This year, Drake University’s student-athletes are volunteer- ing in a program called “Seeds for Success,” where they visit local middle schools and address stu- dents on goal setting and charac- ter building. “When I went it was pretty amazing, the kids were actually listening to us and they seemed to really enjoy talking with us,” said Ashley Beall, a first-year stu- dent on Drake’s rowing team. “It was just great knowing that I was making a positive influence on them.” “Seeds for Success” originated with the athletic department’s partnership with Character Counts in Iowa, an organization that promotes character growth in Iowa schools, families, work- places and communities. The or- ganization also part- ners with two national organizations, the Josephson Institute and the Institute of Excellence and Ethics. Cara Lutes, a sophomore women’s basketball player, is one of the student-ath- letes who participates in the pro- gram. “Different student-athletes have developed stories about in- tegrity development, about im- provement development and just confidence in one another,” Lutes said. “We go into middle schools and share those stories.” Athletes will visit middle schools in Waukee and Johnston in the coming months. At the schools, Drake’s ath- letes address classrooms of students, tell- ing their sto- ries. The stu- dent-athletes do more than just walk into the schools and talk. There is preparation involved. “We’ve had sessions where we praise and polish one another’s speeches and stories so I feel well prepared,” said Lutes. An education major, Lutes wants to work as a middle school teacher and she was very eager to join the program. “I just kind of heard about it and it really sparked my interest because I really enjoy kids and I know that’s a really pivotal time of your life ... ” Bri Varela, also a first-year member of the women’s rowing team, hopes to make an impact. “(It’s great) being able to inter- act with the children and knowing that you may have made a differ- ence in their lives.” The volunteer student-athletes vary greatly, both in the sports they play and in their majors. To- gether, they will come together on dates later this spring to deliver their messages. “ “It’s just a little thing we can do for the community,” Lutes said. It’s been awhile since a male cheerleader has graced the court of the Knapp Center, but it has fi- nally happened. Senior Nathan Bleadorn had never been a cheerleader before this year. In high school, he played football, basketball, tennis, base- ball and ran track, but through- out his years at Drake, he always thought about joining the cheer- leading squad. “I knew some of the girls on the squad, and we had talked about it in passing,” Bleadorn said. “My dad actually cheered in college, and so it had been in my mind but nothing really concrete had come of it.” Things changed after he got in touch with the coach and one of the cheer captains, Tessa Wickes. Bleadorn talked to them about what it would entail and tried it out by attending a few practices. He decided to make it of ficial and made his debut a few games into the basketball season. “The best part is how accepting everyone’s been and how patient they’ve been with me,” Bleadorn said. “It’s exciting for me, and it’s exciting for them too. They’ve been really supportive, and it’s also fun to be at the games and see a lot of people who are excited to see me.” Members of the cheer team are excited to have a new male mem- ber as well. “Nate is a major impact to the squad. He is always willing to do new stunts and he adds a lot of muscle to the team. I would love if more guys would join because it would make the squad stronger and we would be able to do a lot more advance stunts,” first-year cheerleader Sarah Elizabeth Wor- rell said. Bleadorn practices with the team, but also does additional lift- ing to bulk up and build strength. Bleadorn mainly bases and backs stunts, but he also works with partners in stunts. Bleadorn also recently learned a new stunt, the “Whirly Bird.” In this stunt, Bleadorn has someone on his shoulders, and another per- son grabs onto that person’s legs, and Bleadorn spins around with these two people attached to him. A lot of people don’t think of cheerleading as being a tough sport, but Bleadorn says other- wise. “There’s a lot of behind the scenes work and I’ve gotten a lot of new respect for the cheer squad. One of the harder parts for Bleadorn was learning how to work together. “We have to know who is go- ing to be where and when. Safety is important, so getting comfort- able with balance and throws and catches takes practice,” Bleadorn said. Some students have expressed their excitement in having a male cheerleader on the team now. “I think it’s great. Most col- leges have male cheerleaders on their squads, so it’s only natural that we should as well,” first-year Kevin Maisto said. “Plus, I have an incredible amount of respect for THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884 THE TIMES-DELPHIC |TIMESDELPHIC.COM TWITTER @TIMESDELPHIC FACEBOOK THE TIMES-DELPHIC Drake University, Des Moines Vol. 132 | No. 26 | Feb. 04, 2013 Monday February 04, 2013 T D The Jennifer Angus: Magpie Tendencies 12-24 p.m. Anderson Gallery Campus Calendar Inside Wednesday Thursday News PAGE 2 PAGE 3 PAGE 4 PAGE 6 Opinions Features Sports Tuesday Faculty Forum 3:30-4:30 p.m. Cowles Library, room 201 Faculty Recital, Susan Odem, oboe, with Kimberly Helton, flute and Sonya Selbert, piano 7:30-9 p.m. Sheslow Auditorium Jennifer Angus: Magpie Tendencies 12-8 p.m. Anderson Gallery Drake Writing Test 1-3 p.m. SOE B06 Jennifer Angus: Magpie Tendencies 12-4 p.m. Anderson Gallery Men’s Basketball vs. Illinois State 7:05 p.m. Knapp Center Women’s Tennis vs. UTEP 6 p.m. Roger Knapp Tennis Center Student’s volunteer with literacy and mentorship program How to score textbooks for cheap Des Moines rated above-average LGBT equality rate Bulldogs edge Indiana State in overtime “...It was pretty amazing, the kids were actually listening to us and seemed to enjoy talking to us.” — Ashley Beall , student-athlete Campus News Campus News SENIOR NATHAN BLEADORN poses before a recent basketball game. Ashley Beall | staff photographer Austin Cannon Staff Writer [email protected]Ashley Beall Staff Writer [email protected]Seeds of Success program teaches character building and integrity Student-athletes aim to nurture next generation Tradition inspires cheerleader Student brings exciting new element to cheer squad Friday this guy making the effort to try something new.” In the future, Bleadorn also hopes for more males to join the cheerleading team. “It’s interesting there’s talk of another guy joining the team and I’ve talked to some of my friends about joining and I’m hoping it will get the ball rolling and have other guys join it,” Bleadorn said. “We’re working on it.”
Transcript
This year, Drake University’s student-athletes are volunteer-ing in a program called “Seeds for Success,” where they visit local middle schools and address stu-dents on goal setting and charac-ter building.
“When I went it was pretty amazing, the kids were actually listening to us and they seemed to really enjoy talking with us,” said Ashley Beall, a first-year stu-dent on Drake’s rowing team. “It was just great knowing that I was making a positive influence on them.”
