Category: News

Categories
Featured News

National HPV debate sparks local interest

By Sara Gilgore

Contributing Writer

The ongoing discussion about whether young girls should be required to be vaccinated against the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a controversial topic in the Sept. 12 GOP debate, has sparked interest among University students.

HPV is the virus responsible for 75 percent of cervical cancer cases in women and 90 percent of genital warts cases in men and women, as well as other diseases. Gardasil, the vaccine that protects against all four dangerous types of HPV, is administered three times in six months.

“People should be informed,” said Dr. Don Stechschulte, director of Student Health Services. “The vast majority of abnormal Pap smears we see are secondary to HPV.”

The virus is spread through genital contact, and most people, male and female, contract or carry the virus with no symptoms. Of the 40-plus types of HPV, four are problematic.

“Cervical cancer can affect relatively young people,” Stechschulte said. “The [preventative] care is basically routine Pap smears.”

Student Health Services does not currently offer the vaccine, but students are referred to the PA Health Department, Stechschulte said. Although the vaccination is ordinarily very expensive, it can be obtained there free of charge.

“[The vaccine] is a very good investment in health, versus the cost of treating a case of cervical cancer,” Stechschulte said.

People between the ages of nine and 26 are eligible for the vaccine, and some University students have been vaccinated.

“I got it when I was 15 because my pediatrician said it could lower my chances of getting certain types of cancers,” Mackenzie Glaze ’15 said. “I remember talking about it with my friends that were mixed between those who had received the shots and those who had not.”

“It had fairly recently come out when I got it and they were recommending it to everybody in our age group,” Emma Grahn ’12 said.

Grahn experienced bruises after all three of the shots, in addition to a rash after the last shot, but that was a risk she was willing to take, she said.

“That’s a possible side effect of any shot you get, required or not, and the benefits outweigh the risks,” Grahn said. “I think it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

There are always some risks associated with medicine, but vaccines can be extremely beneficial, Stechshulte said.

“Vaccines do work when looking at large populations,” he said. “It makes a huge difference if you take certain conditions off the table.”

 

 

Categories
News

Men facing charges for robbery

By Courtney Flagg

Editor-in-Chief

According to The Daily Item, two Lewisburg men face charges after police said they stole more than $1,700 in items while working on 634 St. Catherine Street this past summer.

According to documents on file in District Judge Leo Armbruster’s office, the two men in question, Darius Durham, 19, and Tracy Phillip Warner, 20, were employed by landlord Scott Steiler to work on 634 St. Catherine St. in early June.

When police confronted Durham and Warner, Durham denied any unlawful activity, while Warner said both he and Durham entered several off-campus homes through unlocked doors while working for Steiler. According to court documents, Durham and Warner entered 611, 616, 622 and 634 St. Catherine St.

Except for a Buddha figurine and a Sheffield pocketknife, the property stolen, totaling $1,781, was recovered.

Victim of the burglaries William Napoli ’12 will be subpoenaed for the case by the court system as a witness.

“The Lewisburg Police Department was extremely helpful in the case as they promptly recovered my property,” he said.

Preliminary hearings for Durham and Warner were scheduled to start on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in Armbruster’s office.

Categories
News

Lambda Chi Alpha hosts Watermelon Bust

By Christina Oddo

Writer

Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity hosted its annual Watermelon Bust, a philanthropy event to raise money for a charity of the winners’ choice, on the lawn outside of their fraternity house on Sunday.

Each sorority involved sent one or two teams to represent their organizations in a series of fun, yet challenging, watermelon-related relay races and events. Each of the 10 teams chose two Lambda Chi Alpha brothers to help coach them.

The first race was the “over-under race.” Sorority sisters lined up in rows and passed the watermelon over and under their heads. The team that passed the watermelon along the line in the least amount of time won the first round.

The “tug of war” competition, won by Chi Omega, was a crowd-favorite. One sorority competed against another on a huge tarp of broken watermelon. “This was the most fun event,” Mark Sabbas ’14 said.

