Author: Cooper Sutton

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Letters to the Editor Opinion

Concert Committee: Response to Campus

To the Editor:

 

Whoa, Nelly! This spring, the Bucknell University Concert Committee has chosen Grammy-award winning artist Nelly to perform as the main act in the Gerhard Fieldhouse on Friday, April 13. The Concert Committee is excited to bring such a major act to campus.

Although the committee has received a great deal of support and excitement surrounding the upcoming show, we have also received some negative reactions, primarily from faculty who are offended by the choice. Issues of gender, race, pornography and mistreatment of women have been raised surrounding one of Nelly’s many videos, made for his 2003 song “Tip Drill.”

In an open forum last spring the Concert Committee hosted a panel discussion that included faculty, students and staff discussing programming content as it related to speakers, concerts and other entertainment brought to campus. The Committee decided to host this event after much faculty reaction to concerts such as Ludacris, T-Pain and Ke$ha. While certainly an enlightening discussion, it quickly became evident that there are no easy solutions when the issue of “offensive content” is debated. The committee was asked to and agreed to host post-concert discussions so the campus community could have the opportunity to share reactions to any given show.

In looking at Top 40 artists or specifically the hip-hop genre, it is difficult if not impossible to find an artist without content issues that are deemed offensive to one person or another. Most of the artists have some content skeleton in their closet. Certainly with little to no radio play, and not even mentioned in a quick Google search of Nelly songs, most Bucknell students (or the public at large) don’t know “Tip Drill.”  It most definitely is not a the defining song in his career.

When considering the Nelly invitation for the spring concert, the Concert Committee looked at his amazing award winning career, including his BET Best New Artist Award and his MTV Best Rap Video of the Year Award. Additionally, in June 2002, Nelly dropped the album “Nellyville,” featuring chart-topping hits such as “Hot in Herre,” “Air Force Ones” and “Dilemma,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard music charts. Nelly would go on to win three Grammy awards for this album including Best Rap Solo Performance (Male), Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Nelly has been nominated for a Grammy nine additional times. Nelly has released four more albums since “Nellyville” and songs such as “Over and Over” and “Just a Dream.” Billboard named Nelly the No. 3 top Artist of the Decade (2000-2009). In addition to his music ventures, Nelly has appeared on television and in two films. He co-starred in 2005’s “The Longest Yard” and has starred on TV shows such as “90210” and “CSI:NY.”

The Concert Committee also considered Nelly’s success as a philanthropist and entrepreneur. One of Nelly’s most significant contributions has been his dedication to philanthropy. Nelly runs the 4Sho4Kids Foundation which is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with development disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome and children born addicted to drugs. The foundation assists families by providing educational classes and healthcare resources in the St. Louis metropolitan area. He also started the “Jes Us 4 Jackie” in 2003 to help raise awareness about bone marrow transplants for African Americans and other minorities. Nelly began the campaign after his sister Jackie was diagnosed with leukemia in 2003. She later lost her battle with cancer in 2005. Nelly has participated in other philanthropic efforts and continues to emphasize his commitment to charity. Nelly has had multiple shoe contracts with brands such as Nike and Reebok. He was also a part owner of the Charlotte Bobcats until 2010. Nelly is also the owner of two clothing brands, Apple Bottoms and Vokal. His brand Apple Bottoms promotes positive messages towards women’s body issues, emphasizing that clothes should fit the woman, not vice versa.

Acknowledging the complexity of content in today’s culture, the committee is prepared to respond to concerns and will host a post-concert open forum. We are asking, however, why this task falls solely on our shoulders. If the Concert Committee is asked to host open forums to progress campus climate in a positive direction, shouldn’t faculty, staff and other student groups be held to the same standards when speakers, politicians, and other groups are invited to campus and deliver messages not universally accepted? Or is the real question this: is an open forum required to process and debate every controversial event?

 

– The Bucknell Concert Committee

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Headline News

Kappa Sigma and 23 University Ave. raided by Public Safety

Jenni Whalen

Staff Writer

At around 1 p.m. this afternoon, Public Safety officers set off the fire alarm in Kappa Sigma Fraternity. All fraternity members were instructed to leave the house on the premise that the officers were conducting University searches. The house at 23 University Avenue was also raided in the same fashion.