“Seeds for Success” originated with the athletic department’s partnership with Character Counts in Iowa, an organization
that promotes character growth in Iowa schools, families, work-places and communities. The or-g a n i z a t i o n also part-ners with two national organizations, the Josephson Institute and the Institute of Excellence and Ethics.
Cara Lutes, a sophomore women’s basketball player, is one of the student-ath-letes who participates in the pro-gram.
“Different student-athletes have developed stories about in-tegrity development, about im-provement development and just confidence in one another,” Lutes said. “We go into middle schools
and share those stories.” Athletes will visit middle
schools in Waukee and Johnston in the coming months.
At the schools, Drake’s ath-letes address classrooms of students, tell-ing their sto-ries.
The stu-dent-athletes do more than
just walk into the schools and talk. There is preparation involved.
“We’ve had sessions where we praise and polish one another’s speeches and stories so I feel well prepared,” said Lutes.
An education major, Lutes wants to work as a middle school teacher and she was very eager to join the program.
“I just kind of heard about it and it really sparked my interest because I really enjoy kids and I know that’s a really pivotal time of your life ... ”
Bri Varela, also a first-year member of the women’s rowing team, hopes to make an impact.
“(It’s great) being able to inter-act with the children and knowing that you may have made a differ-ence in their lives.”
The volunteer student-athletes vary greatly, both in the sports they play and in their majors. To-gether, they will come together on dates later this spring to deliver their messages. “
“It’s just a little thing we can do for the community,” Lutes said.
It’s been awhile since a male cheerleader has graced the court of the Knapp Center, but it has fi-nally happened.
Senior Nathan Bleadorn had never been a cheerleader before this year. In high school, he played football, basketball, tennis, base-ball and ran track, but through-out his years at Drake, he always thought about joining the cheer-leading squad.
“I knew some of the girls on the squad, and we had talked about it in passing,” Bleadorn said. “My dad actually cheered in college, and so it had been in my mind but nothing really concrete had come of it.”
Things changed after he got in touch with the coach and one of the cheer captains, Tessa Wickes. Bleadorn talked to them about what it would entail and tried it out by attending a few practices. He decided to make it official and made his debut a few games into the basketball season.
“The best part is how accepting everyone’s been and how patient they’ve been with me,” Bleadorn said. “It’s exciting for me, and it’s exciting for them too. They’ve been really supportive, and it’s also fun to be at the games and see a lot of people who are excited to see me.”
Members of the cheer team are excited to have a new male mem-ber as well.
“Nate is a major impact to the squad. He is always willing to do
new stunts and he adds a lot of muscle to the team. I would love if more guys would join because it would make the squad stronger and we would be able to do a lot more advance stunts,” first-year cheerleader Sarah Elizabeth Wor-rell said.
Bleadorn practices with the team, but also does additional lift-ing to bulk up and build strength. Bleadorn mainly bases and backs stunts, but he also works with partners in stunts.
Bleadorn also recently learned a new stunt, the “Whirly Bird.” In this stunt, Bleadorn has someone on his shoulders, and another per-son grabs onto that person’s legs, and Bleadorn spins around with these two people attached to him.
A lot of people don’t think of cheerleading as being a tough sport, but Bleadorn says other-wise.
“There’s a lot of behind the scenes work and I’ve gotten a lot of new respect for the cheer squad.
One of the harder parts for Bleadorn was learning how to work together.
“We have to know who is go-ing to be where and when. Safety is important, so getting comfort-able with balance and throws and catches takes practice,” Bleadorn said.
Some students have expressed their excitement in having a male cheerleader on the team now.
“I think it’s great. Most col-leges have male cheerleaders on their squads, so it’s only natural that we should as well,” first-year Kevin Maisto said. “Plus, I have an incredible amount of respect for
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR DRAKE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1884
THE TIMES-DELPHIC |TIMESDELPHIC.COM TWITTER
@TIMESDELPHIC
FACEBOOK
THE TIMES-DELPHIC
Drake University, Des Moines
Vol. 132 | No. 26 | Feb. 04, 2013
Monday February 04, 2013
TDThe
Jennifer Angus: Magpie Tendencies12-24 p.m.Anderson Gallery
Seeds of Success program teaches character building and integrity Student-athletes aim to nurture next generation
Tradition inspires cheerleaderStudent brings exciting new element to cheer squad
Friday
this guy making the effort to try something new.”
In the future, Bleadorn also hopes for more males to join the cheerleading team.
“It’s interesting there’s talk of another guy joining the team and
I’ve talked to some of my friends about joining and I’m hoping it will get the ball rolling and have other guys join it,” Bleadorn said. “We’re working on it.”
While Drake University stu-dents are just diving into a new semester and next year may seem far off, the Peer Advisory Board, PAB, is already gearing up to re-cruit a new batch of students to represent Drake as next fall’s PMACs, or Peer Mentor/Academic Consultant.
This coming year’s PAB con-sists of sophomores Nayasha Mad-han, Alana Linde, Joseph Gale and junior Meghan Price.
“It started when I was a first-year student, I absolutely loved who my PMAC was and had a great time during Welcome Weekend,” said Linde. “I am thrilled to be planning this and implementing all the first-years’ experiences.”
The role of a PMAC is to make the transition to college and Drake as smooth as possible for first-year students. Starting with contact in the summer months to answer any questions and sub-due any lingering fears, a PMAC provides support not only during Welcome Weekend but serves as a mentor and friend for the ensuing school year and even those there-after. Even though she served as a PMAC two years ago before be-
coming a part of PAB, Price said she still keeps in touch with her students.
Gale said there are many fac-tors that go into selecting the new crop of PMACs.
“There are a lot of different as-pects we look for in a student ap-plying, obviously someone who has a lot of charisma, who works well in groups and is very involved and engaged in what Drake Uni-versity is about,” said Gale.
Melissa Sturm-Smith, associ-ate provost for academic excel-lence and student success, and William Hatchet, new student aca-demic facilitator, both oversee the program.
“I think PMACs do have a major impact on students. One of their first experiences here is welcome weekend,” said Hatchet. “I think for someone to come into an en-vironment as a first-year student to have a group of students along with an upper level student can be helpful and comforting in a num-ber of ways.”
Anyone who is passionate about Drake and has an interest in being involved in the acclamation of the incoming class is encour-aged to apply.
THE TIMES-DELPHIC NEWS FEB. 04, 2013 | Page 2
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SENIOR FORWARD BEN SIMONS shoots a 3-pointer against Indiana State on Saturday night at the Knapp Center. Simons led Drake with 21 points en route to a 74-71 overtime victory against Indiana State.
A group of Drake University students are giving back an hour a week through a literacy and men-toring organization called Every-body Wins! Iowa.
