Month: September 2012

Categories
Arts & Life

Trend Report: Praise for Prints

 

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Kate Jansen
Writer

Pairing plaid with seersucker is no longer taboo in the fashion world–whether it is snakeskin, art deco flowers or something in between, kooky and eccentric prints have been wildly popular this season. There has been quite an abundance of crazy printed pants, leggings, blouses, boots and accessories available in popular department and clothing stores recently. Although on the surface, zany zigzag and striped patterns may appear to be hard to match, these bold prints are nothing to shy away from this fall.

Like snowflakes, there is a certain unique beauty to the print trend: no two outfits are alike. This fall, it is acceptable to complement metallic snakeskins with loud color block (with limitations, of course). Fashion daredevils, this is your time to shine; feel free to mix and match–color palettes aren’t necessary!

It is easiest to assemble this look from, so to speak, the bottom up. First, choose pants, jeans or leggings with geometric flare (Topshop offers plenty of printed pants, as does Madewell, Anthropologie and Free People). Then, pick a blouse or knit tee with a different pattern. For example, pair tiny polka dot printed jeans with a horizontal pinstriped shirt. To soften the look, throw on a neutral, chunky sweater or cardigan. Surprisingly enough, the resulting outfit is aesthetically pleasing–that is, only if you use some creativity.

For those who aren’t as adventurous with mixing stripes with polka dots, start with one bold printed piece. There are a vibrant variety of zigzag pullovers and pebble-printed cardigans this fall. More conservative dressers can wear a solid-colored oxford shirt underneath their sweaters. For a more casual, dimensional look, pile on a variety of sheer tanks and long-sleeved knits before buttoning up your cardigan. Pull on a pair of black leggings or dark-washed skinny jeans and you’ll be ready for class.

The print trend doesn’t stop at tops and bottoms. Shoes can be patterned, too! Printed shoes are fantastic for fall because they come in a variety of styles and textures. My favorite right now is a pair of Keds polka-dot sneakers I bought from Madewell a few weeks ago. I love pairing these with skinny jeans, a lightweight, flowy top and an oversized geometric-printed scarf. The printed trend takes stylish staples to a funky and fashionable level.

Categories
Arts & Life

Samek Art Gallery celebrates Halloween early with diverse exhibit

Eve Marie Blasinsky
Contributing Writer

If you want to get into the Halloween mood early this year, then go visit the Samek Art Gallery’s newest exhibit, “Dusk to Dusk: Unsettled, Unraveled, Unreal.”

A few words that might come to mind when walking into the gallery are: “uneasy,” “dark” and “somber.” However, putting any labels on this eclectic group of pieces proves difficult.

The display features a diversity of mediums, including painting, photography, digital media and sculpture; there’s even a diorama configured as a mini-theater, complete with curtains and black light. The collection boasts works from Louise Bourgeois, Huma Bhabha, Salvador Dali, Yang Shaobin, James Aldridge and many others.

Pam Campanaro, operations manager of the Samek Gallery, described Director Richard Rinehart’s process in assembling the exhibit. Rinehart visited a private collector in the Netherlands and hand-picked the works. This is the first time these works have been exhibited together in the U.S.

“He opted to go with a mood, rather than asking a theoretical question,” Campanaro said.

Campanaro stated that she and Rinehart “felt heavier” after installing the exhibit over the summer, a process which included painting over the bright white walls of the Samek with a dark grey color.

“He wanted to completely transform the space,” Campanaro said.

When a foundation seminar class visited the gallery, Campanaro encouraged students to look for “layers of meaning” hidden within the works.

Kiriko Masek ’16 was drawn to a massive photograph entitled “Generation.” At first look, the image evokes a typical class photo, with children standing in two lines facing the camera.

“The kids seemed normal at first, but there’s something off about the proportions,” Masek said.

That’s because the faces are, in fact, not real faces, but rather composites of hundreds of school photos, compiled and altered by Dutch artist Ruud van Empel.

