Month: January 2012

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Sports

Women’s swimming cruises past Lehigh

By Lindsay Regruto

Staff Writer

Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 won three individual events while Tara Boyle ’15, Tori Molchany ’15, and Katie Hetherington ’15 took the top three spots in both diving events to lead the women’s swimming and diving team to a 189-111 victory at Lehigh on Saturday.

“The diving team did really well against Lehigh. We all worked hard in practice in the week before the meet, which really helped us all to perform well … I’m really proud of the whole team,” Boyle said.

Porcellio was named Patriot League Female Swimmer of the Week and Molchany Female Diver of the Week for their efforts. The awards were firsts for both women this season.

Boyle, Molchany and Hetherington all scored above 235 in the one-meter dive. Boyle’s 249.74 places her fifth in program history. Molchany moved to eighth in program history on the one-meter with 236.24 and fifth on the three-meter with 255.30.

Porcellio took first in the 200-yard freestyle, 100 fly, and 200 IM, setting a career best at 58.52 in the 100 fly. Two other Bison posted multiple wins–-Kelly Pontecorvo ’14 in the 500 and 1,000 free and Lauren Perry ’15 in the 50 and 100 free.

Kaitlyn Sweeney ’12 also took first in the 200 fly. The meet ended with a victory in the 400 free relay by Marisa Taddeo ’13, Perry, Kaitlyn Utkewicz ’14 and Porcellio.

“It was a great way to end our dual meet season,” Pontecorvo said. “We left the seniors with a proud win and the entire team in a position to be excited about.”

“Times at this meet were not the main focus of our goals as we were tired and worn down from a hard week of training,” Sweeney said. “The fact that we raced well and met the challenge of winning the meet was a great way to end the season and hopefully a foretelling sign of our preparation for Patriots and ECACs.”

Overall, the women had victories in 11 of 16 events. The Bison finish their dual season 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the Patriot League. The Orange and Blue travel to Annapolis, Md. this Saturday for the Navy Invitational.

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Sports

Men’s swimming avenges last season’s loss

By Scott Padula

Writer

The men’s swimming and diving team concluded its dual meet season by defeating Lehigh on the road Saturday, 191-107. The win gave the men their best record since the 2008-09 season at 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Patriot League.

“It’s always a big meet when we face them. The last time we swam them at their pool they destroyed us, so it was really great to see how we came out swinging, and never let down until the meet was over,” said Mike Nicholson ’14. “A team like them if you give up any points, they can capitalize and make the meet a lot closer than we would have wanted, so luckily that didn’t happen.”

The Bison took first place in 14 of the 16 events. Eric Sokolosky ’12, Matthew Segar ’12, Christian Treat ’13 and Mike Nicholson ’14 led the charge, each capturing two first-place victories. Segar won the 200 and 500-yard freestyle, Treat took the 100 and 200 breastroke and Nicholson captured the 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley. Sokolosky won the 50 and 100 freestyle.”

Sokolosky also was part of the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams, giving him a team-high four first-place wins. Other Orange and Blue winners on the day included Thomas Brown ’12, Taylor Harris ’12, Trevor Reitz ’14 and George Beatty ’15. Notable performances also came from Billy Krause ’13 and Ben Seketa ’15. Krause edged out Seketa for second place in the 200 individual medley, while Seketa finished second in both the 100 and 200 breastroke.

“We have been training very hard this year, and it is no surprise that our guys have performed so well.  It was very satisfying to go to Lehigh and beat them in their own pool after they did the same to us last year. We look forward to continuing our high level of intensity and improving as championship season draws near,” Evan Palumbo ’12 said.

The Orange and Blue end their regular season this weekend in Annapolis, Md. to compete at the Navy Invitational.

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Sports

Women’s track finishes second at home

By Katherine Harris

Writer

Though the women’s track team fell just short of Duquesne University for first place overall, the team performed strongly on its home turf last Saturday in the Gulden Invitational. The Orange and Blue ended the day with 29 top-five finishes.

Two highlights of the day were first-place finishes by the Bison in both the 4 x 800 relay and the 400 meters. Jennifer Zymet ’14 earned her first gold medal of the year with the 400 meter victory.

