Category: Featured

The Bucknellian: Where on campus would this living with pets be available?
Winkelmann: Right now, we are trying for this through the Affinity Housing Program, so it would most likely be in a small house. Where it would be would depend on how many people we would get. Everyone who commits to living in this program would have the ability to apply to have his or her pets live there. We would check the applications and make sure the pets have cleared vet records and are social. The application process will also help us have a variation of pets in the house, so we wouldn’t end up having a majority of cats or something of that nature. Not everyone necessarily has to have a pet.

The Bucknellian: What kinds of animals would you accept?
Winkelmann: We are really looking for smaller, caged animals. Animals like hamsters, rats, birds and small lizards are acceptable. Cats are acceptable, but again we would review applications before accepting any pets. Dogs at the moment don’t seem practical because the administration is having some problems with allowing dogs into the program. Smaller animals that can be contained are the best because you don’t really have to worry about them wandering. They are easier to control and maintain.

The Bucknellian: You mentioned earlier about how having a pet helped you through a hard time. Could this option of living be connected through Psychological Services, so kids could maybe use this as a therapeutic method?
Winkelmann: I would love to do that. One of the things that I want this program to do if it goes through is to do outreach. We could have open house hours where people could come and visit the animals for whatever reasons they might have. They could come play with them. We would also have educational events about pet care. I think it is very important that this be something that benefits the whole campus and community.

The Bucknellian: Are there any rules for the application? How could one go about applying?
Winkelmann: The application doesn’t really have any rules. We will accept applications from first-years through juniors. We don’t have any bias against owners. It would be easier if you had the animal for some time already, so you know it pretty well and are comfortable with it. As of right now, we need people to commit to living in the house, and then the application would follow. Everything would be via email, so applications could be submitted over the Internet. People with any questions are more than welcome to email me. I would be happy to meet with anyone if they are interested in living in the house. Right now we have about seven people and we need in total about 20 people. If you commit to the house and the pet community doesn’t end up going through, you aren’t bound to the house at all. You can still receive a raffle number [for the regular housing lottery].

Please contact Meagan Winkelmann (mew031@) for any additional questions or interest in this original residential experience.

Students and Lewisburg residents alike enjoy events like the Polar Bear Plunge because they bring together communities that are usually separated.

“I’m a returning plunger,” Jordan Sukys ’12 said. “My first experience was in the frozen winter of 2010. The event is not only incredible because it gets hundreds of people into a freezing river, but also because it provides an opportunity for Bucknell students and members of the local community to interact in a sociable, electric environment. The event seems to grow in popularity every year, and I hope that as it grows, relations between students and so-called ‘townies’ will improve as well.”

As far as American energy is concerned, the President will use an “all of the above strategy.” The focus will be on clean energy investment in an effort to create jobs while staying competitive with foreign competition in the burgeoning wind, solar and battery industries. He wants to start taking full advantage of a domestic abundance of natural gas deposits in shale rock. If you’ve seen ‘Gasland,’ you can take that disgusted look off of your face, because he did promise that the drilling would come with health and safety regulations.

Now that the Iraq War has come to a close, Obama wants to devote half of the money we were spending on Iraq to paying the national debt. The other half will be spent on repairing our infrastructure, which will help a construction industry that has struggled since the recession.

Health care was not the chief concern of his speech and the national debt came up multiple times but was never a major talking point. Obama focused more on job creation and described how the nation is going in the right direction. He decried that anyone who says that the country is in decline “doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”

If Americans believe that the country is on the right track, Obama will be in a great position to win the election in November. A poll by Rasmussen Reports came out Wednesday showing that 29 percent of likely voters think the country is going in the right direction. Although that is not very good, it’s an improvement from 14 percent in August.

To wrap up his speech, Obama extolled the power of teamwork. Soldiers need to work together and focus on the mission at hand in order to succeed. So, if Americans work together, America will remain strong. Certainly, this is the kind of teamwork Obama wanted from Congress in raising the debt-ceiling this past year. Along with the question of who will be president next year, another question looms large: will his party be in Congress?

Once inside the chapel, the students watched a video created by the Bucknell Student Government (BSG). Speeches from the BSG officers and representatives followed.

“We put a lot of time into planning for the event and had a lot of fun working with each other.  It was nice to see that everything came together so well during the ceremony and that so many alumni came back to be a part of it,” said Chloe Drennen ’14, BSG officer.

The colors chosen for the class of 2015 were blue and gold. The blue coordinates with the University’s original colors of blue and orange, while the gold represents wisdom and success. The crest design portrays Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library bordered by the Mathewson Gateway. The class motto underlying the crest reads: “Knowledge illuminates the path to the future we create.”

Keeping with tradition following the ceremony, the first-year class trekked downhill despite the snow to sing the alma mater to President Bravman at his house. He could not be present due to illness, but the students huddled for warmth and sang in the frigid January weather. Afterward, those who attended the ceremony received t-shirts decorated with the new class crest.

“First Night was an unforgettable event! I had a lot of fun not only presenting the class motto but hearing all the wonderful speeches. It is nice to celebrate that we are officially alumni of Bucknell. I hope First Night gave inspiration to everyone to just keep working hard,” said Kenia Lobo ’13, BSG officer.