Month: March 2012

Categories
News

Frank Abagnale to speak

Amanda Ayers

News Editor

The Student Lectureship Committee has announced that it will host Frank Abagnale, author of the autobiography “Catch Me If You Can,” on Monday, March 19 at 7 p.m. in the Weis Center for the Performing Arts. The talk is free and open to the public.

Abagnale began as one of the most famous con men alive, posing as an airline pilot, attorney, college professor and pediatrician, as well as cashing in $2.5 million in fraudulent checks. He  is now respected around the world as one of the best authorities on forgery, embezzlement and secure documents. He has worked with and advised hundreds of financial institutions and  government agencies around the world for the last 35 years.

“The lectureship committee is really excited to be bringing Frank Abagnale this semester. He has been on our ‘short list’ for as long as I have been a part of the committee and has always generated great buzz around campus. I think what makes Frank so appealing is the movie-like nature of his life,” said Mike Kurban ’12, head of the Student Lectureship Committee.

“Catch Me If You Can” was made into a film in 2002. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Abagnale has also written numerous other articles and books such as “The Art of the Steal,” “The Real U Guide to Identity Theft” and “Stealing Your Life.”

“It’s easy to think of his story as something created in some Hollywood studio, especially because many of us are familiar with it because of ‘Catch Me If You Can,’ but it is all the more exciting to think that everything that happened in the movie–the deception and conning and secret lives–were all a part of his real life,” Kurban said. “I’m excited to hear about his experiences and also how he transformed from a con artist to one of the most respected security consultants with the FBI.”

Categories
Men Sports Track & Field

Athlete of the Week: Tom Barr

Chris McCree

Sports Editor

Player Profile:

Tom Barr

Senior

Thrower

Hometown: Ambler, Pa.

Major: Economics & Italian Studies

 

2011-2012 Statistics:

Meets: 9

First-place finishes: 10 (six in shot put and four in weight throw)

Season-best (shot put): 55′ 6.25”

Season-best (weight throw): 64′ 2.5”

After defending his Patriot League title in the shot put two weeks earlier, Tom Barr ’12 became the first Bison field event winner ever at the IC4A Championships this past weekend, recording a career-high 64′ 2.5” in the weight throw. Barr, who was part of a select group of Bison track and field members eligible for IC4As, bested his previous mark by five inches and jumped up to third all-time on the program record list during the opening day in Boston. Barr’s big win proved pivotal for the Orange and Blue squad who placed 12th in a field of 47 teams, their best finish since 2007. At the close of the two-day meet, Barr was one of six Bison athletes awarded All-East accolades.

Since joining the Orange and Blue as a first-year, Barr has shown continuous improvement throughout his career. The senior thrower has improved his shot put and weight throw distances by almost six feet over his four years and emerged as the squad’s most consistent thrower this season. During the nine meets that Barr performed in this Indoor season, he recorded at least one first place finish in his two events and will undoubtedly earn All-Patriot League honors for the second consecutive year.

With the indoor season coming to a close this past weekend, Barr and the rest of the Bison squad set their sights on defending as Patriot League Champions in the spring. The Orange and Blue are scheduled to begin their season on March 31 at the Towson Invitationals in Towson, Md. 

Categories
Arts & Life Sleeping Around

Sleeping Around: (dis)Comfort

Stacey Lace

Columnist

With a new boyfriend in my life, I have to voice a concern that is starting to dawn on me. There will come a day when we get too comfortable.

Even in such a new relationship, I can feel the comfort level changing. It didn’t take long before he knew about my weird (and slightly embarrassing) hangover regimen: I turn on episodes of “Star Trek” while I sleep, and I sip tomato soup through a straw.

I’m sure whenever that first visit with my parents happens, the BF will hear all about my escapades as a child–every embarrassing detail. In fact, my father prides himself on remembering my worst moments so he can quickly recall them. There is actually a home video of me circa 1993 in which my mother is dressing me after a bath and my father says something along the lines of “Wait until your future boyfriend sees your naked baby butt, Stace!”

My mother had this converted from VHS to DVD so I really don’t see a way to keep this hidden.

Beyond my sometimes embarrassing past, getting too physically comfortable with each other creeps me out just as much. This week, I had an 8 a.m. class and the BF had stayed over. I felt bad waking him since he didn’t have class until the afternoon, so I left him asleep in my bed and went off to my four hours of regularly scheduled lectures.

It’s not really a big deal, but if we’re already at the point where it’s no longer weird to sleep in each other’s bed without the other, how much further is it going to go?

As someone addicted to “How I Met Your Mother,” I can’t help but reference the show. There’s an episode in Season One (“Zip, Zip, Zip”) when Ted and Victoria get a little frisky on the couch and Marshall and Lily end up stuck in the bathroom for hours on end. Even after dating for nine years, the couple had never gone to the bathroom in front of each other.

While it’s wonderful to be so perfectly matched for someone that you never worry about how they view you, certain things just don’t need to be shared. If I could keep a guy from realizing the extensive eyebrow plucking I and other women go through just to look presentable, that would be great. Also, while I know my guy plays basketball and other sports, I’m really grossed out by sweat and just assume he never sweats. I realize this seems utterly ridiculous, and while I agree, I’ve managed to avoid seeing him post-game thus far, and I intend to keep it that way.

