Categories
Opinion

9/11 has faded into a memory

Colette Brottman

Contributing Writer

For a few years after Sept. 11, my heart would pound every time I heard a low flying airplane. Even though I lived far from the actual tragedy itself, my second-grade self began to comprehend loss and fear. In college, I have come to learn the impact of that day in the lives of my peers and professors, but even though my own realization of the day came late, I can watch as America tries to forget.

It wasn’t until I came here last fall and discussed the tragedy in my political science class that I realized the horror of that day. I realized the effect it had on my peers, best friends, and neighbors’ lives. The huge divide that separated me from New York City that day was slowly being bridged together. I realized 11 years later the power of Sept. 11. As I walked past the hundreds of tiny American flags in front of the Elaine Langone Center, the silence from my peers was humbling, and I spent a moment looking at the flags and reflecting on America.

This year, Sept. 11 came and went. The Conservatives Club paid the same homage as it had in the past, but not a word was spoken in a class or a table conversation. Twitter and Facebook were filled with short anecdotes and statements expressing love for our country, but collectively, Americans have truly started to move on. In 2001 our country came together and stood as one, but now our country exists in division and conflict. For a while Sept. 11 was a day where people came together to discuss loss and fear, and it was a day to show pride and appreciation. We have lost touch of that as a country. Media has turned its attention to new things and people have directed their hurt to anger.

They say time heals wounds: to forgive, but not forget. It seems, though, that our nation has tried its best to heal its wounds by forgetting. Americans often look for direction from the media on what they should be focusing on. The media’s lack of attention toward the remembrance of Sept. 11 has in turn caused people to focus on other things. People will never forget the day their lives changed, where they were and whom they lost, but they try their best to forget the pain and suffering that day caused. It is natural for human beings to move on, but we must remember. For years to come, the most I can ask for is to spend a few minutes remembering and reconciling with the hardships of our past.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion

Letter to the Editor

To the editor,

I would like to clarify some of the information from last week’s editorial concerning social events at Summit House. First, it is important to note that Summit House is simply the name of the building in which Fran’s House, the LGBT and ally affinity housing program, resides. Therefore, the discussion should be focused on Fran’s House hosting social events in Summit House. Second, the editorial claimed that Fran’s House had recently been granted the ability to host registers. This is simply not true. The groundwork for this idea originated from reading the student handbook and seeing what events we could hold within the confines of the rules. Last year’s version of the handbook (this year’s version has, to my knowledge, not yet been printed) states “A social event held in a University-owned facility must be registered by completing a space reservation form from the Events Management Office … in addition a Social Event Registration Form (SERF) must be completed and submitted to secure the approval of the appropriate Dean.” Summit House is a University-owned building, making us eligible to apply for such an event.

Having said this, I would like to make it clear that Fran’s House is strictly in the planning phases of this undertaking with the goal of hosting one nonalcoholic social event this semester to serve as a foundation for the possibility of hosting an alcoholic event in the spring semester. Finally, although the editorial referred to these social events as registers, I would like to clarify that Fran’s House does not aim to emulate Greek organization registers. Our goal is to create an alternative social space for members of the entire University community (both Greek and independent) for those who seek an additional option to Greek social events. Since The Bucknellian’s release last week, I have received a lot of student support (from both Greek and independent individuals) in this endeavor and I am very hopeful for the precedent that these events may set.

Sincerely,

Kate Albertini ’14

House Leader, Fran’s House

Categories
Arts & Life

Family Weekend offers events for all

Anna Jones

Arts & Life Editor

With Family Weekend right around the corner, students may be looking for something to do or somewhere to go with their parents. Beginning on Friday, Sep. 27, the University will provide many opportunities for families to get a glimpse into campus life.

The weekend kicks off with campus tours at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. The tours are open to all and are a good opportunity for younger siblings to take a look around campus.

Later in the day, there are several events for active families. The Family Weekend Golf Tournament starts at 1 p.m. at the Golf Club; pre-registration is required and there is a fee to play. Next, at 1:30 p.m., the University is hosting a family bike ride.

For families more interested in the academic aspect of the University, Associate Professor of Biology DeeAnn Reeder and Associate Professor of Dance Kelly Knox will discuss their research around the globe. The event will be hosted from 3-4 p.m. in Trout Auditorium in the Vaughn Literature Building and pre-registration is required. Immediately following these talks, families have an opportunity to meet the dean of students and other faculty at a reception in the Terrace Room.

In the early evening, the University’s outdoor clubs are hosting a bike ride as well as a canoe and kayak excursion. Both are a great chance to see some of the school’s clubs in action.

As for artistic entertainment, the Weis Center is hosting singer-songwriter Josh Ritter from 7:30-9 p.m. Ritter has been regarded as one of the most exciting new artists, so be sure to purchase tickets from the Weis Center box office.

