Author: Sara Dobosh

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Arts & Life Featured

Getting a bird’s eye view: University flying club takes off

By Jessica Rafalko

Writer

Aerial photography is one possible activity resulting from joining the University's flying club.

If you ever find yourself hyperventilating on an airplane, wracked with fear and without a Dramamine, you might hope to be seated next to Steve Krivoshik ’11. Krivoshik, a certified private pilot, is the president of the University’s flying club. The club seeks “to promote and encourage aviation in the college environment,”according to the flying club’s promotional flyer.

New to campus this year, the club’s creation was driven primarily by student interest. Krivoshik learned from Heritage Aviation, a fixed base of operation for flight in Selinsgrove, that students at Susquehanna University had already established a flying club. Working with the names obtained from Heritage, Krivoshik and his like-minded peers managed to attract approximately 20 students to the club.

Michel Ajjan ’14 learned of the club through flyers and the message center.

“I’ve always liked civil aviation … even since I was a child. I think flying is awesome, being able to be that high up in the sky and see the world from a different point of view is really cool,” Ajjan said.

Ajjan took an aviation course in high school and was a student employee at Washington Dulles International Airport. His attitudes and interests are typical of the club’s members.

“The majority [of members] are interested in someday having a private pilot certificate,” Krivoshik said.

The club offerings include screenings of aviation-themed movies like “Top Gun”; tours of airplanes, airports and towers; and the opportunity to hear professionals in the field speak. The club has also already attended one of the weekly barbecues offered by the Penn Valley Airport for aviation enthusiasts and professionals. The club intends to make these barbecues a regular outing, in an effort to keep club members in constant contact with others in the aviation field, Krivoshik said.

These activities provide both entertainment and a degree of pre-professional preparation for those interested in pursuing a career in aviation. The club intends to learn about careers such as “commercial pilot, Tower controller, Ground crew, maintenance and [airport terminal] operations,” Krivoshik said.

Though still awaiting official recognition from the University, the flying club is interested in pursuing partnerships between pre-existing clubs on campus. Aerial photography is one area of intersecting interest between aviation and art buffs, Krovshik said. The club also hopes to pursue partnerships with the business and women’s clubs as a means of exploring flight as an industry and the impact of female aviators on the field.

Associate professor of management Michael Johnson-Cramer will serve as the flying club’s adviser. An adviser’s responsibilities include “supporting our students as they take initiative, try to do interesting things and explore those activities that interest them,” Johnson-Cramer said.

The club’s activities at present are all non-flying, but both Krivoshik and Ajjan have already flown independent of the University: Krivoshik this summer while obtaining his private pilot’s certificate, and Ajjan in a class he took as a high school junior. The club supports members with dreams of flight, and may help students study for the private pilot written exam.

Interested students are encouraged to join. If the mere mention of airplanes doesn’t make your stomach drop, the flying club may be a great place to explore aviation and its related careers and hobbies.

“There are clearly many careers that can be linked to academic studies … many of which do not even involve having any time behind the controls of an airplane,” Krivoshik said.

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Arts & Life Featured

Griot Institute celebrates culture

By Carolyn Williams

Contributing Writer

The Griot Institute hosted a welcome back performance by Soul in Motion this year.

The University’s Griot Institute for Africana Studies, which launched in January, has an exciting semester planned to conduct an interdisciplinary exploration of culture and art. Griot is a traditional West African figure that functioned as a storyteller, historian, artist and spokesperson, according to the Griot Institute for Africana Studies mission statement.

Professor of English Carmen Gillespie is the new program director. “We’re hoping to fill a niche that will enable interdisciplinary staff, students and community to discuss and explore these topics together,” she said.

This year, the Griot Institute has already hosted a welcome back performance by Soul in Motion, an African dance and drumming troupe. Emily Conners ’14 attended the event. “It was really interesting to see a form of dance from another area of the world. It’s great that Bucknell celebrates different cultures.”

The Griot Institute also organized the Facing RACE Installation last February. Students and faculty created various forms of written expression, including poetry, nonfiction writing and journal entries that explored their perceptions and personal definitions of race. The three-hour event concluded with a one-man show by E. Patrick Johnson, a performance artist and chair of the department of performance studies at Northwestern University.

According to Gillespie, one of the Griot Institute’s aims is to make possible “not just lectures, but interactive events which bring together constituent bodies, examining more in-depth, pondering questions.”

The program hopes to introduce interdisciplinary prospective courses to complement a series of lectures by staff members and guest speakers. One topic for these classes, currently under consideration, is the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings.