The “wheel barrow race” involved one girl holding her partner’s legs while her partner tried to move a watermelon across a field and through the finish line without using her hands. The girls particularly enjoyed the sense of sisterhood and connection that this activity fostered.

The competition concluded with an eat-off. Each sorority chose one team member who ate a watermelon, as quickly as she could, with their hands tied behind her back.

There was also a spirit competition that was factored into each team’s total score. Whichever sorority cheered the most and loudest won this portion of the competition.

Kappa Kappa Gamma won the overall Watermelon Bust and split the winning philanthropy money with Lambda Chi Alpha. Both organizations will donate this money to the charity of their choice.

 

 

Get photos!

Categories
News

Neuroscience writer explains creative thinking in scientific terms

By Alexander Slavitz

Contributing Writer

Creative thinking has to come organically and people have to let their minds work on their own in order to reach proper answers and compelling ideas, writer and journalist Jonah Lehrer said on Tuesday night.

Lehrer’s discussion was party of “Creativity: Beyond the Box” national speakers series sponsored by the University. His speech, entitled “Imagine: The Science of Creativity”, was held Tuesday Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Trout Auditorium.

Lehrer began his discussion by recounting the experience of Wagner Dodge who, along with only two others out of 16, survived the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire thanks to a spontaneous idea generation, which Lehrer called a “moment of insight.”

Scientists at Northwestern University use a word game called Compound Remote Associate (CRA) to study this “moment of insight.” The game presents participants with three words, such as “pine,” “crab” and “sauce,” and asks each participant to come up with a word that can be combined with each. In this case, for the three words given, the motif would be apple (pineapple, crabapple, and applesauce). By using machines that measure both where and when activity in the brain takes place, scientists discovered it is possible to predict whether an individual will have a moment of insight up to eight seconds before it occurs. These scientists also found that if a participant tried to consciously work out the motif, he would be less likely to solve the problem. The participant had to be calm and relaxed, an observation that led Lehrer to joke “the way to solve every creative problem is to take a long shower.”

“When Jonah Lehrer brought up the importance of taking a break when you hit a wall, I was able to easily relate. For example, when writing a paper, I take a break, listen to some music which usually sparks some sort of thought that allows me to continue writing, or start writing.” Sean Dougherty ’15 said.

Lehrer also discussed a phenomenon called “feeling of knowing.” He told the story of a man named Mo who was able to crack the formula for his lottery ticket in 2003 after he heard a persistent voice in his head saying he would be able to. Since that year, he has cracked 13 other lotteries. Lehrer calls this voice a “feeling of knowing.” Many people experience this phenomenon when faced with a difficult problem–it is possible to know right away if a problem is solvable or not, and approximately how long it will take to solve it.

Lehrer acknowledged that students can relate to this. “When you feel like you can’t see the answer in the foreseeable future, you should take a break. Trust these feelings of knowing,” Lehrer said.

Fifty years ago, the most notable scientific achievements were completed by single individuals, Darwin and Einstein as examples. But today the most notable scientific achievements come from group efforts. According to a study at UC Berkley that compared three groups attempting to solve traffic problems on campus, brainstorming within groups has been found to not work. This is because people worry they will be judged based on the poor quality of their ideas, which causes them to hold back.

Many students and organizations were present for Lehrer’s discussion.

“Different student groups, including our group BRAIN [Bucknell Researchers, Advocates, and Investigators in Neuroscience] Club, were present at the event. That definitely speaks to what the intellectual culture really is here at Bucknell,” said AJ Collegio ’13, president of BRAIN.

“He really knew what he was talking about. It was really interesting to learn about how creativity comes about in your mind,” Alexis Mook ’15 said.

Lehrer’s, whose mother attended the University, gave insight to not only the mechanical workings of the brain, but how when we understand these mechanisms, it becomes easier to channel our creative energies.

