February 16, 2022

THE TIMES-DELPHIC The weekly student newspaper of Drake University Vol. 141 | No. 15 | Feb. 16, 2022 FEATURES

SPORTS

Drake alumni look back on how they met their future spouses at Drake.

The Los Angeles Rams won the Super Bowl 23-20 over the Bengals.

A writer comments on a certain controversial holiday on Feb. 14.

Read more on page 4

Read more on page 5

Read more on page 7

COMMENTARY

timesdelphic.com

Kum & Go at 22nd Street closes today

THE KUM & GO BY 22ND STREET (LEFT) is less expansive than the store at 31st Street and University Avenue (right). PHOTOS BY COURTNEY JACKSON | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Andrew Kennard News Editor andrew.kennard@drake.edu

The older of the two Kum & Go gas stations and convenience stores closest to Drake University will close today.

“When it’s all said and done, this model, this smaller store format, it just doesn’t fit our future vision of where we’re trying to go as an organization,” Kum & Go district supervisor Tanya Beach said.

Beach said that many of the store’s core customers have left to shop at a newer and larger Kum & Go down the road.

The older store is located at the corner of 22nd Street and University Avenue.

“So based off of seeing the sales that have transferred from

here down to there was a big part of our decision,” Beach said.

“And then also we’re rolling out a brand new food 2.0 program in a lot of our Des Moines stores and this store would not fit that model of having our brand new food program.”

Beach said Kum & Go will institute the new food program in all of its Des Moines stores beginning in April and through the rest of the year. She said the new program will include healthier options and will require remodeling.

According to Beach, all four of the store’s employees will be transferred to the Kum & Go at the corner of University Avenue and 31st Street near Goodwin-Kirk Residence Hall.

Beach said that the building will be demolished and that Kum & Go is hopeful it can sell the

property to “a buyer that would do something positive for the community.”

“So we did just have dialogue with the [Drake Neighborhood Association] last night to inform them, and so hopefully, between them and our partners at the corporate offices, we’ll be able to find a great buyer for the [property],” Beach said.

In a Feb. 2 Facebook post, the Drake Neighborhood Association (DNA) wrote that they received a call from Kum & Go president and CEO Tanner Krause about the decision to close the store.

“While it is disappointing to lose a business, we understand their operational challenges and are so appreciative of their communication with DNA in order for us to help prepare our neighbors for this big

neighborhood change,” the association said in the post.

“The DNA will continue to work with our contacts at Kum & Go to monitor this project as the city’s plans for University [Avenue] grow in the future.”

Michael, a shopper at the store who only identified himself by his first name, said he has worked at both the Kum & Go at 22nd and University and the Kum & Go at 31st and University. He said that the former is in a rougher neighborhood than the latter, which he said attracts more of the college crowd.

“I’m not surprised,” Michael said about the decision to close the store. “So when they told me, part of me wanted to say, ‘What took them so long?’ ” The Kum & Go at 31st and University reopened around

the start of Drake’s 2020-2021 academic year, The TimesDelphic reported in August of 2020. At the time, assistant manager Erica Sholley said that before it was torn down and rebuilt, the store wasn’t equipped to keep up with the community’s needs. The company made a different decision for the Kum & Go at 22nd and University.

“I mean, obviously, this has definitely been a store that a lot of individuals in the area, especially those that live near here, depend on and like to go to,” Beach said. “So we’re at least thankful and happy that we still have another Kum & Go for them to choose to shop at, which thankfully isn’t too far away from here.”

Grace Altenhofen wrote the Aug. 2020 article noted above.

Drake tutoring center moves to group sessions for some subjects

THE DRAKE TUTORING CENTER, located in the Cowles Library, provides academic support services and on-campus jobs for Drake students. PHOTO BY JOSHUA BRUER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Nate Eisenmann Staff Writer nate.eisenmann@drake.edu

Drake’s tutoring center has introduced group tutoring for chemistry this semester after reevaluating its budget. The new format involves fewer hours for tutors to work, but it will allow more students to receive tutoring at a time.

“We are not anticipating needing additional funding to support services this spring,” Drake Access and Success Coordinator Laura Shell wrote in an email.

While some subjects used

more than half of their budgets last semester, others used less and will not see as many changes.

Shell wrote that funding for the tutoring program comes from Drake Academic Excellence and Student Success.

“We budget on an academic year calendar and are making some adjustments for the spring semester to ensure that we stay within budget for each subject,” Shell wrote. “Every subject has different scheduling capacity, and we adjust semester by semester to ensure that we don’t go over budget.”

Generally, tutors work for up to five hours per week in the tutoring center. This semester,

while some tutors might work fewer hours, they can still assist the same number of students because of the introduction of group tutoring, Shell said in an interview.

“We used more individual tutoring last fall for chemistry,” Shell said. “This spring we’ve really moved to group tutoring.”

Students can sign up for tutoring on the Starfish online scheduling portal. Shell said last semester, only two students could sign up with a tutor in an hour.

“Now we have the option that we can get up to 10 students for support in that same hour,” Shell said.

Shell said this method can be more efficient because multiple students often have the same questions. She said that subjects like general chemistry will use this method because of the high number of students who request tutoring in that subject.

“In addition to being a costeffective approach, it provides students an opportunity to engage with their peers and learn together,” Shell wrote.

Gathering groups of students together may pose some difficulties for tutors.

“The challenge will be if the students all have different questions, we might not be able to cover everything within the hour,” chemistry tutor Kathryn Reiman wrote in an email.

“Some students may just need 1 on 1 time to go over concepts, but I think it may also be helpful for students to listen to other students’ questions, and possibly help each other work through them.”

Reiman wrote that in the previous format, she could tutor four students in two hours, but that with the new format, she can tutor five students in a group at a time.

Over the course of the fall semester, Shell said there were 1,525 tutoring appointments made, an additional 700 appointments in the writing

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workshop and 87 appointments in the speaking center.

Since tutors cannot work as many hours at the tutoring center, some may work more hours at their other on-campus jobs this spring.

“I work at the front desk in Jewett residence hall so I took more hours [this semester],” chemistry tutor Ana Kirillov said.

“In addition to being a cost-effective approach, it provides students an opportunity to engage with their peers and learn together.”

Regardless of the changes being made this semester, Shell emphasized that the tutoring center remains a resource for students to use.

“We also know that there are still students who are out there and they’re struggling through this without the support of tutoring,” Shell said. “We want to support you and see you succeed. That’s why we offer tutoring.”

02 | News

Feb. 16, 2022

News

Drake stops compliance with withdrawn vaccine mandate Mackenzie Swenson Staff Writer mackenzie.swenson@drake.edu

Starting in early November, Drake University prepared to comply with a federal rule that required employers with 100 or more employees to enforce mandatory COVID-19 vaccination or weekly testing for the virus. That rule was an emergency temporary standard issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

While the standard was actively undergoing challenges in court, human resources director Maureen De Armond and environmental health and safety director Chris Nickell got to work. They began to write policies and work out the logistics that the mandate would involve.