Melanie Hopkins, the volun-teer coordinator, said they do it here because they “see a need for it in the community.” The group of Drake students act as mentors to students who are reading be-low grade level, who are English-Language Learners or who show a need for a mentor.
Studies have shown incarcera-tion is correlated with reading levels, and those who are substan-tially behind their grade reading levels are more likely to end up spending time in prison.
“Reading ties into a lot of other areas in a student’s life,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins believes that having another positive adult influence available will be beneficial for the children involved in the program.
First-year Lexi Richter said she got involved after working with the program with her First-year Seminar.
“When we did it with FYS, I re-ally enjoyed it, and I wanted to get involved with the community, and I thought it was a cool way to do it,” Richter said.
When Richter was younger, she was also involved in a similar program and remembers it as be-ing “the coolest thing in the world” for her.
Richter said, she “hope(s) to give a student someone who can be there for them.”
For anyone interested in the programs, Richter adds that “it’s probably the most fun hour you’ll have all week and you can a bigger influence on these kids than any-body your own age.”
Hopkins loves seeing students in the program turn into mentors themselves when they get older, seeing how far students are able to come.
“I love seeing the programs in work, seeing the students act ex-cited on Fridays and seeing kids who think they’re not good read-ers improve their reading,” Hop-kins said.
One girl in the program seems to be the very epitome of that dream. As she sat in the area set aside for the program, she saw one of Drake’s FYS groups walking past the windows and proceeded to jump up and down, saying “Yay! The Drake kids are here! They’re here!” Which set off a chain reac-tion of all the other kids stopping whatever they were doing as they turned towards the entrance in eager anticipation.
When asked why she liked the Drake students, the girl said “be-cause they’re nice, and they play with us, and they read to us.”
Such a little effort on the volun-teers’ part has resulted in a major admiration of Drake students for at least this one child. When asked if she planned on going to Drake when she got older, she said no be-cause she’s not a very good reader. She’s still young and has a few more years with Everybody Wins! Iowa to change that.
Want to have your photograph highlighted in an issue of The Times-Delphic? This semester, we will be featuring the week’s best photographs in each issue. If you have a picture that you think the rest of campus will enjoy, send it to our Photo Editor, Luke Nankivell, at [email protected].
Come sign up for stories or pitch your own. Questions? Email Elizabeth Robinson at [email protected]
Page 3 | FEB. 04, 2013 THE TIMES-DELPHIC
The Times-Delphic strives to represent student views as accurately and honestly as possible. We rely on readers to provide us with criticism, comments and new ideas so that we can continue to serve the interests of the students in the fairest possible way. We encourage interested readers to submit letters to the editor. Letters must include the author’s name and phone number. Unsigned letters will not be published. Deadlines for guest submissions are noon Tuesday for the Thursday edition and noon Friday for the Monday edition. The Times-Delphic reserves the right to edit letters and submissions for space and in the interest of taste. Letters and submissions reflect only the opinions of the authors and should be limited to 250 words. Emailed letters can be sent to [email protected].
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The Times-Delphic is a student newspaper published semi-weekly during the regular academic year and is produced by undergraduate students at Drake University. The opinions of staff editorials reflect the institutional opinion of the newspaper based on current staff opinions and the newspaper’s traditions. These opinions do not necessarily reflect those of individual employees of the paper, Drake University or members of the student body. All other opinions appearing throughout the paper are those of the author or artist named within the column or cartoon. The newsroom and business office of The Times-Delphic are located in Meredith Hall, Room 124. The Times-Delphic is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The editor-in-chief sits on the Board of Student Communications.
Beginning of the year BOOK BUYING made simple with these tips.
DOCKTER throws her arm around a fellow APO member while volunteering for Des Moines’ annual Color Run by spraying paint.
Derek Nipper | staff photographer
Books on a budget: buying textbooks cheaplyUtilize resources for book buying
APO: founded on friendship, giving backCommunity service fraternity a ‘one-of-a-kind experience’
Spring semester is underway, classes have begun and the bit-ing cold has come back with a vengeance. Huddled in the library with their laptops and lattes, students across Drake’s campus are asking themselves the same question: “How can I make this se-mester even better than the last?” Friends, the answer is not to dedi-cate all of your free hours to plan-ning the most epic relays weekend of your dreams. Instead, try these three words on for size: leader-ship, friendship and service.
Alpha Phi Omega, Drake Uni-versity’s co-ed service fraternity,
is actively seeking new pledges to join its ranks. The fraternity, re-ferred to as APO, consists of over 200 student leaders dedicated to giving back to Drake and the com-munity while making friends and memories.
So why should you join APO? As a newly-activated member, I can say truthfully that being in APO has been a one-of-a-kind experi-ence. Being in such a large frater-nity offers the chance to make so many personal connections, both at Drake and in the Des Moines community. The variety of vol-unteer opportunities that the ex-ecutive board offers is unmatched — last semester, I earned hours throwing colored dust at the downtown Color Run and playing bingo with the elderly at Wesley Acres. Additionally, volunteer hours that you may need for other organizations can count toward APO requirements. Sounds pretty neat, right?
Outside of the service compo-nent, APO is dedicated to making sure its members truly enjoy the experience by emphasizing fel-lowship and friendship. Hang out with your new APO friends six
times and you’ve met another fra-ternity requirement. Watch “How I Met Your Mother,” study togeth-er at Smokey Row or grab front row seats at a basketball game — things you do normally with a group become that much better when you’re getting to know your APO brothers.
If you remain unconvinced, I encourage you to stop by the APO booth at the Spring Involvement Fair, Feb. 6 from 5-7 p.m. in Up-per Olmsted. Also, look out for our “AdventureTime”-themed promo-tional materials around campus that provide contact information if you have any questions. Re-cruitment week begins Feb. 11, so instead of deciding whether or not to commit yourself to watch-ing all six seasons of “LOST” this semester, give APO a chance for a rewarding and memorable experi-ence.
With the start of a new semes-ter comes new classes and new textbooks. Where do you go when your literary list is long? To the bookstore? Maybe on Facebook? Or the Internet? I checked in with some Drake University students to see if they had any tips or tricks.
“I go online to Ebay, Chegg and the (Drake) bookstore then order my books from wherever they are cheapest,” said junior Maria Opatz.
Junior Evelyn Lashley is also a fan of Chegg. “I have ordered on-line from Barnes and Noble and Amazon in the past, but Chegg is definitely the most convenient way to buy or rent textbooks. The website is super easy to use, and the books come with a free mail-ing tag so you can send the books you rent back free of charge. This year they threw in a Redbull and some shopping coupons to make me feel better about the pile of 17 books I ordered,” Lashley said.