In October, the Institute is planning a group-read inspired by writer Toni Morrison. In a speech given by the Nobel Prize winner, titled “The Dancing Mind,” Morrison worries that as a society we have lost the ability to disengage ourselves at length from our electronic “necessities” and simply read a book that we were not assigned. Today, pressured by busy schedules and increased expectations, many people have let the art of pleasure reading fall by the wayside.

University students will try to take Morrison’s advice this October by gathering to read for eight hours straight. Gillespie calls this “deep reading,” and says that practicing extended readings of unassigned books is a critical part of sustainable life and intellectual engagement. The date and location of this event are currently undecided.

In the semester since its formation, the Griot Institute has had the support of over a thousand students, faculty and staff members, as well as individuals from the Lewisburg community. The Institute looks forward to hosting a number of events throughout the rest of the school year, open to the public.

“Our long term goal is to help to tell the story of Africana studies in a way that will help Bucknell come away with new answers and new questions,” Gillespie said.

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Arts & Life Movies Review

The toys of summer

By Tracy Lum

Editor-in-Chief

Though it’s been over 10 years since the last “Toy Story,” the third film in the series is no less stunning, complex and inviting. With a new adventure, new friends and tons of emotional turmoil, “Toy Story 3” transports audiences back to the days when they themselves packed up their childhood and headed to college.

With Andy grown and headed to college, the toys have been locked in a dark chest for a very long time. Loyal to their owner, they carefully arrange themselves around his room, hoping Andy will one day pick them up and play again.

As Andy packs, he’s torn between childhood and college, between his toys and a sophisticated college lifestyle. Though he decides to take Woody (Tom Hanks) with him to university, and stows the rest of the toys in the attic, some misunderstandings land the toys in a garbage truck.

Fed up with Andy, the toys journey to a day care center to finally be used again. Upon entry, the center seems like paradise with pleasant, well-behaved children and an array of new toys, including Lotso the Bear (Ned Beatty) and Barbie’s partner Ken (Michael Keaton). But soon the terrors of the day care are revealed as toddlers abuse Buzz, Jessie, Mr. Potato Head and the rest. Adventure ensues as the toys try their best to survive and stay together.

Pixar’s animation, as usual, is exceptional, rendering the toys so life-like it’s easy to forget they aretoys. The plot and story plod along at an even but rapid pace. Writers John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich incorporate subtle witticisms into a child-friendly and original script, weaving a more complex story even adults can appreciate. Motivational twists, love affairs and commentaries on childhood really tug at the heartstrings.

Woody’s story overshadows that of the remaining cast. Since Woody was Andy’s favorite andserved as pack leader since the very beginning, the choice seems logical. Though Woodychooses a path that seems to take him away from his friends, he also encounters his fair share of obstacles and new friends like Mr. Pricklepants and Trixie.

The only truly regrettable aspect of “Toy Story 3” is not having enough time to really get to know the new toys. With such a dense and intricateplot, it’s difficult to really develop the new characters.

As current college students were the generation who reaped the outset of the “Toy Story” phenomenon, “Toy Story 3” recalls the nostalgia associated with leaving for college we can all relate to. The film also touches on the essential fight of good versus evil and on the concepts of greater good and purpose. The film is deep, entertaining and even moving–definitely not just for kids.

Toy Story 3

Directed by Lee Unkrich

Release date: June 18, 2010

5 out of 5 stars

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Arts & Life

Professor brings new teaching techniques back from Brussels

By Sara Dobosh

Arts & Life Editor

Ken Field never planned on teaching students. After completing his postdoctoral research, he assumed he would further his research career in biology, yet he resorted to a career path he and his fellow colleagues never thought they would turn to.

Field grew up in New Hampshire and attended the University of Vermont as an undergraduate. He and his family moved to Lewisburg in 2002 when he began teaching at the University.

“While in high school I did not even think about looking at colleges like Bucknell,” Field said.

Although the experiences offered at Bucknell University different from that offered at the University of Vermont, Field found the small liberal arts college an ideal teaching location. He especially appreciated the abundance of research opportunities offered on campus. When attempting to find a research opportunity as an undergraduate at the University of Vermont, Field said he had to ask every professor he knew to participate in his or her research.

“At Bucknell, it is normal for professors to conduct research with their students,” Field said.

Field invites many students to help him in his research. He and his research assistants are currently working with an experimental cancer drug that may potentially cure a specific type of lymphoma. The research team is studying the effects the drug has on the normal immune system, and the team is showing “that the drug has effects that no one would have ever predicted,” Field said.

