Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is not only important in its ability to help environmentalists better conserve global resources and protect biodiversity, but also in its recent demand among employers. The University’s Office of Library and Information Technology recently hosted a GIS conference from Nov. 16 to 18, which drew an impressive crowd of professors from 50 different liberal arts universities and colleges, in addition to University faculty members from assorted fields of academia.
The gathering was held to discuss GIS, a specialized computer software used for making maps and conducting spatial analysis. This program is being incorporated increasingly across an array of professional disciplines, from a wide range of companies and businesses to various branches of government, in order to help manipulate and analyze data.
As a result of its growing use across these many applications, there is an increase in demand among employers for employees who are proficient in GIS, a statistic identified by the department of labor. This program is being used across campus in various disciplines to give students a different way of understanding the material they are working with and to help put data into perspective.
Beyond the professors in attendance, a large group of students attended the conference, which was compromised mainly of three work-group sessions that focused on a multitude of topics about GIS.
Conversation varied from qualitative analysis of GIS to its application in community outreach and service learning. Each session was divided into presentations followed by group discussion, a format that promoted energy and brainstorming among participants about the theme-based material.
The conference’s enthusiastic reception by the student body comes as no surprise. Many professors from other colleges continually referred to the University’s approach to GIS as the ‘Bucknell Model for GIS,’ a well-deserved compliment to the faculty’s hard work in developing and incorporating GIS into academic life here at the University.
The buzz surrounding the conference even lit up Twitter, where attendees exchanged tweets praising its success. Readers who are interested in learning more about GIS can contact the Office of Library and Information Technology.
Ally Boni | The Bucknellian Alex Lyras brought Steve Jobs’ legacy to life in “un/real and un/true: The Agony and the Ecstacy of Steve Jobs.
Christina Oddo
The Bucknell Forum “tech/no” National Speaker Series hosted an original University production to unveil the fact and fiction surrounding the life of Steve Jobs and the ever-encompassing hold Apple has had, and continues to have, over the world. Starring Alex Lyras ’93, a successful solo theatre writer and actor, and directed by Bob Gainer, the play within a play also included faculty members and students as part of the cast, or writing or research teams. “un/real and un/true: The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” took place on Nov. 27 at 7:30 in Trout Auditorium.
Ally Boni | The Bucknellian Lyras gives a realness to Jobs in the Agony and Ecstacy of Steve Jobs.
“Before joining this project, I had no idea how much time and effort went along with putting on a production of this size,” Rachel Litt ’13 said. “Maybe my jaded Bucknell mind that craves instant gratification merely thought speakers appeared out of thin air and arrived on campus for our entertainment. But it’s so much more than that. Scheduling, script editing, rehearsals … and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
This play was based on the original production of The Public Theater, “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” starring Mike Daisey, the writer of the play. The production utilized and reduced Daisey’s original script, with his permission.
“Being a member of the script writing committee … we chose the interruptions, completed the research, wrote the insertions and lastly placed them in the script,” Litt said. “It was challenging, but so much fun.”
In fact, the original script and the controversy around it more generally aims at the question of whether technology is ultimately good or bad, a question that captures the essence and goals of the “tech/no” series. The University’s play within a play unfolded a series of debates that the task force shared in trying to find the truth.
“I got involved in the play because I am in Business, Government and Society with Professor Jordi Comas, and he was one of the producers of the play,” Kathleen Lenox ’13 said. “For homework, we listened to the original podcast of Mike Daisey performing ‘The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs’ on National Public Radio’s ‘This American Life.’ I was listening to Mike Daisey reveal the horrible working conditions at the Foxconn factory … and became frustrated with myself. A week later, we listened to Mike Daisey’s retraction in which he admitted that he fabricated many details. I then became frustrated with Mike Daisey. He lied to a lot of people. This frustration led to a curiosity of the actual truth, which had to lie somewhere between Apple’s glossy investor reports and Mike Daisey’s ‘reporting.’ Thus, when I heard about the opportunity to join the forum and share the truth with an audience, I took it.”
Daisey focused “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” on the immorality associated with factory conditions in Shenzhen, China. The rest of the issues surrounding Jobs and Apple branch from the idea that people should be responsible for knowing where their technology and other items come from. “un/real and un/true: The Agony and the Ectasy of Steve Jobs” presented fact and fiction through Daisey’s supposed view of Jobs, alongside Daisey’s fabrications and exaggerations.