With the start of the second se-mester, the expenses of books are only rising. There are hundreds of websites, bookstores and sell-ing options that claim to have the “lowest prices.” This can make it hard to find a reputable place to get a great deal on the textbooks you need. To help with the bargain hunt, I have compiled a few reli-able and safe sources that offer great deals on textbooks.
The first option would be to compare prices online. When comparing prices you must also consider each websites shipping rates. Some sites will offer ex-traordinarily low prices on books but charge high shipping rates. Two websites I have found with low prices on both books and ship-ping are Amazon.com and Half Price Books (www.hpb.com). Half Price Books charges a standard shipping rate of $3.99 per book, which Amazon’s shipping rates are determined by the seller. Both
of these sites are reputable and of-fer greats deals on new and used textbooks.
Another option to consider when purchasing your textbooks is community selling groups. Drake University students have created a Facebook group where Drake students can post text-books they wish to purchase or sell called “Textbook Exchange.” With these groups you can avoid shipping fees but the inventory is select. Groups like these can be utilized within Greek life, social groups or residence halls. Com-munity selling groups offer a con-venient way to buy and sell text-books.
Buying textbooks on a college student’s budget can be difficult, but it is achievable with the vari-ous options offered to buy and sell textbooks. To help narrow down the choices we have offered two reputable sites with low prices on books and shipping and shed light on community selling groups. These options should offer some reliable options when bargain hunting for books.
Sells is a first-year law, politics and society major and can be reached at [email protected]
Katie Ramsey
Columnist
Ramsey is a first-year public relations major and can be reached at [email protected]
Madison Dockter
Columnist
Dockter is a sophomore public relations and politics double major and can be reached at [email protected]
Amazon• Buy, rent or sell new or used
textbooks (eBooks offered as well).
• Along with Amazon products, other vendors can sell their goods through the site as well, often re-sulting in lower prices.
• Shipping costs and delivery dates vary depending on which vendor you buy from and which level of Amazon membership you have.
Chegg• Buy, rent or sell new or used
textbooks (eBooks offered as well).
• Sell your books to the site and they will pay you for your book and then take care of the hassle of reselling.
• Full refund of shipping costs if you books arrive late.
• Known to send quirky gifts if your textbook load is extra heavy (Red Bull, various gift certifi-cates).
University Book Store• Buy, rent or sell new or used
textbooks. • Offers the “Best Price Prom-
ise.” Guaranteed to match the price of a verified vendor (if Chegg is selling the book for $50 and the Book Store is selling the same book for $60 they will reduce their price).
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“I hoped that reading and studying in London would enable students to question some of their assumptions about the places depicted in Dickens’ novels.”
— Melisa Klimaszewski, Drake professor
THE DICKENS MUSEUM was just one of the many stops regarding Charles Dickens for students visiting London for their J-term
High LGBT rating for DSMEquality for community in DSM above national average, study shows
For the first time cities around America have been rated based on their LGBT inclusion in their com-munities.
There were 137 cities rated including all 50 state capitals and the 50 largest cities (other than the capi-tals) according to the 2010 U.S. Census.
The test is called the Municipal Equal-ity Index, and the data showed that despite improvements in LGBT rights many cities still are not up to par.
Despite these statis-tics, Des Moines scored 79 out of a possible 100 points, a score above the national average, and students at Drake University in the LGBT community seem to agree with the rating.
“I feel Des Moines’ rating above the na-tional average is fitting, but it’s noticeable in the ranking that there’s still a ways to go,” said alumnus Ryan Price.
Price feels like he is treated well in Des Moines, but he is, “ ... uncertain how much of that is because I’m in Des Moines and how much is because I’m usually on Drake’s campus.”
According to the study, smaller cities in the Midwest, Southwest-ern or Southern regions of our country scores tended to be lower. Junior Jared Netley has experi-enced feelings of this exclusion
the study has highlighted first-hand.
“I grew up in a smaller town with a minority population of less than 1 percent,” Netley said. “Be-ing gay is definitely something that makes you stand out ... I nev-er felt that I was singled out for it, but it’s definitely something you think people associate with you.”
Luckily, Netley has found a bet-ter, more supportive environment in the Des Moines area.
“Here, people just don’t care. I think it is the same as being on Drake’s campus,” Netley said.
The test rates the cities in six categories at the state, county or city level: non-discriminatory laws, relationship recognition,
municipality as employer, munici-pal services and programs, mu-nicipality as law enforcement, and municipality’s relationship with the LGBT Community.
The main criterion of the study that Des Moines lacks is the sec-tion concerning municipality as an employer, which is weighted heaviest because the city has the
power to correct it — it is not a section justifiable by popu-lation, size or other factors.
In addition to the areas of nec-essary growth in municipality as an employer, Price sees another way Des Moines could improve its inclu-sion rating.
“If churches and places of wor-ship were welcom-ing to all people as well, that would help LGBT people feel included in Des Moines by leaps and bounds,” Price said.
Even though there are many
i m p r o v e m e n t s to be made, Des Moines is still
on its way to being one of the top LGBT-inclusive communities in the nation.
A group of 17 Drake students journeyed to England over Jan-uary-term to study the works of Charles Dickens. Professors Meli-sa Klimaszewski and Craig Ow-ens led the travel seminar, titled “Dickens in London.”
“I hoped that reading and studying in London would enable students to question some of their assumptions about the places de-picted in Dickens’ novels,” said K l i m a s z e -wski. “I also hoped that students would be able to reflect analytically on how their expe-rience of a physi-cal place affects the way they imagine a fic-tional text.”
The seminar was worth three credit hours and included four pre-travel class meetings. Dur-ing these meet-ings, the pro-fessors asked students to par-ticipate in class discussions and prepare a brief presentation on a historical de-tail related to the novel “Little Dorrit.”
The travel portion of the seminar lasted two weeks. The group spent most of the trip in London, but also visited Rochester, Oxford and the Lake District.
Dickens’ only remaining Lon-don home, now the Charles Dick-ens Museum, provided a unique venue for class meetings. The group explored the museum be-fore its first meeting in the confer-ence room.
Senior Alex McKeighan said she was excited to take this travel seminar. One of McKeighan’s fa-vorite experiences was visiting the Dickens Museum.
“When you’re talking about Charles Dickens and where he wrote, it’s different than actually being where he was,” said McK-eighan. “It was cool to see the ob-jects and where they might have been, but there’s still the sense that you’re in a museum. That al-
lowed us to have some interest-ing class discussions about the museum’s choices in presenting Dickens’ life.”
An additional member of the group was a Charles Dickens ac-tion figure owned by Klimasze-wski. McKeighan said she enjoyed many photo-ops with tiny Dick-ens.
