Author: Megan Herrera

By Eliza Macdonald

Writer

The Washington D.C. lead water crisis of 2004 impacted the world of civil engineering and trust in government agencies, a visiting civil engineering professor from Virginia Tech argued last week.

On Thursday, March 24 in the Elaine Langone Center forum, Dr. Marc Edwards lectured on his research on the baffling findings from the water crisis in the D.C. area.

“Lead in water is an unusual contaminant,” Edwards said. He explained that there are three main sources that can add lead to water: lead pipes, lead solder and leaded brass. All three can be found in many homes across America.

Edwards further explained that due to a change from adding chlorine in the water to a new chemical called chloramine, the residual rust on the lead pipes leading into each D.C. home leaked slowly into the water systems.

Chloramine was used instead of chlorine due to a new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation, but the EPA was unaware that the chlorine in the water had been keeping the lead rust on the pipe and out of the water.

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA) ran its regular tests in several homes and found an elevated level of lead in the water. WASA officials decided not to inform anyone of the elevated levels.

This original lie created a snowball effect through the EPA and the CDC in their tests of the D.C. water systems in homes. In all of these tests of the lead in water levels, each organization said that there was no danger to these levels.

Edwards decided to do his own research on this claim and found that the levels of lead in water were five times the level set by the EPA as hazardous waste. This was after three years of lead poisoning.

After extensive research, Edwards, dubbed the “plumbing professor,” was able to formally reject all of the evidence put forth by the CDC in their research on the crisis.

In his paper “Public Confidence, Down the Drain: The Federal Role in Ensuring Safe Drinking Water in the District of Columbia,” he proves each statement given by the CDC to be wrong.

Edwards concluded that, while it took him years to finally prove his findings to the CDC and the EPA, scientists have known for many years that lead in water was bad for health and that the denial of the CDC was redundant.

Lead poisoning affects every vital system in the body, and the damage done is irreversible. In some studies, average IQ levels dropped in people exposed to lead.

Edwards reminded those in the room, specifically those studying civil and environmental engineering, to remember the canon they will pledge to when issues like this arise: The engineer shall hold paramount the health, safety and welfare of the public.

“It did make me think about what the government is hiding from the U.S. population because I would think that lead-contaminated water would be an important issue, but they apparently don’t seem to think the same way,” Catherine Cowie ’14 said.

By Nicole Briggs

Contributing Writer

The University has received a $1 million grant from the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation to endow a scholarship program.

The Stabler Foundation is located in Harrisburg, Pa. and was established for charitable, religious, scientific, literary or educational purposes. Generally, the grants are given only to organizations and institutions in central and eastern Pennsylvania. It is one of the largest scholarship grants the University has ever received from a private foundation and is one of four gifts at the one-million-dollar mark or higher.

“Scholarships are Bucknell’s top campaign priority, and we are extremely grateful to the Stabler Foundation for this gift,” University president John Bravman said. “The University is committed to making a Bucknell education accessible to the best students, regardless of family finances. Scholarship support helps many superb students to attend Bucknell and creates a vibrant campus community.”

More than sixty percent of students receive aid from the University.

“It is yet to be seen how exactly it will be used to benefit students, but it will definitely help us to give more Bucknell financial aid to students,” said director of financial aid Andrea Leithner Stauffer.

The University takes a big interest in the types of students it enrolls, striving for a diverse group of bright and talented individuals.

“Scholarship aid is critical to attracting gifted students regardless of each of their family’s financial situation. The Stabler Foundation’s endowed scholarship will contribute to Bucknell’s ongoing efforts to increase the diversity of our student body to better reflect the changing demographics of our state and country, helping us to provide an educational experience that will prepare our graduates to enter a rapidly changing workforce” said Kurt Thiede, Vice President for Enrollment Management.

The Stabler Foundation’s grant could lead to new scholarships and will count towards the University’s comprehensive campaign that began in 2007 with a goal of raising $400 million. The campaign has raised $175 million to date.

“The fact that the Stabler Foundation has fully established a new scholarship program in perpetuity speaks both to their generosity and their strong belief in the value of a Bucknell education,” said David Foreman, director of the University’s corporate and foundation relations.

By Eliza Macdonald

Contributing Writer

Sorority presidents have decided to take a stand against degrading party themes with the help of the Panhellenic Council and the Women’s Resource Center (WRC).

On March 5 at the Something of Value program, a National Panhellenic Conference event, the presidents of each sorority on campus were forced to look at the growing rates of excessive alcohol consumption and sexual assault and assess their plans for decreasing these rates.

“We felt that the easiest and most obvious place to start would be to ban inappropriate party themes,” said Heather Parmelee ’12, president of Alpha Chi Omega.

Parmalee, along with the other chapter presidents, all agreed this small change could be the beginning to their plans to create a safer and empowering environment for both men and women.

