Month: October 2010

Categories
Opinion

Pursuit of medicine rewarding, but arduous

By Maja Ostojic

Contributing Writer

This past Saturday, I attended one of the best information sessions for my future plans of pursuing a career as a doctor. Lately, I have been feeling overwhelmed with the task and the long road that I have chosen for myself, but the session reawakened my motivation and opened my eyes to the actuality of it all.

The session was led by David H. Janda ’80 and his daughter Allison Janda ’10 currently in her first year at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Allison and her father discussed the step-by-step process for applying to a medical school in a very clear and concise manner. They also provided tips for the MCAT preparation process, approximate timeline of meeting application deadlines and suggestions for interview etiquette. I learned that a score of 29 on the MCAT and a grade point average of 3.6 here at theUniversity will pretty much guarantee acceptance into a medical school.

Janda spoke in a very encouraging manner. He shared with us a past experience from one of his first pre-health information sessions.

He had been told to look to his left and then to his right, and that only one of the three people would make it to a medical school. He told us to do the same but he said that all three of us would make it to medical school and succeed, if we simply worked hard.

And I see that he’s right. If we want it enough, and if we are willing to put in the time and effort, doors will open before us.

Those of us who have chosen the path of medicine receive much support, but we also hear many negative comments about whether we are “smart enough” for the medical school and the hospital environment.

Our dreams seem to be questioned quite often, and even though we still push forth and proclaim that this is it, that we’ve wanted to be doctors since we were little, we can’t help but begin questioning ourselves.

Janda remained positive about this topic and told us to never let anyone tell us that we aren’t capable of doing something. We could all see the love and passion he had for being a doctor.

He also applauded all of us in the room for wanting to follow in his footsteps, even in the current economic status of our country. He admitted that the salary just two decades ago was not the same as it is now, but that that isn’t what being a doctor is all about.

So many find out too late that the job means more than the money people receive from it. Choosing to become a doctor means choosing to dedicate ourselves to prolonging and saving lives, to putting others needs ahead of our own, to trusting in medicine and health care and being the ones that so many people put their trust in.

Categories
Arts & Life Columns Cooking Corner

Cooking Corner: Shrimp with Spinach and Couscous

By Emily Fry

Staff Writer

Shrimp with Spinach and Couscous

With midterms coming up, nobody has enough time to make elaborate meals.  This dish takes only 15 minutes and serves four.  Happy cooking!

Ingredients:

1 cup instant couscous

3/4 tsp. kosher salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1 5-oz bag spinach

1 lb. bag frozen uncooked shrimp, thawed

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. Prepare couscous according to directions on package, season with 1/4 tsp. salt and pinch of pepper.

2. Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in large skillet over medium heat.

3. Add garlic and cook for one minute, add spinach and cook until wilted, about one minute, transfer to plate

4. Rinse shrimp and pat dry

5. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp, lemon wedges, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/8 tsp. pepper.  Cook turning once, until shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 4 minutes total.

6. Return garlic and spinach to pan and toss.

7. Serve over couscous.

Source: Real Simple: Meals Made Easy

Categories
Headline News

Facebook frenzy: Professors adapt to online social networking

By Jessica Rafalko

Writer

Coming soon to a computer screen near you: pictures from your physics professor’s trip to Bermuda; status updates from the people who assign your term papers and grade your exams; a reminder on your sidebar, accompanied by a pink-wrapped package with a bow: Today is Stephanie Larson’s birthday.

Yes, your professors are on Facebook. And some, like associate professor of classics Stephanie Larson, are embracing the website with the same enthusiasm as do their students.

When her colleagues initially suggested she create a Facebook account, Larson was skeptical.

“I thought, Why would I do that?” she said. “And now I love it.”

Chris Boyatzis, professor of psychology, had similar misgivings.

“I was very, very reluctant at first,” he said. “I just saw it as sort of a college-kid thing.”