Throughout the play, faculty stood and spoke about what they believed was the truth. For example, Zhiqun Zhu, MacArthur Chair of East Asian Politics and associate professor of political science and international relations gave his opinion that Daisey generalized superficial phenomena.
The audience was presented with statistics that served as facts: Foxconn, stationed in Shenzhen, is responsible for 50 percent of all of the electronics of the world. A live interaction with Siri on the iPhone was also presented by Lenox as a fact; Siri will not answer a question regarding the iPhone’s origin.
Further, Daisey’s voice continued to describe the factory conditions, especially by stating the suicides that have occurred, and the precautions that Apple has supposedly taken to stop the madness: putting up nets around the area. The play shifted to an interview with Jobs, who stated that 13 out of the 400,00 people employed in the factory had committed suicide over the course of a particular year, and that was under the U.S. suicide rate. As a company obsessed with detail, according to Daisey’s words, how could they not know what was ensuing in these factories? Apple merely sees what it wants to see.
Problems regarding fact and fiction arise, in particular, to the n-hexane issue. As a narcotic agent, clearly dangerous to humans, n-hexane, supposedly used in the factories, harmed workers, according to Daisey. However, through later research and interviews, it became clear that Daisey had never met a worker who had been affected by n-hectane. Moreover, when interviewing Cathy Lee, Daisey’s translator at the time, it also became known that Daisey had exaggerated other details (for example, that the guards at the gates held guns). Where should the line be drawn between exclaiming fabricated and truthful accounts with the aim of proving a point?
“Rachel Litt, Nick Stetz ’13 and I poured over his original script looking for ways that we could show how nuanced reality actually is,” Lenox said. “We did not set out to prove that Mike Daisey was a liar, but that his truth was not factual enough to give his audience a good understanding of what is actually happening in China.”
The audience was left with questions to prompt thought and further discussion.
“Our ultimate goal was to show the audience that they should question whatever piece of information they are shown; they should not take it as fact,” Lenox said. “We wanted to show the nuances of the truth that exist depending on the source and to encourage the Bucknell community to think critically about what is really happening.”
Yessica Martinez | The Bucknellian Bucknell welcomes new multicultural soroity, Mu Sigma Upsilon, to the greek community. They are a national sorority that welcomes diversity.
By Siobhan Murray
Senior Writer
Mu Sigma Upsilon Sorority, Inc., the first multicultural sorority in the nation, takes pride in its foundation. More specifically, it takes pride in colonizing here at the University. Recently, the University welcomed Mu Sigma Upsilon to campus with its formal probate, or “coming out” ceremony, that took place earlier in November.
Yessica Martinez ’14, president of the University’s chapter of Mu Sigma Upsilon was more than pleased with the response to their formal initiation ceremony.
“We were very nervous because we had practiced for some time and we wanted it to go perfect,” Martinez said. “We were very surprised with the crowd. It was very comforting to see that people were interested and curious in our organization and came out to witness our initiation. We have received positive comments since, and we appreciate everyone who has welcomed us to campus.”
As a multicultural sorority, Mu Sigma Upsilon does not exclude women because of their background.
“Everyone is different and that is what we embody. Our motto resembles exactly that: ‘Mujeres Siempre Unidas’ (‘Women Always United’). Our Founding Mothers decided to create this sisterhood as a support system for all women, ‘a student organization that celebrates diversity and fosters progress,'” Martinez said.
These five women founded Mu Sigma Upsilon, with the intent to unify women while observing their differences.
“We will follow through with what our Founding Mothers intended this sisterhood to be. We are excited to grow as a strong sisterhood and showcase all we have to offer to our community,” Martinez said. “As we do not fall under the Panhellenic Council, we do not participate in Rush, so we have no incorporation with formal recruitment. Instead, our interests will be participating in an orientation process. We go more in details about our process at our Ladies Night, and we encourage all those women who are interested to attend … These sessions will be advertised, so just be on the lookout. If there are any questions, interests can contact Angel Crockett (acc020).”
The University’s Campus Climate Report released last fall caused a stir around campus. Doug Bogan ’14 was determined to do something about it.
On Nov. 29, Bogan hosted “The Bucknell ‘Rage Crew:’ is this all we really are?” which is the first student-led discussion for students only (no faculty) about the Campus Climate Report.
“Our goal is to give students the opportunity to not only discuss their thoughts on these matters, but to brainstorm action steps to directly address these issues,” Bogan said.
Bogan’s interest in this matter is rooted in his years of experience using this discussion model. Alongside training from his mother, Lisa Bogan ’78, he has managed to change high school start times and successfully host 1,000+ person concerts.
