Author: Rob Duffy

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Headline News

Former bookstore converted to student space

New student space
A new student space filled the former bookstore location.

By Sam Krassenstein

Contributing Writer

After months of planning by a committee partially comprised of students, the new student space is now open and equipped with plentiful couches, open walls, mobile chairs and tables.

The bookstore’s move to downtown Lewisburg opened more than 12,500 square feet of space in the Elaine Langone Center (ELC). Following Winter Break, the student space is now home to the largest indoor and most brightly colored student area on campus.

“The new student space is highly attractive and accessible to all students. I think it gets a lot of traffic in an area that used to be under-utilized. It’s greatly needed for the students and it’s nicely decorated and attractive to everyone. I think it gives student organizations a lot more visibility and it allows students to see what BSG [Bucknell Student Goverment] and ACE [Activities and Campus Events] are doing. Hopefully it will allow more programming to happen and overall, it’s highly useful and needed by the students,” said Zack Beltran ’13, a commissioner for ACE.

It features a modern décor that sports bright orange and green in the walls and furniture that has resulted in some dubbing the space “That 70s Lounge.”

The departure of the bookstore to Market Street not only starts a new era for downtown Lewisburg but also for the ELC.

Most spaces on campus have to be reserved through the Events Management Office (formerly RICS), but this new area cannot be reserved except for very specific social functions on Friday or Saturday evenings, which means that most of the time, the space is open for everyone.

In addition to a much-needed place to do work, eat lunch or just hang out, the space also serves as the new home to the Campus Activities and Programs (CAP) Center office which used to reside on the third floor of the ELC.

Functions that used to belong to the bookstore such as ELC Mall Sales and the Campus Box Office will remain in the area but will be run out of the CAP center ffice.

In addition to the CAP Center relocation, students and faculty can also find the new post office located much more conveniently than it was in Marts Hall.

These changes mark an effort by the University to create a more traditional student union space on campus which also houses organizations such as BSG and ACE.

“The great thing about the new student space is that it brings BSG, ACE and the CAP Center all together in a convenient location that is easily accessible to students. Our office door is open more hours than it is closed and the traffic of the new student space definitely adds to the transparency that BSG strives for,” BSG President Phil Kim ’12 said.

In addition to the new offices, there is even a conference space that sports an Idea Paint wall that allows people to write directly on the wall using dry erase markers and has technological functions that allow any student organization a closed space to work effectively in brainstorming as well as in giving or preparing presentations.

That same Idea Paint can be found up on the third floor of the ELC in the new Dean of Students Office which is the home to orientation, Greek life and leadership programming.

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News

Campus mourns loss of Fran McDaniel

By Meghan Finlayson

Staff Writer

Fran McDaniel, the University’s former director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Awareness, passed away while visiting family in California on Wednesday, Jan. 12.

McDaniel was licensed in Pennsylvania and California to counsel on issues of gender and sexuality, as well as sexual orientation issues and resources. She came to the University in 1998 as an adviser. She then grew to serve as the Director of the Office of LGBT Awareness and had many significant accomplishments on campus.

“Fran was easily one of the best colleagues I’ve ever had,” said Tracy Shaynak, director of the Women’s Resource Center.

“She used to joke that she was the paid professional lesbian,” LGBT office manager Kristin Vallis ’11 said.

McDaniel, known simply as “Fran” by students and faculty, was noted in particular for her work with the Safe Space Program at Bucknell, which has received national recognition.

The Safe Space Program involves students reaching out to peers through discussions in Greek organizations, sports teams and other groups on campus.

“Fran had been putting this program in place for about 10 years now. She really wanted to create a space where groups could ask questions and start a conversation about coming out. This past year was kind of a breakthrough year because we were asked to four conferences … Fran was really the person behind getting us out there and getting us in front of people,” Vallis said.

The first conference was held at Bloomsburg University. Information on the development and effectiveness of the University’s Safe Space Program was presented. The next two will be held this semester at Indiana University and at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Minneapolis, Minn.

