February 20th, 2019

The Times-Delphic Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019

Volume 138, No. 18

www.timesdelphic.com

THEO, AN AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD is an emotional support animal for first-year Chloè Newbury. PHOTO BY TINA INTARAPANONT | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Emotional support animals comfort those with mental illness Elizabeth Hennessey Staff Writer elizabeth.hennessey@drake.edu @elizabethhenne2

Drake students have been utilizing emotional support animals as of late, and there are more than 10 emotional support animals living in the dorms this year.

“An emotional support animal is any species of animal providing emotional support, wellbeing, or comfort that eases one or more identified symptoms or effects,” according to Drake’s Disability Services website.

Student Disability Coordinator Michelle Laughlin is responsible for reviewing students’ request for emotional support animals.

Students must have documentation from a professional suggesting an emotional support animal for the student would be beneficial.

Drake’s campus has been the home to emotional support animals of all kinds. Students have had dogs, cats, bearded dragons, snakes, chinchillas and guinea pigs as emotional support animals on campus.

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“The ability to take care of something gives them purpose,” Laughlin said.

Drake updated its policy three years ago to allow emotional support animals in the dorms, to provide comfort for those who have a mental illnesses.

Emotional support animals are only allowed within the residence halls and cannot be taken into other buildings.

It gives me responsibility.

That way I’m not just laying in bed all day. I actually have to get up and take care of him.

Students are also not allowed to wash their animals in the residence hall bathrooms or empty litter boxes in the community trash cans.

“I fully support a student having an emotional support animal, and I understand the purpose of an emotional support animal, but you also have to think bigger about is having this type of animal in the residence hall best for them,” Laughlin said.

First-year Chloè Newbury, who lives with depression and anxiety, found having her emotional support dog, Theo, has improved her mental health.

“It gives me responsibility, that way I’m not just laying in bed all day,” Newbury said. “I actually have to get up and take care of him, it’s good for both of us.”

Newbury adopted Theo from a shelter.

She wanted a mature dog so she would not have to go through the process of training him. While Newbury is in class, Theo spends his time sleeping in her room.

First-year Lily Bogue, who also lives with anxiety and depression brought her emotional support puppy, Flynn, with her to Drake this semester.

Bogue got her three month old puppy for Christmas from her parents.

“Just having him with me makes

me happy. Looking at him passed out on the floor, sleeping, makes me smile,” Bogue said. “Whereas I wouldn’t have anything like that otherwise.”

Bogue experiences anxiety attacks and having Flynn has helped her deal with them.

“There’s research about how if you can distract your brain for two minutes you can get out of an anxiety attack and so playing with

a puppy can distract me from things going on in my head,” Bogue said.

Bogue cannot leave Flynn alone for too long, so she had to make changes in her life to accommodate.

She now rarely eats at Hubbell Dining Hall and practices her keyboard in her room.

Both Newbery and Bogue live by themselves now with their emotional support animal.

LILY BOGUE a first-year student has an emotional support dog that lives with her in Carpenter. PHOTO BY KIM BATES | PHOTO EDITOR

Eight seniors considered Fulbright US student program

Drake students semifinalists for international teaching opportunity Max Brown Staff Writer max.brown@drake.edu @maxbrown

Eight Drake seniors are semifinalists for the 2019-20 Fulbright US student program.

This program provides winners with a federal grant to teach English or conduct research for a year in a country of their choice.

According to Drake news, thirty-five Drake students have received Fulbright scholarships since 2000, and this year shows a sharp increase for semifinalists.

Ashley Blazek, a public relations major, describes the application process as a long and extensive process.

“I don’t think anyone will ever really understand just what a grind this application process is,” Blazek said. “The application consisted of two essays–one page –12 pt font, single-spaced, a campus committee interview that challenges and strengthens your writing, three letters of recommendation, and a lot of

biographical information. The essays were a statement of grant purpose and a personal statement.

They were the most challenging part of the application and I don’t think I’ve ever made more drafts to any two documents than I did to these essays. I’m talking at least 15 drafts of each.”

Hallie O’Neill, a writing and anthropology/sociology double major, had a similar experience with the application process.

“This application process has been like nothing I’ve ever experienced before—it’s so extensive,” O’Neill said. “I started

at the beginning of my junior year, although you don’t usually need to start until the summer before senior year. The head start was helpful for me because I studied abroad during the fall of my senior year, so most of my work had to be done before I left. The two essays I submitted with my application have gone through at least fifteen drafts each, so a lot of eyes have contributed to this process.”

Fulbright applicants, in addition to a good academic record, must have a large body of volunteer experience and experience abroad.

Kelanie Crosswait, an

international relations major, believes that her wealth of experience working abroad has made her stand out as an applicant.

“I have had many international experiences, including experience in Middle Eastern countries, as well as Arabic language proficiency,” Crosswait said.

“Along with interning at a nonprofit organization in the Palestinian Territories, I have worked with Syrian refugees at a camp in Greece, taken intensive CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 >>

02 | News

Feb. 20, 2019

News Fulbright scholar program offers students ability to teach internationally >> CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Arabic courses in Morocco and traveled and studied in Egypt.”

Crosswait applied to the Fulbright program because she said teaching is one of her lifelong passions.

“I had heard about the Fulbright program a few times throughout my college career, but my decision to apply came after an internship in the Palestinian Territories, where I realized I have a passion for teaching English,” Crosswait said. “When I was working with my students, I felt more engaged than I have while in any other job position I have held, and I felt so much pride when I saw them excel.”

If Crosswait gets a grant, she will be returning to the Palestinian territories to teach English.

“I am inspired by the resilience and tenacity of the Palestinian people, and I greatly enjoyed teaching English to Palestinian youth and adults,” Crosswait said.

“The teaching of conversational English to youth and adults is something that appealed to me as I want to leave students with skills they can apply in their dayto-day lives, careers, and other endeavors.”

O’Neill’s plan for the grant is to teach English in Czechoslovakia.

Her interest in this location comes from her personal heritage.

“I chose the Czech Republic partly because I have strong family ties to that country,” O’Neill said. “I come from a small, very culturally Czech town, and my two great-grandmas still speak Czech to us sometimes. I grew up with Bohemian influences around me, and I thought it would be cool to revisit those roots and learn more about the people who first settled my hometown.”

She was also drawn to the position because it will give her experience in the exact career she is seeking.

“I was also drawn to the CR because they offered a position in

a high school classroom, and that’s the age I’m most interested in teaching and collaborating with.”

O’Neill said.

“To add on to that, I visited the CR a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with it. The culture, the history, the people, and even the language just drew me in. I knew that it was a place I could see myself living in for ten months.

I want to become more confident at the front of a classroom. I’ve recently started to consider a career in education, and I think this experience will be valuable to that growth. I believe that working with students from a different cultural background will strengthen my ability to communicate with and understand other people, and that’s a skill I’ll utilize throughout my entire life.”

Blazek and O’Neill both stated that they could not have succeeded in the program without help from Drake. In particular from the help of post-graduate scholarship coordinator Karen Leroux.