“[The model] emphasizes consensus building among participants surrounding action steps to address an issue through small group discussion,” Bogan said.
When the Campus Climate Report was released, Bogan and his mother wondered how students’ voices were going to be heard by the school administration. They were interested in starting a community conversation, and having students and the administration collaborate on “post-report change.”
Both Bogan and his mother presented their idea to administrators as a student/alum collaborative effort.
“We received incredible support and enthusiasm surrounding the concept,” Bogan said.
Students involved on the planning committee for this event include Robert Owoyele ’13, Kari Ayoob ’15, Caroline Confort ’14, Alaina Eisenhooth ’13, Pat Zailckas ’14, Ian Hackett ’15 and Mark Paleafico ’13.
Preparation over the past eight months has included working with the deans, promoting the event and recruiting and training 27 students to be moderators at the event. These moderators led small-group discussions to brainstorm how to take action.
“We expect that the steps needed to take action will be thoughtful, reasonable and directly applicable to student life here on campus,” Bogan said.
Common sentiments and plans of action amongst the groups will be presented to the administration, followed by a formal report.
Last year, there were two open student forums, one hosted by President John Bravman and one by Bucknell Student Government (BSG), but Bogan’s event reminds us that it is important to continue the dialogue.
Alpha Xi Delta is one of the founding members of the founding fraternities of the National Panhellenic Conference, boasts over 150,000 initiated members and plans to establish its next chapter at the University. Alpha Xi hosted an information session for interested women on campus on Nov. 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Gallery Theatre. A full fraternity-coordinated colonization effort will take place in spring of 2013, which will be followed by a five-year period of care to ensure the new chapter’s success. We sat down with Assistant Director of Sorority Affairs Kevin Pons to discuss how this sorority will fit into campus life.
What does this new sorority have to offer over other sororities that we could have invited to colonize on campus?
“We are confident that Alpha Xi Delta is the best choice for Bucknell and we look forward to welcoming them to campus in the spring. Alpha Xi Delta was selected from seven National Panhellenic organizations that applied to colonize at Bucknell. An extension committee comprised of staff and students selected AZD for many reasons. Some of these reasons include diversity of their national philanthropy (Autism Speaks), strong support from area alumnae, strong support from the national headquarters, campus presentation and interviews and more.”
Why did we decide to bring another sorority on campus?
“Bucknell University Panhellenic decided to open for extension last year. The goal of extension is to increase the opportunity for interested women to become affiliated and to slightly decrease the average sorority chapter size. Our goal over time is to have our sororities closer to 100 members, as opposed to the average of 135 we are seeing now. In doing so, we will be able to create stronger organizations and maximize the opportunity for students to assume leadership positions.”
How will this affect Rush next year?
“Alpha Xi Delta will be recruiting women this spring to join their colony. The plan is to have the chapter fully chartered by the end of the academic year. Alpha Xi Delta will participate in formal recruitment with our other six NPC groups next fall, ultimately increasing the opportunity for women to join our thriving Panhellenic community.”
Do we plan on adding any other sororities in the near future?
“In addition to Alpha Xi Delta, we have invited Delta Zeta to re-colonize no sooner than the spring of 2015. Delta Zeta previously had a chapter at Bucknell and continues to have a strong alumnae group committed to the success of the new colony in the near future. This agreement will be revisited closer to 2015 to ensure it is still mutually beneficial.”
Recently, Bucknell Student Government (BSG), in partnership with representatives from the Collegiate Readership Program, made the decision to provide students with online access to the New York Times.
“Since college students wouldn’t purchase online access anyway, I think it’s incredible that Bucknell is willing to pay for this service,” Brandon Dellafave ’16 said.
The Collegiate Readership Program, available at many universities through USA Today, encourages students to increase their knowledge of world events, by providing complementary online access to publications such as the New York Times, USA Today and the Financial Times. Throughout this process, the BSG Executive Board met with members of the USA Today Collegiate Readership Program to discuss newspaper consumption and demand.
“I think this access is what the campus needs. Students like being informed and this is one way BSG can make it easier,” Dotun Odewale ’13 said.
This program allows students to obtain a 24-hour access pass, where they can log onto NYTimes.com/passes and using their bucknell.edu email address, view the online edition as well as archival articles.
“If it’s a 24-hour pass and it’s reusable, why can’t we have unlimited access? I don’t blame Bucknell for this,” Tom Lukow ’16 said.