“Fran has many people in different organizations around the country that respected her and saw her as someone who was a visionary and someone who would stop at nothing,” Vallis said.

“Her work was never about Fran … it was really all about the students; they were the reason she was here,” Shaynak said.

“Fran was the face of the office … she was very good at being involved with the campus. For example, if students were athletes, she would go to their games. She held confidence with her students, and she was really funny,” Vallis said.

She personally touched the lives of many students.

“She knew exactly what we needed to hear exactly when we needed to hear it. She taught me how to take pride in myself on levels I never knew I could reach,” Karel Parve ’12 said.

“Students have said very clearly, ‘I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Fran,’” Shaynak said.

On Wednesday, Jan. 19, students, faculty and administrators gathered in the Terrace Room to share memories of McDaniel and support each other as a community.

“It was a very comforting environment in that most of the people who came were her close friends, and we all shared the pain of the tremendous loss,” Parve said.

There will be a celebration of McDaniel’s life at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12 in Rooke Chapel. Memorial contributions may be made in McDaniel’s memory to the University’s Office of LGBT Awareness, 100B Roberts Hall, Lewisburg PA 17837.

“The LGBT office is very thankful to the campus community for their support and love during this period. Everyone has been absolutely wonderful and we can truly sense how loved Fran was by so many on campus,” Parve said.

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News

Prominent University supporter dies at age 91

By Christina Oddo

Staff Writer

Janet Weis, an active member of the University community and an active resident of central Pennsylvania, passed away on Monday, Jan. 3, at the age of 91. Her life accomplishments are myriad and extremely admirable.

“Many people do not realize that she was a published author,” former University president Gary Sojka said. Weis wrote travel columns for the Standard Journal and The Daily Item.

She also published three books. “Two were ‘romances’ and the third, which was published by the Bucknell University Press with a forward by me, was a compilation of some of her more interesting travel columns,” Sojka said.

Weis was greatly interested in classical music, jazz, dance and theatre, and greatly respected lectures. Janet incorporated her love of jazz into the development of the Weis Center for the Performing Arts. She combined her passion for jazz with her commitment to child welfare.

Weis “was always looking for ways to be sure that the youth of our area had cultural opportunities,” Sojka said. “She expressed that desire through supporting the PBP [Paper Bag Players]…”

The PBP is a non-profit company that creates and performs contemporary musical theatre for children. The PBP has performed for the children of our community every year for the past twenty years.

When Weis was in her 80s, it was difficult for her to travel to New York City to experience the wonderful jazz series offered there. Her daughters instead brought jazz to her in what would ultimately be called the Janet Weis Cabaret Jazz Series.

“Whenever she was able, Janet would attend the series,” Sojka said. “It was great fun to watch her tap her foot to the rhythms and mouth the words of the tunes she knew. Jazz really brought joy to her life and as a result, she brought jazz to our region.”

Weis was a trustee emeritus of the University’s Board of Trustees since 1996. Her husband Sigfried was a member from 1982 to 1988.

The Weis’ support for the University brought the Sigmund and Claire Weis Center for the Performing Arts, named in honor of Sigfried’s parents, into existence. The Weis Center has been hosting music, dance and theatre performances, as well as lectures, convocations and other Univeristy events for years.

Weis donated money after her husband’s death in order to make the Sigfried Weis Music Building possible. This is located right next door to the Weis Center for the Performing Arts.

Weis was also a matriarch of the family that built Weis Markets Inc. and wife to Weis Markets Chairman Sigfried Weis, who died in 1995.

Weis founded the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, which offers childcare from before birth to adulthood. Weis was very active in helping with the fundraising campaign.

Since Weis was very much interested in music, art, culture and education, she would not allow generic art to be put up in hallways at the Children’s Hospital. Instead, she got original pieces of art from artists around the region to decorate the building.

Janet and her husband also established Janet C. Weis and Sigfried Weis Research Center at Geisinger.

