The Bucknellian

By William M. Fierman

News Editor

In an email to the University community on Aug. 1, President John Bravman announced several new policy changes including the cancellation of House Party Weekend.

An almost century old tradition at the University, House Party is a weekend of events during the spring semester, most hosted by the campus’s Greek organizations. The weekend annually includes exceptionally high rates of hospitalizations due to high-risk drinking as well as a large spike of encounters between students and University Public Safety or local police. During the 2013 House Party Weekend, 15 students were admitted to the hospital.

The decision to cancel House Party Weekend by Bravman came to most members of the University community in the almost 3,000 word email that highlighted Bravman’s growing concerns with student behavior during House Party Weekend over his three years as president.

“I can no longer support an event that tacitly enables–and seemingly encourages–our students and their guests to be at their worst,” Bravman said in the email.

For most of the University’s history, House Party has steadily grown in size. Spending by the Inter-Fraternity Council totaled between $50,000 to $60,000 during the previous few years, though registration fees for students and their guests more than cover that cost. Proceeds are split between an IFC-sponsored educational event and a donation to a charitable organization.

In recent decades, involvement by the University grew with the hope of providing for student health and safety. During last year’s House Party Weekend, the University provided fencing, spotlights, security and safety personnel, on-campus events, and catering service through funding for the Department of Public Safety, the Dean of Students Office, the Campus Activities and Programs (CAP) Center, and the Inter-Fraternity Council.

“I think it got to be that this grew over time and the University tried to step in and be helpful–spotlights, port-o-potties, free food–trying to address issues, first and foremost, of health and safety,” Bravman said.

“They cannot mount House Party Weekend as it’s been [without a University contribution]. We provide logistical support and financial support to non-trivial degrees,” Bravman said in an interview with The Bucknellian. As it existed until last year, House Party was unquestionably “a University-sanctioned event–it’s on the academic calendar,” Bravman said.

“The size and scope of House Party Weekend typically required us to have all of our officers on duty for at least a portion of the weekend. To put that in perspective, that’s about three times the coverage of an average weekend on campus,” Chief of Public Safety Steve Barilar reported in an email to The Bucknellian.

In 2012, the Department of Public Safety spent $15,000 more on staffing on House Party Weekend than the average weekend, though this figure does not include the contributions of salaried employees. The Dean of Students’ office staff spent well over 250 hours planning for and volunteering.

When asked about the possibility of a student-led house party this spring, Barilar said the department has the ability to “adjust and adapt” to new circumstances in order to support the health and safety of students this spring.

Considering the breadth of such involvement, University administration acknowledge that it is difficult to gauge what will become of House Party Weekend without University aid.

Bravman also expressed concern that because of the unusual dynamic created by off-campus housing, the event may simply shift downtown, where University Public Safety officers have no jurisdiction. Past University-organized events and catering during House Party may have had the effect of drawing students onto campus and nearer to the safety measures provided for them.

Bravman claimed that he is not blind to the likelihood that students will most likely organize a House Party of their own during the 2014 spring semester, without the health and safety measures provided for them in the past by the University.

“I expect this to be a very bad spring–I do. And that grieves me. Maybe I’ll be wrong, but we’ll do the best we can,” Bravman said.

Despite these concerns, Bravman was clear that support for House Party Weekend equated to condoning the worst behaviors of students and young alumni during the event, and that such an approach by the University could not continue.

“We’ve sent a message in almost every way that this is almost like suspended reality for a weekend–we’ve said that this is ok,” Bravman said.

Christina Oddo

News Editor

The Gulden Runners Affinity Housing Program hosted the first Gulden 5K run/walk this past Sunday. The race was $5 for individual runners or $20 for teams of 5, and all of the proceeds went to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Gift bags with goodies were awarded to the top finishers of teams and of individual categories based on age and gender. The course was across campus, starting and ending at the field house, including the soccer fields.

“The goals of the race are to promote running to our campus community and to raise money for cancer research, all in the memory of the late Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Art Gulden who died in May of 2001 after battling Lymphoma for over 10 years,” Abby Gulden-Luthi, the Gulden Runners Affinity adviser said. “The race was attended by some alumni who ran for Coach Gulden including Ron Hess, Jessica Hess and Brian Harshman. Other Bucknell cross country and track and field alumni came to support the runners and some alumni children ran in the race. Race staffers included life-long friends of Coach Gulden.”

 

Eric Balaban ’14, the Gulden Affinity House Leader, helped initiate the planning and execute the race.