Many works in “Dusk to Dusk” meditate on the effacement of identity and the dissolution of the individual vis-à-vis technology, media and political repression. Throughout the exhibit, representations of the human face in particular are distorted, concealed or eliminated entirely.

Conversely, other pieces seem to reconstruct the human out of new materials: a tree trunk, metal or, in the case of Huma Bhabha’s sculpture, pieces of garbage.

Many students gravitated towards a multi-media project entitled “Dusk to Dusk.”

In this piece, two film sequences are projected simultaneously onto the wall of the gallery. In one, an African-American mother stares morosely in the direction of her young son, who repeatedly bounces a ball against the wall with his back towards the camera. In the other, a white mother in a neo-Edwardian, unnaturally white domestic space tends to a baby hidden within a cradle. Both scenes are infused with a mood of melancholy and dejection, which climaxes when the children’s “real” identities are finally revealed.

The exhibit is open to the public and will run until Nov. 19.

Categories
Arts & Life Books Review

“The Ruins of Us” provides an escape to the past

Carolyn Williams
Senior Writer

“The Ruins of Us,” Keija Parssinen’s debut novel, echoes back to her childhood in Saudi Arabia. A third generation expatriate, Parssinen’s heroine, Rosalie, channels the author’s obvious love of her youthful home, and demonstrates a serious understanding of a culture which seems exotic at best, and crazy at worst, to most of her American audience. Parssinen’s success in this novel is making the setting accessible, which is important because of how it defines the characters who make it their home.

Rosalie, a 40-something wife and mother of two, begins “The Ruins of Us” by telling the reader that she has it all: a devoted husband, a nearly grown up son and daughter, fantastic wealth and a home in the beautiful, unforgiving desert she loves. That is, until she discovers that two years ago, her husband, Abdullah, took a second wife and wants them all to be a happy, traditional family together.

Rosalie’s desperate search for an escape from the half-life she is revealed to be living takes up much of the beginning of the novel. Abdullah’s polygamy is legal in Saudi Arabia, and divorce, though possible, will take away Rosalie’s children and life as she knew it for nearly 30 years. An expatriate college dropout without any particular talents or money, Rosalie finds herself with her back to a wall, yet she cannot help but love her husband and mourn the loss of their life together.

Aside from Rosalie’s struggle with herself, Abdullah is forced to take a look at his flailing family: his fiery first wife, whose life he has upended; his independent daughter, Mariam, hoping to change her world for the better with feminist journalism; his radically devout son, Faisal, who wants to put things back to the way they were on the Arab peninsula before Westernization; and the promise of a new life with his second wife, who remains mostly a blank throughout the novel. Rosalie and Abdullah’s crisis is observed by their old college friend, Dan, who went through a divorce recently, and despite missing his old life, cannot help but nurse a longtime crush on the spirited Rosalie.

Everything comes to a head in an escape attempt, Big Brother-type government intervention and a kidnapping. “The Ruins of Us” does not necessarily end in a way that will satisfy all audiences, but the unbiased reader will agree that the ending serves the book’s purpose well. Though slow to start, the novel definitely picks up speed and interest as it progresses, as likeable characters take shape and dramas unfold. Most importantly, the backdrop of exotic Saudi Arabia manages to keep everyone on their toes.

Categories
Arts & Life Columns Cooking Corner

Cooking Corner: Oreo Cupcakes

Katie Mancino | The Bucknellian

Katie Mancino
Staff Writer

Oreo Cupcakes
109 calories, 19 carbs, 2g fat, 2g protein

Oreo cupcakes sound like the last thing that could be made in a healthy way, but it turns out that a lot of calories in Oreo cookies come from the cream filling (made mostly of shortening and sugar). By carefully scraping it off and not using it, you can quickly cut some out and still get the chocolatey, crunchy Oreo goodness in these fluffy, easy to make cupcakes! Try topping them with a dollop of fat free Reddi-wip and some crushed Oreo pieces.