“She was also a co-organizer of the Love and Care Street Fair in Sunbury, which raised funds for programs related to youth,” Sojka said.

Her devotion for childcare didn’t stop there. “She also played a major role in the early years of the Children’s Miracle Network at Geisinger,” Sojka said.

Weis was in her 60s when William Boswell, Executive Director of the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, first came to the University.

William Boswell has headed the Weis Center for the Performing Arts for over two decades now. During this time, Boswell became relatively close to Weis as a friend.

“Her gentleness, sensitivity and commitment helped direct much needed resources to programs dealing with community and children’s health, cultural enrichment and care of those in greatest need,” Sojka said.

Weis was hospitalized in December and most likely died of natural causes.

She “was one of the most giving people I have ever met,” Boswell said.

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Arts & Life Study Abroad

Chilling in Copenhagen

By Diane Schrom

Graphic Designer

There are a few important things one should know before adventuring into the once Viking-inhabited country of Denmark. Despite the deceiving exchange rate, a box of cereal costs $6 and a cup of coffee $4 (at some point you just have to accept it). Train rides, although filled to the rafters at times, will most likely be spent in silence. You’ll see men and women clad in business attire whizzing by you in the busy streets of Copenhagen on their way to work, and it is guaranteed that you’ll be struck dumb by the amazingly beautiful, snowy, Narnia-like landscape after the first snowfall of the season.

As you can see, Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital and largest city, elicits intrigue, wonder and perhaps a little skepticism. Electrifying buildings and magnificent architecture fill this city’s center and line its numerous canals. From Christianshavn (with its quaint old houses and eccentric locals), to Nørrebro (a colorful and vibrant ethnic neighborhood with copious restaurants and silly stores), back to the city center with its plentiful gardens and regal history, Copenhagen, like many European cities, has winding streets that take you back in time. Consequently, on any day of the week, morning or night, chic and fashionable locals can be seen bustling through these very same streets. It’s largely true what people say about the Danish people—they’re quiet, reserved, tall, blond, and yes, even their children are well behaved—but once you’ve made it past the formal introductions, you quickly realize that Danes are not only amiable but also excited and willing to get to know you.

For the four months I spent abroad, I had the pleasure of living in a Danish Højskole (literally translated, “folk high school”). The program I was studying through constantly emphasized the Højskole to be an experience only known to those who have visited to live in Denmark. To put it simply, it’s a school that students, both Danes and international students alike, can attend for a year or semester, to enhance and cultivate their minds without the pressures of papers, tests or formal grades. Intrigued by the concept, and determined to meet locals, I committed to making an hour-long commute into the city each day, and thus found myself in the company of sixty-some Danes, 15 Americans and a gorgeous castle a short walk down the street. This unique housing opportunity allowed me to truly entrench myself in the Danish culture. We shared meals together, had occasional movie nights and themed parties (slightly reminiscent of the University), and became close friends.

In addition to this amazing housing opportunity, I was able to study biotechnology and drug development in a completely new and exciting country, a chance most biochemistry majors can only dream of. My Complexity of Cancer class was taught by two oncologists at the local teaching hospital, I had the opportunity to dissect a harbor seal (a species endemic to Danish waters) as part of the lab for my Marine Mammals class, and my Danish class included an assignment that came with prime seating at an FC København soccer match.

It was a whirlwind of a semester, and I still find myself recovering from the shock that is ended so quickly. From the moment I stepped foot on the plane, I knew that a part of my heart would always be left behind in Copenhagen. From the smørrebrød open-faced sandwiches, to the warm atmosphere of hygge that seemed to be infused in every coffee shop and living room, to copious warm hugs received when we finally had to bid the Danes goodbye, the pictures of my times in Denmark may fade, but the memories created, the laughs shared and life-altering experiences will live on forever.

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Arts & Life Study Abroad

Bumming in Bologna

By Catherine McClelland

Senior Writer

I awoke on my first morning in Bologna to a chorus of church bells booming over the frosty terracotta rooftops. It was a radiant January morning, and even after a labyrinth of flight delays, flooded train stations and heavy bags the night before, I shook off my jetlag and threw open my creaky window to enjoy the sound of the city waking up.