Then, on Jan. 13, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 that OSHA does not have the authority to advance public health measures like the ETS. They argued that because COVID is present both inside and outside of the workplace, it does not fall under the agency’s perview. However, the court upheld a similar mandate for healthcare workers in a 5-4 decision.

“In other words, the Court argues that OSHA cannot keep workplaces safe from COVID–19 because the agency (as it readily acknowledges) has no power to address the disease outside the work setting,” the majority opinion says.

On a Drake level, the remaining question is about public health on campus.

In the absence of a federal mandate, would implementing a vaccination or testing requirement be worth it? For Drake, the answer is a concise no, according to De Armond

THE SUPREME COURT STRUCK DOWN a federal vaccine mandate for businesses with 100 or more employees in a 6-3 vote. Drake was preparing to comply with this Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

and Nickell.

“You’re safer here than any store, any restaurant in the city, so the testing was to be legally compliant,” De Armond said. “It really wasn’t to make campus safer.”

An additional disincentive for issuing a mandate is that under Iowa law, Drake students would lose state grant funding, the Times-Delphic previously reported. In Drake political science professor Matthew Record’s opinion, such restrictions are politically motivated.

“Any behavior on the part to punish institutions for trying to take steps to prevent the spread of COVID—there is no rational basis for any of that behavior at all, so it was obviously political,” Record said.

In Record’s opinion, the Supreme Court’s ruling was influenced by vaccine polarization in the current political climate. According to data from the Pew Research Center, there is a strong correlation between vaccine hesitancy and political affiliation among U.S. adults.

“It is completely obvious that

as part of the normal course of modern institutional behavior that mandating vaccines is acceptable legal practice and within the boundaries of OSHA and the federal government more broadly,” Record said.

“You could say that maybe the court was correcting 50 to 75 years of precedent from a contributional perspective, but they definitely weren’t following precedent. I think that the political ideology explains almost the entirety of why the Supreme Court has behaved the way it has.”

De Armond, who is also a licensed attorney, said she was surprised by the Court’s decision.

“The Supreme Court composition has changed quite a bit in the last couple years, and that clearly influenced the outcome of the Supreme Court,” De Armond said. “Even that it was 6-to-3 instead of 5-to-4 surprised me.”

OSHA has withdrawn the ETS in response to the court’s decision, but their website says that they are focusing on developing a “permanent COVID-19 Healthcare

Standard.” If the administration issues a new ruling, De Armond and Nickell said Drake will be prepared to comply. Regardless of a federal mandate, however, they said the institution will continue to encourage maskwearing and vaccination.

“The real solution here is not legal. The real solution here is civic.

It has to do with our understanding that we are interconnected and that we live in a society together...”

“The University will continue to watch all of the developments in this case, and we’ll come up with the appropriate required responses should they be needed,” Nickell said.

De Armond said that after dedicating time and effort outside of her normal duties to draft Drake policy for the mandate, she feels disappointed

that she does not get to see her work bear out.

“The fact that I’m working on it, and my free days, like Christmas morning, honestly, that’s okay. I signed up for that,” De Armond said. “There is that element of just frustration when you spend loads and loads of time on something and you’re trying to get it right, you’ve got all the best intentions, and then it ends up going in the garbage.

There’s a little bit of heartbreak there.”

According to Record, while institutions like Drake may be required to comply with state and federal rulings, managing COVID is also a matter of understanding that we are complexly interdependent upon one another.

“The real solution here is not legal. The real solution here is civic,” Record said. “It has to do with our understanding that we are interconnected and that we live in a society together, and that we owe to each other a sort of basic step that we can take to be closer to one another.”

Center for Public Democracy to combine efforts of many Drake institutions Gannon Henry Staff Writer gannon.henry@drake.edu

DRAKE’S $225 MILLION FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN, “THE ONES,” includes an initiative titled the Center for Public Democracy.

PHOTOS BY COURTNEY JACKSON | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Drake University’s $225 million fundraising campaign intends to make Drake “a hub for democratic discourse, dialogue, and action focused on renewing a government of the people, by the people, and for the people” through an initiative called the Center for Public Democracy.

Scott Raecker, who serves as the executive director of the Robert D. and Billie Ray Center, has been heavily involved with the initiative. Raecker said that the Center for Public Democracy initiative will connect the various academic departments and other institutions that are already active on campus. “[The Center for Public Democracy] is not isolated to a faculty initiative or a staff initiative or a student initiative.

It’s everything encompassing of Drake, and I think it’s going to be focused and rooted in the student experience,” Raecker said. “We’ve got some unique assets here to make this happen. A big part of this is connecting the dots of things that are already happening here, growing those out in a bigger way, and providing new opportunities for our students to be engaged in the process of helping form a more perfect union.”

Another one of the initiative’s champions, deputy provost and chair of the law, politics and society department Renee Cramer, expanded upon the specific institutions involved with the initiative.

“We invited to the table and have consistently for the last three years met routinely with the Harkin Institute, Vote Smart and the Ray Center, as well as faculty and deans from the Law School, the SJMC, [the

College of] Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Public Administration, and the library,” Cramer said.

“It has been a tremendously democratic process of defining our mission, defining funding priorities, and then helping to communicate those priorities to development and to President Martin.”

The initiative includes a scholarship for first year students that will provide $5,000 in tuition each year and the opportunity to apply for an additional $2,500 scholarship to support summer work.

“That may be protest activity. That may be running for office. That may be, you know, communicating with elected officials. That may be making political art.”

The latter scholarship will “support [work] in otherwiseunpaid internships or research opportunities with Center for Public Democracy faculty and practitioners-in-residence,” according to the initiative’s scholarship webpage.

The program includes fully-funded travel study opportunities and an “intensive summer experience.” “[The scholars will] be fully engaged in whatever major that they take, and there are no restrictions on that, but they will also be doing a proseminar, which is a one credit class throughout the year with a practitioner in residence and facilitated by faculty,” Cramer said. “Other students from other from related majors are

welcome to enroll in that, so it’s adding a bit to the curriculum.”

Rachel Paine Caufield, a political science professor and champion of the initiative, said that the reach of the Center for Public Democracy will include the full Drake curriculum.

“There will be opportunities built in so that the student body at large will have a greater capacity to study the issues that are animating our public discourse and to actually engage with the practices of democracy,” said Rachel Paine Caufield, a political science professor at Drake who is heavily involved with the initiative. “That may be protest activity. That may be running for office. That may be, you know, communicating with elected officials. That may be making political art. Whatever form it takes, we want to encourage our students to be active participants.”

Caufield emphasized the ability of students to interact with the democratic process outside of formal politics, stating “we can also broaden our focus and think more about the tremendous variety of ways that people can be engaged citizens.”

“I don’t think we realize at Drake, the degree to which our campus is already infused with democratic practice,” Caufield said. “We are really active campus. For the past two election cycles, we’ve been recognized nationally for rates of voter registration and voter turnout. Obviously, we are at the center of the political storm every four years. We have incredible access to state lawmakers and policymakers, so the formal aspects of politics are pretty well developed at Drake relative to most of our peer institutions and other colleges nationwide.”