As with the campaign to increase college readership of publications, the University hopes to strengthen its partnership with programs such as the Collegiate Readership Program.
A sparse crowd made up primarily of current Bucknell Student Government (BSG) members gathered in the Gallery Theater on Nov. 14 as candidates promised greater transparency and student attendance if elected to the executive board for the new year. The executive board is comprised of a President, Vice President of Operations, Vice President of Finance and a Vice President of Administration. Each leader has a critical role to play as a liaison between the executive branch and the Student Congress.
Executive board members from the current term, President Dotun Odewale ’13 and VP Finance Mo Karam ’13, moderated an hour-long debate the night before the election. This forum gave each candidate a chance to talk about their individual leadership experiences, records of achievement and plans to move BSG forward.
Two out of the seven people running for positions have never been involved with BSG, but said that they would seek to improve relations between the wider student body and the executives by making decisions more transparent. One candidate, in fact, said greater transparency would be his “number one goal.” BSG representative Jared Lowenthal ’15 said that he thinks these “people from outside of BSG would provide good insights and opinions if elected.”
Similarly, even current members agreed that through transparency there would be greater student awareness of BSG proceedings. While transparency was never defined in an extensive way, it is clear that all the candidates hoped to increase attendance and interest in the initiatives that BSG puts forth.
BSG member William Persing ’15 said he was “glad to see people passionate about serving the school.” Persing also said that overall, being on the BSG executive board is a “big position” and members are “not given enough credit.”
On Nov. 14, a post-election panel was put together by the Bucknell Public Interest Project (BPIP) to shed light on polling and various factors that contributed to President Barack Obama’s second-term reelection. Ed Goeas, president and CEO of The Tarrance Group, Karl Agne, founding partner of GBA Strategies, Professor of Economics Christopher Magee and Assistant Professor of Political Science Chris Ellis discussed the different outcomes that were predicted during the presidential campaign as well as the factors that led to Obama’s second term.
Agne initiated the discussion by introducing the broad spectrum of policy implications that would be affected by the outcome of this year’s election, ranging from comprehensive immigration reform, gay marriage, vacancy of the federal branch and the economy.
“Although during every election, each president makes it such that it appears as if that year’s election is the most important there is, but this year it really is that important,” Agne said.
As a Democrat, he believes Obama has a unique style of leadership that the Republicans have lacked for years.
“Barack Obama had two opponents to face during the presidential campaign: he had Mitt Romney and the economy,” Goeas said.
He doubts that there was momentum for one candidate during the campaign and believed Hurricane Sandy was one of many factors as to why Romney could not win the election. He then introduced various historical statistics showing a waning voter’s participation percentage that reached as high as an eight to 10 percent decrease over the course of a decade.
“Was there really a need for people to spend millions of dollars on creating polls? Compared to the 2004 election, not only has the number of polls increased exponentially, but the quality in terms of methodology is much lower,” Agne said.
In slight mutual agreement, Goeas also discussed the huge volatility of polls, particularly national polls, making them unreliable. However, he stated that state exit polls have shown consistent outcomes.
“The success to Obama’s campaign was using not technology but volunteers to interact directly. It was a brilliant tactic that the Republicans didn’t employ,” Goeas said.
The fact that volunteers drove voters to polling stations to vote was a big contributor to Obama’s victory.
“I learned that which vote matters and which doesn’t comes down to the Electoral College. The trend currently favors the Democrats, although it is very challenging within the swing states,” Agne said.
As a Republican, even Goeas believed leadership played a key concept in this year’s election.
“Obama’s edge over Romney was over strength of leadership, not smarts. This was why Obama won over Romney,” Goeas said.
The Post-Racial America?: An Interdisciplinary Conversation Conference explored the ability of society to move past its previous racial differences. The Conference took place on Nov. 9 and 10 in the Vaughan Literature Building and included remarks from keynote speaker Farah Jasmine Griffin, who is the William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African-American Studies at Columbia University. The Conference had 20 speakers from all over the region, the United States, Canada and Brazil. The Griot Institute for Africana Studies hosted the event.
“The purpose of the event was to explore, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the idea of a post-racial America. This conference was designed as a conversation among scholars from a number of areas of study, to examine this and related ideas through the intersections in their work,” Griot Assistant Coordinator Rebecca Willoughby said.
The conference began with dinner from 7-9 p.m. in the Hunt Formal dining room. The event included the keynote address from Griffin. “Griffin focused specifically on two contemporary black women in the national spotlight – Michelle Obama and Beyonce Knowles – and discussed their racial identity in terms of the creation of their public persona,” said first year English Graduate Student Eve Marie Blasinsky.