This assessment is not unfair. One of the first things most college students do when they meet someone new is try to find them on Facebook. In the first weeks of school, most first-years are inundated with friend requests: the cute guy they met at orientation, the girl who sat beside them in their biology lecture.

But should professors be included in this friend request fusillade?

Though Boyatzis enjoys Facebook connections with former students, he does not accept friend requests from current ones. He enacted his “no current students policy” after he was unsettled by what he found on some of their profiles.

“Their pictures would pop up … in social settings that they probably didn’t really want me to see, and I didn’t want to see at all,” Boyatzis said.

Larson, who does friend some current students, agrees the line between the academic and the personal can become blurred.

“I find out a lot of things I don’t want to know about my students,” she said. She feels some students “use Facebook like a psychotherapist.”

But how do professors use Facebook? While Boyatzis describes the thrill of reconnecting with former classmates (some dating all the way back to elementary school), family members and students who are now old enough to be having children of their own, Larson has attempted to use Facebook to supplement academics.

She first came to Facebook as part of the formation of a group for the humanities residential college. She later became an administrator (along with associate professor of comparative humanities John Hunter) for the Bucknell in Greece and Turkey Facebook group.

When it comes to her teaching methods, Larson is leery of assigning work to students through Facebook. She opts for Blackboard e-mails, saying that “[Facebook is] not my tool.”

Larson does enjoy the social aspect of Facebook, but she says being friends with her students limits her in terms of what she can put on her own profile. She is occasionally tempted to post a status message, but then she realizes, “Oh my gosh, I can’t say that in front of my students.”

Boyatzis agrees that being friends with current students requires professors to exercise a degree of caution. In some ways, professors are taking just as big a risk—and raising just as many questions about what is appropriate to post online—as students are.

“Facebook doesn’t put them in a tiny bubble that’s closed to outsiders,” Boyatzis said of students—though these issues of discretion might be just as important to their professors, as social networking sites begin to cross generational lines.

Students for the most part agree that they should not become friends with a faculty member—at least until after a course is over. Matt Tilford ’11 is friends with several faculty members on campus. In all but one case, he friend requested professors only after he completed their courses.

“I found it a little weird at first,” he said. “But over time I have grown fond of friending faculty members as it is an easy way to stay in touch with some of my favorite teachers after I finish their classes.”

Corinne Brandt ’11 is also friends with a few faculty members on Facebook, though in general she waits until she knows a person well in enough in a setting outside the classroom before sending a friend request.

“I guess sometimes it works to strengthen the relationship to more than just student and teacher, and more to actual friendship,” she said.

Categories
Arts & Life

Bucknell Business Leaders prepare for future career

By Carolyn Williams

Writer

The Bucknell Business Leaders (BBL) is an organization for students who want  to discuss and prepare themselves for working in the corporate business after graduation. Both declared business majors and students simply interested in business can join.

Jennie Ciotti ’13 got involved in BBL after she visited the club’s booth at Admitted Students Day. “Knowing that I have always been interested in pursuing a career in business, I saw that BBL would provide me with a place to learn about business hands-on,” she said. During her second semester, Ciotti became BBL vice president, and this semester she will take charge as the group’s new president.

BBL is a forum in which students can learn to use tools that will be necessary in their business careers within the University microcosm. Each semester, the students of BBL Inc. try to sell a different product to the University community.

“The group is a unique club on campus because it offers students opportunities in networking,” said Matt Jenson ’13, BBL’s outreach and recruitment executive. “The profits that BBL yields from selling its product helps to fund a trip to NYC that offers club members the chance to meet with some of the most influential people in various industries.”

The trip to New York City alone introduces students to successful examples of the elite business community, such as Kate Spade, JP Morgan and Ralph Lauren. BBL also brings speakers to campus for the group’s benefit.

BBL prepares its members for jobs after college. Throughout their BBL membership, students build an impressive résumé of accomplishments on campus.

“Students will have many personal and hands–on business experiences to talk about with potential employers in interviews later down the road,” Ciotti said.

