a liberal arts major has. Well I am

here to tell you, as a former STEM major and current liberal arts major, that I would kill for the relaxed workload that I had as a chemistry major.

Freshman year (or first-year if you want to be politically correct) I came in as a chemistry and entrepreneurship double major with a journalism minor. Do not even ask, I could not tell you what I was thinking.

Then I realized that I hate all things business, do not want to pursue a career in journalism, and chemistry is a combination of all things evil on this planet.

I am now a double major in political science and international relations with a double minor in sociology and French. Just writing that makes me out of breath.

Basically, even though I had a ton of workload for both sets of majors/minors, I am way more

overworked now. The sheer amount of readings that I have to do on a daily basis is enough to make me go crazy (which I have) but on top of that I have to write essays on top of essays and do other homework assignments in what little time I have outside of class, work, and home life.

This sounds whiney, and to some extent it is, but it is just my reality.

I sometimes wish I could go back to my chemistry major where I had reliable homework assignment deadlines, weekly lab reports, and tests to study for that require work out of class that would take me three hours a night tops. That is my minimum now.

The reason I write this and subject you all to read my rambling and annoying monologue about how much homework I have is because I am sick of STEM elitism.

My boyfriend is a triple major

in mathematics, data analytics and computer science (basically, he is a complete nerd) and he has absolutely no problems finishing his homework and he used to come to my apartment and sit there playing video games (until I kicked him out for being distracting) while I had to do reading after reading for hours into the late evening.

I also hate STEM elitism because it makes it sound like no other field is worth studying, especially the arts. If you are an art and/or music major, I respect you so much. STEM society will have you believe that you have no real purpose in this life, but you are the purpose in life. Yeah, STEM fields progress society, but society is nothing without arts.

Just try to go a day without listening to music. It is so depressing and you end up thinking that life is a monotonous

hell. STEM is important, but it is not the only thing worth anything.

The amount of work that art and music majors have to put into their work is astronomical and the fact that more analytical majors cannot understand that makes them look so closed-minded and ignorant.

We need to create a mutually respectful culture around campus where STEM majors can see that the arts are worth a ton to society and life itself while the liberal arts majors can see that STEM is necessary for society to improve and allow their art to be highlighted. Make friends in other disciplines! I love my hardscience friends and my business buddies, and I do not know where I would be without their input on my life.

CONCERT REVIEW

“Dazzling” Lorde puts on a stellar show at Wells Fargo Arena

Parker Klyn Opinions Editor parker.klyn@drake.edu @parkerklyn Despite Lorde’s widespread critical and commercial success, I have remained partially a non-believer. I really enjoyed “Melodrama”; heck, I put it on my top albums of 2017 list.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that Lorde didn’t really have much to set her apart from her pop contemporaries. She didn’t produce her own music, and her sounds, while pleasant, were trendy. I guess I just didn’t understand what made “Melodrama” the “voice of a

generation”, as one reviewer put it.

After seeing Lorde perform this Sunday at Wells Fargo Arena, I am no longer a non-believer.

In fact, I’m a bona fide Lorde fan, revisiting her past work and seeing “Melodrama” – an album I already enjoyed – in a new light.

She was captivating, beautiful, deft and charismatic on stage, without an ounce of cynicism or negative energy. Lorde’s a star.

New York-based singersongwriter Mitski opened at about 8 p.m., and it was a bittersweet performance for myself, a casual fan. I was really excited to see her get such a highprofile gig, opening for one of the world’s biggest pop stars, but by the time she entered, many of the concertgoers were still filing in. Nobody knew her music. So while she performed well and was very cordial on stage, I would’ve preferred a smaller venue for Mitski.

Run The Jewels are the complete opposite. They should be headlining stadiums themselves.

The hip-hop duo of Atlantan Killer Mike and New Yorker El-P absolutely accomplished their

goal of getting the crowd fired up for the headliner. They performed for about 45 minutes, going through all their biggest hits; the crowd was especially fired up for “Nobody Speak” and “Oh My Darling Don’t Cry.” In between, Mike constantly referred to how cool Des Moines is, and they offered some really wonderful sentiments about self-love and Women’s History Month.

Run The Jewels nailed their performance, and even though their white-hot ascension from a few years ago has cooled, they still know how to excite a crowd.

Then, about 9:30 p.m., Lorde appeared. She was backed by six supremely talented backup dancers, who focused on elegant and graceful ballet, an interesting touch. The stage was modest; the backing band was barely visible, and the only essential piece of staging was a plexiglass structure that dancers performed in. Lorde danced around, singing a few hits from “Melodrama”, then relaxed into some of her older cuts. This was the one lull in the concert; a four-song stretch from “Magnets” to “Ribs” featured songs that many in attendance barely knew,

and the energy of the concert wavered.

Her performance of “The Louvre” brought the crowd back to its original energy. After that song was one of the most powerful moments of the performance: a fully visible costume change. It made sense within the context of Lorde’s song narratives; the first third of the concert was teen party anthems, and she was dressed in a fashionable T-shirt and pants to match. After the costume change, Lorde was clad in a flowing princess dress, complete with globe shoulders, to show that she was transforming into the isolated singer-songwriter that she displays in more private moments.

What followed was the best stretch of the entire concert.

Lorde began by explaining what the following song meant to her, and how it’s really a true story. The song was “Writer In The Dark” (for my money, the best song on “Melodrama”). She impressed with her deep contralto in the verses before dazzling with an ascendant, unique soprano falsetto on the chorus.