I’m fine with things as they are, but let’s hope they don’t progress too far into the comfort zone. Since I haven’t discovered anything too strange yet, I’ll just keep myself on a need-to-know basis.

Categories
News

Alpha Male

Olivia Seecof

Writer

Alphi Chi Omega sorority sponsored its second Alpha Male competition last Friday in Trout Auditorium to benefit the Susquehanna Valley Women Transition, an agency that aids victims of domestic violence. One man from each fraternity on campus competed for the title in a variety of events throughout the night. The 400 available tickets sold out on the day before the event.
The second round consisted of swimwear modeling. Many of the competitors sported speedos while others took a more relaxed approach with a sun hat and a ukulele.

“They were all definitely ready for beach season!” Eliza Macdonald ’14 said.
Next came the talent portion where the men performed a talent of their choice.
“My favorite part of the competition was witnessing the different hidden talents that all the contestants had,” CK Kumah ’13 said.

These talents included ribbon dancing, interpretive dancing, rapping about each sorority, pizza making, solving a Rubik’s Cube, and many more.
The presidents of each sorority judged the competition.

“We were so pleased to have each chapter represented on the [judging] panel,” said Jenna DeLuca ’13, president of Alphi Chi Omega. “I was honestly very impressed with each and every one of the contestants! Each man confidently represented his chapter in a unique way.”

“My favorite aspect of judging Alpha Male was being able to take part in an incredibly fun and successful philanthropic event that brought the Greek community together. Watching the representatives from each fraternity eat up a spotlight was priceless,” said Dana Musulin ’13, president of Alpha Delta Pi.

Kumah of Phi Gamma Delta was the ultimate winner and crowned Alpha Male 2012.

“Personally I thought it was a 10-way tie because each and every one of the contestants was equally impressive and made it difficult for the judges to come to a conclusion. I was literally blown away when they announced me as the winner,” Kumah said.

Brottman presented Susquehanna Valley Women in Transition with a check for $2,000, 15 percent of which will go to Fiji’s philanthropy in honor of Kumah’s winning.

“It was such an amazing feeling to know that Alpha Chi was making a true impact on the lives of these victims,” Brottman said.

“My favorite part of the event was the involvement of all the people there and everyone being so excited. The guys who participated were great and we had so much fun working with them!” Lewis said.
Categories
Letters to the Editor Opinion

Cartoon Offensive

To the Editor:

Yes, we have all made/heard the joke that philosophy majors are a bunch of stoners, but I was offended to see this depicted in last week’s edition.  The cartoon depicts a philosophy class and the featured homework assignment is a marijuana leaf, accompanied in the next frame of students smoking and remarking that “It all makes sense now!”  It offends and degrades the brilliant professors our university employs as well as downplays the efforts of philosophy majors.  A major myself, I can’t imagine smoking weed before reading Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” or Plato’s “Republic” and expect to get anything out of it, or expect the whole universe to finally make brilliant sense.

A knowledge in philosophy requires reason, deep thought and superb analytical skills—if anything, weed would prevent this.  Studies have shown philosophy majors outshine all other majors on LSATs, GMATs, etc. because of these exact skills.  I hardly think that these students are high when taking the standardized exams.

An understanding in philosophy—metaphysics, epistemology, ontology, ethics, aesthetics—is complicated and rooted in deep thought that requires legitimate reflection, not a stoner understanding such as “wow, everyone should just get along,” that is just the tip of the iceberg!

Hannah Zachary ’12

Categories
Featured Men Sports Swimming & Diving

Bison Athlete of the Week: Mike Nicholson ’14

Chris McCree

Sports Editor

 

Profile:

Mike Nicholson

Sophomore

IM/Breast/Fly

Hometown: Chappaqua, N.Y.

Major: Economics and Sociology

 

Season bests:

200 breast: 2:01.71

200 fly: 1:48.57

200 IM: 1:50.11

400 IM: 3:53.37

 

One week after falling just short of a second consecutive Patriot League title in the 400 IM, Mike Nicholson ’14 captured two gold medals and a silver at the ECAC Championships this past weekend in Annapolis, Md., making him the first Orange and Blue swimmer to earn multiple titles in the same year since 1993.

Starting off his weekend with as the runner-up in the 200 IM, Nicholson came away with individual titles on each of the following days in the 400 IM and 200 breaststroke. Nicholson posted a season-best time of 3:53.37 in the 400 IM finals to edge out the second-place finisher by 0.74 seconds and claim the Bison’s first gold of the meet. Following this performance, Nicholson came back on Sunday to post a career-best time of 2:01.71 in the 200 breaststroke, putting him just 0.03 seconds shy of the men’s swimming program’s all-time mark.

Largely due to the Nicholson’s successes, the men’s swimming team was able to capture its second runner-up finish in as many weeks. Over the course of the three-day meet, the Bison accumulated a total of 503 points, allowing them to beat Patriot League rival Army once again.