This year, BBL plans to capitalize on the hype surrounding Homecoming weekend. Throughout the week prior to Homecoming, the much-anticipated Ke$ha and B.O.B. concert and Halloween, BBL will be selling a new product.

BBL will sponsor two speakers and visit several New York City business this year. The speakers and businesses are to be determined.

Any student interested in business is welcome to join the BBL community. Ciotti has exciting ideas for the club this year, and developed a new structure for the club itself last year—the newly reformatted BBL is made up of a backbone of committees.

“As president, I want to make sure that everyone gets the most out of their experience in BBL as they can,” Ciotti said.

Categories
Sports

Men’s club hockey opens up season with tough loss

Nathan Coughenour

Contributing Writer

The men’s club hockey team opened its season with a heartbreaking last-second loss at home on Saturday, losing 4-3 to the Millersville Marauders.

The young and inexperienced Bison were hard-pressed the entire game to get in a rhythm, and they never held a lead.

The scoring opened when the Marauders beat Bison goaltender John Chestnut ’14 on a power play six minutes into the game. Three minutes later Sandy Smith ’13 scored to tie the game at one.  Dan Minnis ’11 Bison forward and Chestnut had the assists. Two more goals were scored at the end of the first period to cap off an extremely contentious first third of the game.

In the second period, both defenses started hitting harder and really began to play well, with the only Marauders goal coming on a power play four minutes into the period.

In the end, the game came right down to the wire in the third period. John Wroblewski ’12 scored his second goal of the game at the beginning of the period to tie the match. The Mauraders then scored with 16 seconds left.

“Well I honestly think we out-played them. We pressured them very well in the offensive zone, caused a lot of turnovers and had plenty of chances. I think we played a smart game on both ends of the ice … but the puck just didn’t bounce our way,” Wroblewski said.

Considering the team only had two practices to prepare for this game, the Bison had a solid performance.

They finished with 30 shots but had five penalties and went zero for four on the power play. Chestnut made 25 saves.

There is a lot of positive enthusiasm surrounding the team, which came in second in its league last year.

“Based off of our pre-season and the wave of talented freshman we received, it looks as though we are even better this year,” President Connor Curry ’11 said.

The Bison will have another chance to test their limits Oct. 9 at 4:15 p.m. when they take on Princeton.

Categories
Featured Sports

Football loses fourth straight

By Greg Stevenson

Senior Writer

Although the Bison outgained the Big Red by over 50 yards on offense and recorded four turnovers, the Bison could not translate their dominance into a victory, falling 21-12 to Cornell at home. The defeat moves the Orange and Blue to 0-4 on the season.

After a 65-yard kickoff return that put the Big Red inside the red-zone to start the game, the Bison responded with an interception by Josh Eden ’12 on Cornell’s first play from scrimmage.

The Bison drove all the way down to the Cornell 28-yard line before their drive stalled and turned the ball over on a failed fourth-down attempt.

After Cornell went three-and-out on their second offensive possession of the game, the Orange and Blue drove deep into Big Red territory again, but could not pick up any points, as a field goal attempt by kicker Drew Orth ’12 sailed wide right.

With less than a minute remaining in the first quarter, Cornell opened the scoring for the game. Sparked by a blocked punt, the Big Red ran the ball in from two yards out to take the lead, 7-0.

Starting at their own 40-yard-line, Cornell drove 60 yards in 10 plays, and capped off its drive with a 14-yard touchdown run that pushed the lead to 14-0. The Bison avoided a shutout in the first half, driving inside the Big Red 10-yard-line before settling for a field goal.

In the second half, a 46-yard drive led Orth to record his second made field-goal of the game. Cornell quarterback Jeff Mathews then completed two passes on the third down to keep the drive alive and a 35-yard pass set up Cornell’s third and final touchdown of the game.

Down by 15 with less than five minutes left in the third quarter, the Bison answered Cornell’s scoring drive with a touchdown. Quarterback Brandon Wesley ’14 accounted for a combined 55 yards rushing and passing on the drive, including a 14-yard touchdown scramble. Wesley finished the day with 267 yards through the air and 49 yards on the ground.