“Professor Leroux has been immensely helpful throughout this process—I certainly couldn’t have done it without her support,” O’Neill said.

Blazek similarly wished to praise Leroux for her help in the application process.

“She cares so much about student success and pushing them to reach their potential.

Her patience and compassion are remarkable,” Blazek said.

Crosswait stands out from fellow semifinalists at Drake in that she applied to the program independently and thus did not receive formal mentorship from any faculty.

Both Blazek and O’Neill encourage all students who have the opportunity to apply for Fulbright or a similar program to do so, even with the understanding that they might not be accepted.

“Semi-finalist status aside, the entire application process has taught me a lot, and for those planning to apply to graduate

school or something similar, it’s perfect practice,” O’Neill said.

Similarly, Blazek said that “it’s a lot of work, but just go for it.

Even if I don’t receive the grant, I learned so much from professors and mentors through this process.

I’m a better writer, critical thinker and better able to take criticism because of this application journey.”

Blazek does, however, advise students that the process is a major commitment.

“Show yourself grace and patience in the application process.

It will require some sacrifices of time. If you’re like me, there may even be some tears and some moments of self doubt in the process, but this scholarship/grant does not define you or your worth, and you have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by going for it,” Blazek said.

Finalists for the program will be chosen and notified later this spring.

The Fulbright Application Process

Activities fair gives students new opportunities Anne Furman Contributing Writer anne.furman@drake.edu

An activities fair is an event where are the campus clubs and organizations send delegates to represent and promote themselves to interested students.

For many, some of the most impactful college experiences come from being active in the campus community.

Said experiences usually come from becoming a member of a club or organization.

However, many believe it can be difficult to navigate all the opportunities a school has to offer.

This is why many schools, including Drake University, have an activities fair.

On Feb. 6 Drake hosted an activities fair where students were able to get information on organizations and clubs at Drake.

For Drake University, the activities fair is an essential event because of the vast variety of opportunities for its students.

This is why Drake hosts an activities fair twice a year, at the beginning of both the Fall and Spring semesters.

The fair is held in Upper Olmsted and is open for students to come and go as they please for approximately a 2-hour window.

The activities fair is a popular event for first year students or

transfer students who are new to Drake, however all are welcome and encouraged to attend.

“There are up and coming organizations that come around all the time,” Noah Manderfeld, Drake Broadcasting president, said. “You never know when knew clubs are coming your way.”

As much as the activities fair is meant to inform new members of the community about all the opportunities at Drake.

It is also meant to showcase all of the new groups that are blossoming on campus that many didn’t know existed.

“I think it’s for everyone, because you can constantly be involved in new things, no matter what,” senior Riley Fox said.

A drawback of the activities fair to some is that students can becoming easily overwhelmed.

One walks into a loud, massive hall not knowing what they are looking for, and many feel as though they are expected to see everything.

“There are all the different posters and you want to look at them and read them, then someone asks if you are interested and that’s when you realize it could be PrePharm when you are not at all PrePharm,” first-year Becca Thrasher said.

However, even with the tendencies to overwhelm, there are many ways to attend the fair while getting all the information you need, but leaving behind that you don’t.

NOW SENIOR SAMUEL REBER at the 2015 career fair got information on how to get involved in an organization. PHOTO FROM TIMES-DELPHIC ARCHIVES

“You don’t have to do everything that people ask you to,” Manderfeld said.

“Find the things you are truly interested in, instead of finding 70 things that you are interested in,” Fox said.

College can be overwhelming in general, but belonging to different groups can really help bring a new sense of community to your life and when it comes to deciding what you really want to be a part of, “maybe go for quality not quantity,” Fox said.

This may help to find your place instead of just putting more onto your plate.

Feb. 20, 2019

03 | Features

Features Test your knowledge with Nerdology

Drake trivia game night featured Papa Keno’s pizza

STUDENTS GATHERED AROUND Pomerantz stage last Wednesday, Feb. 14 to participate in an interactive pop-culture. Nerdology trivia show hosted by entertainers from Bass/Schuler Entertainment.

The event filled Pomerantz Stage up with more than 40 students. PHOTO BY DANNA TABACHNIK | COURTESY OF SAB Taryn Ripple Staff Writer taryn.ripple@drake.edu @TarynRipple

On Wednesday, Feb. 13 Drake University was visited by the Nerdology team, a group that performs interactive trivia programs all over the country.

Roughly 40 students congregated around Pomerantz Stage in Olmsted Center for the event, which was organized by the Student Activities Board.

The traveling pop culture trivia show came to Drake for a night of fun that gave students a chance to test their knowledge and to work as a team with their friends. The event, which lasted for about two hours, consisted of five rounds of trivia questions interspersed with audience participation games that ranged from performing amusing stunts to showing off pop culture knowledge.

Participating students formed teams with their peers to answer ten trivia questions per round, each of which pertained to a different category of knowledge. At the end of each round, the hosts tallied the points and updated the teams on their standing in the competition.

As a bonus incentive, competitors had the chance to

win prizes like various toys and trinkets, or even gift cards. Prizes were awarded based on both correct answers and wrong but humorous ones.

Entertainment co-chair and event organizer Sam Bergstrom of the Student Activities Board said that the SAB’s ultimate goal is to provide entertainment for students in a fun and safe environment by organizing shows and events like Nerdology. SAB-sponsored activities are meant to enrich student life and add variety to their on-campus experience.

Bergstrom said the Board thought that the Nerdology show would be a great activity to offer students, as an interactive trivia show seemed like a good opportunity to spend time with friends and to bring out their inner nerd.

Nerdology co-host Robert Rico gave some insider details on what being on the traveling trivia team can entail. Rico said that as a professional “nerd” he and his team typically put on anywhere from seven to ten shows in a week.

As for the team’s tour schedule, Rico said that the group can be on the road performing shows and doing events for three weeks or even be traveling for up to a month at a time.

“The best part of my job is providing fun entertainment for students. Plus we get to make them laugh every time, which is always great,” Rico said.

After the event wound down, SAB member Genesis Buckhalton said that she hadn’t been sure what to expect of the trivia night, but that she had ended up thoroughly enjoying herself at the show.

Buckhalton formed a team with her fellow SAB members to participate in the competition.

She said that her favorite parts of the experience were the audience games, the fun trivia and the opportunity to work as a team with her friends.

Buckhalton said that she thought the event was an overall success for students as well as a triumph for the SAB. “I loved seeing everyone be happy and excited,” Buckhalton said. “I love seeing people come to our events and have a good time.”

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT GIADA MORRESI, SAB PRESIDENT and SAB members enjoying slices of pizza from Papa Keno’s, who was the food provider for the event.

STUDENTS FORMED TEAMS and tried to get as many pop-culture questions correct as possible. They also had audience- participation games in between rounds. PHOTOS BY DANNA TABACHNIK | COURTESY OF SAB

04 | Features

Feb. 20, 2019

Features Ultima Thule, the Improv agents infiltrate Drake farthest place explored Mission Improvable filled Sussman with laughter Ashley DeLarm Staff Writer ashley,delarm@drake.edu @ashleymd161

This past weekend, the students of Drake University were expecting to host prospective Bulldogs Sunday night and show them what it’s really like to go to Drake. Due to the severity of the weather, the event unfortunately had to be cancelled, but students were still able to enjoy ‘Mission Improvable,’ a Student Activities Board event that was scheduled as an entertainment option for the visiting high-schoolers.