“I’m happy with my individual performance for the most part, but there is definitely room for improvement,” Zymet said. “It’s a difficult task to double, triple or even quadruple in events with strong performance in each, but by the time leagues come around our bodies will be trained and strong enough to be able to compete in several events successfully.”

In the mile, Beth Braunegg ’14 broke five minutes for the first time in her career and moved up to sixth all-time in program history. Emma Rice ’15 entered her first top-10 list with a time of 8.04 in the 60 meter, tying for ninth all-time. In the pole vault, Autumn Schellenberger ’14 beat her personal best 10-10 and tied for eighth all-time.

Sarah Bella ’12, who placed third on the all-time list last year, clinched second place with her first throw of the year over 45 feet. Rebecca Misko ’12 grabbed fourth in the event and kept her place of sixth in program history.

“I was happy with my performance, although I do believe I have a lot more to prove before the winter season is over,” Bella said. “I was really impressed with the effort and determination that the team showed yesterday and I believe that with more confidence and training the team will be hard to beat in the upcoming Patriot League Championships.”

The Orange and Blue will continue to prepare for the Patriot League Championships this weekend with the Bison Open & Multi and the Penn State National Invitational.

“It was a pretty good meet for us. However, I feel as though we need to work on our confidence level and get a little tougher to fight for every single place and point. We left some points on the board that we should have got and allowed a very good Duquesne team to beat us here at home,” head coach Kevin Donner said. “It was a great experience to help us work on our weaknesses as we prepare for the Patriot League Championships next month.”

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Sports

Men’s track impresses in home opener

By Andrew Lichtenauer

Contributing Writer

The men’s track and field team claimed both MVP honors in its first scored meet of the season last weekend in Gerhard Fieldhouse. Patriot League Rookie of the Week Christian Lupica ’15 led the Orange and Blue, setting three program top-10 records in the team’s dominating victory over Shippensburg, Duquesne, Mount St. Mary’s, Towson and Saint Francis (Pa.).

Overall, the Bison finished with 241 points, beating out their closest competitor by almost 100 points.

Chris Sacks ’14 and Tom Barr ’12 earned the MVP honors for the Orange and Blue, claiming the meet’s Most Valuable Runner and Most Valuable Field Athlete, respectively. Both men won gold in two individual events apiece, Sacks in the mile and 4×800 relay and Barr in the weight throw and the shot put.

Lupica won the 60-meter hurdles in a personal-best 8.24 seconds, which moved him up to third all-time in program history. Lupica’s 22.32 seconds in the 200-meter dash put him eighth in program history, while his 7.08 seconds in the 60-meter dash put him sixth in the record books.

“I was really well prepared for this meet physically. As a team we have been on campus since Jan. 3 training really hard with two-a-day practices almost every day,” Lupica said. “The coaching staff decided that instead of running in a meet two weeks ago we would just have the weekend off and train through for the Gulden Invite. Because of that, my legs felt really fresh and I was able to capitalize off all of the work we put in while we were on campus over the break and run competitively in multiple events.”

Four more Bison won individual events in the meet. Daniel Markwalter ’13 took gold in the pole vault, Jason Brown ’13 in the high jump, Dustin Horning ’13 in the 800 meter run and Jordan Donaldson ’12 in the 500 meter run.

“The fact that we were able to win the meet by so much really shows our strength as a team which hopefully will continue on for the rest of the season through the championship meets,” Lupica said.

The Orange and Blue return to competition at both the Bison Open & Multi and Penn State National Invitational this weekend. 

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Sports

Athlete of the Week: Elizabeth Porcellio

By Chris McCree

Sports Editor

Profile:

Elizabeth Porcellio

Junior

Free/Breast/IM

Hometown: Fairport, NY

Major: Neuroscience

 

Career Bests:

100 IM:  1:02.13

200 IM:  2:03.84

100 free: 53.65

200 free: 1:52.43

100 fly: 58.52

 

During a dominant 189-111 win at rival Lehigh on Saturday, Elizabeth Porcellio ’13 led the women’s swimming team with three individual event wins in the 200-yard freestyle, 100 fly, and 200 IM, and was a member of the first-place 400 free relay team. Starting her day with a three-second victory in the 200 free, Porcellio carried the Orange and Blue to their second victory over the Patriot League rival Mountain Hawks in as many years. Porcellio posted a career-best time of 58.52 in the 100 fly despite having not swum the event all season. Due to her dominating performance, the junior swimmer was awarded Patriot League Female Swimmer of the Week honors.