My connection in London coincided with the biggest snowstorm anyone had seen in years, complete with a rare weather phenomenon called “self-rolling giant snowballs.” The trip had not been pleasant.

It did not get easier immediately. The Bologna Consortial Studies Program was designed to be a five-month lesson in self-sufficiency and total language immersion. BCSP provided its students with a three-week stay at a hotel for our orientation, but after that, we were left on our own to find room and board. We had to scour Italian newspapers for apartment listings and make calls to find a room to rent. If we had a problem, we were reminded that we were adults and could handle it ourselves.

It was humbling to make stupid mistakes over and over. On my first trip outside Bologna, I left my cell phone on the train and suddenly found myself lost in the middle of an utterly foreign city. My friends had already left the cathedral where were supposed to meet because my train had been delayed. I had no map of the city except what was printed on the side of the bus stop. No one was in the streets. All the shops were closed since it was Sunday. There were no pay phones anywhere, and I didn’t have anyone’s number memorized.

For half an hour I paced around in a panic. Then I pulled myself together and calmed myself down with a leisurely walk in the park, sat down for lunch in a café, found my way to the central square and through a bit of luck met up with my friends again.

Italy’s chaos is the stuff of legends, and by working through its downs as well as its ups, I gained access to a side of Bolognese life that isn’t visible from the tour bus.

In Italy, each major city has a nickname—Venice is the Serene, Rome the Eternal. Bologna has three nicknames: it is the Learned because it has the oldest university in the world, dating back to 1088. Graduates can boast about their fellow alumni, Copernicus and Dante Alighieri. It is the Red because the entire city is painted in warm, vibrant reds and oranges with terracotta roofs. Finally, it is the Fat because even the proudest restaurant owner will admit that the best food in Italy is found in Bologna, with its fresh egg pasta, luxurious meat sauces and bread loaves shaped into impossible twists and spirals.

Bologna is often passed over because it has no major attractions, but its richness comes from the everyday details of Italian life that I absorbed. For instance, it is against the law to bike on the sidewalks, but the buses will run you over if you don’t. Ten in the morning is the latest you can order a cappuccino without the barista giving you a dirty look. A red traffic light is merely a suggestion. Be polite to the immigrations official and she will compliment you on your Italian and sign your paper even though you forgot your passport. A good dinner lasts an hour; a great dinner lasts three or more. Lady Gaga plays in all the clubs whether you like it or not. The best breakfast is an intensely sugared espresso, downed while standing elbow-to-elbow with other early risers at a local café.

By early spring I had gained enough confidence to brave the Cinque Terre, a remote and mountainous strip of coast in northwestern Italy. It was mid-April and the tourists were just beginning to appear in the streets, armed with cameras to capture the pastel-painted houses and wooden boats bobbing at the dock.

I couldn’t help smiling at the tour groups meandering through the narrow streets, a string of identical neon-orange baseball caps scurrying behind the bellowing tour guide. Their cameras were out but their faces were strained and distracted. They were feeling something close to what I’d felt in January, perhaps even more so because of their tight schedule. I was the lucky one—I had had enough time to work out the kinks and enjoy myself.

And what’s more, I knew that as hard as the first few months had been, it was smooth sailing from here.

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Arts & Life

Monologues raise issues

By Sonali Basak

Writer

How much do you like the word “vagina”? Can you scream it out on stage?

The women of V-Day Bucknell will perform the Vagina Monologues on campus Feb. 4 and 5. The show begins at 8 p.m. on both nights at Harvey Powers Theater. Tickets will be on sale the week leading up to the performance.

V-Day is a global organization to set out to promote awareness and take action against violence toward women. The production is organized and performed entirely by V-Day Bucknell. This year marks the 10th annual performance of the Vagina Monologues at the University.