Field went to Brussels, Belgium on sabbatical for the 2009-10 school year to research the immunology of graft rejection in mice. Field took the techniques he learned in Europe home to Lewisburg and hopes that he and his students can use the new techniques to further their research.

“Working with my research students is the most rewarding part of my job,” Field said. “I have had some of the best students and I have been very fortunate.”

Field is also committed to increasing scientific literacy among non-science majors. He currently teaches Controversies in Biology which is aimed at non-science majors. He also teaches Introduction to Molecules and Cells for first-year biology majors and Immunology for upper-level biology and chemistry majors.  Field hopes to resume teaching an interdisciplinary course on AIDS.

Besides biology, Field enjoys playing World of Warcraft with his son. He has been installing a solar water heater in his house and is very excited to complete the project.

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Arts & Life Books Review

An Alternate View of China

By Catherine McClelland

Senior Writer

With a growth rate in the double digits and the largest workforce in the world, China is attracting more and more media attention as a world power. News articles and statistics abound, but the everyday lives and cultural values remain largely a mystery to the Western world, separated by barriers of language and geography and a vastly different way of life. American libraries boast translations of literature from all over Europe—everyone from Dostoevsky to Czeslaw Milosz—but Asian works are often absent from the shelves.

Even in modern Chinese writing, the focus seems to be on the country’s energetic new cities. Provincial life is often referred to only fleetingly and disdainfully. Rural characters often sport thick accents and turn up poorly dressed for the occasion, overwhelmed and awkward among Beijing’s sleek businessmen. A whole segment of China’s vibrant regional life is invisible in literature.

Nobel Prize-winner Pearl S. Buck offers a detailed commentary on rural China to fill this gap. Born to missionary parents, Buck grew up in the provinces of China, and her 1931 novel “The Good Earth” offers a detailed window into the values and psychology of a nation, represented by a single rural man.

The novel follows the life of northern Chinese peasant Wang Lung, beginning with his wedding day. Buck takes care to underline the hardships of a life of poverty and often surprises the reader at the inaccuracy of Western stereotypes. The Wang family eats cornmeal mush because rice is too expensive, and they drink plain boiled water because “tea leaves are like silver.” On the way to collect his bride, Wang Lung spends almost all his life savings to buy a piece of pork and a few green peaches to feed the guests at his wedding dinner. Pagodas, dragons and other popular hallmarks of Asian culture are nowhere to be seen. In their place, Buck offers a heartbreakingly honest picture of real life in an all but forgotten corner of the world with the People’s Republic and the Great Leap Forward only shadows on the horizon.

Using poverty as a backdrop, Buck reminds her readers humankind is united across cultures in its common needs and desires. Wang Lung rises from humble peasant to rich man over the course of the novel and changes his whole identity many times over, but he never escapes the fundamental questions of life: How can I improve my fortunes? Who will I be tomorrow?

Also central to the novel is the dangerous connection between land and wealth. “The Good Earth” uses land as the driving force of the narrative, the element that both elevates and undoes its characters. Land is the most important commodity and the only respectable way to make a living, the only thing worth having. The novel sets wealth at the other end of the spectrum, the thing that separates people from the land.

Perhaps most poignant is Buck’s treatment of the difficult lives of rural Chinese women. “Woman” and “slave” are interchangeable in the characters’ dialect. “Not a slave too young, and above all not a pretty one!” his father demands when Wang Lung buys a kitchen slave to become his wife. The two women of the novel both contrast and reinforce each other: Wang Lung’s wife is quiet and hardworking and holds the family together; Lotus, a prostitute that Wang Lung buys later in the novel, suffers as a plaything of men because of her beauty just as Wang Lung’s wife suffers because she is plain and suited for hard work.

“The Good Earth” is nearly 80 years old and especially relevant today as China steps into the global spotlight. The northern provinces are no longer driven into famine with every drought that hits, nor are “Fire Wagons” (trains) a rare sight in the countryside, but the novel isn’t about a closed chapter of history. It is about a nation’s complex relationship with its landscape: unapologetic, steady and unflinching in its depiction of characters that we can’t help but see ourselves reflected in.

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Arts & Life

Kappa Alpha Psi fosters brotherhood

By Laura Crowley

Writer

Kappa Alpha Psi has been the University’s only predominantly African American fraternity since its induction on April 28, 1989. The Xi Kappa Chapter on campus was locally founded as a colony of the Mu Beta Chapter at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. Although the historically black fraternity has thousands of members nationwide, there are just four at the University.