A two-time member of the All-Patriot League Second Team, Porcellio has made a huge impact on the Bison since arriving in 2009. She currently ranks in the top five in Bison history for the 200 free, 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM. She has also emerged as a strong team leader this season.

The women’s squad finished its dual meet schedule with a league record of 4-2 and has just one meet remaining before Patriot League Championships.

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News

University reaps benefits of investment

By Alexander Slavitz

Contributing Writer

Although the exact benefits cannot be disclosed, the University will be receiving a large payoff due to its investment in Zynga, the producer of popular Facebook games such as Farmville and Words with Friends. This is because the company will be going public this month at an expected worth of around $9 billion. The University invested in Zynga soon after it was founded in 2007 through its investment in a professional venture capital fund called Avalon Ventures.

“In the rise in popularity of the social media industry, there’s a lot of winners and losers,” said John Luthi, the University’s investment analyst.

Social media is a compelling revolution. Luthi attributed the basic driving force of this revolution to the basic human need to communicate with one other, a desire that social media easily fills.

“It’s one of the best performing investments we’ve made,” said Chris Brown, Chief Investment Officer for the University, in the Dec. 8 issue of “The Daily Item.” 

Luthi noted that social media investment is a medium to long-term commitment, as it’s hard to know how the market will fluctuate. As an ’04 alumnus and now senior investment analyst, Luthi stressed that it is important to steward endowment for today to positively affect the University’s future.

Even with an endowment of $575 million in June, Luthi was confidently able to say that Zygna is a nice highlight for the University’s investments. 

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News

Former University president featured on local station

By Sara Blair Matthews

Writer

Former University president Gary A. Sojka Ph.D. talked tenure, farming, academia and Pennsylvania as a guest on an hour-long special on the all-new Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal on WVIA-TV on Wednesday, Jan. 18. The Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal is a series funded by Franklin Security Bank that typically airs as a 30-minute radio program on Sundays at 4:30 p.m. on WVIA FM.
Sojka served as the University’s president for 11 years from 1984-1995 and has been cited as one of the University’s most influential figures. He also served as a biology professor during his presidency.

Sojka, now retired, raises and breeds endangered livestock with his wife on their farm.

“[How people view my presidency] is similar to my legacy as a college football player. I fumbled and even blocked a few of our own kicks on occasion, but when I return to reunions I become a better player than I was the year before. The same is true with my presidency—people remember presidents as they remember their own past. We get better with time,” Sojka said. “I stepped in at a very good moment.”

Sojka came from Indiana University prior to his stay at the University. He was the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences there, but was worn out from leading an administrative life.

“The opportunity at Bucknell acted as a bridging stone for my return to academia,” Sojka said.
He accepted a position at the University on the condition that he would also be part of the faculty.
Sojka also shared his take on what tenure means in last Wednesday’s special.
“The purpose of tenure is to protect academic freedom and the freedom of inquiry,” Sojka said.
He claims that people vying for tenure often have to swim against the current, and they often come up with well-researched, unpopular answers. According to Sojka, the negatives of tenure come when people try to abuse the system.
“The abuse of the system is from people who get [tenure] and go to sleep for the next 20 years. [To avoid this,] departments try to weed out the people who they know won’t make it,” Sojka said.
Sojka also discussed farming and his role in Pennsylvania’s farming system during the WVIA interview. He and his wife Stacy are dedicated to endangered livestock breed conservation.
“It is very important to preserve their gene pool for future generations. We are part of a livestock heritage,” Sojka said.
Sojka is pleased with his decision to stay and retire in Pennsylvania.
“I think it’s got everything people could want—history, future, a sense of culture,” he said. “People stay here for a reason. And it ain’t bad to look at.”
To listen to former President Sojka’s interview, you can either tune in for encore episodes airing on WVIA-TV on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 10 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 22 at 4 p.m. The program is also available on demand at http://wviaondemand.org/contusmore/?playid=7.
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Featured News

