Author: pjs040

By Pranav Sehgal

Opinions Editor

Recently, William Morrow ’70 and his wife Madeline have committed $6 million in support of the University. This contribution will provide funding to the Academic West and to “University strategic priorities,” President John Bravman said.

The funding will also give to programs such as scholarships, “academic facilities, the annual fund, study abroad and athletics.” According to the University website, the Morrows’ gift will go toward “adding 70,000 feet of classroom, labs, faculty offices,” and more.

With the University adding such great expanses to the campus, one asks the question of whether our university is changing from a small, liberal arts school to a large, research-based institute.

This then starts to make the current student and prospective student weigh the pros and cons to the expansion.

The benefits to such an action would include things like improved infrastructure, greater resources and additional students who may have unique perspectives. I believe that all these things stated are necessary for any institution to thrive in this environment. Universities must not only have state-of-the-art facilities and resources in order to attract the brightest students, but also a diversity of perspectives in order to enrich student life.

The cons to such actions may include a higher student-to-teacher ratio. I believe what makes the University great is that ratio between students and professors is, in most cases, very balanced which makes it easier for students to seek help and thrive in this environment.

Although there may or may not be an increase in the student-to-teacher ratio, I believe that this funding will greatly improve and contribute to the University. This funding will not only contribute to the student life of current students but will also help prospective students seek financial aid if needed. The University is changing before our eyes and the outcome seems promising.

By Pranav Sehgal

Opinions Editor

Recently, the White House released an official version of President Obama’s birth certificate after Donald Trump, a prospective Republican Party Presidential candidate, had questioned whether or not President Obama was born in the United States.

Obama, sounding greatly annoyed and troubled by these claims, said at the White House, “We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We’ve got better stuff to do. I’ve got better stuff to do. We’ve got big problems to solve.”

Trump, speaking in New Hampshire, said that he was “really happy” that this had taken place and was “ready to debate on other issues.”

The document that the White House released proves that he indeed born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. “The president believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn’t good for the country. It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people,” an Obama spokesperson said. President Obama traveled to Hawaii specifically to pick up the birth certificate.

I believe that this whole argument about President Obama’s birth certificate is nonsense. Not only has he been President for the past two years but also a shorter version of his birth certificate had already been released earlier this year.

Still, many Americans remain skeptical about Obama’s birthplace. According to a USA Today/Gallup poll, “only 38 percent of Americans are positive that Obama was born in the U.S., while 15 percent think he was probably born elsewhere.”

This statistic is outrageous because not only does it show a complete disregard for our whole government, but has racial undertones.

Many believe that those who don’t think President Obama was born in the United States may be prejudiced.

Now that the official copy of President Obama’s birth certificate have been released, I hope this birther debate will stop because our country truly does have more pressing and important matters to be concerned with.

By Pranav Sehgal

Opinions Editor

The current financial crisis has highlighted and exasperated the problem of sovereign debt.

“After a financial crisis like the one of the past two years, there’s typically a wave of sovereign default crises,” Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff said.

As we have seen over the course of history, foreign loans can be greatly beneficial to a nation or they can become an oppressive burden that forces the population to make huge sacrifices.

Developed countries like the United States and Japan face sovereign debt dilemmas because if they continue to spend exorbitantly, investors will become increasingly concerned that they will not pay back their loans, as they are in many countries in Europe, and freeze investment.

Government spending in these countries is also an issue because it crowds out consumption and investment. In addition, if the United States continues to spend, it is inevitable that the dollar will depreciate and that investors such as China will lose money on their investments.

In response to this depreciation, major investors like China will look for alternative currencies and stop investment, which would cripple the Untied States. The outlook for Japan and the United States is increasingly bleak because “an aging population, a sluggish economic recovery and high unemployment will keep governments’ entitlement spending high,” according to Forbes.com.

In order to achieve credibility with investors in the case of the United States and Japan, I believe that they should enforce tighter fiscal policies and engage in the type of financial reforms President Obama has already started. It will only be through these measures that economic stability will be sustained.

By Olivia Seecof

Writer

As a campus tour guide, I consistently tell people about all of the impressive things that University organizations bring to campus for the pure benefit of the students. Of course, the big-name concerts always cause jaw-dropping reactions, especially when I tell the story of how I was three rows from Ke$ha and screaming the whole time.

All of the ACE events are great too, especially bingo, which all of my friends will tell you is one of my absolute favorite events on campus.

This semester I have discovered my newfound appreciation for all of the wonderful lecturers that different University organizations bring to address the student body. The first lecture I attended was the Paul Rusesabagina (Hotel Rwanda) lecture, sponsored by the Student Lectureship Committee.