03 | Features

Feb. 16, 2022

Features

bulldog highlights: celebrating professional accomplishments of drake students

Maia Songer Contributing Writer maia.songer@drake.edu

Tia Beenblossom, a junior double-majoring in public relations and strategic political communications with a minor in politics and considers herself a very busy student. Only she isn’t the kind of busy that has her hustling and bustling around campus. Rather, she is spending her days, up to 32 hours a week, at the Iowa State House of Representatives.

Beenblossom is a legislative clerk for Rep. Kenan Judge. She said that in her role, every day varies, but she always performs secretarial tasks like getting his mail, answering emails and more.

“I’ve learned a lot about the importance of constituent work,” Beenblossom said. “I don’t think that you realize how much the legislature does and how much each individual representative does for their constituents. I have personally gone to different constituent meetings with my representative. I have seen how a combination of the constituent advocating for themselves and my representative listening and doing that kind of interaction with their constituent impacts the process and impacts the decisions he makes.”

Beenblossom identifies the constituent work that she has witnessed at the Iowa State Capitol as the greatest takeaway from her internship.

Beyond that, Beenblossom has also noticed how certain misconceptions about the Iowa Legislature are challenged by her daily routine.

“I think everyone has the conception that politics is very ‘go go go,’ that everyone is there all at once, it has a very certain

“I AM GOOD AT TALKING to people and I have always been that way... so I think that communication and interacting with

people has always been something that I love,” Beenblossom said. mechanism to it and it’s very organized and methodical,” Beenblossom said. “I think that what they don’t recognize is that not everything is as methodical as you think it is or that there aren’t processes to everything.

It gets very chaotic and very unorganized very quickly, and I think that’s something that the general public just doesn’t see because they don’t see the dayto-day.”

Beenblossom is challenged by how caught up legislators get in their various tasks. She said that sometimes individual representatives are very busy and it can be difficult to track down Judge to get him to his next meeting or to ask him a question. She said that she has become very good at

multitasking and being able to bounce from one task to another.

Working at the capitol is not the only pre-professional opportunity that Beenblossom has had. Among others, Beenblossom said that she was a field office intern for the Cory Booker campaign in 2019 for the 2020 presidential election.

Ultimately, clerking has assisted her in moving towards her occupational goals due to the firsthand experience that it has provided her with.

“For me specifically, I know that my goal is to end up doing communications,” Beenblossom said. “Specifically, I have looked at doing campaign communications and also government communications,

PHOTO COURTESY OF TIA BEENBLOSSOM

working in the Democratic staff caucus office and doing communications that way.

Those have been the two avenues that I have really focused on and put a lot of thought into, but I will say that as I have progressed as an SJMC student and through clerking, your eyes get opened up to other career paths.”

Beenblossom has enjoyed the link that her internship provides with her coursework as an SJMC student as it allows her to take learnings and concepts that were once theories and gives her a chance to apply them in practice. She revealed that communications has always been her forte and therefore determined her career path.

“I’m a people person, and I am gifted in communications,” Beenblossom said. “But I think that going through my SJMC coursework and the professional experiences that I have had have allowed me to realize that I can take that passion and turn it into something that is my profession.”

Drake University prides itself on the pre-professional development that the University supplies for its students. This features series serves to highlight students at Drake who have explored pre-professional options and provide insight into what these experiences look like.

NO MORE ZOOM REHEARSALS: Magician to visit Band students continue in-person activities Maddi Cave Staff Writer maddi.cave@drake.edu

The Drake administration granted the band program special permission to conduct in-person rehearsals during the University’s two-week period of remote learning.

Despite the Jan. 11 decision that all classes, campus activities and events were to be held remotely until Feb. 6, a handful of fine arts programs —including both of Drake’s concert bands—were allowed to continue in-person rehearsals for the first two weeks of the spring semester.

“There is such latency in our current internet system that there’s no way online rehearsals can take place simultaneously with everyone at home playing their instrument,” said Drake director of bands Robert Meunier. “There is no way to get us all in-sync so that we are playing together.”

Meunier said that upon learning the news that Drake was shutting down all inperson instruction, the music and theater department chairs drafted a plan for the continuation of safe, in-person band rehearsals.

“Detailed protocols were developed in conjunction with Drake’s Environmental Health and Safety Office that addressed bioaerosol spread considerations, and also ensured effective teaching could take place,” Music chair James Romain said.

According to Meunier, this plan required all in-person participants to follow the

same COVID guidelines which have been in place since last semester which required masks to be worn by all players and instructors not actively blowing into an instrument.

Additionally, students who were participating in remote learning or had COVID concerns had the option to watch the first two weeks of rehearsals happen via Zoom.

“I think that any musician can say that having a math lecture on Zoom and having a rehearsal on Zoom are two entirely different things.”

“I have stressed that any students who are uncomfortable with in-person instruction and want to go on Zoom are more than welcome to do that,” Meunier said.

Both Romain and Meuiner spoke of the extensive research that the fine arts program has done to ensure band rehearsals are not posing risk to the students involved.

For example, Meunier said they have been closely following a series of studies conducted by the College Band Directors National Association which show that, to date, there have been no COVID outbreaks that can be attributed to bands or inperson music rehearsal.

Romain said the Drake administration gave “zero pushback, thankfully” to the

plan and protocols that he and the theater chair, John Pomeroy, proposed.

“The obstacles posed to lesson and ensemble instruction were severe,” Pomeroy said.

“Necessary during the height of the pandemic … but seemingly not necessary at this time.”

While the majority of Drake musicians took advantage of the in-person rehearsals, nearly two dozen band students had to watch over Zoom because they were not back on campus or had health concerns.

One such student was Sophia Miller, a percussionist in the Symphonic Band who was learning remotely from her hometown in Texas. She agreed with Romain about the severe obstacles of online rehearsal.

“I think that any musician can say that having a math lecture on Zoom and having a rehearsal on Zoom are two entirely different things,” Miller said. “The whole point of playing music together is to play it together, and when we’re all in different places, that quality is just shot. We end up just sitting there listening to distorted warp for x amount of minutes.”

After a week back to fully in-person rehearsals, several students and instructors have expressed relief that the first two weeks of instruction were not lost. However, Meunier said that he and the other fine arts professors “have always been most concerned about student health and student safety.”

With the protocols they had in place, the bands were able to continue learning effectively while staying protected, safe and healthy.

Drake campus Maddi Cave Staff Writer maddi.cave@drake.edu

Award-winning “comedy magician” Trent James will be performing for Drake students this Thursday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. in Parents Hall.

According to the Entertainment Chair of the Student Activities Board, Lindsey Herazy, this will not be the first time James has come to Drake’s campus.

“We chose Trent over other performers because he performed on campus a few years ago and many students enjoyed his performance,” Herazy said.