Chapter president Nicholas McLeod ’11 attributes the low membership rate to its high selectivity. When questioned about the recruitment process, McLeod said the fraternity does not have a formal rush process. An open invitation to attend an informational meeting is extended to all men at the University. After the meeting, those interested in the chapter begin a formal application process that consists of a written application, interview and involvement in chapter activities. If accepted, the new member then begins a membership intake program.

Though the fraternity’s current membership is very small at the University, its housing situation is similar to that of other fraternities. Since 2009, the fraternity has been living together in the Martin house on St. George Street. “Our founders believed that cohabitation was an essential element to fully experiencing brotherhood,” McLeod said.

McLeod notes Kappa Alpha Psi stands out for its public service. Although the fraternity is and always has been a social organization, social aspects of Kappa Alpha Psi “are not atop the priorities list of the chapter.”  The president emphasizes the fraternity’s outstanding commitment to “rendering service in the public interest through our Guide Right Programs, Community Service and Educational Programs,” McLeod said.

Although social aspects are not the fraternity’s main priority, the fraternity is dedicated to its social responsibilities. “Any Black Greek Letter organization here at Bucknell must take seriously the charge of being both a social organization as well as a community service organization; BU’s chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi has risen to these dual challenges for over 20 years,” said James Peterson, faulty adviser to the fraternity and assistant professor of English.

Brotherhood is another priority for the fraternity. “The Xi Kappa chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. prides itself on being the standard for upholding the genuine lifelong brotherhood that is shared here at Bucknell as well as throughout the fraternity as a whole,” McLeod said.

Although Kappa Alpha Psi is the only African American fraternity at the University, the organization is more similar to other fraternities on campus than it is different. “We, just like any other fraternity here on campus, are striving to promote brotherhood and render service in our communities,” McLeod said.

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Arts & Life Columns Cooking Corner

Cooking with Emily: Guacamole

Guacamole

Let’s face it, a lot of the Bison’s food is a little overpriced for how much you get. This is a really easy recipe for your own guacamole that won’t break the bank and also makes enough to share with friends. As an added bonus, it uses white kidney beans to lower the calorie count. You won’t taste the difference, but your bank account will thank you.

Ingredients:

1 can (15-19 oz) white kidney beans (cannellini beans), drained and rinsed

1 Tbsp lime juice

1 jalapeño, seeded

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

¼ cup chopped Vidalia onion

1 ripe avocado, pitted and cut into smaller chunks

2 plum tomatoes

½ tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Mash beans with lime juice in a medium bowl. It works best with a spoon and then a fork.

2. Add jalapeño, cilantro, onion, salt and avocado. Mix with a fork, taking care to mash the avocado well.

3. Chop tomatoes and stir into avocado mixture.

4. Serve with tortilla chips.

Adapted from “Guiltless Guacamole” in Good Housekeeping Magazine.

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Arts & Life Movies Review

‘Inception’: A hot summer hit

By Jessica Rafalko

Contributing Writer

“Inception”is one of those movies that cynical cinema buffs claim no longer exist—one that respects the intelligence of its audience. The film is fast-paced yet intricate; it demands the viewer’s concentration. Much like the film’s characters, I was given specific directions when I saw it at the Campus Theatre this week: “Pay attention,” they told me. “For the love of God, pay attention or you’re going to miss something important.”

I showed up to the theater 10 minutes late but thankfully did not miss too much. I was introduced to Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a man who specializes in dreams. But this was no Freudian scholar sitting on a couch listening to patients spill the contents of their subconscious. Instead, Cobb and his hand-picked team, including Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Eames (Tom Hardy) and Yusuf(Dileep Rao), infiltrate dreams to extract important information. Cobb is determined to return to the United States after suspicions of murder surrounding the death of his wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard),force him to flee the country. His ticket home is a Japanese tycoon, Saito (Ken Watanabe), who wants Cobb and his team not to extract information, but to plant it. Saito demands the inception of an idea in the subconscious of his rival, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), an idea to disseminate his dying father’s business and eliminate himself as a competitor.

The storyis based in corporate espionage—not an overwhelmingly original concept. What drives the film is not the premise but its playing ground: the human subconscious. Fischer’s dreams are not the only ones viewers can see—in fact, what happens in Cobb’s mind is what gives the film its depth, its suspense and its true drive.