“For so long imagination has seemed like a magic trick … One day there’s something and the next day there’s not. The imagination is not magic … by finding how [imagination] works we could perhaps imagine a little more,” Lehrer said.

Categories
News

Quad construction to begin in March

By Siobhan Murray

Writer

Years of deliberation have finally given way to the official approval for the construction of classrooms, laboratories and faculty offices on the southwest side of the Bertrand Library.
The Board of Trustees officially approved the construction of Academic West on Tuesday, Sept. 27 and construction should begin in late March or early April of 2012.
“I consider the creation of new faculty offices and classrooms the single most important issue we must address in the University’s physical plant,” President John Bravman said. 
“This is a needed expansion in that lack of space for faculty offices led us not to be as competitive in hiring the best and brightest faculty,” Michael Davis ’13 said. “If a school like Bucknell plans to make the leap to the next level, it has to have facilities that are consistent with that vision.”
The University has been focusing on this project since 2006.Construction is supposed to last around 15 months and should be completed by fall of 2013.
The construction will be a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) project,an internationally-recognized certification for green building initiative.
“I would hope this project is a first step to Bucknell becoming a greener campus,” Alex Sandoval ’15 said. “I know that’s something I would have noticed when choosing schools.”
The estimated cost of construction is $24 million, and the University has received a gift of $6 million from an anonymous donor that will contribute to the fund.
Categories
News Sports

5K draws runners from area

By Meghan Finlayson

Staff Writer

The annual “Lewisburg Lights 5K,” a two-lap twilight race through the downtown Lewisburg area drew over 300 people, ranging in age from six to 65 years of age to help benefit the Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority (LARA).

The race was held last Friday, Sept. 30 in Hufnagle Park at 8 p.m.

The race, which started four years ago, is not a fundraiser, but benefits LARA’s mission is to provide a comprehensive, year-round, varied and stimulating recreation program with facilities and play areas for people of all ages. Other events they host include the LARA Triathalon for Kids and the LARA Sprint Triathalon.

This race was coordinated by Tara Michaels, who runs Fit for Funds, LLC, a group that organizes fitness-related fundraisers.

Runners began by going down Market Street, past the Campus Theatre, through the Union Church Cemetary and residential areas, and back to the Bucknell campus.

“We had racers as young as six all the way to 65, and many families register to do it. It was really neat to see all the people downtown converging on Hufnagle,” Michaels said.

People outside of Lewisburg came to support the event as well.

“There were groups from Elysburg, Shamokin and Mt Carmel. It is really neat to see how far away people are coming,” Michaels said.

“My family has been doing it now for four years. It’s a really great community event,” said Matt Bailey, the Howard I. Scott research professor of management.

Volunteers from the University field hockey team and the Lewisburg police lead off the race and controlled traffic.

“There was a great turnout and it was nice to see that so many people from the community came out to run,” Cassie Goggin ’14 said.

Despite Pennsylvania’s recent torrential downpours, the weather stayed clear for the event.

“This was the first year in the four years that we have been doing it that we haven’t had extreme weather conditions. It’s rained twice, and last year it was very hot. The conditions were just right,” Michaels said.

Each racer was given reflective stickers to wear during the race to ensure that they were visible in the dark.

“It’s different to run at night, but the atmosphere is always very supportive and fun,” said John Hunter, chair of the comparative humanities program.

Awards were given out to overall male and female racers, and top three in each age division. Mike Espinosa , who ran the 5K in under 17 minutes, came in first place for both the men’s division and overall competition. Tina Bailey came in first place for the women, running in under 21 minutes.

Runners were encouraged to enjoy the historical lights of Lewisburg and socialize with friends after the race. Specials were offered at participating downtown establishments. Some of these include DJ Sports, Brushstrokes Gallery, Bella Salon and Day Spa, Dwellings, the Mercantile, Purple Platypus and Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University. Most of these offered 10 to 20 percent discounts. Many downtown businesses stayed open until 9 p.m.