At 8 p.m., theater students will be performing “All the Great Books (abridged)” in Tustin Studio Theatre. This play is a 60-minute version of over 100 great novels and will feature the class of 2017’s theater students. The show is directed by Logan Kauffeld ’15 (I’m pretty sure that this is the right person–the Family Weekend flyer thing says Logan Connors but he’s a professor of French soooo I’m assuming it’s not him), and promises to be a refreshing take on an old topic. The play will also show at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sep. 28.

Finally, from 9-11 p.m., Rooke Chapel will host Christy’s A Capella Concert, a Family Weekend tradition. The show will feature student a cappella groups, such as the Bison Chips, the Silhouettes, and Beyond Unison. The a cappella groups will perform again on Saturday night from 9-11 p.m. Christy’s A Capella concert almost always sells out, so be sure to grab your tickets early.

On Saturday, the Family Weekend fun continues with a breakfast reception in the Terrace Room from 8-10 a.m. After this reception, the day is filled with international education information sessions, Career Development Center introductions, high school student information sessions, and outdoor pursuits.

At 10:30 a.m., University President John Bravman will host a question and answer session in the Weis Center. After the Q&A, Bravman will join families for a reception in the Weis Center lobby. All students and family members are encouraged to go and get to know the University’s president.

From 1-2 p.m. in the Gallery Theatre, Housing Services will have an information session regarding changes in the housing policies. This session is extremely important to sophomores and their parents because the changes will affect their housing options in the upcoming years.

After, families can experience Lewisburg in a new way through the Poetry Path Tour, featuring Yoga with Cheri Orndorf. Visitors will read and hear poetry throughout their walk around downtown Lewisburg.

Next, be sure to join families from all over campus at the Family Weekend Tailgate, starting at 3:30 pm. Dining Services will provide upscale tailgate food and faculty will be in attendance to discuss their research projects. After the tailgate, the football team will take on Sacred Heart at 6 p.m. in Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium.

To finish off the day, the University will host a WE DO Family Party in a tent on the football practice field. There will be desserts, beverages, music, and dancing from 8-11 p.m.

On Sunday morning, in conclusion to Family Weekend, Colleges Against Cancer will host a 5K walk/run. The race starts at 9 a.m. and registration costs $20; all the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

Lastly, the Terrace Room will host a jazz brunch from 9 a.m.-noon. Adults pay $18 and children under 12 only pay $10.

Family Weekend is an annual tradition and there are all sorts of events for everyone, so make sure to take advantage of all the opportunities.

Categories
Arts & Life

Uptown Karaoke night provides quality entertainment

Anna Jones

Arts & Life Editor

If you like Disney music, you should have been at Uptown on Friday, Sep. 13. The club hosted a karaoke night, the first of many that will be held throughout the semester.

Participants sang a wide range of songs, from Disney soundtracks to more popular music. All were welcomed to sing and everyone could sing whatever he or she pleased. 

In addition to good music, participants were treated to candy, bread, and the campus favorite bison dip. Friday’s event had almost 15 students in attendance.

“Karaoke has always been an event that has struggled at Uptown, unless it is paired with a Pub Night,” Uptown Assistant Manager Emilie Ratajczak ’15 said

Everyone who came and participated in the karaoke night really enjoyed it.

“We hope to ramp up karaoke nights in the future,” Ratajczak said.

Uptown will host many more karaoke and pub nights in the future, so any student that has an interest in singing should stop by and check it out.

Categories
Arts & Life

Kingsfoil, 3OH!3, and ferris wheel make Fall Fest a hit

Anna Jones

Arts & Life Editor

Fall Fest is always a successful event for the University, but this year’s occasion went above and beyond. Sponsored by Activities and Campus Events (ACE), the event featured many activities designed to entertain students.

Dining services provided a free feast of barbeque, salad, fruit, macaroni and cheese, and many of their famous desserts. There was also a Ferris wheel—a perfect opportunity for students to take a new Facebook profile picture—and a giant slide. Students could also dress up and take pictures with their friends as well as tie-dye hats in school colors.

Fall Fest also featured good music all day. When no one was on stage, popular songs provided entertainment through the speakers. The event concluded with Kingsfoil and 3OH!3 performing some of their most popular songs. Kingsfoil, Frankie Muniz’s band, played at the University during the spring concert in April 2013. They seemed to enjoy being back on campus and played a fantastic show.

After Kingsfoil finished, 3OH!3 set up and played for almost an hour. Nathaniel Motte and Sean Foreman, the band’s front men, entertained by joking with the crowd and performing multiple songs. They concluded Fall Fest with a strong rendition of “Don’t Trust Me,” the band’s most popular tune. These exceptional performances along with the activities and food provided created the perfect kick-off for the fall season.

Layout person: I was thinking we could put this blurb with a headline and then some pictures with captions of fall fest below.  Raffi should be posting them on smugmug soon.