With two full seasons under his belt, Nicholson has already been able to accomplish what few swimmers are able to do over the course of their careers. Currently, Nicholson holds school records in the 200 IM, 200 fly and 400 IM and ranks in the program top 10 in the 1,000 freestyle and 200 breaststroke. Next season, Nicholson will look to add to his collection and recapture his Patriot League title in the 400 IM.

Categories
Opinion

Protection from sexual assault requires cooperation

Sarah Morris

Writer

I want this to be a call to arms for girls across campus. We as a group need to take charge of our sexual experiences. Sexual assault is an enormous issue across college campuses in the United States, and yes, that includes our coveted “Bucknell bubble.” No longer can we allow ourselves to be subjected to attacks on our bodies and emotions. It pains me every weekend to see girls so drunk they can barely remember where their dorm rooms are, instead going back to the rooms of sleazy guys who just want to get it in.

Usually, it seems, girls are so drunk they cannot remember whether or not a condom was used, whether or not the guy asked if she wanted to have sex or whether or not she even said yes. Sexual assault is tragic for anyone, but what we need to realize is that while sometimes it is unavoidable (as in cases of date rape and Rohypnol, more commonly known as “roofies”), we need to be responsible for taking care of ourselves and knowing when a situation is getting dangerous. That way, we can remove the possibility of sexual assault before it even happens.

A perfect way to minimize sexual danger when you go out is to keep track of and control how much you are drinking. The more you drink, the more difficult it will be for you to clearly express your decision of whether or not you want to have sex with someone. Another way of helping yourself is to think about the guys you will be hanging out with. If you do not feel comfortable being alone with a guy, you need to make sure you are doing activities where other people are involved until you trust him enough to be alone together.

I think the most important key to remember is to look out for your fellow women. We have to work together to prevent sexual assault. Watch your friends at parties and make sure they are in control of themselves; if you see a friend slipping up and drinking so much that she cannot make smart choices, make sure you walk her home at the end of the night. She will thank you in the morning, even if she may seem mad at the moment. The more we help each other, the closer we are to eliminating sexual assault on our campus so that women can be safe every weekend.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Editorial: decision to add new sorority will benefit Greek Life

With the recent decision to add a new sorority to the University’s Greek Life system, we at The Bucknellian are very pleased with the direction that the Panhellenic Council is taking. The way fraternities and sororities are set up on this campus, there seems to be a need for a new sorority to mirror the fraternity structure.

Greek women on campus are provided with fewer options because there are significantly more fraternities than sororities (11 fraternities,  seven sororities). For this reason, men receive two major benefits.

First, they have a much broader range of groups to choose from during recruitment, allowing for a more diverse selection. Being able to choose from 11 different fraternities, a University man is more likely to find a group of people with whom he can easily fit in.

The second benefit of more sororities stems from a decreased chapter size. Because the number of women looking to rush is so high and the number of sororities is so low, some chapters range as high as 170 members, and the people in those chapters suffer.

With numbers that high, a Greek organization loses much of its value. Without the ability to form close bonds with all of one’s brothers or sisters, one has to wonder whether that organization is a true brotherhood or sisterhood, or simply a social club.

Many members of The Bucknellian staff have also noticed that the size of sororities leads to a large number of cliques throughout the chapter, while fraternities, which are much smaller in size, seem to be much more unified.

Greek life is a place to form bonds with similar people and to find friendships that last longer than one’s educational years. The addition of a new sorority and decreased chapter sizes will only make Greek life stronger in this regard.

Categories
Basketball Featured Men Sports

On to the next one

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

The men’s basketball team’s opening round match-up with the Navy Midshipmen was a return to form as the Bison dominated the Mids from start to finish, winning 87-63. After struggling towards the end of their Patriot League schedule, the Orange and Blue advanced to the conference semifinals for the second consecutive season.

Before the contest began, two members of the Bison squad were honored for their outstanding season. Bryan Cohen ’12, in his final season in an Orange and Blue uniform, won his third consecutive Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year award. He became just the second player ever to win three major individual conference awards and the first to win the same award three times. After leading the Orange and Blue to a 12-2 league record and their second straight regular season conference title, head coach Dave Paulsen was recognized with the Patriot League Coach of the Year award, one he won last season as well.

The Bison delivered the first blow against Navy, jumping ahead 11-3 just five minutes in. The three-point shot kept Navy within striking distance early on, but it would not be enough on this night.

The Orange and Blue played one of their most efficient offensive games on the season, shooting 62.7 percent from the field and making over half of their baskets from beyond the three-point arc. Leading the way offensively was Joe Willman ’13, who tallied 18 points while shooting over 70 percent from the field in 24 minutes of play.

Bryson Johnson ’13 found his stroke from outside, knocking in five three-pointers off the bench. Three of those came during a three-minute stretch late in the first half in which the Bison swelled their two-point advantage to 11. The run kept going into halftime, when the Bison took a 20-point lead into the locker room.

The second half proved much of the same story as the first. The Orange and Blue would extend the lead to 31 at one point. Navy was cut the lead to 24 but it proved too little, too late.

The Bison will face the Lafayette Leopards at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday in the semifinal round of the tournament.