“It was fun pretending he was the real Dickens returning to his home,” said McKeighan. “We took tiny Dickens to his grave in West-minster, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures. That was disap-
pointing.”S o p h o m o r e
Jennifer Heart-ley said she was itching to visit England and es-pecially enjoyed the group’s trip to Lake District.
“My favorite text for the class was ‘The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices’ by Charles Dick-ens and Wilkie Collins,” said Heartley. “Car-rock Fell, and Keswick, and the Lake District area gave a feel of placement in the story and brought the ex-perience alive.”
A new ver-sion of the Dick-ens in London tour will be presented at the J-term fair later this month.
“ P r o f e s s o r Owens and I are looking forward
to offering this course
again in Janu-ary 2014, and we will shift the theme to Gothic literature,” said Klimaszewski. “We’ll read texts like ‘Dracula’ and ‘Northanger Abbey,’ take night tours of Gothic London, and tour cemeteries. I ad-mit to already being spooked by the prospect of a tour of Highgate Cemetery at night. The side trips will include visits to Devon and Bath, so there will be new things for the next class to explore.”
ALYSON BROWDER smiles broadly while participating in swing dancing.
Energetic music, budding friendships and a lively atmo-sphere. These were the vibrant elements in the air at the Swing Dance and Jazz Night on Nov. 30. The Bulldog Swing Society, in col-laboration with the Turner Jazz Center, helped put on this event in celebration of becoming an official student organization on Drake University’s campus. Although students and community mem-bers alike attended for different reasons, the 60 dancers in atten-dance enjoyed dancing the night away.
“I attended because I absolute-ly love swing dancing, and I try to go every chance I get,” first-year Austin Garner said.
Senior Caitlin Podemski at-tended the event for a different reason entirely.
“I attended because I am the marketing coordinator for the jazz center, plus the event was a huge hit last year, and I didn’t get a chance to go, so I wanted to check it out.”
Senior Alyson Browder, found-er of the Bulldog Swing Society, explains why there needed to be such an organization on campus.
“My hope in founding Bulldog Swing Society is to get college-age students to have a place that is convenient for them to learn the culture of swing dancing as well as the dance itself in a fun, safe envi-ronment, so that they will have the drive to eventually go out and en-joy all the other wonderful swing opportunities in the area.”
Browder has always had a pas-sion for swing dancing and want-ed other students to “catch the
bug” that envelops the excitement of swing dancing.
Swing dancing is not an over-night skill. It takes time and prac-tice. Garner, as an experienced swing dancer, explained one of the difficulties he has with swing dancing.
“One main difficulty is keeping your correct footwork even as you are doing the all of the cool stuff, because once you get off, it’s hard to get back on.”
There are also massive ben-efits. Browder explains that it’s about self-betterment in several ways. “Swing dancing is not sim-ply about having fun. It’s about meeting new people, developing new skills, challenging yourself intellectually and physically when learning new moves, being intro-
duced to new cultures, learning how to interact with your dance partners, getting physical exer-cise in a fun way, relieving stress, learning the art of dance and the musicality of the songs and all in a healthy, fun and safe environ-ment.”
Garner also said being a swing dancer “isn’t too bad with the la-dies either.”
Podemski enjoyed the feel-ing that swing dancing provides even with being new to the scene, “I sucked at it and still had a good time. You can pretty much just go with the flow and do whatever which is really fun.”
To find out more about Bulldog Swing Society, visit its Facebook page.
“I feel Des Moines’ rating above the national average is fitting, but it’s noticeable in the ranking that there’s still a ways to go.”
— Ryan Price, Drake alumnus
courtesy of EMILY HECKER
courtesy of ALYSON BROWDER
Page 5 | FEB. 04, 2013 FEATURES THE TIMES-DELPHIC
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Drake Curriculum
“I’ve had numerous students apply to grad school in anthropology and all of them have been admitted with deficiencies because they’re supposed to have at least four semesters of a foreign language, which they can’t get here.”
Language department needs improvementStudent complaints result in little action by department heads
Many Drake University stu-dents say that it is difficult to ful-fill the school’s “responsible glob-al citizenship” mission statement tenet with the current language program.
The university’s world lan-guages and cultures program, part of the College of Arts and Sci-ences, offers a certificate of com-petence. This requires two semes-ters of language studies beyond the intermediate level, a course in intercultural communication and a study abroad experience, in-cluding a pre-abroad class, a class while abroad and a post-abroad capstone.
There are varied com-plaints from stu-dents about this program, which include a lack of speaking time, inability to com-plete the abroad experience and a lack of gram-matical focus.
Brady Deprey is a first-year pursuing a cer-tificate in Span-ish language and culture.
“I think on paper, the WLC program is awe-some, but the 50 minutes we meet, twice a week with our professors flies by, and we can’t always get all the time we need to talk,” Deprey said. “We need more speaking time, and the native speaker sessions and class sessions each need to achieve certain goals ... lecture sessions are for grammar and culture and reading and as-signments; speaking sessions are strictly for speaking and getting better at thinking on our feet.”
The certificate of competence is available in seven languages, in-cluding Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian and the two most popular Spanish and Arabic.
Twelve years ago, Drake had a modern language department that had majors and minors avail-able, Marc Cadd said, director of the WLC program.
“For a variety of reasons that department was dissolved, dis-banded and almost all of those professors left Drake,” Cadd said.
Cadd has been the director of the WLC program for eight years. The modern language depart-ment had been long gone by the time he was hired. He recalled that the program in place earlier specified that students only met with language professors during office hours, and the class time
was always with native speakers whom were trained by the profes-sor. Slightly more than half of the professors were not at Drake.
The certificate of competence program started four years ago with 25 students pursuing it.
Now, professors meet with students during class time twice per week, and the native speakers come once per week. All seven lan-guages have professors on cam-pus as of this semester. Around 40 students are registered as pursuing the certificate, meaning approximately five more students per year register.
In interviews, a half-dozen stu-dents have expressed interest in pursuing a language if it were a degree program rather than a cer-
tificate. J o s e p h
Lenz, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said he is not often contacted by students and has only heard from a small number who would prefer a degree.
“The stu-dent interest does not war-rant it,” he said. “While enrollment in the first two years of the languages has been good, it falls off sharp-ly after the second year.”
Advoc at es say the pro-gram has made improvements
over the years and the profes-
sors and students are dedicated to continuing its development.
Brian Adams-Thies is a profes-sor of anthropology and women’s studies. He studied abroad as an undergraduate and later complet-ed his Ph.D. researching in Spain. He has lived abroad multiple times for a total of seven years.
“I’ve had numerous students apply to grad school in anthropol-ogy and all of them have been ad-mitted with deficiencies because they’re supposed to have at least four semesters of a foreign lan-guage which they can’t get here,” he said.