Despite his touchdown run, the Bison were unable to convert a two-point conversion that would have brought the deficit to seven. The Orange and Blue threatened only once more, but their drive ended when Wesley threw his only interception of the contest. The Big Red was able to run out the clock, handing the Bison their fourth consecutive loss of the season.

Still searching for their first victory of 2010, the Bison finish up their three game home-stand against Penn this Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium at 1 p.m.

Categories
Sports

Women’s golf sets records at Penn State

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The women’s golf team finished in 10th place this past weekend at the Nittany Lion Invitational in State College, Pa. The Bison finished the 54-hole tournament with a score of 937. Host Penn State won with 901.

On Saturday, Bridget Wilcox ’14 set a program record with a round of 69 (three-under-par) and finished in 16th place—the Bison’s top finisher— with 229. Wilcox was the Bison’s top finisher.

She said that staying focused throughout the second round was the key to her success.

“I stayed in the moment and gained confidence with each shot that I hit. I was four under on my first nine and knew that I had to continue to stay confident and in the moment,” Wilcox said.

Overall, Wilcox felt the tournament was a huge learning experience for her.

“I gained a lot of confidence from this tournament and learned that by staying in the present and not thinking about the next shot really helped me to focus,” Wilcox said.

The team also matched the program’s single round scoring record on Saturday.

“[Wilcox’s] great round along with four other scores in the 70s helped us accomplish a team score of 296. We shot this score in our home tournament a few weeks ago and it is only a matter of time before we break this record,” Katie Jurenovich ’11 said.

Jurenovich was the only Bison to shoot in the 70s all three rounds (78-76-78). Minjoo Lee ’12 had another strong finish, carding a 78 in the final round to finish the day as the team’s top scorer. Lauren Bernard ’11 also had a strong tournament, finished with a 74 in the second round and an 83 on Sunday.

The women return to action Oct. 11-12 when they compete in the Zippy Invitational in Akron, Ohio. The men’s team, which was off this week, will also be back in action next weekend, playing in the William & Mary Joe Agee Invitational.

Categories
Featured Sports

Men’s soccer wins in Patriot League play

By Joe Ruby

Writer

The men’s soccer team beat Navy (6-2-1) 2-0 in a league match Saturday night and dropped a 2-1 decision to UMBC (5-3-1) on Tuesday night. Luke Joyner ’12 and Josh Plump ’13 scored against the Midshipmen, and Tommy McCabe ’11 tallied against the Retrievers. Both games were at home.

The Bison had a number of close calls against Navy before Joyner scored his first goal of the year in the 26th minute. Travis Rand ’11 hit a cross into the box from near the half line. Joyner one-timed the ball into the net from close range. The Bison missed on a similar play minutes before.

The Bison struck again to put the game out of reach at the 71:26 mark. Brendan Klebanoff ’12 played the ball through to Plump, who outran a defender, took the ball deep into the box, and scored from a tight angle. Rand earned his second assist of the evening on the play.

Navy had difficulty generating offense, managing only a shot on goal in each half to seven on the game for the Bison. The Bison outshot the Midshipmen 14-7.

Against UMBC, McCabe scored his first goal of the year on a penalty kick that drew the Bison to within one. At the 83:29 mark, a UMBC defender was called for a handball in the zone. Ross Liberati ’11 attempted a penalty kick that was saved, but the UMBC goalkeeper was called for moving forward too early, and McCabe converted on the second chance.

UMBC began the scoring 22:15 into the contest, when Chris Williams hit a shot past Marc Hartmann ’12, who was in goal for the entirety of each of the Bison’s games. The Retrievers scored their second goal in the 55th minute when Pete Caringi cleaned up a loose ball in the box for his sixth tally of the year.

The Bison outshot UMBC 17-6, but only managed to put three of their shots on goal, compared to four for the Retrievers. The Bison held an advantage in corner kicks in both games.