James’ website, www. trentjamesmagic.com, promotes him as having a “unique magic and performance style” that make him popular on college campuses. He also performs at corporate events, on cruise ships and at other venues around the country.

“My favorite place to perform is on college campuses,” James said. “I am 25, so I am not far off on age for the general college audience. My show is made for those crowds.”

James has been performing professionally since he graduated high school in Chicago, IL. He said it was his dad who got him interested in magic at a young age, and he has been enhancing and perfecting his skills ever since.

He also attributes his passion for comedy and magic to actor Rowan Atkinson, best-known for his role as “Mr. Bean.”

James said it was Atkinson’s physical comedy style that inspired him to “blend” comedy and magic together in his own performances.

In the eight years since his graduation, James has earned more than twenty high honor awards for both his magicianship and his comedy. He is the youngest-ever recipient of The Milbourne Christopher Award, one of the most prestigious awards that exists for magicians and illusionists.

James was open with information about his career background and inspiration, but he declined to give details about his actual performance so as not to “ruin the magic.”

“I’d expect Trent James would have a good sense of humor and can get people to laugh while blowing their minds,” said Ethan Jermain, a first-year Drake student and amateur magician. “I would be interested to attend his show…

I haven’t gone to a good magic show in such a long time.”

Lindsey Herazy also encourages students to attend.

“This event is intended to take students’ minds off homework and whatever else they have going on and enjoy themselves for a bit,” Herazy said.

James himself is especially excited for Thursday’s performance. He said there is “really something special” about audiences from the Midwest, being from the Midwest himself.

“I am super excited to be on campus,” James said. “I have a lot of new stuff planned.”

04 | Features

Features

Feb. 16, 2022

Drake alumni reminisce on meeting their spouse at Drake

Maria Heath Contributing Writer maria.heath@drake.edu

Valentine’s Day means love is in the air, but for many Drake alumni, campus was romantic year-round. Here are snapshots of several Bulldog love stories spanning 50 years.

John and Phyllis Jensen: John and Phyllis Jensen remember Drake from another era. They attended the university when Meredith Hall was the newest building on campus.

“We ate breakfast together virtually every morning our freshman year,” said John Jensen, a 1968 actuarial science graduate. He said he had to wear a suit and tie to Sunday brunch at Hubbell.

Phyllis Jensen, a 1967 music education major, said her future husband waited outside her dorm every morning because men were only allowed in the women’s dorms on certain occasions. The couple recalls when the freshman dorms were all female and Goodwin-Kirk, Jewett and Morehouse were occupied by male students.

The Jensens said they met during the first week of classes, introduced by a mutual friend.

“Our families had been friends for a long time,” John Jensen said. He said their friends walked away after the introduction. “And there we were…”

“Stuck,” Phyllis said.

Stuck they were.

A relationship that began with a Coca-Cola date 58 years ago led to lavaliering, a fraternity and sorority relationship tradition,

and marriage the summer after they graduated.

“We were so lucky,” John Jensen said. “We had so many common interests.”

The Jensens come back to Drake every spring to attend Drake Relays and catch up with John’s Theta Chi fraternity brothers. They also went on a cruise in 2017 with other Drake alumni.

Their family has expanded to two daughters, six grandchildren, and one greatgranddaughter. The Jensen’s look back fondly on their college years “We had a good time [at Drake],” Phyllis said. “It was so fun.”

John and Jill Farmer:

“We met in the Office of Admissions,” John Farmer, a 1992 Drake graduate said.

John Farmer recalled calling his future wife on a Saturday night to see if she had plans. She did, but she still invited him to join her at a party hosted by the tennis team. “We didn’t meet each other until basically my last semester of college,” said Jill Farmer, a 1991 Broadcast News graduate.

It didn’t take long for the Farmers to know they had found the one.

“Valentine’s Day of my senior year is when we got engaged,” John Farmer said. The couple said they got married the following October.

“So many of our Drake friends were in our wedding [and] came to our wedding,” Jill said. Many of their professors were also in attendance.

In May 1993, the couple moved to St. Louis, MO, but

THE JENSEN COUPLE (above) are now retired and reside in their home in Overland Park,

Kansas. The Jensens look back fondly on their college years. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE JENSENS they still maintain strong ties to their alma mater.

“Our daughter Peyton is a 2019 [graduate] from Drake,” Jill said. She said their eldest daughter also met her boyfriend, a 2015 Drake graduate, in the Admissions Office.

The Farmers also stay in touch by serving in positions with the National Alumni Board and regional chapters. They recently participated in a virtual Table for Ten, hosted by the Student Alumni Association.

“There’s a lot of folks we run into on campus who are there doing a tour with their kids, or their kids are already [at Drake],” John Farmer said. “It’s pretty cool.”

“The relationships you build there really do go beyond your time at Drake.”

Alec and Maddie Wilcox: Alec and Maddie Wilcox met in the first class of their college careers and never looked back.

“We ended up sitting next to each other, and it just so happened we ended up in the same [honors] practicum,” Alec said. He studied politics and marketing at Drake and graduated in 2018.

The couple said their first date was studying outside Cowles Library. Later that day, they attended the football game

with friends and left early to get milkshakes at the Drake Diner.

“It was never either of our intentions going into college to find our life partner,” Maddie said. She graduated in 2018 with a degree in law, politics and society.

The couple lived just down the street from each other their junior and senior years when he lived in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house and she lived in the Kappa Alpha Theta house.

Maddie now serves as the policy advisor for the Iowa Department of Health, and Alec is a commercial real estate broker at Cushman and Wakefield.

Tom and Sarah Florian:

THE WILCOX COUPLE (above) still live in Des Moines, and stay involved with the community. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WILCOXES

Tom and Sarah Florian credit their time in the Drake choir for beginning their relationship.

“She handed me music, and we didn’t think twice about it,” said Tom, a 2014 marketing graduate. His exploration into music business during his sophomore year helped him get to know his future wife, a 2012 music business graduate herself.

“Choir is always part of the story,” Sarah said. The couple said they “made it official” around the time they went on tour with the Drake choir to Ireland, England and Wales in 2012.

“I proposed to her on Drake’s campus in front of Old Main,” Tom said. He said the spot was special to the couple dating back to the beginning of their relationship.

She works for the Iowa Arts Council, and he works for the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce.

The couple keep in touch with Drake by serving on alumni and arts committees and coming back for Relays and basketball games. Tom said they hope to return to the alumni community choir in the future.

“So many of our friends have Drake connections,” Sarah said.

THE FLORIANS (above) live in West Des Moines with their cats

Lily and Paper, the latter named in honor of the traditional first wedding anniversary gift. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FLORIANS

how drake students celebrate valentine’s day Courtney Jackson Staff Writer courtney.jackson@drake.edu

Valentine’s Day is a holiday known for showing love to those that are all around you, but there are many differing opinions being heard on campus from the students and staff of Drake University.

Andrea Salvin, a senior majoring in politics, said she feels that it shouldn’t take just one day for someone to show their affection to those around them.

“I think it is overrated and just a normal day,” Salvin said.