The next day’s events included four sessions, which were each divided into two panel discussions, that began at 9:30 a.m. and lasted until 4:30 p.m. Each panel discussion focused on a different post-racial question. Some of the topics included lived experiences, racial aesthetics and conceptual thinking, race and politics, race and media as well as gender and identity.
The conference also included remarks from University faculty, such as Thomas Alexander, associate dean of students for diversity, and Bridget Newell, associate provost for diversity.
“I was impressed by the diversity of responses brought forward to the broad question of post-raciality. I think the conference lived up to its name of being a “conversation”, rather than merely a set of independent speakers expressing their views,” said first year Blasinsky.
Willoughby believes the term “Post-Racial America” is often controversial and invokes different responses from many academics.
“Some academics are using this term to describe a society in which race is no longer an issue; other scholars disagree with the implications of the term and whether we are, in fact, living in such a society,” Willoughby said. “As you might imagine, this is an especially salient topic in the wake of the last two elections.”
The event was open to the public, and registration was $55 and included two dinners. Students were also able to attend the conference and could register on either Nov. 9 or 10 for a fee of $25.
“Everyone who I spoke to was very impressed by Bucknell’s campus as well as by its hospitality,” said Blasinsky.
Estie Pyper | The Bucknellian Madga Herzberger, a survivor of the Holocaust, spoke about her tribulations.
Siobhan Murray Writer
Holocaust survivor and poet Magda Herzberger spoke of her experiences on Nov. 13 in the Rooke Chemistry Lecture Hall. Her talk was part of the University’s annual remembrance of Kristallnacht, the beginning of the Holocaust, and was organized by Campus Jewish Life.
Born in 1926 in an orthodox Jewish family in Romania, Herzberger survived three concentration camps: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bremen and Bergen-Belsen. She watched the infamous Nazi Doctor Josef Mengele send her father and uncle to their deaths, endured a 30-kilometer death march and was left dying in a pile of corpses before rescue and liberation by British soldiers.
“What kept me alive was my faith in God, passion for humanity and love for my family,” Herzberger said. “As a Holocaust survivor, one of my most important missions is to keep alive the memory of the six million Jews and others who were killed at the hands of the Nazis.”
She described working at Auschwitz’s four killing facilities equipped with gas chambers and crematory ovens, clearing bodies and inhaling the “sick stench of burning bodies … I call Auschwitz a ‘death camp’ because that was its goal, whether if you were overworked or sent to the gas chambers, you were surrounded by electric fences and watchtowers of armed guards.”
After being kept on a starvation diet, exposed to rampant diseases and surviving selection every single week, Herzberger was sent to Bremen. She was later deemed not useful, and forced to walk 30-kilometers to Bergen-Belsen camp without food or water, flanked by Nazi soldiers shooting those who could no longer walk.
“Somehow, my feet kept moving,” Herzberger said. “In those moments, God was carrying me.”
One-half of Jewish prisoners survived the march, only to arrive at Bergen-Belsen to find “a camp littered with dead bodies … Eventually, they stopped feeding us.”
After being saved in the arms of a British soldier, Herzberger recovered from her close-to-death state, returned to Romania, miraculously reconnected with her mother and eventually pursued medical school, where she would later meet her husband.
“We’re like Adam and Eve, you know?” Herzberger said, arousing laughter in the audience.
“But I had promised God that I would keep the memory alive of other victims who were left behind,” Herzberger said.
Herzberger began writing poetry in 1963 and has published several books, including her autobiography “Survival.” She concluded with reading part of the book’s epilogue: “Sufferance, agony and disappointments put something to sleep within us, but something new is born.”
“She was an excellent speaker, who connected the different parts of her life story together beautifully,” a Mount Pleasant Mills resident in the audience said. “I want to go shake her hand.”
In past years, Campus Jewish Life has featured students’ grandparents who are Holocaust survivors come to speak to commemorate Kristillnacht.
“It’s hard to find survivors who will make the journey to Bucknell, as they are elderly and traveling is difficult,” Religious Life Assistant Linda Godfrey said.
This year, Rabbi and Jewish Chaplain Serena Fujita and Godfrey were able to connect with Herzberger via the internet and telephone and organize her trip from Arizona.
In addition to this event, Herzberger gave a reading of her poetry and held a book signing at the Barnes & Noble campus bookstore on Nov. 14, where her books are currently available for sale.