Road Trip to Drake had over 180 students registered to bus in from the Minneapolis, Kansas City and Chicago areas. Many current Drake students living in the dorms had signed up to host one or multiple high-schoolers overnight to show them what their lives at Drake look like.

The Student Activities Board worked with the office of admissions to bring Mission Improvable, a professional improv show, to campus Sunday night for the enjoyment of current and future bulldogs.

Giada Morresi, the president of the Student Activities Board, explained that they plan events during Road Trip to Drake every year in collaboration with admissions counselors as a form of recruiting for the university.

“We do it because we know what kind of events students like and we’re able to do a lot of the setup on site day-of, that admissions can’t do just because they’re facilitating the entire weekend,” Morresi explained.

She noted that SAB gets to serve as the forefront of the university and the first faces visiting students see during this annual event, so they work hard to create fun experiences and opportunities for them.

Despite the last-minute cancellation of Road Trip to Drake, Mission Improvable was at Sussman Theater at 8:00 Sunday night, ready to perform.

Cora Holt, a first-year from Lincoln, Nebraska, was signed up to host three high schoolers over the weekend with her roommates, but planned on going to Mission improvable either way.

“It sounded like a really fun experience to get seniors comfortable with campus and get

them excited about being in such a supportive community” Holt said, reflecting on why she chose to host so many students. Though they had other activities and ways to introduce the visitors to Drake’s campus planned as well, Holt and her roommates were planning on taking advantage of SAB’s event, and went even after the road trip was cancelled.

“My favorite part of the show was when they both started rapping,” Holt said. “They were really good and I had a lot of fun”.

As the performance progressed, students began feeling more comfortable in the full theater, shouting out suggestions, eagerly volunteering to participate and cheering and laughing loudly.

“I think the theater would have been really full and there might have been better events to host to get students recruited, but it wouldn’t have turned me away from the school,” Holt mentioned.

Sussman Theater was almost entirely full of Drake students there not only to enjoy Mission Improvable’s performance, but to support Drake’s very own D+ improv group, who opened up for the performers.

ULTIMA-THULE IS A TRANS-NEPTUNIAN OBJECT located in the Kuiper belt.

It was discovered using New Horizon space craft. PHOTO RETRIEVE FROM NASA. Julie LaFranzo Contributing Writer julie.lafranzo@drake.edu @julie.lafranzo

Before you can talk about Ultima Thule, you have to talk about the New Horizon space telescope. New Horizon was a mission sent up on Jan. 19, 2006.

Its mission was to go to Pluto and take higher quality pictures of it so that scientists could get a sense of what it was really like there, and then afterwards, visit the Kuiper Belt, an area outside of Neptune’s orbit that is full of comets, asteroids and other planetary bodies.

Before New Horizon, it was assumed that Pluto was going to be

We assumed it was circular because of the pictures, even though it was more irregularly shaped. This is why it should not surprised us that Ultima Thule is more like a walnut stuck to a pancake. a frozen “wasteland” because of its distance from the sun. “[It] took nine years to get all the way to out there even though it was the faster spacecraft,” said Herbert Folsom, adjunct professor of Astronomy. Once it got there, it was “the first time we got a good picture of Pluto.” Pluto had a lot more than scientists expected, having volcanoes and possibly organic material at one point in time.

As a fun fact, and possibly “something you didn’t know, was that the man who found Pluto died and his cremations were put on New Horizon when it was sent out

to Pluto,” Folsom said.

After Pluto, New Horizon took a turn heading for the Kuiper Belt. “[They] used the rest of their fuel to angle it in another direction,” Folsom said.

This new angle took them towards the object known as Ultima Thule. Ultima Thule means “beyond the borders of the known world,” and it is the farthest place that human have ever explored, according to NASA New Horizons website.

Ultima Thule was first spotted as two round objects stuck together like a snowman.

“We just assumed it was circular because of pictures, even though it was more likely it would be more irregularly shaped,” Folsom said.

This is why it should be no surprise to find that Ultima Thule is more like a walnut stuck to a pancake in shape. New Horizon has given us pictures of Ultima Thule at more angles that show us it is not, in fact, spherical.

This makes a lot of sense because, as Folsom said, most of those asteroids are odd in shape, and so why would this one be any different?

“A lot of those asteroids are in a ‘rubble pile,’” said Dr. Charles Nelson, Associate Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics here at Drake, said. “They are kind of potato shaped.”

Some of the objects in the Kuiper Belt, including Ultima Thule, are classified as “cold classicals” because they “could be the very first stuff our solar system was made of,” Folsom said. “It probably hasn’t changed over all of that time.”

This could mean that this object would be, not only the farthest things from Earth to be studied, but also one of the oldest things.

All the different planetary objects in the Kuiper belt are being affected by the gravity of the sun and so they are orbiting around it.

“They are attracted by the tiniest bit of gravity [to each other],” Nelson said.

Which is why it is a possibly that Ultima Thule could have moons, not exactly like our moon but still objects rotating around it because there is some gravitational attraction to the each other in all the small planetary objects in the Kuiper Belt. Many might not expect an object like this to have a moon but it’s a possibility. The universe is often a lot more than we expect.

MISSION IMPROVABLE, an improv group with comedians from Bass/Schuler Entertainment, was set out to be an entertainment option for high school students visiting Drake through Road Trip to Drake. The bus trip was canceled due to weather, but Drake students still had the opportunity to see the improv show. PHOTO BY KIM BATES | PHOTO EDITOR

Feb. 20, 2019

05 | Sports

Sports Men’s tennis wins three-straight over the weekend Erin O’Boyle Staff Writer erin.oboyle@drake.edu @erin_oboyle1

After coming off a two-week break, the Drake men’s tennis team faced Dartmouth at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center as the first match in a long stint of home games for the Bulldogs. Unfortunately, Drake couldn’t secure the win against Dartmouth with a 3-4 loss.

The Dartmouth match put the Bulldogs at an overall season record of 4-3, with the three losses back to back. The Bulldogs, on a three-match losing streak, went into the Feb. 15 weekend with three matches lined up and a chance to get back on track.

On Friday, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. at the Roger Knapp Center the Bulldogs faced the Utah State University Aggies. Drake secured the win against the Aggies 5-2.

At No. 1 singles Vinny Gillespie defeated his opponent 6-3 in both sets. Tom Hands at No. 2 clinched his match by winning the first set 6-3, losing the second set 6-7 and then winning 10-7 in the tiebreaker to snag the point for the Bulldogs.

No. 4 singles player, Bayo Philips, went 6-4 in both sets to defeat Utah State. Finally, at No. 6 singles, Ben Clark ended his match with 6-3, 6-3 set scores.