His lessons were so full of emotion and power that I felt that his fame was definitely second to his story. I came out of the lecture with a different outlook on why people help one another.

The second lecture I attended was given by the cast of the MTV show, “The Buried Life.” Truthfully, I only went to this lecture because I wanted to brag to all of my friends that I saw the cute boys of the show, but I again came out of the lecture inspired and with new perspectives.

I remember lying in bed that night thinking about the one thing I want to do before I die. While I am not one for making bucket lists, I came up with a goal and a plan to make it happen. I would have never even thought about this life-changing goal had it not been for the inspiring lecture offered right on campus.

Thirdly, I attended the Brian Greene lecture on breakthrough thinking and string theory. Because I am not currently enrolled in physics, this lecture was full of material that was way over my head.

Still, I enjoyed this lecture more than I anticipated and was genuinely interested throughout Greene’s talk. Greene is an incredibly respected individual in his field, and it was an awesome opportunity to have him lecture to our student body.

I also regularly attend the biology department’s seminars. While these lectures are shorter, only lasting one hour, they are full of material that I find incredibly interesting and I look forward to them every month. Whether the lecturer is a visiting professor or one of the University’s own, the lectures are always of top quality and about very relevant topics in the biology world.

While I have only taken advantage of a few of the lectures offered on campus, I intend to be more aware of the opportunities and take full advantage of them. I encourage you all to do the same. These lecturers come to the University to add to the quality of our education and enlighten us with topics that we might only know a little about.

I mean truthfully, who doesn’t want to know more about how many Africans were saved from genocide, or how a bunch of friends ride around trying to knock things off their bucket list or how the universe came to be in existence? I know I do, and that is why I greatly appreciate all of the opportunities the lecturers on campus present.

By Pranav Sehgal

Opinions Editor

In today’s day and age it no longer seems as if the United States is the world’s only superpower. With developing countries like Brazil, India and China growing at rates faster than that of the United States, American dominance over international affairs is already on the wane.

Although the United States is regarded as the world’s leader in many respects, we do not carry the same status that we once had during the second half of the 20th century.

China’s economic ascendancy, in particular, has challenged the Unites States’ identity as a superpower. Economically, it seems as if China has America on a leash as they have loaned and continue to loan us billions of dollars.

If China were to call in their loans, the consequences would be devastating to the U.S. economy.

While the Chinese government plans to invest $586 billion dollars in infrastructure, investment of infrastructure in the United States remains minimal and a comprehensive plan to revamp our nation’s roads, railways, runways and other various transportation services is yet to be implemented.

Internationally, in an effort to compete for the world’s natural resources, China has extended its reach to Africa.

While our government is preoccupied with our wars overseas and all the costs involved, China’s leadership isn’t taking any chances, as it has become the most aggressive investor-nation in Africa in an effort to gain the vast natural resources that Africa offers.

The effects of China’s dominance can also be seen on university campuses throughout the United States, as Chinese students compete with Americans for spots in our nations educational institutions.

Many regard the Chinese educational system as more rigorous than that of the United States. They have fewer days off, high standards for their school systems and now the means to come abroad, all factors contributing to their great success in standardized testing and superior academic results that eventually lead to success in work force.

In order to combat challenges to American domestic and international influence, the United States government must reassert itself as a global economic power by not only investing in infrastructure, but also leading the way in other technological pursuits such as alternative energy resources.

The United States has always led through great economic changes: the Industrial Revolution, the dot-com era, and the real estate boom, and we must continue to do so.

As globalization has caused the world to be smaller, the United States must extend its partnerships overseas in order to be competitive with China in places like Africa because our consumer-based society needs resources in order to fuel our economy.

We must also invest heavily in education if the United States wants to continue to compete with students not only from China but from all over the world. If measures and policies are not implemented to fight these challenges, America will no longer be the superpower that everyone perceives it to be.

If we don’t continue to advance with them, we will fall like all great empires that have ceased to be, countries like China will fill the void.

By Brian Shoener

Contributing Writer

Housing. For most of you, it will all be over by the time you read this. As I write this, people are fretting about where they will live, whom they will live with (or near) and if they even have the chance of getting the room of their dreams.

Of course this anxiety rises out of the entirely random lottery numbers. What I would truly love to know is why the lottery numbers are random. There are quite a few factors that could be used to determine students’ lottery numbers.

I have talked to others about this, and most of us feel that an appropriate way to determine lottery number would be by basing on students’ GPA. So many people here work as hard as then can, keeping their eyes on the goal of a financially secure future. Why should they have to suffer and worry about where they will live?