In addition to Public Safety officers, officers from the Lewisburg Police Department also arrived at the scene with specially trained drug dogs. Kappa Sigma members assume that this raid occurred because officers were searching for illegal substances and drug paraphernalia, although none can be sure because the three-hour search was conducted while the members were cleared out of the house.

“At 1:00 p.m. today, members of the University and local law enforcement searched 23 University Avenue and Kappa Sigma Fraternity based on an ongoing investigation of illicit drug use and seizure of contraband,” dean of students Susan Lantz said in an email sent out to the parents of all residents. “The University is concerned about the health and safety of our students and our community, which is why we decided to investigate further today.”

At this moment in time, no student arrests have been made.

 

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Editorial: Administration too power-hungry to realize realities

The University prides itself on its extremely high alumni salary ranking: fourth among liberal arts schools across the nation, according to the Huffington Post. In many senses, it is doing what it is designed to do in a social context—prepare students to succeed in a capitalist culture. Why, then, are they implementing rules and regulations to degrade this dynamic?

In a recent study conducted by University seniors Chandler Hoopes and Morgan Beeson, a direct correlation between socializing and post-graduation income levels was found. These findings leave us to wonder why the administration would continuously attempt to minimalize the Greek presence—the most prevalent social outlet on campus—and to make stricter rules against holding parties on campus.

While we are not saying that students should go out every weekend and binge drink, we are saying that going out on a Friday or Saturday night does, in fact, cultivate important life skills. In light of this fact, The Bucknellian staff cannot help but notice an exponential increase in busted parties this past school year.

What’s more, this increase certainly does not reflect students’ actions; Public Safety has grown more aggressive, but students have not become more obvious. For example, a Greek date party should not be busted for reasons such as, “we heard clinking bottles” (over the loud music of the party? Really?).

Even though the house is registered, Public Safety still possesses the power to come in and break up a social event that without a doubt teaches students valuable lessons about interacting with people. That is something they will need later in life just as much as knowledge of engineering or biology.

With the heightening of these strict policies, the administration is only harming itself. In an effort to cleanse this university, it is in fact watering down the life skills students will learn.

Consider the school ranked as number two on the alumni salary list, Colgate.  According to collegeprowler.com’s college report card, Colgate’s Greek life receives an “A+.” It also provides comparable Greek life in other schools. First on the list reads “Bucknell University, A+.”

Clearly, there exists a strong relationship between socializing and success in the real world. We are not implying that students should forgo studying for partying, but they should be allowed to go out on the weekends without endless pursuit from police and Public Safety.

The University needs to ask themselves soon what is actually important, and what its role really is in developing students. Is it to impose totalitarian order, or is it to prepare students for success? The answer is easy, but the administration has become too powerful to accept it.

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Letters to the Editor Opinion

Letter to the editor: Univ. actively seeks and finds diversity

To the Editor:

Fostering a diverse, supportive and welcoming university community at Bucknell is a never-ending process. I applaud Jasmine King (“University is uninviting for minorities,” Feb. 10, 2012) for bringing attention in her article to this critically important goal.

Ms. King discusses the role of student admission in this process, so I’d like to share information about partnerships we are cultivating to make Bucknell a more diverse place.

Over the last few years, we have pursued a strategy of building meaningful partnerships with excellent organizations that help us recruit outstanding students from diverse communities in addition to the individual recruitment of students. For example, since 2005, Bucknell’s relationship with the Posse Foundation has opened our campus to exceptional students who otherwise may not have considered attending the University. Since then, 152 Posse scholars from Boston, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles have enrolled at Bucknell, making Bucknell one of only three universities in the country with such an extensive Posse network. In addition, through the generous support of Andy Hartman ’71 P’00 and Janet Bauer Hartman P’00, Bucknell established the Charles T. Bauer Scholars Program for students in the Baltimore City School District.

Bucknell has also built partnerships nationally with five other related programs:  A Better Chance and Prep for Prep in the New York City area, YES Prep Public Schools in Houston, Schuler Scholars of Chicago, Mastery Charter Schools in Philadelphia and One Voice in Los Angeles. Our relationships with these programs will help bring new students of exceptional academic ability from a variety of underrepresented backgrounds to Bucknell.