Categories
News

Class of 2017 elects Student Government representatives

Ethan Zubkoff

Writer

Fifteen new leaders and representatives from the class of 2017 were elected this past week to the Bucknell Student Government (BSG).

Three of those 15 include class President Yacouba Sidibe ’17 from New York City, Vice President Mitch McBride ’17 from Erie, Pa., and Secretary/Treasurer Katie Chambers ’17 from Harvard, Mass.

“My goal is to bring the class together. The most important thing is for everyone to get to know each other,” Sidibe said.

Sidibe’s fellow representatives echoed his words, stressing the importance of bonding events for the freshman class. McBride and Chambers both suggested organizing a movie night for all 935 members of the freshman class.

First-year representative Mark Merino ’17 from Los Angeles, also suggested a restaurant night for a class unity event, in which 10 percent of the profits would go to the restaurant.

Sidibe and McBride are committed to being the voices of the class of 2017. They want to ensure that first-year students are heard within BSG, and want to speak for them about any serious issues that may arise. They want their fellow classmates to feel comfortable coming to them if they need anything or believe something could be changed.

The rest of the representatives for the class of 2017 includes: Yash Balasaria, Chris Shadek, Alex Breakstone, Lizzie Sheprow, Mark Merino, Gabby Gottschall, Alex Fox, Nina Nevarez, Madeline Kling, Victoria Karakis, Daniel Dudt, and Taylor McCready.

Categories
News

Breaking the Bubble

Ethan Zubkoff

Writer

International

  • A deal has been reached between the United States and Russia regarding the control of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile. Although details about the deal are still forthcoming, both sides have agreed to allow the United Nations to authorize a resolution. It will be the UN’s responsibility to dispose of all of the weapons, which will take a few years to complete. (USA Today and Reuters)
  • The fallout from Edward Snowden’s leak continued this week as Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff canceled a planned visit to the United States. Brazilian officials have objected to the National Security Agency’s ability to spy on other countries, including Brazil. Rousseff was scheduled to be at the White House on Oct. 23 as the guest of honor. (USA Today)

National

  • Tragedy struck the nation’s capital on Sept. 16 as gunman Aaron Alexis killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard. Alexis, a former Navy reservist who was given an honorable discharge in 2011, was military contractor at the Navy Yard. Alexis was 34 years old and acted alone. (The New York Times)
  • Colorado evacuees returned to their homes after flooding began on Sept. 11. More than 3,000 people were evacuated as flooding threatened their homes and lives. National Guard crews have been working around the clock in the largest aerial rescue operation since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans. As of Sept. 17, the number of people missing dropped to 580 with eight confirmed deaths. (ABC News)
  • Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers withdrew his name for consideration for Chairman of the Federal Reserve, after several Senate Democrats said they would oppose his nomination. This has cleared the way for Janet Yellen, the current vice-chair of the Federal Reserve as the frontrunner. Current chairman Ben Bernanke’s tenure is expected to come to an end in January. (USA Today and CNBC)

State

  • Potential Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Katie McGinty finds herself in second place behind Democratic Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz. McGinty commissioned the poll. According to the poll, Schwartz leads potential candidates McGinty, State Treasurer Rob McCord, and former Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf with 34 percent of likely Democratic voters in Pennsylvania. (Politics PA)
  • Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania and Republican Primary candidate, officially endorsed Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett for reelection in 2014. (Politics PA)
Categories
Arts & Life

Visiting professor performs on restored piano

Jen Lassen

Director of Public Relations

Sezi Seskir, visiting associate professor of music, performed an inaugural concert on the restored grand piano in the Weis Center Lobby on Sept. 15.

Two alumni donated the piano, a Steinway & Sons 1920 Model Long A Grand Piano. Robert S. Neumann ’63 and Sara Neumann ’63 contributed the piano in honor of their 50th Reunion and their 50th wedding anniversary.

Nate Baldwin renovated the piano shortly after the donation.

“What is key in these kinds of donations is that the piano gets a proper renovation, and that person knows what he or she is doing. You can kind of see from the outside that it looks like an old piano; that’s because the frame was one of the things that was not touched, and the iron frame inside the piano was not touched either. But everything else-the soundboard, the strings, the hammers-every single thing actually was replaced because it was pretty old,” Seskir said.

Seskir performed works composed in the beginning of the 18th century through the middle of the 19th century. She played works from composers Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, and Scarlatti.

Prior to the concert, Seskir and Baldwin handcrafted the piano’s sound together.

“[Renovations] are very, very costly actually, because it’s not like you put all of these new parts in there, but you actually have to work with them. First you put them in there, but they are like raw material basically. So you take all these hammers and put lacquer on them so they harden, and then you kind of knead them so they become somewhat fluffy … there is much fine-tuning there. We needed to find what exactly was the sound that we wanted to get out of the piano. And I think we got to a good place; it sounded quite good at the end,” Seskir said.