They should at least get this small break for their diligence. I’m sure some people would get shortchanged (if they have a bad semester, for example), but I feel that in general, things would work out well.

My other problem with housing is the way rooms are partitioned. I understand and support co-ed floors, but I don’t get why rooms must have a gender assigned to them. This is the 21st century; there must be some way to make it so that a certain number of men and women are on a given floor without predetermining what gender can go in which room.

I had to pick a bad room on the hall I was blocking on because there was only one more “male” room. None of the better female rooms were taken yet, but I couldn’t choose them.

I have very little knowledge of computer programming, but I can’t imagine that it would be difficult to write something to regulate how many of each respective gender is on each hall. The partitioning might be so that everyone has an equal chance to get a good room, but I need a clearly defined reason before I can go along with it.

With these two relatively simple changes, housing could be much less stressful than the chaotic mess it currently is.

By Pranav Sehgal

Opinions Editor

With an increasingly large deficit looming, House Republicans unveiled their long-term budget proposal to cut $5.8 trillion from spending over 10 years.

The plan, primarily drafted by Wisconsin Republican Representative Paul D. Ryan, who is the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, proposes to limit federal spending and change major federal health programs, but to also cut taxes for corporations and individuals to 25 percent.

President Obama has argued against this plan, as he believes it will lead to a public backlash. Recently, Republicans offered a one-week extension to the budget at a price of $12 billion in immediate spending cuts. “I can’t have my agencies making plans on two-week budgets,” President Obama said in response.

If something is not done over this budget deal a partial shutdown of the federal government is likely to happen as early as this upcoming Saturday.

In response to the deep and far-reaching budget cuts that the Republicans are hoping to implement, Senator Charles Schumer of New York is calling for Republicans to accept his $33 billion budget cut, which would leave the government open all year.

Republicans argue that their proposal would reduce the size of the federal government by 20 percent by 2015. In the plan laid out, Republicans intend to eliminate hundreds of “wasteful” government programs and temporarily ban spending by members of Congress that is already in place. Democrats argue that this plan is more detrimental than beneficial because it will cut benefits and programs for the nation’s retirees and the neediest of Americans while protecting wealthy corporations and individuals.

Because Democrats control the Senate, this proposal is unlikely to be adopted; if Republicans gain control it will surely be a blueprint for their economic policy.

I believe that it is essential for the government to do something about the deficit, but I also believe that there must be some semblance of balance in the budget.

Millions depend on government programs for assistance, and to get rid of those programs would be a great injustice. Programs like Medicaid that provide health care programs for the elderly and the poor are benefits that we cannot deny to Americans because not only is it against our American principles but it is also immoral to the highest degree.

By Leah Rogers

Writer

House Party Weekend – Bucknellians Gone Wild?

It’s the one event that everyone talks about the entire year: House Party Weekend. As a first-year student, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had heard it gets pretty crazy, and judging from what a normal weekend on campus is like I knew we were in for a wild few days.

Although somewhat out of control, everybody had a great time and the school did an excellent job of keeping the students safe throughout the weekend. Everyone had to wear wristbands to get into parties and could only be seen drinking if they had “21+” wristbands. I think this was a good way to keep the students from getting in trouble and receiving points.

Public Safety also played a huge role in maintaining the students’ safety. There were officers walking around everywhere, even inside Bostwick Marketplace. I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by officers circulating the cafeteria while I was just trying to eat my food in peace, but they were just there to keep everything under control.

I was surprised to see just how excessively people partied during the weekend. People on my hall started Thursday night, then continued early Friday morning. Some students ended up going to class drunk on Friday, which I thought was inappropriate.

The shenanigans continued into Saturday morning and night as well. I didn’t think it was too healthy for students to be drinking constantly for three days and nights straight, but the atmosphere of the weekend encourages it.

Although the University says students under 21 are not allowed to drink, they know it is going to happen. The Bostwick Marketplace plates and silverware were replaced with paper and plastic for the weekend, which was a sign that the University knew things were going to get a little crazy.

House Party Weekend can be somewhat risky, but it is a long-standing and much talked about tradition that will continue for years into the future. And I have to admit, it was pretty entertaining to see the excessive list of lost and found items in the Message Center Digest the next day.

By Erin Kircher

Contributing Writer

“I was just looking through your Facebook the other day, and it seems like you’ve been doing really well!” These were some of the first words I heard after recently running into a person who had gone to my high school. I didn’t know if I should feel flattered or uncomfortable; I hadn’t talked to her in years.

Facebook makes people vulnerable in an unconventional way.  Our Facebook pages are open to scrutiny or admiration from a wide range of people—many are not close friends, but rather distant acquaintances.