Just last year, we also launched an effort to connect more closely with high schools in such Pennsylvania cities as York, Reading and Harrisburg, where families of color and families with no experience with the college process have begun to settle in greater numbers. We are determined to extend Bucknell’s outreach and to give students from all backgrounds the chance to be part of Bucknell and contribute to our community.

Finally, as Ms. King notes, the effort cannot stop at simply recruiting students to apply. A truly selective university has both the privilege and obligation to build a learning environment that provides opportunities for all of its students to succeed. We will continue to review every applicant for the ability both to benefit from, and contribute to, academic and residential life at Bucknell. We are building global citizens at Bucknell, and we share with Ms. King a deep appreciation for the importance of this effort.

Sincerely,

Rob Springall

Dean of Admissions

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Editorial: Football scholarships threaten Univ. integrity

The new proposal to allocate athletic merit based scholarships to Patriot League football programs has many on The Bucknellian staff worried about the direction of the University. First and foremost, we know it is not primarily the University’s decision to add these scholarships, and we understand that the impact will not necessarily have a huge impact on our school. With that said, we do worry about the image of our school if we add even more athletic scholarships than we already have.

This university aspires to be known as one of the most academically challenging and prestigious universities in the country—in fact, every Patriot League school does. The Patriot League was built for scholarly institutions, in the image of the Ivies, which begs the question: what is motivating this move to add scholarships?

Of course, as is the case with everything, we find the answer in capital. The better the football team, the more money a university (and the league that school is in) brings in.

In this endeavor, the Patriot League is clearly favoring money over what is truly important in a university setting: an education.

As President Bravman said in an email sent out to the faculty, “I believe … that there will be a decisive majority vote to permit football scholarships. Should the Presidents’ Council reach this conclusion, it likely will become unavoidable for Bucknell to add merit-aid scholarships in football.”

It seems at this point the fate of our school’s sports programs is undeniable. If we add three to five scholarships in football, we will be forced to add to other sports because of Title IX requirements. What’s more, that money will have to come out of academic based scholarships, decreasing the value put on academics at the University, ultimately decreasing the value of a Bucknell University degree.

More than just the material losses the University will suffer, it will also be overshadowed by its athletic program, and change the meaning of what it truly means to be a University student-athlete. Faculty and students alike have expressed their fear that what it means to be a student-athlete here will change—no longer will that person be a student, who also happens to play sports.

While there is no problem with a university who specializes in sports over academics, we simply don’t see this university as that place. We see this university as one that prides itself with work ethic both on the field and in the classroom, where a student can’t hide behind his or her athletic abilities.

We sincerely hope this new rule, if it gets passed, does not diminish the standards of the University. And, if negative impacts are seen, we hope the University will take steps to improve the status of the student-athlete on our campus.

Categories
Letters to the Editor Opinion

Letter to the Editor

To the editor:

Here’s a shining example of Bucknell courtesy. A few days ago, I invited a friend to work with me at the Bertrand Library. My friend lives in Lewisburg but is not affiliated with Bucknell. She drove up to campus and parked on Fraternity Road near the fraternities and library. A group of students, mostly male, stood nearby monitoring traffic. After some hours in the peaceful reading rooms at the library, my friend returned to her car.

Imagine my friend’s shock when she found this belligerent note tucked under her windshield wiper:

“Learn how to park you fucking douch [sic].  I’m watching.“

We were dismayed by the crassly sexual language and by the threat implicit in  “I’m watching.”  The writer of the note could simply have walked over and said, “Excuse me–you parked over the line.”  But no: this road-rage artist went through all the trouble of pulling out a three-ring notebook and writing an anonymous note (in red ink to boot, as if to compensate for the puerile penmanship and spelling).

My friend reported the incident to the local police and I reported it to campus security, but I have little hope that anything can be done.

I am infuriated by the humiliation my guest faced on our campus, and have to wonder about the mentality that produced such gratuitous vitriol.  Did the writer feel powerful or manly by lashing out at an innocuous woman who is twice the age and half the size of the average student?

I  am well aware that drunken crudeness passes for social life on our campus, and that some of my students might be animals when they are not in my classroom.  This much has not changed in the 20 years I’ve taught here.  However, I’m appalled that a random visitor was treated so abusively.  That’s a new and shameful low.