No. 2 and No.3 doubles teams for Drake both secured wins with No.2 doubles consisting of Philips and Finley Hall, who won 7-6, and No. 3 doubles, consisting of Hands and Calum MacGeoch, who won 6-4 against the Aggies.

A mere 23 hours later, the Bulldogs returned to the Roger Knapp Center to face Indiana University for their second match of three last weekend. Drake has faced Indiana the past four seasons, and won every single time. This match was no different, with the Bulldogs claiming the win over the

MEMBER OF THE DRAKE MEN’S TENNIS TEAM Calum MacGeoch serves in a game from this past weekend. MacGeoch and Tom Hands secured the No. 3 doubles match with a set score of 6-3 over Indiana. PHOTO BY TINA INTARAPONONT | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Hoosiers, 4-1.

The Bulldogs came out on top thanks to wins at No. 2 singles player Tom Hands, defeating his opponent in both sets, 6-0, 6-3.

Bayo Philips at No. 4 singles fought hard to pull out the win with set scores of 6-4, 7-6.

Finally, at No. 6 singles, Ben Clark took down his rival easily in a set score of 6-1, 6-3. As for the doubles teams, Bayo Philips and Finely Hall came together to defeat the Hoosiers at No. 2 doubles in a set score of 6-2.

Calum MacGeoch and Tom Hands secured the No. 3 doubles match with a set score of 6-3 over Indiana. No. 1 singles player Vinny Gillespie, No. 5 singles player Calum MacGeoch, and the No. 1 doubles team, consisting of Vinny Gillespie and Barnaby Thorold,

all ended the night with unfinished games.

Sunday night the Bulldogs hosted their third match of the weekend against the University of California- Santa Barbara. Clark commented earlier in the week on which opponent he thought would pose the biggest challenge for the Bulldogs.

“I think the match on Sunday afternoon against Santa Barbara will be the toughest on paper,” Clark said. “But every match will be challenging and I have confidence that we will come through them well.”

Clark’s confidence was well placed because on Sunday afternoon, the Bulldogs ended their busy weekend with a close win over University of CaliforniaSanta Barbara in a final score of

4-3.

Drake won three singles matches and so did UC Santa Barbara, so the deciding point came from the doubles competition where the Bulldogs pulled off wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.

Tom Hands battled long and hard at No. 2 singles with a 4-6 loss in the first set, a 7-6 win in the second set, and a 6-4 win in the third set to win the point for the Bulldogs.

Philips at No. 4 singles won in set scores of 6-1, 6-4. Hall at No. 6 singles also had a long, hard match with set scores of 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2. Vinny Gillespie and Barnaby Thorold were victorious at No.1 doubles with an overall score of 6-4. And at No. 3 doubles, Tom Hands and Calum MacGeoch finished the match with a set score

of 6-3.

Going into the weekend with a three-match losing streak, the Bulldogs needed something to change in order to break this streak.

Senior Ben Clark commented on the performance difference.

“I think we played with high energy and intensity this weekend which has helped massively,” Clark said. “Having a big crowd like we had has been inspiring to play in front of.”

The energy definitely paid off with the Bulldogs ending the weekend on a three-match winning streak and an overall record of 7-3.

The Bulldogs face the University of Oregon next Friday, Feb. 22 at noon which will be the first match of another very busy weekend for the Drake men’s tennis team.

Men’s basketball now tied for first place in MVC Drake Lohse Staff Writer drake.lohse@drake.edu

The Knapp Center is more than an advantage for the Bulldogs. It might just be the difference maker.

Throughout the month of January, Drake went 9-2 in Des Moines. The Bulldogs averaged 79.3 points-per-game and outscored their opponents by an average of 11 points. Drake averages 50 percent from the field at home and outrebounds their opposition by four.

The Bulldogs kicked off a Des Moines February with a toughnosed win hosting UNI and improved their season record at home to 10-2.

Saturday was more of the same. The Bulldogs leapfrogged Valparaiso early, ignited by jumpers from Tremell Murphy and D.J. Wilkins. Basketball fans with a keen eye for clean jumpers had plenty to appreciate Saturday. An afternoon of fast-breaks, turnovers and loose balls provided a highlight reel of crisp mid-rangers and pullups from either side.

Midway through the first half, the Bulldogs nestled into a comfortable lead. Senior Brady Ellingson broke it open by draining a daring three in transition. On the ensuing Bulldog possession, Ellingson attempted it again, this time falling short, but a tip-in by McGlynn rallied the crowd.

The Bulldogs entered the half with a six point advantage and shooting 53 percent from the field, compared to a Valpo backcourt that was hitting 45 percent. It was clear from the jump that whoever could come away with the hotter hand would be winning this one.

Drake relied heavily on perimeter shots in the second half.

Valpo shifted their attack down to

the Bulldogs frontcourt, using a size-speed combination of forward Derrick Smits and guard Markus Golder to effectively out-Nick McGlynn Nick McGlynn.

That strategy may have backfired. Drake utilized the extra space, creating shot opportunities for Noah Thomas, who went 2-for-6 from three-point range and Tremell Murphy, who went 3-for8 from the field. Even Iowa’s own Liam Robbins got in on the action.

The first-year notched nine points and was active on both ends of the floor.

The times I’ve been able to get free, they’ve trusted me and found me in rhythm.

It’s just up to me to keep stroking it.

Saturday was the Brady Ellingson show. Maybe it’s the Anthony Murphy headband or the consistent Bulldog ball movement, but the senior has been on the mark.

He’s averaged 15 points and shot 11-for-17 from beyond the arch over the last three games. Ellingson finished Saturday’s game 4-for-8 from the three with 21 points.

Ellingson has more than a three in his arsenal. He floated a floater off the glass, notched a steal and nailed another transition three with six minutes remaining. Ellingson

SENIOR FORWARD Nick McGlynn guards Valparaiso’s John Freeman as Freeman takes the ball into the paint. PHOTO

BY HANNAH COHEN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

passed up another three minutes later to dump it off to McGlynn for a dunk down low. It was the senior’s four free throws that would help the Bulldogs stave off a late-game Valpo surge.

Ellingson has continued to set standards in marksmanship all season. He is the MVC leader in three point shooting at 53.6 percent He’s 69-143 from beyond the arch on the season. In eight MVC matches, he’s hit three or more three-pointers a total of eight times.

“My teammates have been doing a great job of finding me when I’m open,” Ellington said.

“The times I’ve been able to get free they’ve trusted me and found me in rhythm. It’s just up to me keep stroking it.”

The Bulldogs collected their 20th win of the season with Saturday’s 89-74 win over the Valparaiso Crusaders. Head coach Darian Devries’ 19 wins prior to Saturday were tied for second most by a first-year head coach.

“I think it just means a lot in terms of what these guys have done, how they’ve pulled together,” Devries said of the milestone. “They’ve believed in each other and stayed the course.

We’ve had a lot of close games and they’ve found a lot of different ways to win.”

Drake’s win extends their home record to 2-0 in Feb. and keeps their three-game winning streak alive.