The chapter presidents came back from their Panhellenic retreat with an official memorandum stating their stand on offensive party themes and presented it to the Interfraternity Council (IFC).

“We have known for many years that there are plenty of students who have not appreciated the party themes that are derogatory toward women, and it is great to see the women taking a stand and asking IFC to do the same,” said Tracy Shaynak, director of the Women’s Resource Center.

The chapter presidents and WRC hope the change will improve campus climate be a first step toward lessening the recent problems with sexual assault.

“My hopes for the future include continuing to work together with the other sorority presidents, Panhellenic Council, IFC and the rest of the campus community to try and mitigate the issue of sexual assault one step at a time here at Bucknell,” said Izzy Catalano ’12, president of Delta Gamma.

The Something of Value program pushes each college sorority organization to address their specific issues and take their ideas and thoughts and put them to action.

The sororities do not intend to enforce any dress code, but they will not tolerate offensive and degrading party themes. They have threatened to boycott parties with such themes.

“It is not intended to place the blame on the fraternity men in any way. The best way to move forward from this point is for fraternities and sororities to simply agree to uphold this pact together and be jointly responsible for the increased safety and awareness that we seek,” said Anna MacAlister ’12, president of the Panhellenic Council.

Discussions have also started between the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council about better educating males and females to better prevent future assault from happening.

“It is not easy to speak up against the status quo, but it is a critical step in creating and supporting an environment where our women and men are as equal and respected at a party on Friday night as they are in the classroom on Friday morning,” Shaynak said.

By Katherine Schotz

Contributing Writer

All of the University students who were in Japan when the earthquake and tsunami hit on Friday, March 21 are safe. The crisis management team and the mechanisms in place worked to contact the students immediately after being impacted by the disaster that hit Japan. Due to good communication, University officials were able to contact students and provide aid to them when necessary.

“We were very well prepared,” said Stephen Appiah-Padi, Director of International Education. “In every situation things might come up for the first time, but as far as humanly possible we have been very much together.”

There were two University students studying abroad in Kyoto, Japan and one student who is home in Sendai, Japan which is 65 miles away from the nuclear reactor that melted down. In addition, there is one student currently on campus who is from Japan along with many other Japanese-American students who were either directly or indirectly affected by the disaster.

“We want to make sure students are feeling supported by the University even though we are so far away,” said Paula Myers, Assistant Dean of Students in the International Student Services department. With 11 years of experience, Myers felt that the University was very prepared. Myers believes that a large part of her job is to be tuned in to the international news constantly, so she was aware of the earthquake very quickly.

To help raise money for the Red Cross relief effort, the Japan Society is going to have tables in the Elaine Langone Center Mall today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. “I think it’s important for each person to keep themselves informed of what is going on in this world as everything is linked together on a global level,” Anna Uehara ’12 said. “This doesn’t apply just to what occurred in Japan but to what is happening around the world constantly. What happens in one country and how everyone else responds to it can, in the long run, directly or indirectly influence you.”

The first step Myers took was to contact the students who would be in the area by phone, e-mail, Facebook or any other means of communication. Once contact is made, the school reaches out through the crisis management team to make sure that the student’s needs are met and that they are aware of the resources available to them. This includes financial assistance if necessary, talking to professors so that students do not fall behind and psychological services.

Similarly, International Education reaches out to the provider that students in an affected area are studying with if that organization has not already been contacted by the school. In this instance, the two students in Kyoto, Japan were on the same provider program. That program, according to Appiah-Padi, notified the University that the students were safe and accounted for. These students will remain in classes despite the tragedy.

“Beyond that, we wrote directly to our students to verify and confirm that they were alright,” Appiah-Padi said. If communication could not be made initially, the crisis team, which includes the Dean, the Provost, Public Safety and any other officials who need to be involved, would then take more aggressive steps to make contact with the students.

Due to the State Department travel warning, students will not be able to study abroad in Tokyo, Japan. The University does not allow a student to study abroad in a location where the State Department has a travel warning and in countries where there is a travel advisory. “Students are strongly encouraged to reconsider or have a back-up choice,” Appiah-Padi said.

The crisis management team and the protocols were in place to handle the situation at hand. “Crisis intervention is not stagnant, so it needs to be a fluid process to be able to reach out and help students,” Myers said.

While the University is prepared to handle a crisis to the best of its abilities and has done well so far, Appiah-Padi urged that some changes be made on the part of the students. “Very soon the pre-departure orientations are coming up; this is the time where students are given very important information about what to do. We all need to be very much alert and attend all meetings and cannot be as lax about it.”

One of the other concerns is for Japanese-American students who have family and close ties to Japan. “Thankfully, the majority of my family lives around Tokyo or slightly north of Tokyo, so there was no major devastation there,” said Uehara, who is the president of the Japanese Society. “I do have a couple of friends from northern Japan including a fellow Bucknell student who is currently in Sendai. I’m glad that he and his family are OK, but the destruction that I have seen through media and photos is heart-breaking and devastating.”