Makes 15 cupcakes

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp Land O’Lakes Light Butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Truvia Baking Blend
2 egg whites
1 cup Vanilla Silk Light Soymilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
6 Oreos, filling scraped off & discarded, wafers crushed (use a ziplock bag)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C); put 15 cupcake liners in cupcake tin.
2. Beat sugars and butter until color lightens (an electric mixer would be best, but hand mixing will work too).
3. Mix in soymilk, vanilla and egg whites.
4. Mix in flour, salt, baking soda and Oreo until a smooth batter forms.
5. Fill each muffin tin with about three generous tablespoons of batter (about 3/4 of the way full).
6. Bake 15 minutes until golden colored, let cool, put on toppings and enjoy!

Categories
Arts & Life Columns Rees' Pieces

Rees’ Pieces

Ben Rees

Columnist

Ben Rees

Hobbies

Taking up a hobby isn’t easy. You need to find something you enjoy, which is far harder to do than most would believe. I didn’t wake up one morning knowing I would enjoy writing things to make people laugh; I was simply told enough times that I wasn’t funny and I knew it was my calling. With that emotional nugget on the table, I will politely remind everyone that hobbies aren’t simply frivolous activities. Hobbies require preparation and equipment.

Whether you take up horseback riding, hot air ballooning, archery or card tricks, no skill comes with ease–especially for me. Natural talent is not something I possess in most areas, so if I am going to develop a hobby, it takes serious commitment. Hopefully my failures will be your guiding lights as I recall my past shortcomings for the benefit of my readers.

I wanted to play piano for the longest time, so I finally convinced my dad to buy me an instructional book. I then purchased what all the piano greats had: a marble bust of Mozart. It sat right there above me as I plunked away at “Hot Cross Buns.”

After my piano phase and the release of Chingy’s “Holidae Inn,” I took up rapping. I would put instrumental versions of hit songs on my computer and pretend to be emotionally charged and talented. To go along with this, I, again, purchased what all hip-hop greats had: a marble bust of Dr. Dre. He sat on my desk with his immaculately carved Compton hat while I busted a rhyme.

In eighth grade, I took up fashion. I ditched all my Gap Kids polo shirts for some brand new And1 graphic tees, cargo shorts and Phat Farm shoes. I looked awesome.

Twelfth grade brought along my passion for weight lifting. I drank a nice big protein smoothie (or is it shake?) and headed into the school gym. I was tearing up the elliptical and could have won the gold medal in knee push-ups, but my enthusiasm and spirits were squashed once I saw other kids doing really intense things like weights.

Since college has started, I’ve gotten into investment banking. Due to the recent market climb, I have been pouring money into IRA’s and short-term startup IPO’s. I’m banking on the chances of a network effect influencing the arbitrage pricing theory, and my mom tells me you’re supposed to buy low and sell high. If I’m not mistaken, my financial folio will at least double in value due to the sky-high interest rates and the upcoming fiscal cliff.  That all sounds right, right?

Needless to say, hobbies take time, energy and usually money to develop. Hopefully everyone can learn from my mistakes and understand that unless you have a knack for something or a serious drive, you should probably save your money and not pretend that you’re good at everything. It always ends poorly.

Categories
Soccer Sports Women

Bison Athlete of the Week: Sandita McDermott ’13

 

Edward Louie | The Bucknellian

Alex Wagner
Sports Editor

Player Profile

Sandita McDermott ’13

Rhinebeck, N.Y.

International Relations & Economics

Season stats:

Five starts in five games

Two shutouts

17 saves

The women’s soccer team has seen a remarkable early season turnaround. After conceding five goals in two tough losses to open the season, the Bison defense, led by goalie Sandita McDermott ’13 has tightened up to allow only one goal in the past three games. Thanks to the strong defensive effort, the Bison won those last three games against quality opponents.

“Coming off of two losses is difficult, but having the turnaround has really given the defense and the team as a whole a boost of confidence that has allowed us to have success in the past three games,” McDermott said.