How the rest of the MVC is doing: Team

Conf.

Ovr.

1. Drake

9-5

20-7

2. Loyola

9-5

16-11

3. Missouri St.

9-5

15-12

4. Bradley

7-7

15-12

5. Illinois St.

7-7

14-13

6. Southern Il. 7-7

14-13

7. UNI

7-7

12-15

8. Valparaiso

6-8

13-14

9. Indiana

5-9

13-13

10. Evansville

4-10

10-17

06 | Sports

Feb. 20, 2019

Sports Women’s basketball reclaims first place in MVC Hannah Cohen Staff Writer hannah.cohen@drake.edu @seamammals

The women’s basketball team defeated UNI (8-4 MVC) to reclaim its holding of first place in the MVC after Missouri State (11-1 MVC) took a loss to Illinois State.

This celebratory match started off with Sara Rhine, forward and a top-10 finalist for the Katrina McClain award, getting the tipoff and relaying the ball to guard Becca Hittner, shooting a clean three.

As the first quarter progressed, the Bulldogs kept tallying points up on the board with guard Maddie Monahan getting an open layup and another three with an 8-0 lead.

UNI stepped up throughout the game, however, and at the end of the first had a lead over Drake 1817 with a 48 field goal percentage over Drake’s 44 percent and a three FG percentage of 27 over Drake’s.

“They change up scheme a lot, and I think that stifled us,” head coach Jennie Baranczyk said.

“We slowed down a little bit and it affected us on both ends. We stopped rebounding. We stopped

defending the 3-point line, and that’s something you have to be able to do against UNI.” The Panthers shortly lost the lead after that as Nicole Miller and Sammie Bachrodt, guards, opened the second quarter with two threes to add to the Bulldog’s overall 12 3-pointers, second highest of the season. Guard Maddy Dean added to those and went 4-for-7 with threes, making her only one away from tying Kyndal Clark for fifth best in all-time Drake history for three-pointers.

“I liked the way that we came back out and had a little better tempo. I thought we passed the ball really well,” Baranczyk said. “I thought Maddy Dean and Maddie Monahan did some really nice things for us so that was really fun.”

In the midst of the second with back-to-back timeouts from both ends, UNI reclaims a 2523 lead with 8 minutes left in the second before Baranczyk calls another break. After that 30-second regroup, the Bulldogs hold the Panthers by a 10-point 35-25 lead with three minutes left in the second.

“I think both coaches were

really frustrated at halftime,” Baranczyk said. “We readjusted and came back out.”

By halftime Drake keeps the lead and doesn’t give it up with shooting game back on point and percentages over UNI’s. The women’a team kept passing the ball around, giving everyone a chance to shoot, leading to Monahan’s highest scoring game in her twoyear career with 13 points and a .625 percentage.

“It’s awesome when we’re all scoring threads on the floor,” Hittner said. “Maddie Monahan had an awesome night tonight.”

The last two quarters exemplified what defines “Bulldog Basketball” with Monahan starting off the second getting a layup and then Dean getting another three to add to her 14-point game as Drake kept the ball moving. “[When] we can really get that ball movement and get it into the most open players hands and get some really good shots out of that ,and it’s just really fun basketball to play,” Hittner said.

Drake held UNI to scoring only 30 points in the last two quarters resulting in the Bulldogs clutching a 76-61 win. They continue their

JUNIOR GUARD BECCA HITTNER puts up a shot behind the three-point line in the win against Southern Illinois University PHOTO BY HANNAH COHEN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

February homestand this weekend, taking on Evansville (1-12 MVC) Friday at 6 p.m. in an annual Pink

Game and then hosting Indiana State (4-8 MVC) at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Unique bars, sports bars in the DSM area Drake Lohse Colomnist drake.lohse@drake.edu

There’s some disagreement as to the translation of Des Moines.

The French pronunciation leads us to “of the monks.” If you choose to follow the Algonquian translation, you’ll arrive at “Loon.” The two translations are at the opposite ends of one spectrum.

If you enjoy a beer or a Jack & Coke, or even a shot of Patron every once in a while, chances are you find yourself at Wellman’s or down on Court Avenue just about every weekend. There’s nothing wrong with either location, but if you’re looking for something new, no one can blame you. Maybe it’s time to step back. Maybe it’s time to examine the religious obedience to the well known Des Moines watering holes. Could it be you’re tired of the classic “Downtown or Well’s?” argument that nearly every friend group has had for the past eight weekends? Maybe you want some new options. Perhaps you want to get a little dangerous.

Maybe you want to see where it is the loons go.

It should be noted that none of these selections were made on the basis of alcohol—in taste, selection or variety. Have you ever read a book that made you angry, not because of anything in the book, but because you had the strong inclination that you were the only one who’s ever read or appreciated it the way it ought to be? These aren’t just bars, and they aren’t even dive bars. In some cases, they’re places for the strange and spectacular of Des Moines’ underground community to hang their coat, to sit and sing with the 9-5 and the creepy crawlies.

In other cases, they’re places that you probably shouldn’t tell your parents you’re going to. These aren’t places to go to just because you need a picture to match all the lower case letters and vague captions on your Instagram. If you think you might visit one of these bars one night, you better plan on making a night out of it.

Founder’s Irish Pub (Bondurant) Just a 15-minute drive from campus, Founder’s is a haven for weary farmers laborers. Founded in 2012, Founder’s makes use of an ancient red brick building on old main street. For those who find history as intoxicating as Jameson,

Founders is enough to induce a blackout. The walls surrounding it’s dusty pool-table and old-time jukebox have been there since the late 1800’s and once housed an on-the-run Jesse James for a night.

Jesse has come and gone, and now that bar is filled with friendly faces and some new paint.

“Founders is what it is because of the people that come here” the founder of Founder’s Joe Romare said. “You can be from anywhere, here to stay or just passing through for the night, and you’ll be welcomed by some of the funniest and friendliest folks in the state. They don’t care who you are, where you come from or if you mess up their drink order. It’s not complicated here.”

Romare also owns Whiskey River in Ankeny. The Irish pub serves as the hub for community activities such as concerts, benefits and unofficial reunions. If you’re from a bigger city and want to get a first-hand understanding of what it is makes small town life worth living, stop into Founder’s Irish Pub.

Up-Down (Locust Street) Alright. You might’ve heard of this one. You might’ve even been there. But the possibility of discovery may be worth the repetition, especially with a place like Up-Down. In terms of being unique, this place is a bar that needs no explanation. You’ll find it at the bottom of a stairway, in the basement of an apartment building.

When you descend from the street and get your license back, you’ll immediately be submerged into a long-lost familiar place, the Island of Genuine Childlike Wonder.

Lined wall-to-wall with arcade games both classic and cult, you won’t know where to start. PacMan on the wall. Skee-ball by the bathroom. Jenga in the middle.

NFL Blitz on a GameCube in blacklight-illuminated corner. It’s a stoner’s paradise and a child’s fantasy. Don’t forget there’s a bar in there somewhere, and make sure to stop by for your tokens, which you’ll end up sharing BohemianStyle with new friends and opponents alike.