Then, she upped the emotional

ante even further with a faithful cover of Frank Ocean’s “Solo” (a personal favorite of mine) and her barest ballad yet, “Liability”.

All three of the preceding tracks are some of the best balladry you’ll ever hear, and they were better live than on recording.

After using “Sober II” as an interlude, the crowd was right back to roaring energy with “Supercut”, which should have dominated pop radio but wasn’t even released as a single. Then, she performed “Royals”, the one song everyone in attendance knew; it’s still one of the very best pop songs ever recorded.

But maybe the best pure concert experience I’ve ever been a part of was Lorde’s performance of “Green Light”. After imploring the entire crowd to get up and dance, we did that very thing, and we did it without a care. It was an exhilarating time.

The Melodrama Tour easily matches up with some of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. It’s clear that Lorde loves performing; despite her unassuming demeanor, she can tell when she has a crowd in the palm of her hand. I can’t wait to see her again.

06 | opinions

March 28, 2018

OPINIONS ALBUM REVIEW

Kacey Musgraves establishes herself as a crossover star

KACEY MUSGRAVES is a singer-songwriter from Texas. “Golden Hour” is her third album, following 2013’s “Same Trailer, Different Park” and 2015’s “Pageant Material”. It was released on Mercury Records. PHOTO FROM MERCURY RECORDS

Parker Klyn Opinions Editor parker.klyn@drake.edu @parkerklyn “Follow your arrow.” That sentiment was popularized by Texan singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves, on her breakout single from 2013. It’s a sentiment that brushed against the grain of typical country pop: you don’t necessarily need to be a blue jeanwearing, truck driving, straightedge churchgoer to be a good ol’ country kid. While many critics pegged Musgraves for country stardom, her music has never fit

inside the bounds of the country radio mainstream. But it has always maintained the “follow your arrow” thesis; Musgraves doesn’t care what other people do, and she doesn’t care what they think of her.

Her latest album, “Golden Hour”, finds Musgraves moving even further towards the shimmering sheen of glitzy, well-produced pop. But where previous records saw her establishing herself as a singular, independent figure, “Golden Hour” fills the listener up with syrupy, infatuated love songs.

It’s a tale of discovery, where Musgraves finds her soulmate and realizes that he completes her. And it’s full of great songs.

An early highlight is “Butterflies,” on which love hits Musgraves “out of the blue.”

Where many country songs would fall into the “hardworking, emotionally reluctant guy meets blue-eyed, sweet, domesticated girl” camp, “Butterflies” focuses on all the ways love can make someone’s life better. “You’re lifting me up instead of holding

me down/ Stealing my heart instead of stealing my crown,” she sings on the chorus; you can practically hear her smile when she sighs, “You give me butterflies.”

Other tracks follow similar structures. The spacious “Oh, What A World,” with its vocoder harmonies and muffled banjo, sounds like a concert closer.

“Slow Burn” proves that the most beautiful romances are frequently those that grow over time and establish themselves until they are solid as an oak. In the middle of the record, there’s the interlude “Mother.” which is a genius inclusion into the tracklist. In just a little over a minute, Musgraves begins to fret about missing her mom – a somewhat benign, normal reaction that doesn’t get a lot of coverage in art.

“Space Cowboy” is an emotional highlight. Musgraves uses the metaphors and persona that her conflicted lover has established for himself against him; she “should’ve learned from the movies that good guys don’t run away.” And in the

very next track, she deals with the realization that the most passionate loves and the best experiences never last.

Not every track hits as hard as those. “Wonder Woman” sounds like a quick release to capitalize on last year’s widely popular film of the same name, and occasionally the choruses don’t hit as hard as I’d like them to. But this is a very consistent album, utilizing Musgrave’s endearing Texan soprano well.

Musically, “Golden Hour” is barely country music. Many of the tracks have syntheticsounding drums, and Musgraves utilizes a vocoder multiple times.

Most of the album falls neatly into the adult contemporary template – it’s pop music that isn’t ostentatious about it. But where other acts reject the adult contemporary label (Mumford and Sons and Imagine Dragons have spent a half-decade trying to convince people they’re folk and rock, respectively), Musgraves has a firm grasp on her pop prowess.

There’s even a quick,

surprising disco detour on “High Horse”, which shocked me upon first listen. It ended up going over pretty well, taking Moroder-style grooves and string passages and adopting them to a mainstream pop audience. Still, I would’ve liked a bolder vocal performance or more emphasis on the syncopated grooves on the hook; it could’ve been one of the more exhilarating genre crossovers in recent pop history.

Many would see an album full of love songs and immediately dismiss it. For one, it’s the most common song topic in American history, and really, how distinct can Musgraves make these songs? But “Golden Hour” succeeds as a really solid pop album because Musgraves is such a likeable person; we want to see her relationship succeed. The title track opens with “I’m having such a good time with you;” how many singer-songwriters could make such a low-key statement sound like the best thing in the world?

features | 07

March 28, 2018

FEATURES

Beautiful, CAMPUS EVENT

English

Sassy

and

Over 135 bulldogs from 18 states register for a promisingly comPETitive Beautiful Bulldog contest

Phong Ly Staff Writer phong.ly@drake.edu

The Beautiful Bulldog Contest is less than a month away, and this year’s contest at Drake University promises to be one of the fiercest competitions in history. More than 135 English bulldogs from 18 states registered to compete in Drake’s world-famous Beautiful Bulldog Contest.