In Sunday’s 3-0 victory over St. Bonaventure, McDermott made six saves. This strong individual performance gave her a ninth career shutout, tying her for fourth on the Bison’s all-time list.

“As a goalkeeper, shutouts are the ultimate definition of success … and being able to hold a team for 90 minutes is really relieving and rewarding, and it is made possible through maintaining focus, but more importantly the hard work of the 10 girls in front of me,” McDermott said.

Categories
Opinion

She said: the perils of texting after a hookup

Sarah Morris
Writer

The time after that first hook up is like skating on very thin ice. The wrong text message at the wrong time, a wave across the quad or the uncomfortable moment when you’re next to your hook up in line at the mail room can shatter the ice and leave you drowning in freezing cold awkwardness.

Everything is fantastic when you’re with your hook up at night. The lights are flashing, the music is awesome even though you hate top-40 songs, but just like Cinderella had to leave the ball at midnight, your fun will come to an end. Probably not until 12 p.m. the next day when you stumble out of your bed, but it will end, and what comes next can determine a lot about what will come of your new found affections.

Texting is a huge part of post-hook up courtship and it needs to be dealt with gracefully depending on what you want out of your significant other. To be graceful, you really need to pay attention to your timing. A “Wanna hang out?” text at 7:30 p.m. probably actually means: “Do you want to come hang out with me?”

However, that same text at 1:30 a.m. probably means: “Do you want to come hook up with me?” Obviously, the 1:30 a.m. text isn’t a problem per se, but it might limit you to only receiving texts from that person in the future at late hours of the night. It’ll probably get you a good time, but your 1:30 a.m. texts will not get you a relationship that involves wearing clothes.

It is also important when you have a late night hook up to remember that people might have mixed feelings regarding your wonderful night together. You never want to get caught up in that situation where you end up making out with a long-time friend, who then decides to tell you that he or she has been in love with you ever since you met.

It might hurt, but it is crucial to be upfront with hook ups if you don’t see it going anywhere and they clearly do. Likewise, if you think your hook up is your potential life-partner, it is probably a good idea to ease into any serious romantic gestures with them. God forbid you’re the creepy one.

You always have to remember that every interaction you have will plant the seeds to relationships based on more than just the memory of the night in “fratland” you and your hook up shared. Just because they had a super time, doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want to them with out looking like a stalker or a complete headcase. Just take a deep breath, relax and tell yourself that you’re fantastic; and then don’t be creepy, just be nice.

Categories
Opinion

He said: the perils of texting after a hook up

Josh Haywood
Writer

Texting after a party is the most popular form of communication for students seeking to spend time with a person post party. You know the situation: a guy and a girl meet in a sweaty dark basement that should have been condemned years ago, and with the help of a little liquid courage, they hit it off. This is where it gets confusing because neither person knows what to do next. We are all guilty of this practice from time to time because sometimes men and women just don’t see eye to eye. There are a couple of things that should be said as to alleviate some of the confusion.

One thing is certain and that is acknowledgement is the best policy; don’t pull a Bill Clinton and be like, “who the hell is Monica?” Own up to what happened. At least own up to yourself depending on what the person’s “StalkerNet” photo looks like.

Most importantly, do not go around telling a story to your friends that you made up on your way to detox in the sauna. Genuine stories are the best stories and it is bad karma in general to lie about something that never happened. Lying is often a double-edged sword because, while it might make you sound good for the moment, you always run the risk of it backfiring when the other person hears what you said. If you do happen to see each other, at least acknowledge the fact that you know what happened. Time and time again you will encounter someone that has a case of “weekday amnesia.”

There are certain rules you must follow if you are going to text someone you met at a party. Timing is key in this situation because once someone gives you their number, you don’t want to give off creep vibes by texting them for breakfast the next morning. Wait a minimum of 24 hours after the number exchange to hit them up.

Only text on a date where there is the possibility that you two can meet up later that night. If the person says they are just “hanging out,” “chilling” or anything that is not inviting a response, it means they do not want to see you that night, let alone even ever again. Also pay attention to the frequency of texts. No guy wants to get eight texts before noon from a chick that they spent the night on a couch with. Men and women have different ideas about what a text means, but if you follow these simple rules, you will be fine.