Cooney’s Tavern (Beaver Avenue) Being just a few turns up the street from Drake’s campus, there’s a good chance that you’ve visited Cooney’s before. But with it’s close proximity and its lack of craft

PINBALL MACHINES located at Up-Down in West Des Moines. Up-Down is packed from wall-to-wall with vintage games and machines from our childhoods and beyond. PHOTO BY DRAKE LOHSE | CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

beers, Cooney’s is the perfect place to drink like your dad. Do you want to sit alone, hunched at the bar top, basking your own beautiful despair? Do you want to finally wear that tweed cap that your girlfriend gave you but that you’ve been too afraid to wear anywhere else? Or do you want to just sit, eat free popcorn?

Look no further. Cooney’s shares a building with a laundromat.

Cooney’s seems to have done something that very few “Irish bars” can do, which is to capture the true meaning of drinking like an Irishman. As Family Guy’s Peter Griffin once said “We Irish, we have a deep sadness.”

Situated on Beaver since ’84, Cooney’s is as authentic an Irish drinking experience as your uncle Sean’s garage. Your sorrows won’t last long. They never seem to at Cooney’s . Brian Cooney, the owner and primary bartender, knows just the right balance of Sriracha sauce and popcorn. There’s genuine Irish street signs hanging left and right, stained glass windows from the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in case you get to feeling too guilty, and a whole lot of simplicity. When asked what it was that made his bar unique, Brian said, “We got beer and popcorn.”

Cooney’s truly plays host to one of the most lively and vibrant atmospheres in the city. A city you’ll feel even more connected to as you drink with some of it’s most deeply rooted village folk.

It’s welcomed students, ne’er do-wells, weirdos, construction workers, book worms, presidential candidates, just about anyone who can sit and drink or help lift the spirits of those around them.

Olde Towne Tap (Altoona) Definitely not last, but probably least. If you decide on making the 15-minute drive down to Altoona to visit the Old Town Tap, you better bring a flashlight. This place isn’t just a hole in the wall, it’s a crack in the foundation. A huge one.

From the minute you enter, any music that might be playing is drowned out by the chorus of oxygen tanks. An elderly woman named Sandy will try to tell you about the time that she slept with one of the guys from Motley Crüe.

There’s a very high likelihood that you’ll be sworn at within the first fifteen minutes. The mirror in the bathroom is actually just a collection of large and sharp glass shards that have been repositioned and maneuvered again and again over time. When the legislature to ban smoking indoors was passed, Olde Town Tap’s response was “nope.” Or at least it must’ve been.

No one’s quite sure when it opens or closes or where it is it keeps toilet paper. And if a quote for an article you’re writing is what you wish, be prepared to discover that Cooney’s phone is disconnected.

It’s hard not to wonder how long that’s been the case. Now these

all might sound like reasons to not visit, but remember, this article is for those who wish to truly unplug, to go rogue, to see a side of life that is dissipating under a technological heat wave. Interacting with Des Moines’ deepest pockets won’t always be pretty or even kind, but the experience you’ll come away with will be full.

“Des Moines? Why would you ever want to move there? There’s nothing to do in Des Moines. It’s flat. Corn and cows from what I heard. I bet all anyone ever does is sit and drink. Gotta pass the time somehow probably.”

The biggest misconception about Des Moines is that it is dead.

That notion is held by a waning number of outsiders who haven’t spent more than an hour in the City of the Loons. If you’ve grown up here, you’ve heard them all. Most insulting of these assumptions is that we drink because we have to, out of some subconscious desire to escape, so hopefully, any out-oftowner that’s reading this article will have that idea ironed out by now. We drink because we want to, damnit, and when we do, we do it with style.

Now that style might look different to some scarf-wearin’ fancy pants from Chicago, but therein lies the foundation upon which Des Moines has built its youth, its ability to seek out and nurture the diamonds in the rough.

Feb. 20, 2019

07 | Commentary

Commentary “Thank U, Next”: Beyond the text Maddie Topliff Staff Writer maddie.topliff@drake.edu @Top_Dog30

Last week was absolutely huge– or some might say grande–for pop angel/god/star Ariana Grande. Not only did she receive her first-ever Grammy Award (about time) in the category of Best Pop Vocal Album for her August 2018 release “Sweetener,” but she also released her fifth album “Thank U, Next,” which is also her second album in six months.

Six months is an incredibly quick break in the pop music industry, with most stars waiting around an average of two years before putting out another record.

But if you’re Justin Bieber, you’ve had fans wait four years come this November. Who’s counting, though, right? I’m fine. It’s fine.

Two years also allows time for those creative juices to start flowing again. I would compare it to running a marathon; you’re not going to want to exert that kind of effort again for at least a bit. Maybe that is just me.

Unfortunately for Ari–but fortunately for the music industry– she had plenty of material to work with when crafting “Thank U, Next.” First, her ex-boyfriend and beloved rapper Mac Miller passed away in September, not even a month after “Sweetener” was released. Then, in November, Grande broke off her engagement to Saturday Night Live favorite Pete Davidson.

And Ari had no intention to hide her sadness or bitterness from the fans, addressing very early on that this album would be a melancholy one, though masked with the pulsating R&B backbeats we have come to expect from her.

“A lot of it sounds really upbeat, but it’s actually a super-sad chapter,” she said to Billboard.

In addition to the quick turnaround between records, “Thank U, Next” became incredibly hyped up with the release of the single with the same name mostly due to the name-dropping of her four most recent ex-boyfriends and instant classic of a music video, filled with homages to some of the best girl-power films of the 2000’s.

Seeing Ariana do the bend-andsnap as Elle Woods from Legally Blonde and shove Troye Sivan into a locker as Regina George from Mean Girls lengthened my life expectancy. Also, who shows gratitude toward ex-boyfriends like she does? The video broke the VEVO record on YouTube for most views in 24 hours.

The other two singles “imagine”

and “7 Rings” didn’t receive quite as much initial promo as “Thank U, Next,” but they definitely earned their place on the album as necessities.

“Imagine”, for instance, is track one of the album, which is the perfect position for it. The most successful of Ariana’s past albums–see: “My Everything” and “Sweetener” have featured a dreamy introduction track, and this was “Thank U, Next”’s version, though full-length.

It casts a wistful precedent over the rest of the album and paints an ideal picture of what could have been/ what she wished could be of her past relationships if they had not gone south.

“Me with no makeup, you in the bathtub/ Bubbles and bubbly, ooh/ This is a pleasure, feel like we never/ Act this regular.”

The failure seems partly accredited to the microscope she lives under as one of, if not the biggest pop star in the world currently. The quick pre-chorus “click, click, click and post/drip drip dripped in gold/quick quick quick let’s go” comes across as reality while the chorus features Ariana protesting into silence, almost with a slight echo, for the former significant other to “imagine a world like that” to which there is obviously no reply. It is the most hopeful song on the record, which becomes an especially interesting concept when put into context with the rest of the tunes.