From this record-breaking pool of precious pooches, only 40 were selected to compete in the 39th annual contest. The Beautiful Bulldog Contest canine contestants (and 10 alternates) were selected during a random public lottery drawing on March 20 in The Knapp Center lobby.

Among the contestants, there were some veterans who have competed before. Sweet Sassy Molassy from Waukee, Iowa, won the Porterhouse People’s Choice award last year. She was lucky enough to be picked in the raffle last week, so Sassy is back in for the fourth time.

Her owner, Janalyn Phillips, seemed very excited. She said her family loves coming to events like this.

“This is always fun for us, and we look forward to this every year!” Phillips said. “We had a bulldog before Sassy. His name was Pucket, and he won Mr. Congeniality one year and First Runner-Up the other year!”

Phillips thought that Sweet Sassy Molassy is a little small for a four-year-old English Bulldog.

“A lot of people still think she is a puppy,” Phillips laughed.

According to Phillips, the first time Sassy competed in the contest was when she was a sixmonth-old puppy. Of the previous three times Sassy competed, she got Spirit Award one year, and last year she got spirit award as well as Porterhouse People’s Choice.

Phillips, a Drake alumna, was surprised by the number of people registered for this year’s contest.

“It never used to be like that.

Way back a long time ago when they held this contest downtown, seems like whoever was the first 40 or 50 people signed up will get a part in the show,” Phillips said. “So, this is kind of a national thing now!”

Sassy is aiming for the crown this year. However, even if she doesn’t win, Phillips will make sure they celebrate that evening with steak.

In addition to the Most Beautiful Bulldog award, there are other awards that will be given out to the most deserving

SWEET SASSY MOLASSY, a bulldog from Waukee, Iowa, won a spot in this year’s Beautiful Bulldog Contest during the random public lottery.

More than 135 bulldogs entered the lottery, but only 40 were selected to compete. PHOTO BY PHONG LY| STAFF WRITER pups. They are Drake Spirit, Family Theme, Best Dressed, Congeniality, Rescue Dog Recognition, Porterhouse People’s Choice, Second RunnerUp and First Runner-Up. Sophomore Lauren Lerner is very excited for the “puppy show.’

She was most impressed by all the tricks the dogs could do.

“It was really exciting seeing them jumping over hoops and such,” Lerner said. “This would be a good break from our normal college student’s routine.”

The April 23 contest is free and

open to the public at the Knapp Center and will be live-streamed on the Beautiful Bulldog Contest at Drake University Facebook page.

Pups who were selected during the March 20 lottery advanced to the official Beautiful Bulldog Contest. The winning bulldog will receive top honors, a crown and cape and will appear before his or her royal subjects at the Drake Relays.

THIS YEAR’S Beautiful Bulldog raffle hosted several comptetitive English bulldogs.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JESSICA LYNK

features | 08

March 28, 2018

FEATURES GRADUATE ACADEMICS

Drake doctoral candidate has passion for the international Maddie Topliff Staff Writer maddie.topliff@drake.edu

Molly Shepard spends weekdays sitting at a desk in Collier Scripps, managing data and marketing Drake University’s school of education graduate program.

On weekends, she also sits at a desk, but in these instances, she’s a student in the very program she markets during the week.

Shepard is currently pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership from Drake, and she said her employment at the university directly influenced her decision to do so.

“When I first started working here, I’m not sure I was interested in pursuing another degree,” Shepard said. “You’re just kind of surrounded in the field of academics … the faculty are so entrenched in research … I kind of caught that bug.”

As an undergraduate student at Central College, Shepard pursued French, which led to lengthy traveling excursions around Europe. She accredites her choice in major to her “fabulous” high school French teacher.

“I loved her, and she was just kind of an inspiration, and I learned an exceptional amount from her,” Shepard said. “I think my pursuit of a foreign language really opened my eyes up.”

“I think my pursuit of a foreign language really opened my eyes up.”

Molly Shepard Graduate Student

After she graduated from Central, Shepard took a job in industry for a while, which only gave her more opportunities to travel. When she had kids, the

traveling got harder.

“My world shrunk a little bit, but pursuing this degree has given me an opportunity to kind of expand this world again.”

Shepard’s two kids are both in high school and both pursue a foreign language. Her daughter, a senior and soon-to-be Drake student, has studied Spanish since sixth grade. Her freshman son has taken after Mom and is studying French.

“He does not like to study with me,” Shepard said with a smile.

“I have a tendency to correct the pronunciation, and it drives him crazy.”

Spanish and French are both romance languages, so Shepard has fun with her daughter sometimes by guessing the meaning of Spanish verbs based on her knowledge of French.

In Shepard’s free time, she cheers on the Drake Bulldogs in addition to many Chicago-based teams like the Cubs and Bulls.

She is also regretfully a Chicago Bears fan, perhaps only when the team deserves it.

“It’s hard to be a Bears fan, it really is,” Shepard said. “I did live in (Chicago) long enough to know that it was required to hate the Green Bay Packers….there’s a hierarchy of tolerance.”

Shepard is a little more secretive about her music taste.

“I’m a closet country music fan; it’s kind of like being a Bears fan,” Shepard said before a laugh.

She also likes listening to Top 40 radio with her kids.

Shepard has done her best to immerse herself in all things Drake, evident by her employment, choice of grad school program and her special infatuation with Griff, illustrated by her office decorations and excitement for the upcoming Beautiful Bulldog contest. In addition, Shepard has even chaperoned a international J-term trip before.