 

“Given the conditions, we were thrilled with the race’s attendance,” Balaban said. “We had about 80 people sign up which is outstanding for our first try in putting on a 5K. More importantly, we were about to raise over $700 for leukemia research in Art Gulden’s memory which is impressive considering the registration fee was only $5 per person.”

 

According to Balaban, the race itself ran really smoothly. An official timing system was set up for the race, and Public Safety officers were stationed at various intersections directing traffic.

 

“Many participants commented on how comfortable they were that they weren’t going to get lost because we did such a good job directing the race,” Balaban said. “Afterward, the participants enjoyed a free food table and recognition of the top finishers, including Chris Sacks ’14 who finished first for college men and Claire Buhr ’15 who finished first for college women.”

 

“Running to support a good cause with some of my best friends was a lot of fun,” Buhr said. “It was great to get out on a nice Sunday morning and race with members of the Lewisburg community and other Bucknellians.”

“I think the race went really well, I am glad that a lot of people came out to support the cause,” Sacks said. “The men’s XC team did a great job organizing the run. The win was a lot of fun and I look forward to racing in future events that the XC team put together.”

 

According to Balaban, the Gulden 5k Campus Run/Walk is already being planned for next year, although it may be moved to the fall.

 

“We got stellar participation this year, particularly from Bucknell staff and the women’s cross country team, but we really want to get more students involved next year,” Balaban said.

 

“Next year we are hoping to move this race to Homecoming Weekend to encourage more participation from alumni and their families,” Abby Gulden-Luthi said. “We hope to add kid races as well as tshirts and perhaps a catered brunch post-race.”

 

Balaban thanks the Gulden Affinity members, Abby Gulden-Luthi and Residential Education for granting the budget.

Sarah Antonacci

Contributing Writer

World-renowned sexpert Tristan Taormino spoke to University students about how to improve their sexual experiences. She discussed topics such as masturbation, orgasms, sex toys, anal sex and more in an event open to the public and hosted by FLAG&BT, with the help of the Women’s Resource Center and Dean of Students Susan Lantz.

Taormino focused on how to bring pleasure to sexual encounters, and her talk took account for different gender and sexual orientations. Taormino looked to bring sex into a positive and healthy light. 

“I think the subject material of the lecture is generally shocking to a lot of people, but I think Tristan handled it with grace and humor,” Lindsay Allardyce ’14, one of the leading organizers of the event, said.

The lecture was interactive, comprised of explanations of anatomy, as well as fun facts, myths and truths. She also had a trivia section and winning students won prizes.

“I really enjoyed the event because Tristan was so open about sex,” Maddie Pucciarello ’14 said.

“In part, the success is gauged by the attendance, but it’s also gauged by the audience reaction to Tristan,” Sam Lauer ’13 said. “She was captivating, funny, honest (sometimes brutally) and engaging. She kept us on our toes and provided us the sex education we should have been receiving since elementary school.”

Many students were open to volunteering, which helped the audience members learn more and have fun at the same time.

“The most interesting part was probably the anonymous Q&A section,” Allardyce said. “She passed out note cards and students wrote down questions they had about sex. It was also really cool how many people felt they could finally ask a question about sex that they had never asked before and get a real answer. Also, no one felt alone because everyone really wanted these questions answered.”

Allardyce, vice president, and Lauer, the diversity master, represented FLAG&BT and co-organized the event.

“I wanted to organize this event because I have seen some of the unhealthy sexual habits of students at Bucknell,” Allardyce said. “It was really important to me that myself and my peers get the opportunity to learn how to have more fulfilling sexual experiences in college that involve more communication and pleasure. I also wanted to get students talking openly about sex, and not be afraid of being stigmatized for it.”

Both Allardyce and Lauer said the event was a huge success. Lauer said that the forum was packed and all of the seats were filled to the point where students and faculty had to sit on the steps and on the floor. Lauer also said that mostly students attended.

“She included a lot of emphasis on safe, communicative, consensual sex throughout the presentation,” Lauer said. “I think her talk was eye-opening, and most of all empowering. It felt so good to hear sex talked about openly and most importantly honestly. I am so grateful to Tristan for traveling to Pennsylvania to speak to Bucknell. We really needed it.”

Next year Allardyce hopes to run more sex positive events, whether that means doing another lecture or opening up a student-facilitated dialogue.