Seskir, originally from Turkey, studied piano in her homeland where she received her B.A. from Ankara State Conservatory, Turkey. She then traveled to Germany to continue her studies.

“I ended up in the north of Germany in Lubeck. That was a great, great opportunity for me because there I feel like I became a real, independent musician and really learned how this job is actually done. I owned it a little bit more,” Seskir said.

After receiving her music education degree in Lubeck Musikhochschule, Germany, Seskir studied at Cornell University where she received her doctoral degree. Her current research focuses on historical keyboards and piano performance in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the use of tempo rubato in Robert Schumann’s keyboard music.

Seskir currently teaches piano lessons and music history classes at the University.

“I think there’s actually a parallel between being on stage and being in front of a classroom. Since I enjoy the first one, it’s actually a nice thing for me to do the classroom teaching, too,” Seskir said.

Categories
News

Lewisburg borough considering new laws after HPW cancellation

Nick Salvo

Contributing Writer

Local officials are considering making new policy changes to prepare for a changing downtown dynamic after the University announced an end to its participation in House Party Weekend.

With the on-campus activities during the weekend–which included registered parties and live musical performances–canceled, many students expect the festivities to move off campus and into downtown houses. Lewisburg Mayor Judith Wagner and East Buffalo Township Police Chief Paul Yost also anticipate this shift and plan to take action to ensure a safe environment.

“Word on campus is that there will be a big deal downtown. We have to protect our residents. Safety is our main concern,” Wagner said.

Yost expressed similar concerns, noting that the lack of an official House Party Weekend creates uncertainty regarding when and where downtown parties will occur. Communication between University administration, students, and the borough will allow for the township police department to properly allocate resources to help keep students and residents safe, Yost said.

Yost’s main concern is “student resistance,” which has resulted in downtown riots as recently as 2008. Rioting will only occur if students refuse to cooperate with local officers, Yost said.

Yost referenced changes adopted by the town of Bloomsburg, home of Bloomsburg University, when speculating about possible Lewisburg council ordinances to control downtown parties.

Bloomsburg Town Council instituted an ordinance in 2010 in an attempt to regulate the student-sponsored Block Party Weekend, a weekend noted for large downtown parties and high numbers of arrests. The ordinance required any student at Bloomsburg who is hosting a party involving alcohol and more than 150 people to obtain a permit from the town. The ordinance also instituted strict rules concerning time, security, restroom facilities, and post-party clean up.

While instituting ordinances to curb downtown partying has been debated in Lewisburg Borough Council meetings in previous years, Wagner said that she wants to avoid making a knee jerk decision and instead hopes students will communicate with the borough to determine the best course of action.

The borough will ask for help from students to gather data and allow the council to have an informed debate and reach a reasonable solution, Wagner said.

“We have enjoyed a very good relationship with Bucknell University students,” Wagner said. “It would certainly be great if something really productive came out of this dialogue.”

Categories
News

Digital Scholarship Center to open in library

Shannon Beauregard

Contributing Writer

The technology team in the library will soon open the Digital Scholarship Center, which will introduce new technologies to students as soon as next semester.

A $700,000 grant awarded to the University this summer from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation provided funding for the center.

Sometime during the spring semester, students may have the opportunity to work with the MakerBot, a user-friendly 3D printer that will be located at the Digital Scholarship Center. The engineering department already owns a 3D printer.

The 3D printer spits out real, three-dimensional plastic objects. Students can go to thingiverse.com and design the plastic object they want to create.

“Maybe if a student was in a sculpture class and needed something to look at while sculpting, he or she could use the printer,” Digital Scholarship Coordinator Andy Famiglietti said. “Or, if a student was in a management class and wanted to give a class presentation about a new device to market, he or she could actually hold the device in his or her hand.”

Along with the 3D printer, the Information Technology (IT) department wants to have 3D glasses available at the Digital Scholarship Center.

The 3D glasses would allow students to “access information that they would otherwise only be able to access by looking at a screen,” Famiglietti said. “Using the glasses, you can channel information to particular places.”

The 3D glasses essentially display information or search results, in front of your right eye. This eliminates the need to “double screen” and makes multi-tasking substantially easier.

“We want to see how students will use them in classes, and how both students and professors will use them while completing their research,” Digital Scholarship Coordinator Diane Jakacki said.

The IT department has already conversed with faculty members about the new technology and will soon start to talk to the student body as well.

“The goal is to see how the technology can be brought into a humanities or social science context,” Jakacki said. “For lots of humanities folks, technology is straightforward, yet this new technology could transform their coursework.” 

The IT department is currently running trials to explore the effectiveness of the new technology in the classroom and hopes to utilize student feedback when the new Digital Scholarship Center opens.