“Why should people take one

day out of the year to show their undying love for another person. They should be doing that every single day of year, not just on one specific day. I mean, why is this even a holiday?”

Kay Awonaike, a sophomore majoring in digital media production and public relations, said he agrees with Salvin on her comments towards Valentine’s Day. “I think this holiday is just alright,” Awonaike said. “I just treat it like a normal day, and I am pretty neutral about it.”

“I love treating this day as a day of self-care, it gives me an excuse to eat chocolates and spend quality time by myself.”

Yet sophomore Victoria

Soliz, who is majoring in magazine media and digital media production with a minor in rhetoric media and social change, said she feels differently about this holiday.

“We should show our partner we love them all year round but there’s something special about this day.”

“Honestly, I used to hate the day mainly because of the couples in high school carrying

around their gifts and flaunting them,” Soliz said. “I was always like ‘Why not me?’ But now that I’m out of that environment and mentality I love the day.

We should show our partner we love them all year round but there’s something special about this day.”

Now, no matter what everyone thinks of Valentine’s Day, many students remarked that the most important memories around this day are all about family and the love that they give.

“I remember my mom would always get me a gift because I’d get sad, I didn’t have anything, so she’d get me some chocolates or a stuffed animal,” Soliz said.

“She would always tell me I don’t need a man to show me how much I’m loved.”

Salvin said that her favorite memory of Valentine’s Day was watching her dad get her mom flowers every year. Then she would watch in wonder and awe as her mom would get all dressed up, from the hair and makeup, getting ready for a simple date night with her husband.

Awonaike said that just being able to spend time with family and showing how thankful they are to have each other in their lives, that is his favorite memory relating to Valentine’s Day.

05 | Sports

Sports

Feb. 16, 2022

Super Bowl LVI: Rams beat Bengals 23-20

THE LOS ANGELES RAMS beat the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 with a last-minute touchdown in Super Bowl LVI, held Feb. 13. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Lia Reichmann Sports Editor lia.reichmann@drake.edu

The Cincinnati Bengals spent their 2020 first overall draft choice on Joe Burrow, a national championship winner at LSU with enough upside to build a dynasty.

While the dynasty did not begin this past Sunday, there’s no doubt about the years of success the Bengals can look forward to with a young QB like Burrow.

On the flip side, the Detroit Lions selected Mathew Stafford with their first overall pick 11 years earlier in the 2009 NFL draft. This pick was meant to be a stepping stone for Detroit, eventually hoisting them into the Super Bowl spotlight.

Unfortunately for Lions fans, this never came to fruition. A combination of poor coaching, poor rosters and poor drafting ultimately led to 12 straight seasons of Stafford

being recognized as a top-10 quarterback on a bottom-10 team.

Thankfully for Stafford, this didn’t last forever. After 12 seasons with Stafford and no Super Bowls to show for it, Detroit elected to start a true rebuild and send Stafford out the door. The Los Angeles Rams had their car warmed up and were ready to take Stafford with them as a result.

With Stafford in town, the Rams were quickly Super Bowl hopefuls, and eventually Super Bowl favorites as the season developed. Stafford finally had a blockbuster roster with targets like Odell Beckham Jr. and Cooper Kupp, coupled with a proven head coach in Sean McVay. After setting multiple single season passing records in his first year with Los Angeles, Stafford pushed the team over the Super Bowl hump.

This past Sunday, Stafford finally hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in his 13th NFL season.

The game was not as dramatic as seasons past, but it delivered on an entertaining bout between two powerhouse rosters. The game opened with a Rams touchdown by Odell Beckham Jr., a former Cleveland Browns wide receiver who would later leave the game with a knee injury. Thankfully for Beckham, neighboring receiver Cooper Kupp came up big with two receiving touchdowns later in the game.

After a touchdown throw

by Bengals running back Joe Mixon on a halfback pass trickplay and a 75-yard touchdown to Tee Higgons, the game stood at 23-20 Rams.

Joe Burrow had one last shot with a minute and a half and two timeouts to fight the three-point deficit with. After driving to midfield, the Bengal’s greatest weakness was once again shown clearly to the world. Joe Burrow threw an incompletion on fourth and one whilst being thrown to the ground by Rams

defensive tackle Aaron Donald, effectively ending the game.

Allowing seven total sacks on the day, the Bengal’s greatest fault was on full display in Super Bowl 56: their offensive line.

Despite the loss, Burrow focused on what the Bengals were able to accomplish this season, just two years after having a league worst 2-14 record in 2019. Burrow took to Twitter to display his content with the team’s ability to make the Super Bowl in his second year as the team’s quarterback.

“Sorry we couldn’t get it done. Proud of our team and our fans. Love these guys,” Burrows said via his Twitter page.

The future seems uncertain for several long-tenured Rams players, Aaron Donald being one of the larger question marks headed into the 2022 offseason.

Prior to the game, Rodney Harrison reported that Aaron Donald’s retirement could be imminent if the Rams went on to win the Super Bowl.

“If he wins the Super Bowl, there’s a strong possibility that he could walk away from the game and retire,” Harrison said.

Furthermore, Ram’s 37-year-old safety Eric Weddle and 40-year-old tackle Andrew Whitworth have hinted towards retirement as well. When asked about the possibility of retirement if the Rams went on to win the Super Bowl, Whitworth seemed content with the idea.

“What an unreal way to walk off. I don’t think there’s anything else I would have to do,” Whitworth said via NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport on Twitter.

The same goes for Weddle, who announced his “reretirement” shortly after the Rams’ win on Sunday.

No matter where these players eventually end up, it’s unlikely that either team will miss out on a run for the Lombardi Trophy next season.

National Women’s Soccer League enters collective bargaining agreement Lia Reichmann Sports Editor lia.reichmann@drake.edu

The National Women’s Soccer League announced on Monday, Jan. 31 that it had agreed to the first-ever collective bargaining agreement with the NWSL Players Association.

This was the first CBA in league history, marking a big step in women’s sports in the U.S. The CBA will include many different benefits to players and will go through until 2026.

The NWSL is in the midst of preseason and has seen the growth of the league, with multiple new franchises in the last few years.

“This is a historic moment for women’s soccer in the United States,” NWSL interim CEO Marla Messing said in a statement on behalf of the league. “This transformative agreement represents deserved advancements for our players, including significantly stronger compensation packages and benefits, enhanced training and playing environments, and a long-term commitment to continually improve the standards we all regard as essential to securing our position as the best women’s soccer league in the world.”

One of the most important changes was with the addition of a free agent system, as players wanted more freedom and flexibility to change teams.

Free agency will begin in 2023

for players with at least six years in the league. In 2024, players who have five years under their belt can be eligible for full free agency, and those with three years will be restricted free agents.

Waived players will also receive four weeks of severance pay and a month of housing and health insurance. This makes sure that recently cut players have more protections for them, as previously players could be cut with little to no notice.