Class of ’15 celebrates first semester

By Alexandra Napoli

Writer

Members of the class of 2015 filled Rooke Chapel last Friday night for the celebration of First Night. First Night is a University tradition held each winter to mark the successful completion of the first-year students’  first semester and the beginning of their life-long journey as alumni.
Prior to the ceremony, first-year halls were introduced to alumni members, desserts were passed around and a question-and-answer period was held.
“The overall atmosphere was very comfortable and relaxed. We are able to learn about the alumnus and his or her accomplishments since leaving Bucknell. It was also really nice to hear that we can have these incredibly strong connections with past graduates purely based on the fact that we both attended Bucknell University,” Jessica Isgro ’15 said.
First-years were able to discuss their first semester with alumni, sharing stories and anecdotes. 
“I thought it was really nice to get to hear from a Bucknell alumnus who was really successful both here and later in life. It was fun to share experiences and reminisce on first-semester memories,” Bronwyn Barnwell ’15 said.

Once inside the chapel, the students watched a video created by the Bucknell Student Government (BSG). Speeches from the BSG officers and representatives followed.

“We put a lot of time into planning for the event and had a lot of fun working with each other.  It was nice to see that everything came together so well during the ceremony and that so many alumni came back to be a part of it,” said Chloe Drennen ’14, BSG officer.

The colors chosen for the class of 2015 were blue and gold. The blue coordinates with the University’s original colors of blue and orange, while the gold represents wisdom and success. The crest design portrays Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library bordered by the Mathewson Gateway. The class motto underlying the crest reads: “Knowledge illuminates the path to the future we create.”

Keeping with tradition following the ceremony, the first-year class trekked downhill despite the snow to sing the alma mater to President Bravman at his house. He could not be present due to illness, but the students huddled for warmth and sang in the frigid January weather. Afterward, those who attended the ceremony received t-shirts decorated with the new class crest.

“First Night was an unforgettable event! I had a lot of fun not only presenting the class motto but hearing all the wonderful speeches. It is nice to celebrate that we are officially alumni of Bucknell. I hope First Night gave inspiration to everyone to just keep working hard,” said Kenia Lobo ’13, BSG officer.


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Headline News

Segar ’12 headed for 2012 Olympic Trials

By Olivia Seecof

Writer

Matthew Segar ’12 of the men’s swimming and diving team recently qualified to compete in the Olympic Trials in the 200 freestyle event.  Segar is one of three University students to qualify for the 2012 trials, but the only one to qualify while enrolled as a student at the University (Erik Heinemann ’15 and Emily Norton ’15 qualified before they were enrolled). These are the first University students to qualify for this meet since Jim Harvey ’88

“The Olympic Trials, like the Olympics, is only every four years and it is definitely an honor and an accomplishment to be part of it,” head coach Dan Schinnerer said.

Segar earned his qualifying time for the trials in December at the AT&T Winter Nationals held at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Ga.

“It was an incredible experience swimming in the same pool that hosted the 1996 Olympic Games. There, I not only got to see some of the greatest swimmers in the country, but also competed against Olympians from France, Canada, Mexico and Great Britain,” Segar said.

Despite the prestigious venue, the meet began in a less than ideal manner for Segar.

“I started off the meet adding time in the 400 freestyle so I was nervous about how the meet was going to pan out. Thankfully, the next day I managed to put together the best 200 freestyle of my life. It was a surreal experience and I was extremely appreciative to have my coaches, parents and high school swim coach there to help revel in the moment,” he said.

 Heinemann is excited to swim with Segar this summer. 

“Since I have seen Matt swim since the beginning of the year, I have noticed one thing in particular about him that makes him a truly talented swimmer, and that is his competitiveness.  Matt is always determined to get his hand on the wall first, and seems to be able to find an extra gear at the end of races that most other swimmers do not have,” Heinemann said.

This summer’s Olympic Trials will be held in Omaha, Neb. at the Qwest Center. The center will build two pools within a week just for this event. The trials were held at this venue in 2008 and hosted the largest crowd ever to attend a swim meet.

While Segar has a lot to be proud of, he remains focused on having a successful season for the Bison.