 

Jackson McCarron

Writer

At the Bucknell Student Government (BSG) congress meeting on April 21, Public Safety Chief Steve Barilar delivered a report detailing all crime and incidents during this year’s House Party Weekend.

According to the list, theft and underage consumption were the two most frequent violations of the weekend, with 15 and 10 registered counts, respectively.

The list also enumerated one noise complaint, five counts of criminal mischief, five counts of public drunkenness, three counts of harassment, one sexual assault-indecent, six alcohol overdose transports and four drug law violations. The noise complaint was registered by a resident of the Bucknell View Mobile Home Park in Milton.

Broken windows in Harris Hall resulted in one charge of criminal mischief to an individual not affiliated with the University. Two separate individuals were also charged with criminal mischief for allegedly causing damage to vehicles.

Charges of harassment and sexual assault are still being investigated.

Although many of these statistics seem grim, it is worth mentioning that the University is not the only University that can lay claim to a riotous weekend. Bloomsburg University boasts a similar annual tradition.

This past weekend, Bloomsburg University celebrated Block Party Weekend. During the festivities, local Bloomsburg police found it necessary to deploy an armored riot control vehicle to disperse a crowd of intoxicated party-goers on a Bloomsburg city street.

A video posted on BloomUtoday.com captured large crowds of students throwing bottles at the vehicle while the police used smoke canisters. Students can be heard in the video chanting “USA! USA!” as a police officer on top of the vehicle is apparently hit with a bottle.

In his meeting with BSG, Barilar said of House Party Weekend and the Bloomsburg riot, “If you think about what is happening 25 miles east of us, I guess we aren’t that bad.”

Susan Lantz, Dean of Students at the University, also weighed in on the recent statistics. In an email sent in response to questions about the administration’s reaction to the release of the violation from House Party Weekend Lantz said, “Although we are pleased with attendance at these events and pleased with examples of students caring for each other, we are disappointed in the statistics … We are currently evaluating what can be done to address the negative behaviors and consequences associated with House Party weekend.”

The administration is not yet discussing plans to change House Party Weekend.

“It’s just too early to discuss next steps because we are still evaluating this year’s events,” Lantz said.

Ethan Zubkoff Contributing Writer

William M. Fierman News Editor

Bucknell Student Government (BSG) will vote on a measure on April 28 that would help bring frozen yogurt, otherwise known as “froyo,” to the Bison dining area in the Elaine Langone Center as early as this summer.

The measure would allocate $15,000 for the purchase of new furniture and renovations to area of the Bison currently occupied by booths under the condition that the University provide the cash needed for bringing frozen yogurt to the Bison. University administration has shown willingness to fund the large refrigeration equipment required, and approached the BSG Executive Board two weeks ago requesting that they contribute funds for the project, BSG President Loren Jablon ’15 said.

The large equipment would occupy the elevated stage area in the Bison. Assuming approval by the BSG congress, installation of the equipment and renovations of other areas of the Bison could begin this summer.

“The froyo initiative is very likely to pass … provided there are no financial issues,” Class Representative Mike Schwartz ’16 said.

Talk of bringing frozen yogurt to campus has existed since at least 2010, when former Vice President of Operations Ali Jones ’11 initiated the discussion among the Student Affairs Committee. The initiative has been discussed by almost every student government since, though the large price tags of the required equipment as well as maintenance costs have continuously posed a problem.

Tech Desk tips

Brianna Marshall

Contributing Writer

Finals week is approaching and with it comes neverending computer usage for both studying and procrastinating. Unfortunately, University students may be susceptible to a lack of security for private information while online. Luckily, the support group at Library & Information Technology (L&IT) has some helpful tips for keeping finals week as secure and stress-free as possible.

1. Back up and secure data. Google Drive is offered through all BMail accounts, and for personal laptops, a secondary back-up source is ideal.
2. Keep passwords safe. Change passwords frequently and do not use the same password for multiple accounts or sites. While it may be tempting to give passwords to friends, keeping passwords secret is one of the easiest ways to maintain account privacy.
3. Never leave your laptop unattended and/or unsecured. Laptops are not the way to save your study space in the library.
4. Always logout of applications such as MyBucknell. As University students know, all student information is located in this one place.
5. Keep software up to date. While annoying, software notifications can be very beneficial.

Of course, accidents always happen, so this list is not a foolproof guide. Remember that the Tech Desk is always a valuable resource. For more tips on staying safe online go to http://www.staysafeonline.org/stay-safe-online. Happy studying!