“7 Rings” is track ten on the album and was the final single released before the entirety of the album. The concept was based on real life events, with Ariana splurging to buy her and six of her friends matching diamonds at Tiffany’s to commemorate their friendship. The track is quite strange for a couple of reasons.

She not only borrows the melody line from “Favorite Things” of The Sound of Music variety, but she sandwiches those verses by rapping about how rich she is.

Ariana has featured many rappers over the course of her discography, namely Nicki Minaj and Missy Elliot most recently, but not a single track on “Thank U, Next” hosted a featured artist. It was all Ari this time. However out-of-theordinary the song is, it slaps in the car, in the club, wherever. It can be a self-confidence anthem even if you’re a broke college student if you just believe hard enough.

And don’t worry; it features many Ariana “yuh’s.”

“Ain’t no budget when I’m on the set/if I like it, then that’s what I get (yuh).”

The rest of the album alternates between sassy and transparent

R&B-heavy commentaries like “fake smile” and the newest single “break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored,” which is a song that details exactly what it suggests.

Additionally, there are plenty of pop production masterpieces and self-aware bops like “NASA,” where she compares herself to the universe (same), “in my head,” one of the most vocally impressive tracks and my favorite, “bad idea”: the song that the Fast and Furious franchise could ask to use in a high-stakes car chase scene if they wanted to.

All bops aside, it wouldn’t be an AG record without an unforgettable ballad or two.

The song “needy” was a very highly-anticipated track because it was going to be a single after Ariana released multiple snippets of it not long after the premiere of the song “Thank U, Next.” But alas. We had to wait. The whole song is built on top of this hauntingly constant, almost poisonous, piano line that hints at just how toxic being needy can be, for one’s self and the one being depended on. The backing vocals in the pre-chorus and chorus along with the inclusion of violins at the end add an angelic, classic presence that showcases Ariana’s good intentions despite the more negative consequences of her

behavior. It definitely lived up to the hype.

The song “ghostin” is debatably the saddest song that Ariana has ever released, perhaps in competition with the title track from her sophomore album, “My Everything,” which was written after the passing of her grandfather. The sour-sounding strings before the first verse are almost sickening, especially after the storyline is revealed. The song is over four minutes long, and throughout the entirety of that duration, Ariana keeps her voice barely above a whisper as she summarizes in great detail the unmatched grief she felt after the passing of her ex-boyfriend of two years Mac Miller. What makes the song even more excruciating is that it is an apologetic address to Pete Davidson, who undoubtedly watched his fianceé mourn and weep over her ex many times before and during the eventual demise of their relationship. It is something that neither party should have to deal with, but it’s how it happened. This will go down as one of her most infamous records.

There are two tracks I find myself skipping repeatedly, and they are “bloodline” and “make up.” I love the lyrics and concept of “bloodline” a lot; it’s a very

sexually positive song. But it has a trumpet line that reminds me too much of Panic! at the Disco’s “High Hopes,” which I cannot stand to hear one more time. The song “make up” is, as Ariana has owned up to in a radio interview, very masochistic with lyrics like “Promise me that when you kiss my lips, you’ll make it stick/That’s the way to shut me up after an argument,” which I don’t really vibe with. The bridge, however, is very catchy with a “7 Rings”-esque line: “It’s a mood/it’s a vibe/it’s a look/it’s a match.”

We as pop culture enthusiasts have never been more intimate with Ariana Grande than right now.

True, she has been releasing music for the better part of a decade. Yet, right now she is at the pinnacle of her career thus far as perhaps the most famous pop star in the world, which means her name rarely ever stops trending on Twitter. But we are able to best understand her through the music, the space where she chooses to be the most authentic. “Thank U, Next” is unmistakably a passion project from beginning to end and allows the listener, like never before, to understand the star behind the high notes and under the ponytail as she chooses to bear it all and inspire despite the hurt and heartache.

THANK U, NEXT is Ariana Grande’s fifth studio album and was released Feb. 8 , 2019. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Cancel Culture: What draws the line?

Peyton Maulsby Contributing Writer peyton.maulsby@drake.edu @peytonmaulsby

Ariana Grande, Kevin Hart, Logan Paul, Taylor Swift. What do they all have in common? They’ve all fallen victim to what’s come to be known as “cancel culture.”

The official definition of cancel culture is “an agreement not to amplify, signal boost, give money to.” Basically, it’s when a celebrity does something problematic so a large percent of people stop giving them support and instead start saying that they’re “cancelled.”

But where do we draw the line?

When, if ever, does something become bad enough to warrant the boycott of a celebrity?

It seems many people on social media these days don’t have a line to draw. Kevin Hart has made homophobic comments in the past that he has apologized for again and again, and yet people won’t let him forget. What does this aim to accomplish? Celebrities are people

just like you and me, and they make mistakes and change their viewpoints over time just like you and me, they just have to do it in the spotlight. Why does this mean that we don’t give them the opportunity to change and get better?

In January 2018, youtuber Logan Paul posted a video of a corpse he found in the Aokigahara forest in Japan, commonly known as the suicide forest for the amount of people who go there to commit suicide. This video wasn’t live, so he would have had a chance to exercise better judgement before including this horrific scene in his video, but he decided to show it anyway to garner more views. #LoganPaulIsOverParty and other hashtags trended afterwards, and yet he still gets millions of view on his videos. Can he be forgiven, or has this gone too far?

Even more recently, Ariana Grande has come under fire for seeming to fetishize lesbians in her new music video. Some say that she baited her LGBT fans with the expected same-sex relationship in her music video, but the video

itself was said to only cater to the male gaze. She also has a history of making her skin look darker than it actually is, and some equate this to blackface. I doubt cancel culture will affect her very much since she has such a large fanbase, but is it ethical to let these mistakes define her?

And what role do apologies play in this? Can a strategicallyworded apology by a celebrity

and possibly their public relations team ever be genuine? Many of these apologies follow the same structure, seemingly down to an exact formula on how best to get audiences to forgive celebrities.

It’s hard to say at what point an apology can be taken to heart, but generally, the ideal situation would be to let everyone decide for themselves on an individual basis. If one person can forgive a

celebrity for something offensive, that’s their own predisposition, but they shouldn’t force others to forgive the celebrity, too. And on the other end, people who can’t forgive the negative action can’t force others to cancel the celebrity as well.

That would be the ideal situation. But in a world run by hashtags, will it ever be realistic?

08 | Commentary

Feb. 20, 2019

Commentary “Truth plus magical love equals freedom” Student applauds Dr. Beth Younger and her teaching style Savannah Kluesner Staff Writer savannah.kluesner@drake.edu @savannahkluesner

If you have ever taken a class with Dr. Beth Younger, you know exactly where those words come from. Inscribed upon her arm is the classic phrase from Cruddy by Linda Barry, one of her favorite books to read with her classes.

While our discussions of this and other texts are filled with humor, it is the meaning behind this book and the other readings which are done for Dr. Younger’s class that make the class so special.