Dr. Thomas Buckmiller, a Drake first-year seminar and School of Education graduate professor, has been very fortunate to have gotten to know Shepard both in and out of the classroom setting.

“I know Molly as both a colleague and as a former student of mine,” Buckmiller said.

“Drake is lucky to have her in both capacities. She is talented, intelligent and has a fun sense of humor.”

After obtaining her doctorate, Shepard would love the opportunity to stay at Drake to combine both her love of French and research to possibly cross over to doing work for the study abroad office.

“I love what’s happening as it relates to the international experiences,” Shepard said.

Growing up in small-town

Iowa, Shepard knows how important it is to advocate for every student to engage in a different culture from their own, whether that means going overseas or spending a summer in New York. “(Studying abroad) was a big experience for me in college...it shaped who I was,” Shepard said.

“I really think that’s an amazing

experience that really just opens the minds of students...it’s worth the fear and it’s worth combating those things that you’re scared of.”

MOLLY SHEPARD sits at her desk in Collier Scripps, in pursuit of a doctoral degree of educational leadership at Drake University. PHOTO BY MADDIE TOPLIFF | STAFF WRITER

FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS

Professor’s psychology study tackles money, benevolent sexism Tuma Haji Staff Writer tumaorthegap.haji@drake.edu

Drake University assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience Jill Allen recalled the experience of purchasing her first home with her husband a few years ago. She reflected on feelings of dismissiveness and the unsettling sense that the mortgage banker was looking through her, expecting her husband to handle the financial affairs.

Situations like Allen’s, where women are assumed to be uninterested or unskilled in financial matters, reflect the cultural stereotypes surrounding women and money. While the incident was not a direct motivation for Allen’s recent study about gender stereotypes and money, her findings present a frame of reference.

Allen and Sarah J. Gervais published a study late last year titled “The Femininity-Money Incongruity Hypothesis: Money and Femininity Reminders Undermine Women’s Cognitive Performance.” The study was published in Psychology of Women Quarterly. Allen’s study concluded that gender stereotypes about money negatively impact a

woman’s cognitive functioning.

“Stereotypes about money are rooted in heterosexual relationships, where a man is expected to be the breadwinner, expected to handle money more competently, than women, who are expected to be either unskilled or uninterested in money,” Allen said.

There were two driving factors for Allen’s interest in undertaking this study. As a social psychologist who specializes in studying social dynamics, she deemed the issue to be an unexplored subject area in scientific literature.

“Nobody was really talking about this stereotype that’s really prevalent that women can’t handle money and shouldn’t handle money,” Allen said. “It was an underexplored research area that needed some elaboration from a psychological point of view.”

She continued to say that her work was a “reaction” to the research of psychologist Kathleen Boss. Boss’s previous studies had suggested that there seemed to be a sense of empowerment among women when they were primed with money. She concluded that the effect was beneficial for everyone. Allen questioned whether that “empowerment” was more a liability than an asset.

That question was the basis for

her study, and the next step in the scientific method led her to design an experiment that would either support or refute her hypothesis.

Allen and Gervais designed a

“Stereotypes about money are rooted in heterosexual relationships, where man is expected to be the breadwinner, expected to handle money more competently, than women, who are expected to be either unskilled or uninterested in money.”

Jill Allen Assistant Professor

study that would make University of Nebraska undergraduates think about money while randomly assigning groups to interact with stereotypically feminine objects or gender-neutral objects. Participants’ cognitive performance was measured by the Stroop effect, which guages a person’s attention, capacity skills and processing speed.

Over the course of several years, Allen and Gervais gathered extensive data that concluded women’s cognitive performance was significantly decreased when money is paired with femininity.

Allen’s avows that her foremost goal in conducting social science research is to develop interventions.

“If we understand the causes and consequences, we’re more likely to think about how to empower women while we work on changing the broader cultural stereotypes,” Allen said. “This research is the first step in trying to understand what some of the mechanisms are for stereotypes... but it doesn’t necessarily, at this point, lead us to the intervention.”

Allen commended Drake’s Stereotyping and Objectification Action Research (SOAR) lab for trying to develop interventions based from understanding the causes of negative stereotypes.

Brianne Messer, a senior who

aspires to be a forfeit service officer, says she’s prepared to deal with any sexism she may encounter in the field.

“If I ever felt that I was getting paid less than a male counterpart, I would confront my boss and demand to know why our pay is different,” Messer said.

Allen’s study also tackled the issue of benevolent sexism, stereotypes that seem positive in nature but are detrimental.

Notions such as men being considered the caretakers and protectors of women are some examples of benevolent sexism.

Allen warned against embracing such ideas.

“Even though both men and women endorse these ideas, it doesn’t feel like such a problem until we begin to see the consequences that it can have on the women themselves,” Allen said.

She advised Drake females to be assertive in financial matters.

“If a woman were to somehow downplay her femininity in some way in a negotiating situation, whether that’s by asserting a non-feminine characteristic or presenting herself in a way that downplays her femininity, that would be consistent with the research,” Allen said. “Women only performed poorly when femininity was on their mind.”

features | 09

March 28, 2018

FEATURES CAMPUS LIFE

CAMPUS EVENT

Baum Symposium attendees blown away

PHOTO BY HALLIE O’NEILL | DIGITAL EDITOR

Maddie Topliff Staff Writer maddie.topliff@drake.edu

Humans of

This week: Todd Evans Hallie O’Neill Digital Editor hallie.oneill@drake.edu “A man can never have too many cars or guitars.”