Adams-Thies is working with Cadd, among others, to reinstate a Latin American studies concen-tration.
Erin Swierczek left Drake for the University of Wisconsin-Mad-ison, where she is studying psy-chology and linguistics.
“My Spanish professor (at Madison) has a pre-scheduled, relevant lesson plan each class pe-riod, and she is very well educated and experienced in teaching her language to non-native speakers,”
Swierczek said. “She is very skilled at taking
an English speaker’s perspec-tive when approaching a certain grammatical concept. I thought my Drake professor lacked that component of teaching, one that I find very crucial.”
There are 12 professors of lan-guage at Drake this semester, and every language has at least one professor. This is the first time since Cadd became the director of the WLC program that this has been a reality.
“Some of them have not taught college level (classes) before, though they all have at least the Master’s degree or a Ph.D., so there have been some glitches,” Cadd said. “I imagine the spring semester being much smoother than the fall semester has been.
Supporters say the benefit of the certificate program, besides that it is can be marked on a tran-script, is the study abroad experi-ence. Being abroad requires the student to use his or her knowl-edge of the language and culture through 12 delineated tasks, which include requiring the stu-dent to attend a public event and interviewing attendees about the event and its significance.
Some students find, however, that they cannot go abroad.
Senior Zac Pace is not pursuing the certificate because it is not rel-evant to his career goals. He took three years of Mandarin Chinese in high school, but has not taken a Chinese course since then.
Pace believes that learning a language is important for stu-dents. “It helps them understand their native language better, and opens them up to more cultural experiences,” Pace said.
He found that acquiring the certificate is difficult. “Studying abroad isn’t always possible, espe-cially financially.”
Maggie Olson, a sophomore Spanish student who is studying abroad in Spain for the spring se-mester, is not pursuing the WLC certificate.
“No one notified me that I had to take WLC 80 before going abroad,” she said. “And it’s only a certificate, not a degree of any type.”
Olson took four years of Hon-ors Spanish in high school, but has avoided the language courses at Drake because of what she has heard.
Cadd has seen the program in many stages. Currently, he be-lieves it is “in a lot better place than we were eight years ago, when I started.”
He has just finished writing a
five-year plan for the program. This includes the addition of American Sign Language in the fall of 2013, experiential learning, summer institutes in four of the seven offered languages, a first-year seminar for students who are interested in languages and a January-term course for 2014.
The plans for the next five years likely will not be required for the certificate, but would rather supplement the learning for students who wish to increase their language skills and knowl-edge of other cultures.
Cadd wants students to come to him if they do not feel like they are benefitting from the World Languages and Cultures program.
“I can’t change things if I’m not aware of what needs to be changed,” he said. “We are defi-nitely aware of what we’re doing, we’re definitely aware of some of the problems that there definitely have been in the past, and we’re pretty proactively trying to ad-dress those, and we feel good … about where we’re at right now.”
Cadd can be reached via email at [email protected]. He wel-comes appointments surrounding this topic.
Language Programs at Drake>> Various languages available
Drake’s language program offers a certificate of com-petence, which requires:
•Two semesters of language studies beyond the intermediate level•A course in intercultural communication•A study abroad experience, including a pre-abroad
class•A class while abroad•A post-abroad capstone
The certificate on competence is available in these languages:
•Chinese•French•German•Japanese
•Russian•Spanish•Arabic
A game of runs — that’s what the women’s basketball game against Creighton was on Satur-day. Unfortunately, it ended with Drake’s downfall, 98-71.
“Creighton is a very, very good basketball team,” Drake head coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “They are experienced, and they have great chemistry. I’m proud of my team, though. We showed we had some runs in us, but we are still learning how to make sure we quickly contain other teams’ runs.”
Morgan Reid led the team in scoring with 16 points and Kyn-dal Clark contributed 13 points. Creighton, who is currently ranked second in the Missouri Valley Conference, played a tough defense that made it difficult for Drake to penetrate.
“They exposed us, and we ex-posed them,” Baranczyk said. “They just hit all their shots that exposed us, and we need to knock some of those down.”
The Bulldogs jumped the gun
and led in the first half with a 7-1 run. Creighton quickly retaliated with six 3-pointers in the follow-ing 10 minutes.
“It comes with maturity. It’s a game of runs,” Reid said. “We need to build on that and keep going.”
Marissa Janning led Creighton with 22 points and helped Creigh-ton defeat the Bulldogs. McKenzie Fujan added 20 points.
“We wish we could have dic-tated more shots, they had great looks and they put them in,” Clark said.
The Bluejays shot 65 percent from the floor and had a strong of-fense against the Bulldogs in both halves.
“It’s hard for any team to come out and shoot like that both halves especially when they’re not on their home court, and that’s kind of what we were hoping for,” Clark said.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and the Bluejays pulled away from the Bulldogs in the second half by scoring 13-straight points, creating a gap Drake just couldn’t close.
The Bulldogs finished the game
shooting 50 percent from behind the arc and 44 percent from the field. They also shot well from the free throw line, sinking 17 of 21 attempts.
The Bluejays currently lead the Valley in three point shooting and shot 46 percent from behind the arc on Saturday. Janning led the team in 3-pointers with five.
“We just played our game. We gave them our best shot and not that that’s the best we can play, but we played hard and we played together and our shots were fall-ing. They kind of came back and hit a shot, and we kind of backed down and took a step back. We have a young team and that’s something we’re working on,” Clark said. “Hopefully by the end of the year we’ll have it all figured out, and we’ll keep making those runs until the end of the game.”
The Bulldogs will take on Illi-nois State on Friday, Feb. 8 in Nor-mal, Ill.
Senior Ben Simons sank three back-to-back 3-pointers en route to a 74-71 overtime win versus Indiana State on Saturday night at the Knapp Center. The victory improved Drake to 11-11 overall and 5-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Unpredictable plays characterized Saturday’s contest from start to finish. Junior Gary Ricks Jr. drained a half-court shot with 0.1 seconds remaining in the first half. Simons needed only a minute and 32 seconds to nail a trio of 3-point-ers in the second stanza. Fifth-year se-nior Chris Hines sealed Drake’s win with a pair of late free throws on his first and last trip to the charity stripe.
Drake head coach Mark Phelps praised the Bulldogs’ performance against a dan-gerous Indiana State squad.
“We got a terrific win tonight against arguably the hottest team in the Valley,”
Phelps said.The Bulldogs struggled to stop Indi-
ana State’s versatile offense early, as a trio of unanswered baskets yielded a 20-12 deficit with 7:59 left in the opening stanza. Senior Jordan Clarke answered the Sycamores’ early run with a run of his own. The 6-foot-8 forward drowned consecutive layups along with a free throw to pull Drake within a possession at 20-17.