“After the race a lot of people go out to the bars and enjoy downtown so it’s also great for the city,” Bailey said.

“The combination of the time of the race, 8 p.m., the large number of participants and the after-race specials in the restaurants and shops make it unique” said Eric Tillman, associate professor of chemistry.

Fit for Funds plans to host the race again next year.

“This year was kind of a challenge because it was the same night as the Wiz Khalifa concert, and there was a Lewisburg High School football game. So a lot was going on downtown, but I think it will be even bigger next year,” Bailey said.

Categories
Featured News

Students and faculty have high hopes for campus climate initiatives

By Jen Lassen

Writer

President Bravman’s recent email to students about the necessary ‘next steps’ regarding the recent publication of the Campus Climate Report has made both students and faculty more confident in the proposed changes to be made on campus.

On Sept. 22, Bravman emailed students about the next steps on starting the process of making some of the changes outlined in the Campus Climate Task Force Report. Included in the email were sections about the President’s background with the University climate, the Task Force itself, the challenge the University is facing and the steps needed to move forward.

In his email, Bravman said that “the report has initiated an important campus dialogue, and I write to lay out our plans from here and where I hope they can lead.”

Some of the steps that Bravman outlined included holding discussions with various administrative groups over the course of the year, reflecting on student input through the BSG Committee on Student Engagement, asking the Greek system to hold discussions among members about the report and gathering University feedback through the Bucknell Suggestion Box or campusclimate@bucknell.edu

These steps are intended to jump-start the process of change at the University.

The task force covers several major areas including student intellectual engagement outside the classroom, student social life (including the role of Greek organizations), student alcohol consumption, social space on campus for non-Greek activities, student diversity and sexual assault.  Because these areas are all important yet complex, it will take time for changes to take place.

“I think it’s important to realize that none of the recommendations that were suggested in the Campus Climate Report are necessarily being enacted right now. These were recommendations that were sent to President Bravman, and whatever changes that may take place will be decided on collectively by Dean Lantz, Provost Smyer and President Bravman, with, of course, feedback from all levels of the University including students,” said BSG president Phil Kim ’12.

“It is half of the responsibility of the student organizations and half of the responsibility of the President and his task force to make students aware of opportunities for involvement with this. Students need to be active and knowledgeable to stay involved with this, and they need to involve themselves in this process if they want a say in the changes taking place,” said Clark Bogle ’12.

Dean of Students, Susan Lantz, a Campus Climate response coordinator, is working with Provost Mick Smyer to gain student insight on the report. They are currently reaching out to student organizations such as BSG, offering to meet with them directly in an effort to hear additional thoughts, questions, concerns and ideas.

“Keeping faculty, staff and students updated throughout this process is very important. I appreciate that President Bravman has continued to communicate so openly with the campus community,” Lantz said.

“[I think Bravman’s e-mail is] simply meant to make sure everyone is on the same page moving forward–to lay out all the cards on the table, so to speak. As he mentions in his email, I would much rather realize our faults and points of concern and straight-on address them. I believe that President Bravman was trying to do just that. And I respect that,” Kim said.
Categories
News

Historian recognized as Janet Weis Fellow

By Alexander Slavitz

Writer

Robert A. Caro, who will be giving a talk Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. in the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, was recently named the 2011 Janet Weis Fellow in Contemporary Letters.

Caro is notable political historian. His work is admired by many, including President Barack Obama, who has cited one of Caro’s Pulitzer Prize-winning books, “The Power Broker,” as having had a distinct influence on his perception of politics.

Caro is the author of two Pulitzer Prize-winning biographies and has been the recipient of many other prestigious literary awards. He is currently working on a final volume of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s biography, provisionally titled “The Presidency.”

Categories
Headline News

Community rallies against hate

By Sara Blair Matthews

Contributing Writer

The University and the Lewisburg community came together in support of the annual Stop the Hate: Unity Rally held on Monday. 

