Gain a glimpse of the newest art exhibition in the Anderson Galery, ‘A Fork in the Road: The Times and Place for Local Foods’. PAGE 8 FEATURES
THE TIMES-DELPHIC THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
Des Moines, Iowa • Monday, Sept. 13, 2010 • Vol. 129, No. 2 • www.timesdelphic.com
@DrakeUniversity ‘tweets’ and chats with the social media universe
Facebook photo
GRADUATE STUDENT CLIFFTON MUROVE died early Saturday morning due to injuries sustained from falling off the balcony of a Des Moines apartment building.
Drake graduate dies in fall from balcony by Lizzie Pine
Editor-in-Chief editor@timesdelphic.com
Cliffton Murove died after falling from a balcony early Saturday morning. Staying at an Ingersoll Towers apartment for the night, Murove was last seen in the apartment around 2:30 a.m. before the apartment occupants fell asleep. After a night of drinking, Murove had planned to sleep on the couch of that apartment and be driven back to his place around 8 a.m., according to police reports. The apartment manager found Murove in the courtyard the next morning and called police. Murove had fatal head injuries and was taken to the hospital. The fall was accidental, according to police in Drake University President David Maxwell’s e-mail to the Drake community Saturday night. Murove was an international student from Zimbabwe and completed his undergraduate studies in economics and business law in 2009 and was working toward his Master’s degree in public administration. He had been involved in Students in Free Enterprise and worked for Think Green Iowa. This is the second Drake-related death this week, and fourth in the past year. “How do we all come together to understand?” David Maxwell said. “Is there an answer to this question: What’s going on?” Among the deaths, there have also been many sexual assaults and other tragic events within the past year. The faculty is working to change the culture of the campus, and at least address the concern the community has about the recent events, Maxwell said.
SEE MUROVE, PAGE 2
University expands online presence to connect with students, alumni by Ann Schnoebelen
Staff Writer ann.schnoebelen@drake.edu
Drake University wants to follow you. Well, your tweets, that is. The university’s online presence, including dozens of Drake– related Twitter accounts, has noticeably increased in the last few months. A quick search turns up multiple Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, a YouTube video channel, a Flickr account and others. “Our goal is to promote conversation and provide a place where fans can join like-minded friends who love all things Drake,” said Tory Olson, public relations specialist. A wide range of Drake-related pages appear on social media sites, from individual fraternities and sororities, to the College of Arts and Sciences, to Cowles Library and Student Senate.
As one of Student Senate’s public affairs officers, Norah Carroll, a senior magazine journalism and English major, helps to manage its online content, including being in charge of its newly revamped website, Facebook page and @DrakeStuSenate on Twitter. “A lot of the things I’ve been posting have just been questions to the student body and links and helpful information for them about Drake and more about Senate,” she said. Carroll said she’s a big proponent of social media and the opportunities for communication its use entails, but that she’s careful to use it constructively. “I don’t want to start spamming students or any of our any other followers, “ she said. “It’s just for writing really good, really accurate, really relevant information for them.” Current students are not the only audience social media sites are
being used to reach. Drake’s Center for Alumni and Development has been using Facebook to help plan reunions and @DrakeAlumni has over 900 followers on Twitter. Director of Alumni and Parent Programs Blake Campbell emphasized the need for personal connections even in a virtual forum. “What I hear from our alumni a lot is that ‘I came to Drake because it was very personal. I had a personal relationship with my professors and with my classmates,’” he said. “And when you become an alumni this is one way for us to have a personal conversation with someone who may not come back to campus for two or three years.” John Brown, assistant director of alumni and parent programs, said he has also seen a lot of positive interest in a blog he started this summer for parents of Drake students. “Knowing that only a certain number of parents actually go out
to the parents tab on blueView, I said ‘Let’s find a more public arena to put that out,’” he said.
SEE MEDIA, PAGE 2
>>WAYS TO CONNECT @DrakeUniversity @DrakeStuSenate @515_Magazine @DrakeSAB @DrakeDining @timesdelphic @DrakeAlumni @CowlesLib @DrakeGreekLife @DrakeRelays @941THEDOG @HubbellRealty @DrakeFootball @drakemag
Students mourn Henderson’s death with prayer vigil
photos by CONNOR MCCOURTNEY | Photo Editor
STUDENTS AND FACULTY gathered together last Thursday for a prayer vigil to mourn the death of Drake student Ryan T. Henderson. Intervarsity Christian Fellowship hosted the candlelight vigil in the Morehouse Ballroom. Students shared memories and prayed together in honor of the deceased student.
Senate unveils online university community page by Lauren Horsch
Staff Writer lauren.horsch@drake.edu
Students and organizations from around Drake University’s campus have been seeing a change in how events and meetings are being advertised. The online Drake University Community Page is making it easier for organizations to get the word. Now anyone on or off campus can access the website and see announcements and events from campus organizations all in one place. The necessity for a community website came out of talks not only with the Student Senate but also among those in the Office for Student Life last spring. The page itself was created this summer with the help of Symplicity Corporation, an outside vendor that also helped with the development of the Career Blueprint page. “We understand that students are very comfortable in the online environment, so that was
one of the first drivers to this decision,” Assistant Dean of Students Melissa Sturm-Smith said. With 160 organizations on campus, planning and recruiting can be a hassle, but this new page will help “ease headaches,” according to Senate President Samantha Haas. “It’s streaming to one comprehensive program,” Haas said. Haas says it will now be easier, not only for already established organizations to announce events, but also for organizations in their infancies to start up. “The first major function of the system manages the student organization registration process,” Sturm-Smith said. The previous routine to start up an organization involved a lot of paperwork and took a semester or so until it was approved. Now, the application is online for both existing organizations and for new ones, and the process for approval is down to six weeks. The annual registration paperwork for organizations is now foregone by a link on the front
page of the site. The new Drake Community page can also help communication with current and prospective members.
“Organizations can utilize the page at a campuswide level,” Sen. Stephen Slade said. Instead of just being limited to advertising around campus, the organizations can submit events for approval to a master calendar that lists events from all organizations. In addition, they will be able to upload documents such as meeting minutes, agendas and applications for students to download from the community page.
“It’s more accessible to everyone on campus,” Haas said. Slade says the community page is a great way for current students to get involved, and it helps show prospective students the many ways that they can become involved on campus. “With 160 organizations on campus, prospective students are wondering what they are,” Slade said. Not all organizations are online at this moment. The deadline for registration is Sept. 15. Slade said groups are still coming in. Students are urged to utilize this new addition to find out about meetings and about organizations they might not have heard of before. Sturm-Smith said that the page is an online extension of the Activities Fair for students to use. She hopes that the online community becomes a “powerful tool” for student involvement. To access the Drake Community page, visit http://www.drake.edu/life/studentlife/orgs/. Students can log in using their blueView account information.