With Indiana State poised to enter halftime with a 34-29 advantage, Hines found Ricks in the center of Ron Pearson Court. Ricks’ half-court heave swished through the net as the buzzer sounded to narrow the Sycamore lead to a single possession at 34-32.
The MVC foes traded momentum to open the second half until Simons hit a trio of treys. The 6-foot-8 forward used a pair of screens to down his first 3-point-er at the 16:54 mark. Less than a minute later, Simons sank another bucket be-hind the arc. He drained another three with 15:22 left in regulation to lead Indi-
ana State 44-38.Freshman Joey King followed Simons’
lead. Despite late foul trouble, King reg-istered a pair of key baskets as regula-tion ticked away. With Drake behind a point at 62-61, King nailed a jumper to reclaim the Bulldog lead. With 1:09 left in regulation, King scored inside to put Drake up 67-65.
Though the Sycamores evened the scoreboard at 67 apiece to force over-time, Phelps lauded King’s late presence.
“Joey (King) has great courage and composure as a freshman,” Phelps said. “We really played our offense through Joey King down the home stretch. It’s a sign of what we can expect throughout his career.”
Simons’ outside presence again en-ergized Drake as he drowned another 3-pointer to open overtime. Clarke scored inside with 3:39 to play to lift Drake at 72-67. The Sycamores respond-ed with consecutive buckets to narrow Drake’s advantage to a tally at 72-71.
Indiana State fouled Hines with six
seconds remaining. Hines netted both attempts to seal the Bulldogs’ 74-71 vic-tory. Though Hines boasts 81.3 percent free throw shooting on the 2012-13 sea-son, he faced unfamiliar pressure at the charity stripe on Saturday.
“It was very different on the free throw line, but I am grateful for that shot and opportunity,” Hines said.
Four Bulldogs reached double figures in scoring against the Sycamores. Simons led Drake with 21 points. Clarke finished with 13 tallies. King contributed 12 points. Junior Richard Carter added 11.
Saturday’s overtime win heralded an-other surge of optimism for the Bulldogs, who have struggled with inconsistency throughout the 2012-13 campaign.
“It’s safe to say it’s an up-and-down season,” Simons said. “We have grown as a team, though.”
The Bulldogs will take on Illinois State on Wednesday night at the Knapp Center. Tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.
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Women’s Basketball
Men’s Basketball
FRESHMAN GUARD ALEXIS ECKLES drives inside against a pair of Creighton defenders on Saturday afternoon at the Knapp Center.
SENIOR JORDAN CLARKE drives to the basket against Missouri Valley Conference rival Indiana State on Saturday night at the Knapp Center. Clarke finished with 13 points.
‘Experienced’ Bluejays topple inconsistent BulldogsCreighton scores 13 unanswered points to doom Drake in second half
Bulldogs outlast Sycamores in overtimeFour Bulldogs reach double figures in scoring against Indiana State
Jeremy Leong | staff photographer
Morgan Cannata | staff photographer
The No. 43 Drake men’s tennis team returned home to the Roger Knapp Tennis Center and contin-ued its winning ways this past Friday. The Bulldogs added two victories to their resume after de-feating Graceland and 2012 NCAA tournament participant UMKC.
Drake started off its four-game home stand with the Graceland Yellowjackets, a team that com-petes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. The Bulldogs wasted no time in grab-bing the early lead, as they lost only four games in the three dou-bles matches played. Drake took a 1-0 lead into singles play, where it was equally as dominant.
Senior Anis Ghorbel soon pushed the lead to 2-0 after a convincing 6-0, 6-1 victory over Graceland’s Raul Mendez, who holds a national ranking of No. 25 in the NAIA. After two losses in singles at the ITA Kick-Off last weekend, this was Ghorbel’s first victory of the spring season.
The next Drake victory came from sophomore Ben Mullis, who was playing at the fourth singles position for this match. Despite playing two positions higher than normal, Mullis cruised to an easy 6-0, 6-1 victory over Ignacio Osse.
The winning tally came from senior James McKie at the second singles position. Graceland’s Da-vid Uquillas, who carries a NAIA ranking of No. 29, was no match for McKie. McKie, who has a rank-ing of No. 68 in NCAA Division I,
posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory to seal the match.
Sophomore Grant Tesmer, se-nior Ryan Drake and senior Jean Erasmus also won their matches in straight sets, at the fifth, sixth and third singles positions, re-spectively.
The Bulldogs then moved on to play the University of Missouri-Kansas City just a few hours later. UMKC was no team to overlook though, as it won the 2012 Summit League conference tournament to advance to the NCAA tournament. The UMKC roster was led by re-turning Summit League Player of the Year Grant Fleming.
Just hours after playing against Graceland, Drake captured the doubles point in speedy fashion, after capturing victories at the second and third doubles posi-tions. The pairing of Mullis and Tesmer posted a flawless 8-0 vic-tory at the third position, while Erasmus and Salibasic sealed the doubles point with an 8-2 win. Ghorbel and McKie, who are cur-rently ranked No. 16 in the nation in doubles, found themselves in a tight battle against Grant Fleming and Tomas Patino. The Drake duo would avoid the upset though, as it went on to win 8-7 (6).
Like doubles play, singles was overwhelmingly in Drake’s favor. Erasmus was the first Bulldog to tally a singles victory over UMKC, as his 6-1, 6-0 win at the fourth position put Drake up 2-0. The next win came from No. 35 Ghor-bel, who earned his second singles win of 2013 over Nino Hasandecic 6-3, 6-0.
“It was very important for me
to get these two good wins to get back to my winning groove,” Ghorbel said. “I didn’t have a good weekend in Malibu, I was just back from a very long, tiring trip, so physically I couldn’t handle the conditions there, but now I feel much better. I rested well, and I’m moving my legs much better. I’m finding my game back, which is awesome.”
The clinching singles win came at the third singles spot, where No. 86 Salibasic easily dispatched Fleming. Salibasic came across minimal resistance in his 6-0, 6-1 win.
The only resistance against the Roos came at the second singles position, where Tomas Patino pushed McKie to a third set super-tiebreaker. McKie would eventu-ally win 3-6, 6-2, (10-6).
“Played an ugly match, couldn’t feel the ball, and I was getting frustrated,” McKie said. “Some-times it happens, and you just have to find a way to win and I managed to do that.”
Mullis and Tesmer posted straight sets victories at the fifth and sixth singles positions to give the Bulldogs their second 7-0 sweep of the day.
Drake finished its weekend with two more home matches, against Green Bay and Nebraska-Kearney, and those results will be available in the next edition of The Times-Delphic.