The CBA includes a 60 percent increase in the minimum salary to $35,000, with a 4 percent annual increase. This minimum salary change comes after protests last season when the minimum a player could make was $22,000 and some of these players had to get second jobs to support themselves.

There are also increased contributions to free housing, health insurance and other benefits. The league states that the average overall total compensation for players will increase by 30 percent to $54,000 over this season.

Players also get up to six months of paid mental health leave, a seven-day summer break during the regular season and 42 vacation days. Players are also guaranteed eight weeks of leave for birth or adoption and access to nursing facilities.

The 2021 season was filled with controversies, including five male head coaches out of the 10 in the league getting

THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S SOCCER LEAGUE announced its entry into a collective bargaining agreement with the NWSL Players Association. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

fired or resigning in lieu of allegations of misconduct. This new CBA provides hope for fans and players alike that the league is moving forward and prioritizing players’ needs in

order to grow the sport.

The 2022 season will begin with the Challenge Cup on March 18 and the regular season will begin shortly after the final on May 7. Two new expansion

teams, Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC, will play their inaugural game against each other on March 19 in Fullerton, California.

06 | Sports

Sports

Feb. 16, 2022

Matthew Stafford: Long way from being a Hall of Famer Lia Reichmann Sports Editor lia.reichmann@drake.edu

Matthew Stafford is in no way, shape or form a Hall of Famer, after Sunday’s Super Bowl win. Yes, like many people I am really excited that he finally won a Super Bowl. Yes, he was pretty clutch in the playoffs this year and yes, he proved he could win on the big stage.

However, the Rams Super Bowl victory doesn’t automatically place him on the road to Canton for numerous reasons. Winning a Super Bowl doesn’t mean people should start thinking, ‘yep, he’s a hall of famer’. Those who think so are jumping on the hype train and need to take a step back.

Personally I think we have lowered the bar for the Hall of Fame too low in recent years. Too many players that deserve to be in the hall of really good, get in.

Stafford is in that boat. He was severely underrated in Detroit, surrounded by bad talent, management and ownership.

But, just because he could’ve been a better quarterback elsewhere and what he did do in Detroit is impressive, doesn’t warrant a gold jacket. Look at his teammate in Detroit, Calvin Johnson.

Johnson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past year. Johnson was a dominant and consistent wide receiver with a sucky team. Just like Stafford he stayed loyal, probably too loyal to Detroit.

However, unlike Stafford, he was named to First-Team AllPro three times, Second-Team All-Pro once, six consecutive Pro Bowl honors, and selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team

of the 2010s.

Stafford on the other hand, so far in his career, has never been named to the all decade team, doesn’t have an All-Pro, not been named MVP, only has one Pro Bowl (which honestly means less nowadays), and didn’t even get named the MVP of the Super Bowl.

When you think of the 2010s in Detroit, you think of Megatron. He was the best player on that Lions team.

Johnson is the Lions franchise leader in basically every wide receiver statistic, and is the franchises greatest wideout.

Even ranked against other HOF wide receivers, Johnson ranks in the middle of three of the four major categories, leading yards per game. Why this is impressive is because he only played nine seasons, retiring way earlier than most thought, yet despite his limited season he stacks up equally against people who had years on him.

This is the kind of player you put into the HOF. Not a player who, although pretty good and a nice story, joins a NBA-like super team and wins the Super Bowl. I understand the Super Bowl is way harder to win, i.e. my Packers, but it is a team and he had two HOF’ers on his defense meaning he wasn’t carrying the team necessarily.

Now, I’m not saying he won’t make it into the HOF by the end of his career. He has played so long that he ranks pretty high in most stat lists, and he has played better than most, especially in Detroit. For me to make it to the HOF you have to be the one of the best if not the best player of your position for multiple years. You have to show the playoff consistency

MATTHEW STAFFORD FANS may have their eye on the Hall of Fame after Stafford’s Super Bowl performance, but he has a lot left to prove in his career. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

and hardware/awards. Stafford just hasn’t gotten there yet. If

he wins another Super Bowl or two or wins MVP in the next few

years, then give me a call.

kamila valieva doping decision could set bad precedent

FIGURE SKATER KAMILA VALIEVA has been permitted to continue competing in the Winter Olympics despite a positive drug test from December. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Lia Reichmann Sports Editor lia.reichmann@drake.edu

Olympic officials announced on Monday, Feb. 4 that in any event in which 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva places in the top three, all competitors will not receive their medals until her doping case is resolved. The IOC also said Sunday that Valieva was

cleared to still compete, a decision which was later upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Valieva is one of the best figure skaters in the world and is a gold medal favorite in her individual events. She already helped the Russian figure skating team win the gold medal in the team event, however they will also not get their medal until the case is over.

Russian athletes have to

compete under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee, after Russia was caught running a state-sponsored doping scheme going back to the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Russia’s name, flag and anthem are not allowed into these games as punishment, and this situation brings up questions of Russia’s integrity.

This decision by the CAS is extremely controversial because Valieva tested positive

for a banned substance, trimetazidine.

She tested positive from a urine sample taken in December, but the results were only released last week.

Trimetazidine is mainly used in heart-related conditions and increases the blood flow to the heart, limiting blood pressure swings potentially increasing the stamina of an athlete.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland wrote in a statement that clean “athletes have the right to know they are competing on a level playing field”. She goes on to say “that right is being denied” and how this situation “appears to be another chapter in the systemic pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia”.

Not only is it unfair to other athletes who are competing clean, yet they still have to compete against a known cheater, whether willingly or not. This also damages the sport of figure skating and puts to question any future events Valieva competes in.

Valieva also due to her young age is under the “protected person” status, which applies to those 16 years of age and younger. The World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) created this to give teenage athletes more protection because of their “lack of legal capacity”.

When looking at Sha’Carri Richardson and her suspension prior to the Tokyo Olympics, you can see a similarity between their situations as well.

Richardson, a favorite to win gold medals in different track events, received a suspension after testing positive for marijauana prior to the Olympics.

Marijauna, according to the WADA, is a drug of abuse and not a performance-enhancing drug, thus it does not give her any sort of advantage.

Richardson in a tweet asked

for a “solid answer on the difference” between Valieva and her own cases. She noted that the “only difference I see is I’m a young black lady”.

This whole situation is not only confusing, but is frustrating to watch. There are so many questions about the involvement of Russian sports officials, her coach who has a complicated history, and how should the case be handled considering Valieva is a minor.

The timing of the situation is also incredibly odd as there was a six-week delay between when Valieva’s sample was submitted and the result of the test, which was four days into the games.

Another important thing to note is that because Valieva has that “protected person” status her case will be judged by different standards and with lesser penalties as she is a minor. Her trainers and coaches are the ones who will likely face the punishment as they either knew about her drug use or provided trimetazidine to her.

To me, I think of a future in which people can take advantage of the fact that minors face lesser penalties if they get caught cheating, and thus be fine with doping as there is no hard punishment to not cheat. Some may be fine with the mild consequences and say ‘oh they’re just a child they didn’t know’ approach.