The sole game this week for the Bison (4-6-0, 1-1-0 Patriot League) is against conference rival Holy Cross (3-6-1, 0-2-0) in Worcester, Mass. at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

Categories
Sports

Field hockey records two shutouts on road

By Joyce Novacek

Contributing Writer

The field hockey team held its opponents scoreless in two road games over the weekend, defeating Holy Cross 2-0 on Saturday and Harvard 3-0 on Sunday.  The senior class powered the Bison offense—each of the four seniors on the rosters scored a goal—and Kelly Bruvik ’11 scored in each game.

The Bison had a slow offensive start opening Patriot League play against the Crusaders, only taking three shots in the first 35 minutes of play.  The second half began much like the first, but when the Bison drew a penalty corner with about 13 minutes left to play, Christine Weiss ’11 scored the first goal of the game and her fourth of the season.

Only a few minutes later, Bruvik netted a goal that was the final one of the game.  The Orange and Blue defense limited the Crusaders to only three shots.

“This weekend when we played Holy Cross we focused on professionalism and the ability to play through any distractions. We were definitely able to keep composure even when things felt like they were beginning to become frantic,” Morgan Kauffman ’11 said.

Kauffman’s teammate Corinne Raczek ’11 expressed similar thoughts.

“Our mentality was to play with a sense of professionalism this weekend, especially for the Holy Cross game.  We knew it was going to be a game that would test how well we all collectively deal with impediments that could change the outcome of the game,” she said.

The team’s composure continued in Sunday’s game when it traveled to Cambridge to defeat Harvard and earn its fourth shutout of the year, the first time since 1999 that a Bison squad has earned four shutouts in a single season.

Goalkeeper Sarah Zargarpour ’12 started in net and earned her fourth shutout of the year.  With five shutouts in her career, Zargarpour is tied for ninth all-time in Bison field hockey history.

Kauffman scored the Bison’s first goal against the Crimson halfway through the first half.  With less than 10 minutes left in the first frame, Raczek scored her first goal of the season, sending the Bison into halftime with a 2-0 lead.

The Orange and Blue came out strong in the second half, and Bruvik netted her second goal in two days, putting the Bison up 3-0. The Bison out-shot the Crimson 13-8.

“Our defense should be very proud of themselves.  We’ve been gradually improving our defensive efforts and mindset each game.  We definitely should have put in a few more against Holy Cross, but the three goals on Sunday left us feeling a little more satisfied,” Raczek said.

On Saturday, the Bison travel to Easton, Pa. for their second Patriot League match up against Lafayette. They will then return home Sunday to play Columbia.

Categories
Sports

Women’s soccer beats American

By Eric Weiss

Senior Writer

The women’s soccer team defeated American 3-0 on Saturday at home in Lewisburg. Led by three seniors, the Bison controlled the game from start to finish.

The Bison struck first in the 24th minute off of a corner as Caitlin Holtz ’11 sent a ball to the back post that was almost blocked by the American keeper. For the rest of the half the Bison battled against a few American runs but the staunch back line for the Orange and Blue stayed strong.

“We played our hearts out to open up the season, and I know if we continue to play this way we will be very successful in the future,” co-captain Amanda Citron ’11 said.

Kelsey Johnson ’11 scored off a scramble in front of the net in the second half for a 2-0 lead as a penalty kick for the Bison set up the play. Johnson scored for the first time since her first year. For the rest of the second half, the Bison controlled an American offense that came in on a three-game winning streak.

In the 84th minute Christa Matlack ’11 helped add an insurance goal when she dribbled into the box, read the goalie and passed to a wide open Kelliann Doherty ’11 who put the game away.

“Even though we were up we never let up, and I think this sent a message to the rest of the league,” Doherty said.

The Bison continue with Patriot League play next weekend when they travel to Lafayette on Friday and Lehigh on Sunday. With continued success, the Bison will hopefully gain home field advantage for the Patriot League playoffs.