“I was obviously very happy with the outcome, but knew that there was still a very long season ahead and I couldn’t let that get to me. If anything, it’s helped motivate me more to have a good end to the season,” Segar said.

Schinnerer also acknowledged the dedication and amount of hard work that Segar put into this season.

“Matt has done a great job of making significant improvements over the last year and really over his four years at Bucknell. He is very in tune with what he needs to do to get better. He is very cerebral in his approach to his sport,” Schinnerer said.

Segar is generally known on the team as having a great character and always keeping  both personal and team goals in mind.

“Matt is an extremely talented swimmer who seems to thrive in pressure situations and always comes up big when it matters not just to himself, but the team as well,” Heinemann said.

“I’m really looking forward to the next couple of meets as well as joining as many teammates as possible in Omaha,” Segar said.

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Headline News

K-WIDE breaks new ground

By Christina Oddo

Writer

The KEEN Winter Interdisciplinary Design Experience (K-WIDE) program allows engineering students to collaborate in an interdisciplinary fashion to solve pressing real-world problems specifically related to urban infrastructure. The exposition of results from this program, held last Friday in Dana Engineering, demonstrated the projects developed by students involved in the first K-WIDE.

The first group that presented introduced its project as a type of crosswalk, called the “Cross Guardian,” that beeps every time a car is coming in order to inform the crosser of oncoming traffic. This ensures that every pedestrian will cross safely and be able to back up and not proceed to walk if there is an oncoming car.

The second group was interested in the underuse of buses as a form of transportation. As a result, the group created a new form of seating that accommodates disabilities while simultaneously creating more room. This new bus seating will not only double the amount of passengers on one bus, but also eliminate the need for excess buses, as well as benefit the economy.

“The hardest part was that they gave us a big open-ended statement, so coming up with an idea was difficult,” Sarah Talbot ’14, a member of the second group, said.

This group was inspired by where the members live.

“The areas where we live are really congested, and the biggest cause of this is transportation,” Talbot said.

Storm run-off and its use in towns and cities was the topic of interest for the third group that presented. The group created a storm drain in which water from storms can be used as a source of energy. Through this project, the group hopes to inspire others to create and to use energy from unexpected sources.

“The best part was learning about all of the different disciplines, the different types of engineering, because we did not use just one type of engineering for this project. We are all sophomores, with not a lot of expertise, but it was amazing to see all we could do with our current education,” Kelsey Klopfer ’14 said.

The fourth project utilized a swing as a source of energy. Considering children have a seemingly endless supply of energy, the group thought it would be a good idea to put this energy to good use as a renewable form of electricity. The group hopes this project will inspire children to ask questions and to be inspired as they are experiencing first hand this new use of energy on their playground.

The fifth group considered the negative effect of subway noise on hearing. Their project reduces the cacophony produced by subways to 20 decibels.

The final group was concerned with the use of water for drinking and sanitation in towns and cities where one million people in total have to walk three and a half miles to get water.

Water transportation is a huge problem in developing countries and something that the group recognized as a pressing global issue relating to urban infrastructure.

“When people carry buckets on their heads, for example, it compresses the spine. We still wanted our project to be human powered, though,” Tyler Moore ’14 said.

The group demonstrated its project by asking for two volunteers. One volunteer was asked to carry two buckets containing water a short distance, which proved to be a difficult task. The group stated that its project would allow one individual to carry all of the water needed for survival and sanitation at once without much difficulty. One of the group members proved this by carrying the water carrier produced while two people were sitting on top. This action was completed with ease. Such a device, too, would redistribute the strength, initially derived from the lower back, to the shoulders and other stronger muscles of the body.

“Because the carrier has wheels, travel time decreases. Otherwise, women and children would waste so much time carrying water,” Lee Sun ’14 said.

Junior Fellows Emily Guillen ’13 and Mark Paleafico ’13 helped the groups through the entire process.

“Most groups went through the mechanical engineering paths for the project,” Paleafico said. “As Juniors Fellows, we helped facilitate the thought process, pointing to questions to help the groups get passed being stuck. We also helped them get supplies. It was cool to sit back and watch them work. I’m so thankful to be a part of this.”