Students, faculty and staff gathered in front of the Elaine Langone Center at 6:30 p.m. with signs that read “Stop the Hate,” “In memory of James Byrd” and “End the Silence to Stop the Violence.” FLAG&BT and the Social Justice and Humanities Residential Colleges were among the student organizations that participated.

The Stop the Hate: Unity Rally was first held at the University in 1998.

“It started as a national movement to honor James Byrd and Matthew Shepard after their deaths in 1998,” said Tracy Shaynak, director of the Women’s Resource Center.
Byrd was an African-American man murdered by three white supremacists in Jasper, Texas. He died after he was dragged behind a pick-up truck with a heavy logging chain around his ankles. Shepard was a gay teen who was beaten, strapped to a fence and left to die. His mother, Judy Shepard, became a well-known advocate for LGBT rights, founding the Matthew Shepard Foundation to support diversity and tolerance in youth organizations. She visited the University in 2010.

According to  its website, “The Stop the Hate program reflects our commitment to provide social justice tools for combating bias and hate crimes in all its forms. Stop The Hate is dedicated to provide the necessary resources and educational training to combat hate on college campuses.”

“Stopping the hate is not about tolerating but about respecting and getting to know each other on a personal level,” said Myrna Perkins, assistant to multicultural and international student services.

Shaynak thinks this is relevant to our campus because she believes we all have ownership in this community and our collective goal is to leave the University better than we found it.

“We encourage students to hold each other accountable for what happens on a res hall, at a party and even walking down the street,” Shaynak said.

“Studies have shown that campuses that have these marches are less likely to have anti-gay retaliation,” said rally founder and professor of English Saundra Morris.

Lewisburg mayor Judy Wagner and Provost Mick Smyer were among those who gave speeches in support of the rally.

“We gather here tonight to gather the best of ourselves to be apart of something bigger,” Wagner said.

She ended by suggesting that our voices may soon be heard in Harrisburg or Washington, D.C.

Smyer spoke about the beneficial effects of doing small acts of kindness throughout our lives.

“We all rely on the kindness of strangers. We are all strangers at some time or place,” he said.

Lakeisha Meyer, assistant professor of education, discussed her background with hate crimes and violence.

“I grew up where lots of attention was paid to differences, not in a good way,” Meyer said. She encouraged the audience to live by the motto, “If I truly love men, I can’t hate you.”

The rally ended with a candle-lighting ceremony and the singing of African American Civil Rights Anthem, “We Shall Overcome.”

Categories
News

TKE upcoming philanthropy run to DC

By Carleen Boyer

Contributing Writer

The eighth annual Reagan Run, a fundraiser started by the brothers of the Beta Mu chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity will take place during Fall Break, commencing on Saturday Oct. 8.
The fraternity started an annual run titled the “Reagan Run,” named after President and fellow TKE brother Ronald Reagan eight years ago. The run takes place over three days and the brothers work together to run 180 miles in a relay-style race down to Washington, D.C. Since the fundraiser’s beginning, the fraternity has raised over $187,000, which is donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.

“It goes towards such a good cause, which is what we really rally behind,” said Matt Gruseke ’13, Reagan Run co-chair.  

The Alzheimer’s Association was founded in 1980, and since then has spread globally. The association reaches out to patients and families who suffer from the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to reaching out to affected families, the association also works for the advancement of Alzheimer’s research.  

“I think it’s an unbelievable cause. For what little I knew about Alzheimer’s disease, I learned so much through Reagan Run last year. I feel like I’m actually giving back, and I think now with all the campus climate things, it’s very important to highlight all of the good things that Greek life can do,” Gruseke said.  

The run falls only a few weeks after rush, which gives new pledges an opportunity to become closer to the brothers of the fraternity.  

“It’s four days working together, but we’re also putting together something big and we’re all contributing to a huge goal that, at the end, is something we can be proud about,” Alex Debetencourt ’14 said.