This has become somewhat of a mantra for Todd Evans, professor of digital media production in Drake University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

A suburban Chicago kid and a lifelong rock ‘n’ roll fan, Evans grew up in the constant presence of music. His mother studied music and was a pianist, and he picked up the drums from his brother, a musician himself.

“Keith Moon (of the Who), being one of the most bombastic drummers of all time, he was a great influence,” Evans said. “I wanted to be bombastic.”

And he certainly did his best. Though not having the “discipline,” as he says, to fully commit to musicianship, he had his fair share of adolescent garageband stints.

Then, when he got to college, he decided to study television and radio. The work compelled him so much that he finished in three years, and after a few odd jobs— including custom van building (it was the ‘70s) and house-sitting— he went back to get his master’s degree.

His ultimate aspiration was to produce music videos after he discovered MTV, which he describes as a jaw-dropping experience, but either karma or fate—both of which Evans believes in—had other plans for him.

He was corralled into a teaching position at Drake by former faculty member Michael Cheney, who Evans said is “every bit the rock ‘n’ roller I am.”

Together, they decided to create a first-year seminar course on the history of the genre.

It turned into the grandiosely titled course The Politics, economics and culture of noise: the life and times of rock ‘n roll, which soon began to shift its focal point to Evans’ lifelong source of wonder: The Beatles.

“We found that the interest was so great from students on the British Invasion,” Evans said.

“At the time, there weren’t a lot of schools that were teaching Beatles classes—this is the late 1980s. The Beatles are nothing.

It was kind of unique when we started doing it.”

Now, the course has completely shifted into an extensive cultural, musical, historical and political

analysis on the band. After all these years, he’s still just as enthralled with the topic of his now infamous Beatles course.

“Nobody’s ever been able to explain the phenomenon,” Evans said. “Here we are, nearly 60 years after they broke on the scene… why are they selling more records now than they ever did? Why are there more college classes on the Beatles now than there ever has been? Why do you care? See, I want the answer.

“And every semester, there are ah-ha moments for me, pieces of the puzzle that I never put together before. But I’m not going to live long enough to get all the pieces of the puzzle. If I ever got the answer, I wouldn’t teach the class anymore,” Evans said.

When he first started teaching at Drake, he thought he’d stay in Iowa for three, maybe four years.

It’s been 34, and he’s not going anywhere. The chances he’s been given to teach radio, television, media production and Beatles and rock ‘n’ roll history have kept him incredibly pleased with where he is.

“I’m still learning from it,” Evans said. “And it’s like the coolest thing in the world. You want to know. I was there. I experienced it. And you actually want to pay me to tell you about everything that happened. How many professors can say that they’re that fortunate?”

When he’s not on Drake’s campus, he likes to be an automotive handyman for his two cars, one of which is a Camaro SS Convertible. It’s pretty recognizable in the Olmsted parking lot, especially with its TVPROF license plates.

He also spends time caring for his three “giant” dogs, one Newfoundland and two Leonbergers. To keep up with his rock ‘n’ roll image, he also owns seven or eight guitars.

Evans describes himself as outspoken, with a tendency to shamelessly speak his mind in really any situation. Or, in his wife’s words, he has “frontal lobe damage.”

Evans laughed about the root of this character trait, which may come from a particular experience in his adolescence. I don’t feel the need to include it here, but maybe if you go and ask Evans yourself, he’ll enlighten you. As he’s said before, he’s an open book.

New York weather typically does little to deter Des Moines and Drake University day-to-day happenings, but last week was the exception to the rule.

The beginning of the 2018 Herb and Karen Baum Symposium on Ethics and the Professions faced a last-minute schedule change when New York Times opinion columnist Charles M. Blow wasn’t able to board his flight to Des Moines for his Thursday evening keynote presentation last week in Sheslow Auditorium due to a winter storm. Friday night’s scheduled speaker Rev. Traci Blackmon gave the opening lecture in his place, and Blow spoke Friday night in Parents Hall once he arrived to Des Moines safe and sound.

Following a statement of welcome by event chair Jennifer Harvey, two young Des Moines area students and spoken-word poets–including Drake’s own Sarah Rosales–shared a poem about rising above institutional racism to get the room ready for Blow.

Blow began his presentation with praise of both poets, regarding them as tough to follow because poetry is the “real art.”

After pleasantries were out of the way, Blow’s ten years of opinion columnist experience rose to the surface to unleash a full-fledged, critical attack on President Donald Trump and his ethics lasting over an hour.

Blow claimed it was necessary to point out Trump’s immoral ways in order to even begin speaking about morality as a whole.

“There is no way now to talk about morality in America without stating the obvious,” Blow said, before linking Trump’s presidency to the morality crisis of the United States.

According to Blow, the morality crisis of the nation has gotten so twisted that he couldn’t even tell the audience what the moral majority stood for.

Blow followed by pointing out multiple ways Trump has shown a negative sense of both morality and ethics, as the president has poked fun at a disabled reporter– Blow’s colleague–and whose rhetoric has been found to be untruthful sometimes Blow used Frederick Douglass as a device for a second jab at Trump by saying Trump could learn something about morals, ethics and conflict management by examining Douglass and Abraham Lincoln’s relationship: two men with starkly differing views that managed to salvage a respect for one another.

Later on, Blow attempted to answer how Trump got elected after a Barack Obama presidency, and much of the blame in his eyes fell on the media.