Meenakshi Ponnuswami
Associate Professor of English

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Editorial: Greek life changes are a good step, yet flawed

The recent changes made to the University’s Greek system have elicited much debate amongst The Bucknellian staff. On the one hand, we feel compelled to commend the administration, as well as the Panhellenic and Interfraternity Councils, for their role in actively trying to improve such a vital portion of the University’s social foundation. At the same time, we feel we must question the policies that they are putting in place to make those changes.

By changing the P4P requirements, the University has, theoretically, improved the way we as students view community service and guest lecturers. Now we will go to these opportunities because we want to, not because we have to, and we will get more out of it.

The problem with this logic is twofold. First, we are college students, which means we are busy with schoolwork, with clubs and with all sorts of activities. Although some students may want to go to speakers or community service events, they may not go if they are not forced to, simply because they want a break in their busy day or want to finish their homework before midnight.

The second problem lies in the fact that “Greeks” do not know exactly what will happen if they don’t meet a certain number of community service hours. Though the hours are no longer required, the administration could still hold a chapter accountable for not doing them. The Bucknellian staff hopes this is not simply a “test” from the administration in hopes of getting chapters in trouble, and eventually minimizing Greek presence on campus.

Finally, we feel the new six-week plan to educate first-years on Greek Life contradicts the administration’s stance from the past semester. It seems as if the University has frowned upon the importance of Greek Life on campus, and would like to see it become a less significant portion of the social reality here. If this new Greek education class is implemented, it seems the importance of fraternity and sorority life to first-years will be amplified. This class will make Greek Life a bigger deal than it already is.

We appreciate the steps the University is taking to improve the atmosphere of this campus, but we also must question the steps it is taking to accomplish its goals. Unfortunately, the recent changes may look good theoretically, but could prove detrimental in practice.

Categories
Opinion

Is the lack of sorority housing patriarchal? He said…

Vince Fasanello

Contributing Writer

With all of the discussion on “campus climate” and changes in the Greek system that have been going on over the past few months, I thought I would take the opportunity to give a guy’s perspective on the social scene in Greek life. Because the fraternities have on-campus houses and the sororities do not, this creates a social dynamic which places a lot of unsought pressure on the guys. Because we have the houses, we’re the only ones who have the parties. We pay for the parties, we put in a lot of preparation effort and, looking at this from a legal perspective and our standing with the University, we are ultimately responsible for the well-being of the people who attend. The girls roll in, drink our beer and then leave. We’re left with a demolished house bearing all of the costs. Look at our social dues–-while we pay roughly $150 a semester, the typical sorority pays about $10-15, solely for a date party here and there and formals. To my knowledge, $150 is relatively cheap compared to some of the other fraternities on campus. Another negative side effect is that I could see how the University would naturally associate fraternities, more so than sororities, as solely “partying” organizations.

I think a more ideal social scene would be one in which sororities could host some of the parties. I realize that “officially” this would be impossible because they do not have houses on campus. Downtown parties aren’t technically registered with the University  (as “registers” are) and hosted by the fraternity; rather, the residents of the house technically host them. Sororities could therefore easily host parties downtown (obviously not to the same extent as a register, but nevertheless a successful mixer at the least). Unfortunately, we all have set an irreversible precedent of women relying on men to host the parties. We are constantly in a position of having to prepare for parties and “please” sorority women so that they will want to come and attend more of our events in the future. This is a lot of pressure.

With the current situation, and with ongoing talks about “changing the campus climate for the better” and empowering women so that they don’t feel objectified by men, I feel it’s necessary to rethink the current social scene because it exacerbates these problems. With women only relying on fraternities to host social events, they are, in essence, being subjected to “follow the leader.” Instead, we should find a solution that enables both fraternities and sororities to equally share the burden. Dividing the costs and pressure will make for a better social scene for everyone and could solve some of the ongoing problems concerning Greek life.

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Arts & Life From the Mind of Wiley Jack Humor

From the mind of Wiley Jack: Bucknell Bucket List

By Jack Wiles

Columnist

People these days, including myself, generally suck at reading. Our attention span as a society seems to be getting worse than that of a rat. So, for this week, I give you a list. This is the “Bucknell Bucket List”; essentially, this is me telling all four members of my readership what they should do before they leave Lewisburg. Take it as seriously as you want, but keep in mind, you probably shouldn’t.