The production is pertinent to the campus environment and a global scale at large. National focus on the issue for the past two years has been centered around dilemmas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 2011 campaign against violence focuses primarily on Haiti.

This year’s performance stands apart from other years partly due to changes in character and dialogue to reflect issues in Haiti as well as local issues concerning campus climate.

“The show can open your eyes against violence towards women across the globe, but you can’t walk away and pretend that it’s not about here. These issues don’t only pertain to women 1,000 miles away,” organization coordinator Allison Mayhew ’11 said.

Due to recent issues of sexual assault and violence on campus, the organization hopes that the monologues will resonate amongst members of the campus community. Both Mayhew and show director Caryn Clark ’11 agree that recent campus climate issues make the production not only real, but also personal.

“It’s easy for the audience to understand these women because they are real,” Clark said. “Not all of them have had formal training in theater, but it makes the performance more relaxed and open to interpretation and change each year.”

According to Clark, the women in the show experience a journey, providing the audience with “a transformative experience” in which both the audience and cast learn a lot about themselves and each other.

Mayhew joined V-Day Bucknell after seeing the performance for the first time her first year at the University. “I saw these girls that were outgoing, blunt and moderately vulgar, and I realized, ‘I can talk about vaginas on stage,’” she said. “Since then, I’ve realized how talking about vaginas in such an outward way can be used to reach people and locate deeper societal issues.”

Mayhew and Clark state that the monologues, along with all V-day efforts, address a problem that requires an ongoing dialogue.

“I hope that the show keeps people talking,” Mayhaw said. “It’s not the type of thing where you can snap your fingers and everything will be OK.”

The campus can help the cause by making a donation, buying a tagline in the program and buying a ticket to the show. The organization is also selling t-shirts and flowers. Ninety percent of funds will go to Susquehanna Valley Women in Transition. The remaining 10 percent will go to the National V-Day foundation.

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Arts & Life

‘It Gets Better’ project combats LGBT bullying

By Maggie Schneiderman

Contributing Writer

This past August and September, America was alerted to a number of tragic instances of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth suicides following years of bullying. In response to the bullying and subsequent suicides, a video advocacy campaign called the It Gets Better Project was launched. The It Gets Better Project has turned into a worldwide movement that has inspired over 5,000 user-created videos and over 15 million views, and is now inspiring a new program at the University.

To date, the project has received submissions from celebrities, organizations, activists, politicians and media personalities including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.), Adam Lambert, Anne Hathaway, Colin Farrell, Matthew Morrison of “Glee” and Ke$ha, to name a few. In these videos, both LGBT individuals and heterosexuals relay the simple yet crucial message to troubled LGBT youth: that life does get better.

The website prompts those who visit to sign a simple pledge that reads as follows: “Everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I pledge to spread this message to my friends, family and neighbors. I’ll speak up against hate and intolerance whenever I see it, at school and at work. I’ll provide hope for lesbian, gay, bi, trans and other bullied teens by letting them know that ‘It Gets Better.’”

In coordination with the office of Residential Education and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, the It Gets Better! Snap Shot Project at the University was founded based on the efforts of the It Gets Better campaign.

Statistics from the It Gets Better website demonstrate the critical situation that many LGBT youth are in, the struggles they face everyday, and why this project is so important to our campus. According to the website, LGBT students tend to be tormented by those around them: as teens, they are bullied two to three times as often as their straight peers, and nine out of 10 have experienced harassment at school. They are four times as likely as their straight peers to attempt suicide, and more than one-third of LGBT youth have made the attempt. LGBT youth with “highly rejecting families” are in an even worse situation, making them eight times more likely to attempt suicide than LGBT youth with more accepting families.

From Monday, Jan. 31 to today, students, staff and faculty have been invited to have their photos taken with a personalized sign of support to those who have been or are currently being bullied for their sexual orientation. All of the photos and signs will then be turned into one large display of support and encouragement in the student center. The project coordinators also hope to film the process and create a video to put online to represent the University’s support.