We have no idea if Valieva’s medal(s) will get taken if the IOC finds she didn’t know about the banned substance, it’s an issue that will take months to resolve. Coaches in the future could take advantage of this and pressure their young athletes, and use this loophole. Or maybe Valieva did know what she was doing, but overall if a person is too young to be accountable for what goes into their body then they’re too young to be even going to the Olympics or competent in major events.

07 | Commentary

Commentary

Feb. 16, 2022

All you need is love: A defense of Valentine’s Day Cassandra Schoene Features Editor cassie.schoene@drake.edu

Valentine’s Day may be one of the most controversial holidays (that isn’t offensive like Columbus Day). People either passionately love it OR hate it so much they denounce all lovers who celebrate it. But personally I love it, and I don’t even have a lover- and never have on Valentine’s Day. First off, the history of Valentine’s Day is one of tragedy and love. There’s many different versions, the holiday being based on two or possibly three different men and a pagan holiday. I’ll tell you my favorite version about a martyr Priest named Valentine.

Roman Emperor Claudius II was having a difficult time getting married men to be good soldiers, since they would rather be home with their wives and children. To fix this, he simply made it illegal to get married. Valentine opposed this law, and continued to marry many young couples in secret.

As he was marrying a couple, he was found out. He helped the couple escape and in doing so, he alone was caught and sentenced to death. As he sat in a prison cell, he befriended the jailer and his daughter. The daughter kept him company in friendship up until his last days. On Valentine’s last day, he left a note for her signed “Your Valentine” (which is where that saying comes from).

I mean, isn’t that just the sweetest, yet tragic story? Not only that, but it opens up the door for friends to celebrate Valentine’s Day as well. No need for Galentine’s Day (although, it is nice).

Love is love. It comes in many forms: romantic, familial, friendship, and self-love. So yes, traditionally Valentine’s Day is for couples. But who says you can’t spend it with your friends, family or by yourself? Why has it become a day for society to shame you for being single?

Like I said, I have been single for every Valentine’s Day of my 19 years of life. My family has a little tradition where we get small gifts for each other, watch movies and make homemade tempura for dinner and chocolate strawberries for dessert. Granted, the tradition probably started because my parents had kids in their lives now, and couldn’t spend the day alone. But still, it taught

THE LOVE YOU TAKE IS EQUAL TO THE LOVE YOU MAKE, assures one writer. Some of the creatures from Plato’s Symposium are still looking for their soulmate, band members from Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band are getting by without the help of lovers and Nietzsche never quite managed to woo the women, but take heart: Valentine’s Day is for all. PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR

me that all love is important and deserves to be celebrated; it doesn’t get to be hogged by those in romantic relationships.

From this, I spread that love to my chosen family- my close friends. Before Galentine’s Day was mainstream, I kept the elementary tradition alive that we all did as kids of buying valentines for friends. I got little

chocolate boxes for my close friends and will continue to do so.

As I grew up, and remained single, I grew in self-love as well.

Why should I wait to be dating someone to receive flowers and chocolate? I have no shame in admitting I buy them for myself throughout the year, and especially on Valentine’s Day.

I love myself and I will spoil myself, I don’t need someone to do it for me. And neither do you.

So maybe Valentine’s Day has become capitalized by corporate greed. Maybe it has become a day where society shamelessly shames single people. But it doesn’t have to be. It can be a day for couples

sure, but also for family, friends and for yourself.

Of course, it’s your choice.

Passionately hate Valentine’s Day, if you like, for whatever your reasons may be. But while you are staring down every happy couple, I will be spoiling myself and my friends.

the enemy within: a shift from slasher to psychological horror Chris Veninga Staff Writer chris.veninga@drake.edu

“Horror is no longer the monsters under your bed, it’s the monsters in your head,” Ryan Hook once said.

This quote is one of the best ways to describe how the horror genre has changed over the last few decades. Though there are still some fun slasher ‘guts ‘n gore’ movies released, psychological horror has taken the mainstage as what audiences want to see.

In the late 20th century, horror developed some of its greatest icons due to the slasher film genre. These characters absolutely terrified the audiences of the 1970’s-1990’s, but also brought (both real and fictional) killers into the mainstream that hadn’t quite been seen before. Freddy Krueger made audiences terrified to go to sleep, Jason Voorhees likely brought fear to camps everywhere and Chucky made everybody (even more) deeply afraid and distrustful of dolls.

Additionally, monster films took the mainstage in the 20th century. Nobody really knew

what sharks were until “Jaws” came out. “Jaws” created an entire subgenre of horror movies dedicated to using sharks as the villain in their movies, depicting them as underwater killing machines that will make you their next meal when you go swimming in the ocean (something that, by the way, is completely unjustified).

To this day, some people are terrified of getting into the water because of movies like “Jaws.” Or who could forget the iconic “Alien” franchise’s Xenomorph? Or the “Thing?”

They have become staples, if not mascots, to exemplify the success and power of late 20th century horror. To this day, spinoffs, reboots and tributes to these movies are still being created to tap into the nostalgia they brought to audiences everywhere. Nearly 35 years later, “Halloween” films with the infamous Michael Myers are still being made.

However, the tide has quietly shifted away from the monsters and slashers audiences used to know and love. Though there certainly is a market for these types of movies, psychological horror is what audiences clamor

for.

Though it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why this is the case, I would agree completely with the quote at the beginning of this article. Monsters and killers that we fear(ed) were created from a deep psychological fear we all have: the fear of not being safe.

Now, producers everywhere are trying to tackle that from a different perspective; what if you’re not safe from your own head?

“Because often, the things we’re scared of most won’t possess us or come at us with a chainsaw; they are the thoughts and people we live with every single day.”

Yes, horror movies still do use scary situations and monsters to convey this message. Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” both put cults as the perceived main antagonist in his films. Originally, Aster

wrote “Hereditary” as an intense family drama and “Midsommar” as a breakup movie, and as he was writing the scripts they evolved into horror movies.

These films take psychologically traumatic events such as a broken family and a very difficult relationship and puts them into a supernatural and terrifying situation.

Combining psychological factors and the supernatural creates a movie that hits the audience with a deep dread and fear not entirely present until the last 20 years or so. This is different from movies like “Friday the 13th” of years past, where it’s just like “Ahh! A scary killer! Whatever shall we do?”

Or take a movie like Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse,” which has no monsters or demons at all and yet still conveys a terrifying and uncomfortable feeling throughout the entire movie. It’s a movie about intense isolation with two already somewhat broken men, and the two slowly descend into madness. My friends and I agree that this isn’t an enjoyable movie at all because it’s so dang uncomfortable, but

we would still recommend it because it’s a phenomenal work of storytelling and filmmaking.

In case you haven’t noticed, all three of these movies are from the studio A24.

In my opinion, A24 is the absolute best at making these psychological horror movies and has played a key role in making them mainstream. They are not the only ones doing it, however. Non-A24 movies such as “Enemy,” “Black Swan” and “Shutter Island” have brought psychological thrillers and horror into movie theaters everywhere.