This semester, I had the opportunity to sign up for Literary Study with Dr. Beth Younger. I have always loved English, and the class seemed like a fun and appropriate fit for me. However, on my first day in the class, I soon learned that it was not just for those who love to read, but for everyone who loves to laugh, learn and discover the meaning of the world. Unlike the typical, stuffy conversations that occur in English classes about “classic literature” and what Milton might have meant by this line or what Shakespeare was trying to get at in one of his sonnets, the conversations we have in Literary Study are far more complex. They offer unique insights into the world in which we live and make us question our entire reality. I often find myself learning how to learn rather than

just learning that material required of us.

One of Dr. Younger’s favorite questions to ask us is, “Why do we read things?” Another is “What is the point of studying literature?”

Both are good questions that have surely sprung to the mind of anybody who has ever struggled with a class based in the study of literature, and both are ideas that are constantly under debate when we discuss the role of literature in society. We have spent many hours in class discussing these questions further and figuring out for ourselves why English classes are so important.

Once a class of Dr. Younger’s begins, there are no dumb questions, no wrong answers and no misinterpretations. Every class period, Dr. Younger specifically searches for differing viewpoints.

She does not want to explain the text; she wants you, as a reader, to explain what it means individually for you, an idea that is very empowering when studying literature. Dr. Younger teaches you how to learn rather than just how to memorize information and get a good grade. As Dr. Younger explains, there is no right or wrong answer. There may never be an answer at all but simply more questions, and a student can feel comfortable with this idea in a class where the professor constantly reveals that she doesn’t really know the answers either.

In Literary Study, we get to the basic truths of humanity.

DR. BETH YOUNGER is an associate professor in the English department at Drake University. She has an interest in popular culture, young adult literature and women’s studies. PHOTO BY TINA INTARAPANONT | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Although it is listed as an entrylevel course, the pace is rigorous and the ideas and literature that we are studying are complex and full of possibilities. There are no topics that are out of the question in this class: often, we have discussed why adolescence is so painful, why romance novels aren’t usually

considered literature or why aliens always seem to appear at the most convenient of moments.

Above everything else, Literary Study is a place where we laugh and discover, through the study of literature, who we are, both as individuals and as a national and global society. I have appreciated every moment in that class and

praise Dr. Younger for helping teach us the true meaning of learning. Even if you do not particularly love to read or study the meaning behind writing, this class is for anyone who enjoys deep philosophical discussion, laughter and, of course, the aliens that ruin the entire plot of the novel.

Letter to the Editor: In response to “The remnants of the #paintitblack movement” I want to preface by saying that the Student Activities Board has never painted Painted Street in November. The process we use is designed for April. In April, the first thing we do is paint the entire street with a base coat. We add two layers of this base and let it set for an entire week before street painting and the paint fight. On that day, students paint two coats of their background color onto the street. They let the coats dry, sketch their design and, later, paint their design. This entire process happens in a span of one week, at a time of year when the weather is much, much milder and the ground is (usually) not frozen. The winter has always taken a toll on the condition of Painted Street and we have never been able to control or avoid that.

I would also like to share my thoughts about your original article, The remnants of the Paint it Black movement, peeling paint and a promise of change. While your opinion is valid, I do not think that your analysis was formed with knowledge of the situation. I

also do not think that this article should have been published under the news section, but rather under the opinion section. One key concept that I believe you are overlooking is the importance of the #paintitblack movement. This movement was started by students who were hurting and who were angry. Students, mainly firstyears, who were infuriated with the injustice around them and the lack of response from the campus community, led this movement.

They had the idea to paint Painted Street black. They proposed the idea to Student Senate. They led, and continue to lead, conversations around changing our campus’ response to acts and systems of hatred. This movement is about change through engagement. The organizers behind the #paintitblack movement are the bravest students that Drake University has seen in a long time.

Painting Painted Street black was a brilliant idea because it forced our campus community to come to terms with what had happened. It disrupted our patterns

THE TIMES-DELPHIC

The student newspaper for Drake University since 1884 LÓRIEN MACENULTY, Editor-in-Chief lorien.macenulty@drake.edu JILL VAN WYKE, Faculty Advisor jill.vanwyke@drake.edu RACHEL JAMES, News Editor rachel.james@drake.edu PHONG LY, Features Editor phong.ly@drake.edu JD PELEGRINO, Sports Editor john.pelegrino@drake.edu LEXI MUELLER, Opinions Editor lexi.mueller@drake.edu JESSICA VINAJA, Copy Editor jessica.vinaja@drake.edu HALLIE O’NEILL, Copy Editor hallie.oneill@drake.edu

IVY BECKENHOLDT, Managing Editor ivy.beckenholdt@drake.edu KIM BATES, Photo Editor kim.bates@drake.edu HEMA RENGASAMY, Digital Editor hemapraba.rengasamy@drake.edu JONDAVID OTTENBACHER, Digital Editor jondavid.ottenbacher@drake.edu HANNAH COHEN, Design Editor hannah.cohen@drake.edu CARSON REICHARDT, Media Manager carson.reichardt@drake.edu KATHRYN GAITO, Business Manager kathryn.gaito@drake.edu

JENNA CORNICK, Advertising Manager timesdelphicads@gmail.com

of living and interacting and brought to light the issues that students of color face each and every day. Painting Painted Street black meant so much more than just the action of painting the street.

It meant that our entire campus community, including students, faculty and staff, participated in the conversations around injustice.

It meant that Drake University administrators recognized and legitimized the movement, even though the students were more than legitimate in the work that they did. The #paintitblack movement was transformational and created history not just at Drake but around the state and country. That’s why I was so disappointed to read your article that watered the meaning of the #paintitblack movement down to solely the state of Painted Street.

I want to be clear when I say that the current condition of Painted Street is in no way the fault of any student, faculty, or staff member or of the #paintitblack movement. The process which we use to paint the street has only ever been used in the month of April.

The importance of the movement and the conversations happening on campus increased the collective desire to paint Painted Street black.

To tell the students behind the #paintitblack movement to wait until weather conditions were more desirable would have been, frankly, incredibly disrespectful and ignorant. Those students deserved to be listened to, and we heard them. The painting was planned by myself along with the Student Senate Executive Officers, the Unity Roundtable co-presidents, the assistant dean of students, the assistant director of student activities and organizations, the dean of students, Drake facilities, planning and management and, most importantly, the leaders of the #paintitblack movement. We recognized from the beginning that we were painting Painted Street in undesirable conditions.

Yet the work of the #paintitblack movement was so powerful and supported that we decided to paint the street. To me, the response from the campus community meant so much more than a section of

concrete which would inevitably peel and be painted over come April. The #paintitblack movement and the change it brought means more to Drake University than Painted Street ever could.

You can critique the state of Painted Street, but I ask that you do not continue to use it to equate to or undermine the efforts of students of color on this campus.

Sincerely, Giada Morresi Vice President of Student Activities, Drake University Student Senate

The Times-Delphic Statement The piece, The remnants of the #paintitblack movement; peeling paint and a promise of change, was originally published in print as an opinions piece, but due to an error on The Times-Delphic’s part, was labeled as news online.

We remedied this as soon as it was brought to our attention. We apologize for this mistake.

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