This is the University’s “opportunity to stand up and be the secondary education leader when it comes to LGBT bullying,” said Daniel Murphy ’11, the program’s mastermind.

“This project extends beyond just this group, providing a sense of confidence and hope for all who face bullying, regardless of reason. This is a chance for the Bucknell community to come together and support each other,” Murphy said. “This project will help Bucknell further foster an environment of mutual respect, one that encourages everyone to just be who they are.”

The snapshot concept was chosen because it allows for the greatest amount of personal contribution from the largest number of people possible. The hand written messages are a symbol of the support that the LGBT persons on campus have from their peers, a unifying and uplifting aspect of the project.

The organizers of the snapshot program hope that its simple message could offer profound support for members of the LGBT community.

“This project is about sending a strong message against bullying in the hopes that it can help someone,” Murphy said. “If this project helps just one person, then it’s done its job effectively.”

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Arts & Life

New art exhibit comes to Samek

By Michelle Joline

Contributing Writer

The 2011 season at the Samek opened Jan. 28 with two exhibitions: “Works on Paper” by Deng Guoyuan and Rosalyn Richards in the main gallery and “Collection Focus III: In Chicago” in the Study Gallery. University professor and artist Richards and Chinese artist Guoyuan find the link between Eastern and Western art by individually deconstructing nature’s composition.

Although only two floors from the loud bustle of the Bostwick Marketplace, the Samek Art Gallery is a quiet place of reflection currently filled with organic images of sea foam and prairie grass.

An unlikely pair, Guoyuan and Richards were matched to work together on the exhibition after the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts sponsored Guoyuan to travel to the University in 2008. Richards then visited China in 2009, where she was able to view Guoyuan’s sculptural work and exhibit her own pieces.

At first glance, the two artists seem to create in fantastically different styles. They still manage to form complementary elements in their opposing pieces to create a cohesive and visually pleasing start to the Samek Gallery’s 2011 season.

An image void of color but filled with interesting textures and rhythmic patters greets visitors to the gallery. “Footprints,” a piece by Richards, covers the majority of the wall opposite the entrance doors, and consists of multiple panels that hold the magnified images of organic subjects.

Richards said “Footprints” is her favorite of her work in the exhibition. “I want [guests] to come and look at my big piece (“Footprints”) because I like to explore scale in drawing,” she said. “I really think of drawing as a complete thing in and of itself. I really believe in drawing as an important medium, not just a way to prepare for work in another medium. A lot of people think of drawing as a lesser art form, where you just do a sketch for a painting and that’s its function. I think he [Guoyuan] does too, think of drawing as an important art activity.

As Richards’ most recent piece, “Footprints” seems to pull the viewer in to find the minute details formed with ink and graphite. The sporadic representations tease the eye with vertical and horizontal patterned markings. The energetic quality of the piece and many others throughout the gallery capture the essence of nature’s qualities, eventually forcing the viewer to realize that the ink marks that draw attention really make up a splash of oil.

This magnified and detailed view of organic forms contrasts with the works by Guoyuan, who uses gestures to expressively portray his vision of natural subjects. The Samek Gallery is currently functioning as a portal into contemporary Chinese art, still representing and reflecting the influences of ancient Chinese ink drawings.

“I would say I am drawn to the paintings of [Guoyuan’s] that use some of the white of the paper in a very energetic way,” Richards said. “Like ‘In the Garden 2010.II. No. 12,’ for example, the passages of air or mist that flow through the marks because some of his pieces are more densely painted. I think because I am very interested in un-drawn spaces on the page, I find myself gravitate to certain ones he’s done, where the white of the paper takes on an important part.”

This exhibition will remain in the Samek Art Gallery, free of charge, until March 30.

“I think [audiences should] spend time with the show, and I think it is a very quiet, contemplative type of work for the both of us, meditative,” Richards said. “When people come to the show there may be a lot of people here and they may enjoy the show but I think they should come back and spend some time here. I think for both of us it is not a type of work that shouts out at you, it takes a slowing down, and everything in life is quick. I would want everyone to experience the gallery as a quiet and contemplative place to be.”