Monster and paranormal movies such as “Antlers,” “The Conjuring” franchise and “Insidious” still are liked and praised, and they definitely have a market. Plus, slasher films still are getting made and making money at the box office. However, I think that the future of horror movies lies in psychology, relationships and mental health. Because often, the things we’re scared of most won’t possess us or come at us with a chainsaw--- they are the thoughts and people we live with every single day.

08 | Commentary

Commentary

Feb. 16, 2022

Dovey destinations: romantic restaurants to try Bryson Rea Staff Writer bryson.rea@drake.edu

Call after call, ten-minute hold after ten-minute hold, the age-old panic setting in as the eighth restaurant in the last hour tells you they’re fully booked. This story is not unique.

Instead, it is an annual occurrence.

Every year, restaurants across cities such as Des Moines are flooded with desperation as spouses and lovers hunt for an open Valentine’s Day reservation.

One of the more difficult aspects of this comes from finding the right restaurants to call in the first place.

While it’s impossible to solve a lovers’ procrastination in a sixhundred-word article, it might just be possible to lift some stress off said lovers’ shoulders.

That said, here are the top date destinations surrounding Drake University, no matter the occasion.

To start, some intangibles need to be considered. College students tend to avoid two big things when considering a date destination: hefty prices and pay-per-hour parking. While a holiday such as Valentine’s Day deserves to punch a bit of a hole in your wallet, it doesn’t have to break the bank. These top destinations find a perfect mixture between an intimate atmosphere, manageable pricing, free parking and of course highly-rated food.

First up is Americana. This is the only location on this list that I have personally taken a date to, and I can vouch. It finds the sweet spot between fancy and relaxing. The red and black walls are covered in framed photos of musicians of generations past, and it only adds to the homey atmosphere.

It’s a place you could show up to in a suit, sweatpants or shorts and never feel out of place.

They keep the lights dim, and that just enhances the intimacy of an already comfortable atmosphere.

LADY AND THE TRAMP ON A MCDONALD’S FRY... how romantic. One writer lists some restaurants for couples looking to “have a nice time” and enjoy texting one another across the table. Love is in the air... or salisbury steak. PHOTOS COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Americana is housed across the street from the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. This provides a nice view, provided you snag a window-side table.

In terms of pricing, Americana knows their worth.

For a brilliant burger, two drinks and the best shrimpfettuccine I’ve ever had, I walked out having spent 52 dollars including the tip. Not bad for a great date location, especially considering the free parking.

Second up is Bravo!, an Italian kitchen perched within the Jordan Creek Shopping Center, allowing for a quick movie or shopping spree just before or after your dinner.

Bravo! provides an

unexpected atmosphere when considering their relatively cheap prices. The restaurant styles itself after ancient Rome with large, cracked vanilla pillars towering over the tables. The restaurant is wide open in terms of organization, something that tends to give restaurants an extravagant and less stuffy feel.

Bravo! provides brilliant bread servings on the house, coupled with oil. I visited this restaurant with a group of twelve, and the bread servings were never empty. Adding to this, the restaurant did not disappoint with their food.

Their take on Italian food is on point – take this from a New York native.

Given the restaurant is at the Jordan Creek Mall, parking is free. The 20-minute commute from Drake University is a bit of a hassle, but it’s well worth the distance.

Last up is Eatery A. Eatery A is a Mediterranean restaurant home to the once-headquarters of the 2008 Obama caucus about ten minutes west of downtown Des Moines.

The restaurant itself checks off every possible need in terms of atmosphere. The hardwood floors, wood paneled ceilings and cleverly designed woodplank-covered walls provide the perfect rustic look. While the restaurant isn’t quite as wide-open as the previous two, it’s dimly lit lights and modern

design set up a perfectly intimate setting.

It’s clear that Eatery A isn’t trying to be overtly extravagant nor fancy, and it works. The location also provides free parking, which is always a plus.

While I haven’t tried the food personally, it is rated as one of Des Moines top-15 restaurants on Yelp.

While these restaurants hold their own as brilliant Valentine’s Day locations, they maintain their draw on any given Friday night. That said, consider these locations when you plan your next intimate outing, no matter the date.

Cash-grab reboots are an insult to the film industry Bryson Rea Staff Writer bryson.rea@drake.edu

Moviegoers far too often find themselves searching the wavelengths for fresh flicks, yet to no avail. This came as the aftermath of Hollywood’s most recent fad, the reboot.

The most recent example, “The Matrix Resurrections,” only solidified this conclusion.

While the film fared slightly above average with viewers, scoring a 64 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the underlying problem is still true--- reboots are the true embodiment of cash grabs.

This problem lies beyond “The Matrix Resurrections, “with films such as “The Amazing Spider-Man” pointing a glaring light at the economic incentives that tend to out-

weigh filmmaking values in the executive offices.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” is a perfect example of this scenario, as the film was only ever put into production to protect Sony’s control over onscreen Spider-man adaptations.

The problem can be defined as such: the executive offices controlling Hollywood’s filmmakers are placing their bets on cash grab films more often than ever, primarily due to the risk involved in betting on a brand-new film’s ability to pull in live audiences.

Considering the impact a world-wide pandemic has on economic planning, is it fair to ridicule these filmmaking companies for betting on what works? The answer is complicated to say the least.

Companies such as Disney that are recycling old, animated films such as “Dumbo,”

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“Aladdin,” and “The Lion King” into live action cash grabs border on corporate greed, especially when considering the economic backbone Disney has.

“A prioritization of easy economic benefit is proving incredible harmful to the reliability and respectability of modern-day Hollywood.”

In this sense, less successful and economically stable film companies might deserve a break when it comes to recycling old products under pandemicstained circumstances.

Even so, the issue extends

beyond the benefit of the doubt that economic uncertainty provides. Films such as “Ghostbusters” (2016), born with low expectations, seem simply irresponsible in the greater scheme of filmmaking.

On paper, a reboot of the classic “Ghostbusters” franchise seems like an assured success, yet in practice it fell well short with a 49 percent audience rating on rotten tomatoes. It appears this problem stems from trying to meld outdated filmmaking into the values of the now, for better or worse.

In the case of “Ghostbusters” (2016), a full recast of the original “Ghostbusters” seemed appropriate given their age. Yet, one of the key components of what made the original “Ghostbusters” film so successful was the original cast and their respective comedy styles.

A lineup including Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd is tough to match, but the more recent installment seemed off to a promising start with comedy stars such as Melissa McCarthy and Leslie Jones.

This ultimately proved a failure though, and not due to a lack of comedic talent.

Columbia Pictures simply made the mistake of trying to recreate an 80’s film, along with its 80’s comedy cast, with a 2010’s filmmaker and a 2010’s comedy cast. While the two are respectively brilliant in their own sense, trying to fuse the two into one rarely proves successful.

Thus, the underlying issue of modern reboots stands out clearly. A prioritization of easy economic benefit is proving incredibly harmful to the reliability and respectability of modern-day Hollywood.

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