There are resources available to students who either need help or want to take action. “Any Bucknell alumni with a Japan address was contacted by someone from Alumni Relations,” Myers said.

The University does not stop until it is clear that the students are safe. There is an effort “to continue to make it a personal process to reach out and inform students about what is available to them,” Myers said. This includes the greater University community.

By Sam Krassenstein

Contributing Writer

The men from MTV’s “The Buried Life” encouraged that anyone can and should start going after their dreams whenever they have the opportunity. They laid out a simple plan for any person that wants to start working on their dreams: “make a list, go after it, help others and most importantly, don’t give up.”

On Thursday, March 10, the cast from the Buried Life attracted the University community into the Weis Center for Performing Arts to share their inspirational stories. The show is based on four friends named Ben, Jonnie, Duncan and Dave who travel across the country in a purple transit bus named “Penelope” to complete their bucket list and the lists of others.

Jonnie said the inspiration for the name of the show came from this line from Matthew Arnold’s poem entitled “The Buried Life”: “There rises an unspeakable desire after the knowledge of our buried life.”

The show promotes helping others achieve their dreams and giving people the chance to be a hero in someone’s life.  Unlike much of the television that American culture has become used to, this show started as a true inspirational project rather than just another entertainment reality show. The guys emphasized that, “you don’t have to move mountains, just give a little push in the right direction.”

The infamous designer-clad young quartet of the Buried Life entered the stage by breakdancing for the eager fans. The Canadian wonder gave some insight into their inspiration for the show sharing embarrassing and comical stories of things ranging from dressing up as Oompa-Loompas and getting scolded by Hugh Hefner for crashing the Playboy Mansion.

They also told about their experience when they helped out kids with terminal illnesses by giving them donated toy shopping sprees. “It was really cool seeing them on campus, I think they are doing really great things and helping a lot of people, not to mention they are pretty cute,” Johanna Moyer ’12 said.

Towards the end of The Buried Life’s visit, the group encouraged students to get up and share their own dreams with the audience. Some included Kiersten Wakemen ’11, who said she wanted to win an Academy Award for Costume Design, Jessica Maguire ’14 hopes to travel to Antarctica to build a snowman and Erica White ’13 aspires to help orphans in Africa. The cast emphasized that all anyone needs is a little push in the right direction and that you never know who can help you achieve your dreams and aspirations.

Writer: Christina Oddo

Faculty from across three academic schools gathered on March 10 to initiate the Environmental Center Snaptalks, discussions based on new environmental projects, studies and collaborations with students.

Beth Duckles, assistant professor of sociology, gave a talk titled “Looking Green and Being Green: Using Sustainable Construction Practices.” Duckles asked, “How do we define a green building?” and described that systems in these buildings vary, based on the way it is situated, the materials used, the indoor air quality and more. She also asked, “Why are we not building green?” and touched on the costs involved and how many people refuse to change their habits. She elaborated on why people are building green. She said that costs could be a reason, a definite counter argument, along with long-term intangible savings, deep green or spiritual connections and innovative motives. Finally, Duckles brought to our attention that, against common belief, most sustainable characteristics are not visible aesthetically. “With all of this in mind, what is the process to change the definition of a green building?” she said.

Kevin Gilmore, visiting assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, discussed issues and ideas regarding Marcellus shale. He discussed problems associated with increased bromide in the water and also touched upon flowback water and described the organic profile of river water in our region. “Where is all pollution going now?” Gilmore said. He explained that most, in fact, is going to underground injection.

Associate professor of geography Duane Griffin highlighted many ideas regarding biodiversity. He spoke of species gains and losses, and compared the tropics, where more species are born, with the poles. Griffin discussed the term “cradle,” which promotes biodiversity, and the term “museum,” which implies less extinction. Finally, he outlined the diversity gradient, from 21,000 years ago to today.

Tammy Hiller, associate professor of management, described the managing for sustainability program, one of four new majors for the school that will start in the fall. The goals are to understand sustainability as an interdisciplinary phenomenon and to use reflection to foster innovation in managing sustainability.

“The Aesthetic Dimension of the Interrelations Between Ecological Science and Ethics” was discussed by Sheila Lintott, assistant professor of philosophy. She discussed the goal to “preserve integrity, stability and [most importantly] beauty of the biotic community,” and to “consider the role of beauty in an ecological context.” She raised the question of “aesthetic relevance” and expressed how ecological knowledge is relevant to “aesthetic experience,” like associating nature with personal memories, for example.

George Shields, Dean of Arts and Sciences, showed the modeling of the growth of clusters and aerosols from first principles. “How do we understand feedback systems in a warming climate?” Shields said. He discussed the role of aerosols in atmospheric chemistry, as well as the thermodynamics of water cluster growth, which occurs only at low temperatures or if the vapor phase is substantially supersaturated.