Sometimes, too much media attention yields negative results, Blow pointed out. By spotlighting Trump’s presidential campaign due to its unusual nature, Trump’s prominence and the numerous headlines that contributed to such prominence, shone too much of a spotlight on an otherwise boring race for the presidency.

“The media was guilty of malpractice,” he said.

Blow’s opinions were generally well-received by the audience, as told both by the murmurs of the agreement in the crowd throughout the speech and by the individual impressions gathered afterward.

Community member Robin Heinemann, who had asked Blow a question in the Q&A session about how to be a better ally to minorities and victims of oppression, was thankful to have this event to facilitate freedom of discussion.

“My first initial impression was that we live in a remarkable country because we got to have that kind of speech right up front, right out loud, and nobody is going to come in with guns and shoot us down,” she said.

Heinemann is outraged, much like Blow, at where America’s democratic ideals have appeared to sink to and doesn’t understand how the country got here.

Dean Dan Connolly was also in the audience with his wife Sarah.

“I thought it was a very insightful talk,” Connolly said.

“Difficult conversations have to happen...I think (the speech) was a time to be serious.

Sarah was happy to hear Blow’s perspective because of his profession. For her, Blow really showcased the importance of the entire field of journalism, which is especially in hard times where the truth can be tricky to uncover.

“Journalism is finding what people don’t want you to hear,” Blow said.

CHARLES M. BLOW, an opinion columnist for the New York Times, gave a speech on morality and ethics in the age of Trump last week in Parent’s Hall. PHOTO BY MADDIE TOPLIFF | STAFF WRITER

10 | sports

March 28, 2018

SPORTS MEDVED PRESS CONFERENCE

Brian Hardin’s timeline of Medved’s departure Drake Athletic Director, Brian Hardin, issued the following statement during a press conference last week regarding Head Coach Niko Medved’s departure to Colorado State.

“So last Tuesday, 9 days ago, Niko came to me and said that he had been contacted by the search firm, Eddie Fogler’s group to see if he had interest in interviewing for the job.

We had a long conversation in his office that day about the pros and cons of that.

And I made it very clear that I felt he is a great coach and I can certainly understand why another school like Colorado state would have interest in talking to him.

But, I also made it clear that I didn’t think now is the right time.

I think we had accomplished a lot of good things but it was just the start.

So, we had a long conversation about that and what that meant.

As the week went on, we had other conversations about whether or not he should pursue that or not.

I know President Martin and he talked while we were down in Texas with our women’s basketball team.

And then I flew back with the team that night and met up with the men’s team and flew out to Colorado on Saturday night.

The two of us spoke for an hour in my hotel room on Saturday night and he again expressed interest in it and I reiterated where I thought we were at as a program and, from my perspective, what I thought would be best for him and for us.

And we were obviously at two different points on that.

We met Monday in President

Martin’s office and had a very good conversation, and I really appreciate Marty for making time to talk to our men’s basketball coach through this and provide his perspective on the presidential side.

Niko made the decision that he still wanted to go through with the interview, so he went and interviewed on Tuesday.

I can understand from his perspective why he wanted to do it, but I still couldn’t support it.

He called me Tuesday evening at 6 o’clock to say that he just did not have a good feeling about it.

He almost didn’t get on the plane to go the interview, and that he felt that it just wasn’t the right fit, and he wanted to return and stay at drake and build the things the right way; because he loved the vision of president martin, and we have a great nucleus here in place.

So, he made that decision on Tuesday that he was going to pull out of the search.

And so, I actually went over to his house. After we were knocked out of Arch Madness in St. Louis, we were across the street having adult beverages along the way, I noticed that he was a scotch drinker, and I noticed the exact label he was drinking, he was drinking Macallan 12.

So, I stopped at a store on the way out to his home and picked up a bottle to go over to his house, and we celebrated.

We walked in and we said, ‘hey, we’re going to the top of the valley and we’re going to do it together.’

And so it was Niko and Erica and Aly and their dog, Blitz, a German shepherd that was all over the place that day, and it was

March 23 Softball at Indiana State W 8-0 Game 1 of double-header

March 23 Softball at Indiana State W 4-0 Game 2 of double-header

BRIAN HARDIN held a press conference on Thursday to discuss Niko Medved’s move to Colorado State. PHOTO COURTESY OF DRAKE ATHLETICS great to hang out with him cause I have my own German shepherd at home, so that was fun to see.

And so, we felt great about what we were going to do here at drake together.

And last night I texted him just to say hey, there’s an article out in Colorado that broke that links you to the interview on Tuesday, just want to make you aware of it.

So, we exchanged texts that way.

And then this morning he called at 9:30 to say that he was

taking the job. And I thought he was joking.

I said ‘you gotta be kidding, right?’ He said, ‘nope sorry. They called back, they pushed it and it’s too good of an opportunity and I’m going to do it.’

And that’s probably where I choose to leave the conversation.”

Colorado State wil

Colorado State will

Colorado State had

pay Medved an

hired two Drake

pay Medved’s buyout

to additionally buy

from Drake, which will

out their own coach

cost them another

to resign, and will pay

of $700,000 to start, with a $25,000 yearly raise for every year he stays

with Medved as well: JR Blount and Ali Farokhmanesh, who will contribute to an assistant staff worth $550,000 - $650,000

Softball at Iowa 5 p.m.

March 29 vs Iowa State

Colorado State has

assistans to come

March 28

Women’s Tennis

The Denver Post reported this week the financials terms of Medved’s move to Colorado state.