Hopefully this alleviates some of the confusion that happens when it comes to communicating after you meet someone on the weekend and you do not know what to do next. Just be yourself and don’t take it personally if someone does not want to talk to you because you can always go out and find someone else. If anything, use it as a lesson and try to improve yourself so that next time you will not have the same results.

Categories
Sports

Loyola Greyhounds to join Patriot League next year

Eric Brod
Senior Writer

The Bison have received more competition in the Patriot League with the arrival of Loyola (Md.) into the league beginning at the start of the 2013-2014 academic year. With the additions of the Greyhounds and Boston University, the Patriot League will have 10 members beginning in August of next year.

The Greyhounds will be Patriot League participants in 17 sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s lacrosse. The Greyhounds will bring further prestige to Patriot League, as they had one of the most successful athletic years in school history. The most prominent story was their men’s lacrosse team capturing the NCAA championship. However, that was far from the only success story for the school. Along with the men, the women’s lacrosse team made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, the men’s basketball team made it the NCAA tournament and the men’s golf team earned a spot in the NCAA regional tournament.

The Patriot League, which formed as an all-sport conference in 1990, now has two new members set to join for the first time since American University joined the league in 2001.

In keeping with the Patriot League mission of excelling in both academics and athletics, the Greyhounds reported 100 percent graduation success rates for 11 of its 14 sports, according to the NCAA report released in October 2011.

The addition of Loyola shows that the Patriot League is moving towards new territory in relation to its status in the NCAA. This is certainly an exciting time for Patriot League athletics.

Categories
Opinion

College: you are on your own

Caroline Schaeffer
Contributing Writer

When the idea of going to college stops being just a dream in the distance and suddenly becomes a reality, you’ll hear the same thing from a lot of different people. You’ll hear about how much fun you’re going to have, all the people you’re going to meet and, most importantly, how much better it is than high school. Sure, some of the differences are obvious; in college you have more freedom, less class time and, unfortunately, more homework, but there are many more changes than those.

Though I am still new to the whole college experience, I have already noticed some drastically different qualities of my life away at college than my life at home. For me, the biggest adjustment to college is definitely the fact that this is the first time in my life that I am left utterly alone. No friends or family to lean on for support.

Every time I made a big life change prior to heading off to college, I always had a support system standing right behind me. When I first left my parents for a week to go to sleepaway camp, I had friends on either side of me to keep me company and I knew that I would see my parents seven days later. When I left middle school and started my first year of high school, almost all of my friends came with me, and my mom and dad were home every night to help me through any difficulties I might be having. Through everything I had experienced up until August of this year, I had a huge support network at my fingertips at all times, and to suddenly lose that is a bit of a rude awakening.

Though college is by no means a sinister place full of people looking to drag you down, when you first realize your parents aren’t picking you up anytime soon, it can be a hard concept to grasp. Sure, they are only a phone call away, but they can no longer help you out as much as they used to. Have a problem with a teacher you just can’t solve? A note from mom won’t help you out. It’s not until you go away from home that you realize how much your parents did for you, and how comforting it was knowing they were never far away.

Leaving friends can be just as difficult as leaving family, but for different reasons. Friends are like a security blanket: always there for you whenever you might need them. It was a luxury to be so close to people who have known me my entire life and whom I could hang around effortlessly. It’s exciting to come to college, meet new people and make amazing friends, but that is a process that takes time. You’re never going to be automatically comfortable around someone you’ve just met, and realizing this was one of the hardest things I’ve had to come to terms with so far.

Everything about college is so different from high school, from the classes you take to the time you go to bed; it’s all up to you. Although it takes a while to adjust to many different aspects of the college experience, the hardest for me so far has definitely been adapting to being left on my own for the first time in my life, and learning that even though my family and friends back home are still around, they’re not here to help me every step of the way.