Category: Review

Anna Jones
Writer

On Nov. 2, Uptown held one of its well-known Poetry Slams to show off the work of talented University students, faculty and guest artists.

“A Poetry Slam is a competition between anyone who wants to share a poem they wrote or read … poems are about anything that is on the poet’s mind,” Emilie Ratajczak ’15, assistant manager of Uptown, said.

“The poems are judged on a ten point scale by audience members and a winner is determined,” Steph Wyld ’14, manager of Uptown said.

The Stadler Center for Poetry has hosted six Poetry Slams, led by Jamaal May, a Stadler Fellow, at Uptown in the past year and a half. Each has been well attended. There are several different sections during a poetry slam.

“Each Slam breaks the night up into an Open Mic, Featured Poet and a One-Round Slam that artists sign up for at the beginning of the night with audience judges,” Wyld said.

The Poetry Slams at Uptown are campus-wide events, but students from other schools, such as Susquehanna University, are also invited.

At this particular slam, Sonya Renee Taylor, the founder and current CEO of The Body Is Not An Apology, a movement focused on self-acceptance and body empowerment, was the featured guest. Taylor is herself a poet, so she performed her powerful work along with University and Susquehanna University students.

“My favorite part of the Poetry Slam is being surrounded by such passionate poets,” Ratajczak said.

She also encourages University students to head out to a slam if they get a chance.

“These events are an extremely fun way to break from the usual night scene at Bucknell,” Ratajczak said. “In addition, you get to meet so many great new people at these events at Uptown.”

“My favorite part is seeing performers put their whole heart and soul into a piece and connect to the audience through those common experiences by sharing something so personal,” Wyld said. “Past performers have surprised me with talent I couldn’t have imagined they possess and it’s great to hear them express their work.”

Wyld also recommends that students check out the Poetry Slams.

“They are something that you can’t experience every day. They really are special and will open your eyes to a whole other world of self-expression,” Wyld said. “There is a very welcoming and supportive crowd, so it is a great place for anyone to share their poetry without fear of criticism and for audience members to enjoy a fantastic performance.”

Kailyn Angelo
Contributing Writer

Whether you came looking for a laid-back good time on a chilly fall night, or you wanted to hear some of your favorite songs from the 90s and early 2000s, the Vertical Horizon concert at Uptown on Oct. 26 pleased many who attended.

“The concert was an extremely worthwhile alternative to those of us not fortunate enough to get Norah Jones tickets, and the smaller venue size of Uptown made the concert all the more memorable,” Drew Yingling ’15 said.

The band’s early hits like “Everything You Want” and “Best I Ever Had” were the obvious highlights of the night. Audience members jumped and swayed along with the music and sang every word so loud that lead singer and guitarist Matt Scannell’s voice became lost in the crowd at times.

“It was awesome!” Nicole Davis ’15 said in immediate response as to what she thought of the performance.

The energy level occasionally faded when the band played songs from its most recent album “Burning the Days,” released in 2009. The same happened when other lesser known songs were played.

Nearer the end, Scannell broke the news that the band would be releasing a new album within the first few months of 2013. They sampled a song that would be on the album and everyone seemed pleased with what they heard because the audience continued to dance.

Anna Jones
Writer

On Oct. 25, Dr. Carole Counihan spoke to more than 50 students and faculty in the Willard Smith Library. Her message to the audience was that “food touches everything.” Food is the central item that connects everyone in all different parts of the world, making it something that should be enjoyed as well as protected. She explained that the way to do this is through “food activism,” advancing social and economic justice through food practices, and creating healthy, fair labor conditions as well as fair prices for consumers.

The leading front in food activism today is an organization called Slow Food. It focuses on getting people to slow down and enjoy their food, to make food healthier and to make food practices fairer for everyone involved.

As Counihan discussed Slow Food, her focus shifted to gender in food activism. She pointed out that there are more women working behind the scenes in food activism, yet more men take much of the credit. For example, while at a Slow Food conference, almost the entire board was made up of men, despite the fact that women do most of the actual work.

Although Slow Food has succeeded largely in Italy, with many schools having their own gardens to grow fruits and vegetables, it still faces opposition in other places. Counihan noted that taste versus price is a big issue. If people commit to wanting better tasting food, she said, they’d be willing to pay a little extra. The taste of food is meaningful and emotional, so it’s extremely important to the eating experience.

To conclude her talk, Counihan said that being “honest about your food” is the most important thing in food activism. As long as people are honest about where everything is coming from, food will be better made and people will be able to sit down and enjoy it more.

“This was a topic I’d never considered before, and I believe that more attention should be paid to the Slow Food industry in the United States,” Morgan Houchins ’16 said.

“Everything Dr. Counihan said was relatable to all people on our campus,” Sarah Antonacci ’16 said. “The lengths that some people take to obtain their food and get to know their food are incredible and respectable.”

Counihan is a food anthropologist and professor emeritus at Millersville University. She’s authored several books such as “Around the Tuscan Table: Food, Family, and Gender in Twentieth Century Florence” and “The Anthropology of Food and Body: Gender, Meaning, and Power.” She is editor of “Food in the USA: A Reader” and, with Penny Van Esterik, “Food and Culture: A Reader.” She’s also editor-in-chief of the journal “Food and Foodways.”

Counihan studied abroad in Italy directly following college and became fascinated with the differences between Italian and American food consumption. She returned to Italy many years later to intensely study these differences.