1. Get naked.College is the one time where going streaking, skinny dipping or surprising a friend with your unfurled glory as they walk into a room is completely acceptable. It’s also hilarious for both males and females.

2. Rock a tank top. Most of us don’t look good in tank tops, especially me. My shoulders are so narrow that I would definitely be mistaken for a female if I had longer hair. (I already have been!) But, who cares? Let your guns out and look like you party because the real world will not allow you to look like a dunce.

3. Take a philosophy class. Ever seen “Animal House”? This should be enough explanation. Inside of our fingernail, there are a million different galaxies, man…

4. Put salt on a slug. I did this much earlier than college, but hey, you’ve got to do it some time and you definitely will not want to do it in front of your boss. Shrivel that slug! Maybe even make it cooler and prepare a sacrificial pyramid, Mayan style.

5. Go to wing night. This one is serious.< Lewisburg Hotel’s wings are the shit.

6. Spend a weekend sober. Guys, this is a comedy column. This form of comedy is called sarcasm.

7. Have a political argument. You don’t have to know anything about what you’re talking about, but make yourself feel smart. Pretend like you care. As in my case, Ron Paul 2012!

8. Go to a neighboring Central Pennsylvania town. This experience to me, as I feel it would be for most people reading this, was astonishing. People say the University isn’t diverse? This is absolute crap. At least we experiment with different gene pools.

9. Take a shower in the Bison. A friend of mine did this and loved it. Make sure you walk there in only a robe, or see number one on this list.

10. Leave a floater in a public bathroom. If you don’t know what this means, I’m just not going to explain it.

If you think I left anything out or have any ideas for next week, tweet me about it @Improvize.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Editorial: Fedorjaka’s departure shrouded with mystery, speculation

There is no doubt that Kathy Fedorjaka was successful in her 15 years as head coach of the women’s basketball team. Her three 20-win seasons and her two NCAA tournament appearances mark fantastic achievements for the coach of a school as small as this one. Her sudden “resignation,” therefore, brings up a lot of questions and even more speculation. Why would a coach—someone who has dedicated her livelihood to her players—quit in the middle of the season, the night before a game, without any explanation?

The timing of the series of events that unfolded on Friday, Jan. 13 seems to us to be more than suspicious, and the lack of stated motivation for her departure only adds to the campus-wide speculation. With that said, speculation within the University population rises per day due to the lack of information that we, as students, pay to receive.

Nobody can deny the massive sum of money that our parents, or in many cases students, send to the school each year so that we can enjoy the fantastic education offered here. But with that education, we also have paid for the right to know why the personnel—whose paychecks are made possible by our tuition and the donations of alumni and current and former parents—leave the school. Why, then, is this information hidden from students and alumni?

The University seems to have set a double standard in many ways with its handling of Fedorjaka’s sudden departure. First, it seems to have contradicted itself with the discourse that it spreads through our campus. President Bravman has said many times in correlation with the Campus Climate Report—specifically when talking about protecting the “brand” of the University—that high-functioning organizations do not sweep their problems under the rug. Why, then, in light of these intelligent words from our President, does the Athletics Department withhold information? By definition, they are covering their problems up, sweeping them under the rug.

The second double standard stems from what Athletic Director John Hardt told the players the night they found out about Fedorjaka’s resignation. He made sure to emphasize that they should refrain from talking extensively about the situation outside the locker room to avoid adding to the speculation, according to a few players that were at the meeting. If the Athletics Department is so worried about this speculation, then it should inform the students, the people upon whom its jobs rely, of what is really going on. This way, it could stop the speculation before it even gets started.

All in all, no matter what the reason for Kathy Fedorjaka’s resignation was, we at The Bucknellian believe that the manner in which the Athletic Department responded is flawed. We understand that the information is sensitive, but to have a well-established coach leave her team in the middle of the season without any warning or explanation seems to have only made the problem worse. If all sides had only waited until the end of the season, this situation would seem understandable, and the speculation would be almost nonexistent. Unfortunately, with the way the events panned out, everybody is asking the same question, reaching their own personal conclusion, and the result is staining the brand and legacy of not only this university’s women’s basketball program, but the entire Athletic Department and the University.