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Arts & Life Columns Cooking Corner

Cooking Corner: Bruschetta Chicken

Bruschetta Chicken

By Emily Fry

Staff Writer

By February, most people have given up on their New Year’s resolutions. But if yours was to eat healthier, there is still hope. This recipe is delicious and healthy, too. Serve it with a baguette and a side salad of mixed greens and you’ll have a delicious and complete meal.

Ingredients:

2 ripe medium tomatoes, cored and chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1 scallion (white and green parts), thinly sliced

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp kosher salt

Dash of black pepper

1/3 cup fresh torn basil

3 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:

To prepare the bruschetta topping:

1. Peel and smash the cloves of garlic, then chop to avoid chunks of smashed garlic in the topping. To chop the herbs, place them in a bowl and cut them with clean scissors–it’s much easier than chopping them on a cutting board.

2. Toss the tomatoes, garlic, scallion, olive oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and herbs in a medium size bowl.

To prepare the chicken:

3. Tenderize the chicken. Place each chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat tenderizer or heavy skillet until each is about half an inch thick.

4. Brush each chicken breast with olive oil and season with salt and black pepper.

5. Cook the chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat until the inside is no longer pink and the juices run clear. You won’t be able to fit all of the chicken in a skillet at one time.

6. Serve the chicken topped with the brushetta.

Adapted from foodnetwork.com

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Arts & Life Movies Review

‘Black Swan’ a box office hit

By Carolyn Williams

Staff Writer

“Black Swan” is a breath of fresh air, and a strong follow-up to Darren Aronofsky’s last film, “The Wrestler.” The film is tense but still compelling and enjoyable, and the plot deals thrillingly with elements of the bizarre without going too far.

The movie revolves around Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a delicate china doll of a ballerina dedicated to her role as a member of the New York City Ballet. Although in her twenties, Nina still lives with her mother (Barbara Hershey), a bitter ex-ballerina who was forced to leave the company after becoming pregnant with Nina. Out of guilt or disinterest, Nina allows herself to be dressed and petted by her mother, whose repetition of her favorite endearment for Nina, “sweet girl,” becomes frightening by the end of the film.

Vincent Cassel is well-cast as Thomas, the dance company’s demanding, licentious director. The plot is set in motion when he announces that the company will be putting on the classic “Swan Lake,” but the new version will be a “visceral” adaptation to differentiate itself from the now stilted original.

Nina, soft-spoken and exactingly fastidious in regards to her own dancing, longs to be cast as the Swan Queen, but the dancer who takes on the overwhelming role must be able to embody both the virginal White Swan and her antithesis, the provocatively sensual Black Swan.

Her casting as the lead comes as a surprise, but the challenge of the role begins to wear on Nina’s fragile psyche. In order to become the Black Swan, Nina is forced to contradict herself personally, and the internal struggle is both horrifying and extremely compelling to watch. Haunted by visions, hallucinations, and an unexplained rash on her back, Nina begins to fall apart. Meanwhile, her understudy Lily (Mila Kunis) flaunts the rules Nina so stringently adheres to, yet seems to be born to play the Black Swan: a fact that torments the fraying Nina. Nina’s compulsion to be technically perfect combined with the pressure from her mother, director and competitor culminates in the climactic opening night of the ballet, on which everyone’s expectations hinge.

“Black Swan” is a psychological thriller. There are several highly-charged, flinch-inducing scenes. A notable example is when Nina tears her cuticle, with stomach-turning results. The graphic and surprising shocks throughout the film are enough to frighten most moviegoers.

The movie’s weakest point is its dialogue. Both Portman and Kunis deliver irreproachable and, in the case of Portman, Oscar-worthy performances. Most of the scenes have little or no dialogue; some of the conversations between characters appear forced and break up the otherwise wonderfully tense atmosphere of the film. Nevertheless, the beautiful Rodarte costumes and an excellent score distract from the movie’s minor script flaws.