With their proposed spending, it adds up to about $2.5 million in the next year alone.

initial annual salary

Recent and Near-Future Sporting Events

$425,000 according to

him $750,000 in three

CSU Athetic Director,

installments between

Joe Parker

now and March 2019

5 p.m.

March 30 Women’s Golf at Bradley Spring Invite

March 30 Softball vs Bradley 2 p.m.

March 30 Softball vs Bradley 4 p.m.

March 30 Men’s Soccer vs Omaha 6 p.m.

March 31 Men’s Golf at Illinois State D.A. Weibring

sports | 11

March 28, 2018

SPORTS NIKO MEDVED’S DEPARTURE

Medved leaves for Colorado State, Drake searching for new coach

COLORADO STATE attracted Niko Medved to an interview a couple weeks ago before making a strong push to get the coach to leave Drake after his first year. The offer, which Medved wasn’t initially into, was apparently increased in the final days before Medved’s decision to leave. PHOTO BY DAVE ARMER

Colorado State calls Tuesday, March 13 offers up interview to Medved for head coach job Hardin talks with Medved Saturday, March 17 Medved says he interested but uneasy Medved decides to interview for job Monday, March 19 flies out and interviews for job

Maddie Topliff Staff Writer maddie.topliff@drake.edu @Top_Dog30 After only one season, former Drake University men’s basketball head coach Niko Medved has left the Bulldogs for a head coaching position at Colorado State University.

On Mar. 23 at 9:30 a.m., Medved called and delivered his decision to Brian Hardin, the newly appointed Drake athletic director.

In a press conference Thursday evening, Hardin relayed a timeline of events leading up to Medved’s morning phone call, painting the picture that the news on the other line came as quite a shock.

The video from the press conference is available on the Des Moines Register’s website and has been retweeted by the Times-Delphic’s Twitter account for viewing purposes.

When Medved first heard of the interview opportunity a couple of weeks ago, he notified Hardin, and the pair of them

had multiple conversations throughout the week about whether or not Medved should pursue the interview, especially considering the fact he had been at Drake for less than a year and produced results that far surpassed expectations in so little time.

The following Tuesday, Mar. 21, Medved interviewed with CSU, but called Hardin afterward and said the right feelings were missing and that he wished to stay at Drake and build something great on the foundation of the successful 2017-18 season.

According to Hardin, that was the point where Medved decided to withdrawal from the head coaching search.

The pair celebrated upon Medved’s return to Iowa and shared sentiments and goals that included becoming the best team in the Missouri Valley conference.

Two days later, Medved’s final decision had changed drastically.

Hardin said CSU followed up with Medved and pushed the job, resulting in Medved’s acceptance.

“I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding, right?’” Hardin said Thursday.

In addition, it was announced Monday that Medved took both JR Blout and Ali Farokmanesh with him to CSU, two of his former assistant coaches at Drake.

In college, Blout played for Loyola–Chicago, and Farokmanesh played for University of Northern Iowa, both schools in Drake’s Missouri Valley Conference.

“I thought he was joking. I said, ‘You gotta be kidding right?’”

Brian Hardin Drake Athletic Director Both Hardin and President Marty Martin were responsible for delivering the blow to the men’s basketball team.

The two frontmen of the Drake athletics program have already begun looking for replacements.

Until the conclusion of the

search, the interim head coach position will be held by Dave Thorson, who was hired onto the coaching staff last April after a successful bout of coaching high school ball in Minnesota.

The effect on the 2018 class of Drake recruits is still unknown, but it is expected for other schools to start gauging interest of the big-name commits.

However, Hardin stated, to his knowledge, that no current Drake players have voiced intentions to transfer.

Time will tell what the full ramifications will be, but Drake will certainly hope to find a high quality replacement.

If they fail to do so, especially before the start of the summer, there will be a major risk of losing high-level prospects that Medved recruited to coming to Drake.

The move is a very expensive one for Colorado state, who will not only buyout their former coach, Eustachy, and his remaining $750,000, but will also buyout Medved from Drake for $425,000.

on Tuesday Medved tells Hardin he’s staying at Drake Wednesday, March 21 Hardin and Medved celebrate that he’ll be staying to build at Drake Medved takes CSU job Thursday, March 22 Medved calls at 9:30 a.m. to tell Hardin he’s leaving to accept Colorado State coaching job

COLORADO STATE and Niko Medved have history that dates back to past stages in his career, where Medved coached an earlier tenure. At CSU, Medved helped the Rams make the NCAA tournament in 2012 and 2013, earning it’s first tournament victory since 1988. PHOTO FROM COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

12 | sports

March 28, 2018

SPORTS FINAL FOUR ANALYSIS

Stephen A. says Loyola-Chicago doesn’t belong in championship

Stephen A. Smith stated this week that he’d rather not see the Ramblers play in the championship game and that he thinks Michigan will make for a much better oponent against Villanova or Kansas. PHOTO BY KEITH ALLISON Josh Cook Sports Editor joshua.cook@drake.edu @jcook_25 Over the last week, Stephen A. made a bold claim about LoyolaChicago’s basketball team, calling into question their legitimacy to be in the national championship game.

He acknowledged sounding like a hater with a preface to his quote.

Stephen A. was asked on a segment of First Take if he would be interested in seeing LoyolaChicago in the championship game.