Morgan Dezenski | staff photographer
Page 7 | FEB. 04, 2013 SPORTS THE TIMES-DELPHIC
PageSeven
Column Column
Track and Field
Men’s Tennis
SOPHOMORE GRANT TESMER finishes a backhand volley against Nebraska-Kearney on Sunday at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
Intramurals debut changes for spring Bulldogs bounce back
Drake dominates Graceland, UMKC at home
Austin, Scholl pace Drake at Frank Sevigne Husker Invite
Junior Brogan Austin and freshman Taylor Scholl led Drake track and field at the Frank Sevi-gne Husker Invitational on Satur-day in Lincoln, Neb.
Austin finished second in the mile to cap day two of the meet hosted by Nebraska University. After battling anemia throughout
the 2012 cross country campaign, Austin welcomed a new year, new health and new opportunities on the track.
“I am finally healthy,” Austin said. “I’ve been hitting some good workouts, and I’m excited.”
He finished the mile with a time of four minutes, 13.36 seconds on Saturday. Fifth-year senior Char-lie Lapham crossed the line 0.06 seconds later to take third.
In Drake women’s action,
Scholl clocked 5:09.32 in the mile to claim fifth place.
The Drake women welcomed 15 freshmen this season, while the Drake men welcomed nine. Though the transition to Division I competition heralds a host of chal-lenges, the Bulldog newcomers ad-justed immediately. Junior sprint-er Brett Wright understands the challenges associated with that transition.
“Adjusting when you’re young
can be tough,” Wright said. “There’s going to be more train-ing than you’re used to from high school, and running indoors can be a little more taxing on the body, but we really haven’t had many in-juries so far, and all of the fresh-men are keeping up. They’re run-ning great.”
With just four meets complete, the Bulldogs have high expecta-tions for the remainder of the 2013 campaign.
“Team morale is high, and I think, when you have that atmo-sphere among the team as a whole, you want to keep working hard and do well,” Wright said.
The Bulldogs are back in action at the Iowa State Classic on Friday and Saturday in Ames. The com-petition starts at 10 a.m. on Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturday.
Welcome back, Drake athletes! I hope that your winter break has been relaxing because it is time to get back into shape. Intramurals returns this week with competi-tive basketball. Unfortunately, there are no sports to comment on for this week’s article. Instead, here are a couple of changes to look for at intramurals this se-mester.
New and Improved OfficialsThis upcoming basketball sea-
son marks the beginning of a new training technique in intramurals. Originally, trainings consisted of a brief slide show presentation and a practical portion. The practi-cal portion consisted of stations led by the supervisors. This year, however, our trainings got super-sized.
Training consisted of two days. The first day was a classroom training day. Everyone, including supervisors, took a rule test to see exactly how much of the rulebook they understood. Next, everyone watched videos to analyze fouls. However, that instant replay will not be helpful in an intramural championship game. Hence, the second day of training.
The practical portion went above and beyond our previous training sessions. Every court had three full games. Every official, even our most experienced and talented officials, had to referee under the scrutiny of the supervi-sors and juniors supervisors Lisa and Bill. This was an incredible learning opportunity for our offi-cials. Instead of making mistakes or missing calls during an impor-
tant game, our officials got to stop the clock and discuss their ques-tions.
All together our training ses-sion was six hours long, triple the amount of time as our previous trainings. The goal of these in-tense trainings was to make sure our officials are the best they can
be and in return we hope our ath-letes can appreciate our dedica-tion as well.
New FacesBefore I wrap up this article
with a rule reminder for the week, there are two changes to our staff this semester. Jake Wasserman has returned to our supervisor staff this semester after studying abroad. Everyone on staff is happy to have him back with our intra-murals family! Another exciting change happened with Keri Bud-nik graduating this past Decem-ber. Usually this would be a very sad occasion for the staff, but Keri is not leaving us yet. Instead, Keri
has graduated from being a su-pervisor to an intramurals intern. Keri is now Bill Moorman’s right-hand woman and your go-to-girl for all things intramurals. If you have any intramurals questions, you can email [email protected].
New RulesHere is your rule reminder for
the week. As you all know, no I.D., no play. We are adding a new twist to that rule. This past basketball season, a lot of our nice blue jer-seys went missing. (We assume the Bell Center ghosts took them to play pick up basketball late at night.) Nevertheless, we have be-come cautious with our jerseys this year. This has led us to some changes for check-in time. As al-ways bring your Drake I.D., but now when you take a jersey you will not get your I.D. back until you have handed the scorekeeper your jersey. This new policy will replace the previous method of re-turning your jersey directly to the hamper. We know this will take more time, but we want to make sure intramurals has good gear for our participants. You don’t want to wear the small, old, wrin-kly ones do you? As always stay safe, and play ball!
P.S. – If you find any of our ghost-stolen jerseys, please re-turn them to the Bell Center!
Welcome back! I hope you didn’t drive your parents nuts over our six-week break (or vise versa) and are getting settled in for the new semester. A lot has happened since I last wrote. I’ve finished a couple TV series on Netflix, taken count-less naps and enjoyed having no schoolwork. But as exhilarating as that all sounds, I’d much rather talk about bas-ketball. Con-ference season is in full swing. Our team is growing ev-ery day. Since our 0-6 start to conference, we have made great strides.
I know what I’m “sup-posed” to talk about. I’m sup-posed to say how hard we play even if our record doesn’t show it. I’m supposed to say we have fought every game. I’m sup-posed to say we aren’t playing to our potential. I’m supposed to say we have lost to teams we should have beaten. Yes, all of that is true, but that’s not exactly where my message is going today.
My message is this: We are sick of losing! This is the roughest start we’ve had since I have been here. I read a quote the other day that said, “Defeat is a greater test of character than winning.” Holy cow. I think our entire team would agree with that. Sure, everyone loses as some point in his or her
career, but six in a row sure tests you.
With that being said, I’m so proud that we were able to bounce back and string together two wins last weekend. That alone is a tes-tament to how strong the morale of our team is — even after the start we had. There isn’t a team in America that likes to lose. Perhaps
losing is a bless-ing in disguise because for the rest of the season I know we will all be hungrier than ever to go out with a bang.
There is some-thing about be-ing the underdog that I really enjoy. In all honesty, nobody (except ourselves) really expectS us to do much this year.
It’s one thing to win the confer-ence as the one seed, but a com-pletely different story when some-one at the bottom takes it home. That’s what we are envisioning. Anything is possible if we just be-lieve.
Carly Grenfell
Columnist
Grenfell is a junior public relations and management double major and can be reached at [email protected]
Joanie Barry
Columnist
Barry is a junior radio-television and secondary education double major and can be reached at [email protected]