What’s particularly unnerving is that this high school acquaintance probably received a false portrayal of my real life. My profile is a series of selectively chosen aspects of my life that I decide to include—most commonly, pictures that I find to be more attractive and in which I appear to be having a great time. I do not think I am alone in being so selective.

Creating a Facebook profile page is an opportunity to form a unique persona in which you can leave out the ordinary or negative parts of your life. Rather than just being a way to connect with others, it has turned into a way to impress others. However, some personal aspects of your life might be better left out.

Facebook offers so many ways to express yourself, from your religious beliefs to your favorite kind of music. However, how much profile information is appropriate before you reach information overload? I tend to stay on the simplified side.

Facebook etiquette is especially complex when it comes to relationships and dating. These matters are confusing enough without the added stress of publicizing them. For instance, the moment you click “It’s complicated” for your relationship status is the moment you invite a large network of people to meddle in your personal business.

Then again, some people claim that if the relationship is not on Facebook, it is not official. It is truly embarrassing that many people use Facebook, a superficial form of identity, to define the legitimacy of a relationship.

Research has actually shown that Facebook can play a role in relationship failure. According to an article by PR News Channel, “The newest divorce Facebook study shows that one in five marriages are destroyed by the nation’s most popular website.”

Now, it does seem like a hefty claim that Facebook is the major reason for these marriage failures. The couples in this study surely must have had other deep-seated problems.  Still, there is something to be said for the negative impact Facebook can have on an already unstable relationship.

Not only does Facebook put pressure on a relationship through publicizing its status, it also has the potential of leading to trust issues. For instance, according to the above divorce Facebook study, Facebook offers connection to so many people that the temptation to reach out to old exes or potential new partners increases. Evidence of affairs has been increasingly linked to Facebook.

Facebook can be fun and relaxing, but it can also cause unnecessary drama. I suggest not putting so much importance on this persona that is your Facebook identity, and rather spending more time focusing on the person you really are.

The same holds true for relationships. What a couple has is between those two people, and does not need to be solidified by any public approval or complicated by public judgment. Remember that Facebook is not real life and so should not dictate it.

By Brian Shoener

Contributing Writer

Over the past few years, one actor’s name has been incessantly clogging the airwaves and wasting valuable space in countless newspapers. His recent tirades have given him pop-culture status comparable to Chuck Norris. The problem is that there is no way Charlie Sheen could ever count to infinity and back even once (let alone twice).

Charlie Sheen was fired from his role on “Two and a Half Men” after he made insulting remarks about the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre. Sheen plans on suing CBS for “bazillions” that they owe him.

Some people think he’s awesome and shouldn’t have been fired. In fact, viewership of his show was on the rise. The question has to be asked, though, whether people were watching the show or if they were just watching the Sheen.

More often than not, people like attention. They usually prefer the good kind of attention, where others are speaking highly of them and their good deeds, but there are always the anomalies that want to be in the spotlight all the time. These are the people who will do whatever is necessary to get attention. Partying, exorbitant drug use, violence, cheating and lying become the norm for these desperate people.

This intense lifestyle is bound to have its negative consequences. Simply watching Charlie Sheen’s ABC interview shows how physically and mentally taxing his lifestyle has been. The worst part about all this, though, is the pathological lying.

After watching his interview multiple times, it seems like he truly believes that he is superhuman, but there are multiple points throughout the interview when he shows signs of deceit.

There are many different ways someone can show unconsciously that they are lying. These include deflection (twisting words to delay answering a question), where a person is looking as they are talking, how they are moving their head in relation to what they are saying and what they do with their eyebrows. Though these might seem trivial, if you test these signs in real life (as I have), you will find that they truly are a good predictor of whether a person is lying or not.

In the case of Charlie Sheen, he has displayed all of these. When asked, “When was the last time you used?” his initial response was, “I use a blender, I use a vacuum cleaner, I use household items.” He goes on to say that he doesn’t remember when he last used drugs, but he still initially deflected the question.

In addition, when he said that he doesn’t remember his last drug use, he stared right at the interviewer’s eyes. People actually look away when they are remembering something. They stare straight at a person when they are lying.

Later on in the interview, Charlie Sheen was asked if he enjoys his current life sans partying. His initial response? Yes. How did his body respond? He shook his head no. That was the truth; he misses being a party-boy but was lying about it.

Finally, he was asked if his drug providers are out of his life. His immediate physical response was to raise his eyebrows and shake his head no. These are both signs that the words to come are a lie (and he didn’t even answer that question anyway).

Charlie Sheen’s life is finally catching up to him. He lost his job, has a 71% disapproval rating and is physically and mentally wearing thin. He might be rich, but I seriously doubt that he’s happy.