Cobb tells his protégé Ariadne (Ellen Page) the process of inception, of roaming around in another person’s dream, is like an infection. Those peopling Fischer’s dreamscape (called “projections”) are white blood cells, and Cobb and his team are a virus. Dreams are sacrosanct, and invading them causes our minds to fight back. Writer-director Chris Nolan (“The Dark Knight”) illustrates this vividly—Cobb’s team is repeatedly attacked by Fischer’s gun-toting projections. The only way to escape a dream is to be killed or “kicked” (in the film, “kicking” is explained as that sensation that occasionally grips us in the throes of sleep, where we feel as if we are falling and quite literally kick ourselves awake).

Dreams become worlds unto themselves: rich in detail, vivid and layered. They are both an escape and a trap, a comfort and a terror. They soothe us while they haunt us. The true beauty of “Inception” lies not in its breakneck pace or stunning visuals (though scenes of anti-gravity violence and rain-soaked car chases are enough to keep our eyes glued to the screen) but in its psychological implications. Are dreams based in creativity, memory or both? Can they reunite us with what we thought was lost? Can they ever be a substitute for the real world?  These questions stick because they relate to all of us. Everyone dreams, after all, and most of us have had dreams that are so affecting that our first thought upon waking is, “I want to see that again.”

Thisis the attitude Nolan impresses upon his audience when“Inception” ends—we want to see it again. Like the best, most surprising dreams, we are eager to relive the experience one more time.

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Arts & Life

Downtown Dance now open on Market Street

By Carolyn Williams

Contributing Writer

A new dance studio recently opened on the corner of Fifth and Market Street. Christine Rozolis, owner and artistic director of Downtown Dance, hopes to see many University students use the new facilities.

Rozolis, a Philadelphia native and dancer since she was three, moved to Lewisburg in July to open Downtown Dance.

“My parents, sister and uncle went to Bucknell, so I was comfortable with the area, and I like the charm of Lewisburg very much,” Rozolis said.

After completing college at UMass Amherst, Rozolis was unsure whether she wanted to pursue a dancing career.  She briefly worked in marketing and taught dancing on the side. Rozolis later decided to take the plunge and open Downtown Dance.

The new studio offers a number of different classes in both dance and Zumba targeting varying age groups, from “Baby Ballet,” Ballet Tap Combo and Beginner Jazz for younger dancers to advanced classes for more experienced dancers. Rozolis hopes University students will join her intermediate and advanced–level Tap Club and lyrical classes.

In Tap Club, held on Mondays at 7 p.m., Rozolis leads warm–ups, but the class is mostly collaborative, focusing on team-building and learning new combinations. Rozolis describes her Adult Lyrical class (Tuesdays at 5 p.m.) as “a blend of ballet and dance set to modern soft rock and soundtrack songs.” Rozolis offers a student rate: $75 for 10 classes.

Downtown Dance’s Zumba classes are held on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. and on Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. These classes are open to individuals of all dance levels and backgrounds, and Rozolis hopes to draw a crowd from both the University and Lewisburg communities.

The studios’ decor of cheery blue walls and large windows create an energetic class environment. Many students enjoyed the class and the different dance experience.

“The class is a great workout; it’s amazing how much more fun you can have when you’re dancing to all sorts of fun music instead of watching the number of calories burned on the treadmill,” Liz Walker ’14 said of her first Zumba experience. “I can’t believe what a good time I had. I’ll be coming back again, and I’m definitely bringing my roommate next time. She’d love it.”

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Arts & Life

Sam Adams to perform at Fall Fest

By Sara Dobosh

Arts & Life Editor

The Campus Activities and Programs (CAP) Center and Activities and Campus Events (ACE) will host Sam Adams at this year’s Fall Fest on Sept. 25 on Sojka Lawn. Although Fall Fest is happening later than it has in prior years, ACE member Sonali Basak ’12 said she “feels that that could only yield a bigger turnout because generally the beginning of the year is more overwhelming as students are moving in and getting settled,” she said. ” [Our Fall Fest date] is the perfect time when students are settled in to be able to enjoy the campus.”

Fall Fest is a special event to University students, as it is a campus-wide and all student organizations are invited to participate. Organizations have the option of sponsoring a booth, game or creative activity.

“[Fall Fest] is one of the times that the entire campus community can come together on Sojka Lawn to enjoy the landscape and diversity that Bucknell offers,” Basak said.

Sam Adams will be joining Ke$ha and B.o.B as the University’s performers for the fall semester.

“Between Sam Adams, Ke$ha and B.o.B, the University has brought forth a series of new and upcoming artists, truly adding to the value of the campus,” Basak said.

The CAP Center, ACE and the Fall Fest committee hope Fall Fest will give University students a reason to stay on campus over the weekend and hope community members will also attend.