“No. I know that sounds like I’m the Grinch, or whatever. Please forgive me, but when it comes to the national championship game, I want to see the two best teams in the nation,” Stephen A. said.

And he’s right, he does sound like the Grinch; just dumping on them and de-legitimizing them as a program.

He goes on to acknowledge how fun it is to see a run like this, but questions how good of a game the championship game would be if it were to be the Ramblers against ‘Nova or Kansas.

“The Cinderella ride is really, really nice for early round upsets and things of that nature,” Stephen A. said.

“But if I’ve got a choise between seeing Loyola-Chicago or Michigan up against Kansas or Villanova, I’ll take Michigan.”

Before I continue, I’d just like to clearly state that I am not a fan of Stephen A. I think he’s generally one of the most absurd personalities on television, let alone in sports news.

His ability to rationalize any argument is part of the reason he makes so much money, but also why First Take is a nearly unwatchable show.

Max Kellerman and Stephen A. together are just a bundle of pentup frustration that never leads to a productive conversation, really.

However, I feel a lot of what he’s saying here.

A blow-out in the championship game always puts a damper on the tournament, and with an MVC school going up against a powerhouse program,

the potential for a 20 or 30-point game is there – no one should want to see that.

Stephen A. does clarify his thoughts a bit toward the end, but it’s almost contradictory.

“That’s no disrespect,” Stephen A. said.

“I think Loyola-Chicago has done a phenomenal job, and they’ve trounced some opponents, and I do pay attention to that.

But, the national championship, I’m not interested in Cinderella’s, that’s just me.”

And the Ramblers have absolutely earned every right to

“I know that sounds like I’m the Grinch ... But when it comes to the national championship game, I want to see the two best teams in the nation.”

Stephen A. Smith

be here.

That’s the thing about this tournament: by giving 64 teams the chance to be there, it’s fair game for anyone to establish themselves as a top team.

Loyola-Chicago has played incredibly well, obviously. They’ve taken down a 6-seed, a 3-seed, a 7-seed and, most recently, 9-seed Kansas State.

And while the win over Tennessee (the 3-seed) does show they can play with top-tier teams, I can’t help but wonder how much Loyola benefited from UMBC upsetting Virginia in their historical first-round win.

While they did knock out the 3rd highest-ranked team in their region, the #1 (Virginia) and #2 (Cincinnati) teams were both gone by the second round, leaving a pretty clear path to the Final Four.

Now, I’m not saying that Loyola doesn’t deserve to be here; they do, that’s the nature of March Madness.

However, they haven’t had to play a team even close to as good as Kansas or Villanova.

My fear is that we could end up seeing an awful basketball game in the championship game if the Ramblers are there.

This all made me very curious about how other “Cinderellas” have done when they have actually made it to the Final Four, so I looked into it.

For strictly categorical purposes, let’s consider “Cinderella” teams to be an 8-seed or lower, that’s the bottom half of their region, seems reasonable enough.

Since 1985, there have been ten 8-or-lower seeds to make the Final Four (Loyola-Chicago is the 11th).

Out of the previous 11 Cinderella runs over the last 33 years, only three qualifying teams have even made the championship game.

I think it’s also important to note that one of those years (2011), no. 8 Butler beat #11 VCU to make it to the championship game before losing by 12 to #3 UConn. So, by default there was going to be a Cinderella in the championship game that year.

The most recent team to make it to the championship game with that low of a seed was the 2014 Kentucky team who lost to no. 7 UConn, and Kentucky was already on their way to being a powerhouse program at that point.

The only team to actually win the tournament as a Cinderella since 1985 was Villanova, as a #8 seed in 1985.

So, it’s been well over 30 years since we’ve seen a Cinderella actually found their prince charming.

This means a few things.

It will be a relative anomaly if Loyola-Chicago makes it to the championship game, and it will be historic if they win.

From my own personal interpretation, I see two possibilities.

1) Loyola won’t make it to the championship, history says they’ll lost to Michigan. And if they don’t lose to Michigan,

history says they’ll lose pretty handily in the ‘Ship.

2) It’s been too long since a Cinderella one. This tournament has already shown that anything can happen, regardless of its previous occurrence. With this logic, a Cinderella is due to win, in which case the Ramblers are a lock.

The games will speak for themselves.

But this is one of the first times that something Stephen A. said has interested me or had validity to me.

Looking at the past, it does show that Cinderellas are

generally cut out of the pack in the Final Four, when there’s only elite teams left.

However, I’ll still be waiting with bated breaths to see if Loyola can pull of a couple more upsets and make history.

Sorry Stephen A., but go Ramblers. We’ll see if they can be an enigma and prove Stephen A. wrong, as so many have done throughout his career.

Cinderella Results in the Final Four #8 Villanova Won Championship 1985 Beat #1 Georgetown 66-64

#11 LSU Lost Semi 1986 Lost to #2 Louisville 88-77

#8 North Carolina Lost Semi 2000 Lost to #5 Florida 71-59

#8 Wisconsin Lost Semi 2000 Lost to #1 Michigan St 53-41

#11 George Mason Lost Semi 2006 Lost to #3 Florida 73-58

#11 VCU Lost Semi 2011 Lost to #8 Butler 70-62

#8 Butler Lost Championship 2011 Lost to #3 UConn 53-41

#9 Wichita St Lost Semi 2013 Lost to #1 Louisville 72-68

#8 Kentucky Lost Championship 2014 Lost to #7 Uconn

#10 Syracuse Lost Semi 2016 Lost to #1 UNC