Categories
Letters to the Editor Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Sleeping Around juvenile, vulgar

To the Editor:

I have read your “Sleeping Around” column both this week and last. You might expect an old man like me to express shock that “The Bucknellian” would print this kind of stuff. But I would rather share with you some different reactions.

1) The column this week, like last week’s, is badly written: juvenile, vulgar, at best of middle school level.

2) Politically liberal friends of mine who live in the area pointed out last week’s column to me and asked: “Would you want to spend $50,000 a year to send your son or daughter to a school whose student paper prints this kind of stuff”? I could only reply that the student paper in the large university I taught in for 35 years was printing “that kind of stuff” in the 1970’s, but that at that time I thought of Bucknell as being a place with “more class.”

3) I recently saw a temple in India where the “hickies” and other physical traces described by your writer had been sculpted on the female body around the year 1000 A.D. Nothing new under the sun, is there?

4) The fact that your writer is anonymous takes away 99% of the reader’s interest in your column. How can a reader be interested in such an account of activities when you can’t see the anatomy of the  person performing such…”strong suctions”? or even seeing her hickey?

5) You are calling your column “a commentary on sex, love, and relationships in college.” Why not give us a searing, devouring, love story the next time…A story that last for more than a weekend? Maybe 2 weekends?

6) You write: “All submissions are for the columnist’s eyes only.” Why? Ms. Lace, are you afraid? Is the writer afraid? Are you both ashamed?

Hoping “The Bucknellian” will show more class…and style the next time,

Paul Archambault,
Ph.D (Ret.)

Categories
Letters to the Editor Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Athletic coverage is outstanding

To the Editor:

I hope you are well. On behalf of the coaching staff and student-athletes at Bucknell I would like to express our appreciation for the coverage you provide our athletics teams in the Bucknellian.

I have been fortunate to work at some great universities. At each school the student newspaper would vary how their athletics coverage was handled. I can say without reservation that the quality of reporting, the factual information the editorial efficiency and the program support that The Bucknellian exhibits is outstanding in comparison to other student newspapers.

I guess it goes with all of the other things about this place. People make the place. The young men and women in our athletic programs work so hard to do things the right way. The support of your newspaper and the support of the student population is greatly appreciated by all.

We appreciate what you do and thank you for your effort in maintaining a quality production.

Joe Susan
Head Football Coach

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Editorial

As students, we often get caught up in our daily lives on campus, consumed by the mostly trivial problems that surround us. For this reason, we at The Bucknellian feel compelled to congratulate and learn from the actions of one of this year’s People of the Year, Christina Cody ’12.

Cody’s actions this year have truly broken the mold of what we expect from a student of this University. Few would argue against the fact that, in general, students exude apathy in situations like this. When it comes to making serious change on campus, specifically in the way students think, not many students would go as far as Cody did to accomplish her goals.

We often hear the terms “first-world problems,” as well as “the Bucknell Bubble,” and these two concepts delineate one of the largest problems on our campus: students are just not connected to real life. Often all that matters is fitting in and being cool.

We only pay attention to these “problems,” when really we should be focusing on the type of issues Cody is addressing.

Why do we do this? Maybe because we are so busy that we don’t take the time to stop and think, maybe we just don’t think that we can make a difference in the campus’ culture, or maybe it is something completely different.

Whatever the reason, we must take notice of extraordinary students like Cody, who not only addressed a problem on campus, but also took action to create serious awareness. We must realize that we can make a difference.

With that said, talking about promoting change is easy–-taking action is very hard. How do we make the jump from idea to action? There is no correct answer to this question, no guaranteed way to ensure change.

A great start, though, is for we as students to slow down and think about what is actually meaningful in life. We need to take some time for ourselves, to sit back, relax and forget about frat parties and Lilly Pulitzer. If we can at least start with a change in our own individual mindset, we will have the opportunity to change the broader campus culture.

So, as the school year winds down and we prepare to go home for summer, we all should take some time to think about how we want the University to be when we come back in the fall. And while we think about this, we must never lose sight of who really has the power to enact change: we do.

Categories
Opinion

Lewisburg offers many summer opportunities

By Molly Brown

Writer

With the school year winding down, I hear many conversations from students about their plans for the summer. The common consensus of giddy delight that students will have no work is short-lived for those pursuing internships or intensive jobs, but most students are chomping at the bit to leave Lewisburg for their homes or vacation destinations. I was asked if I would ever spend a summer in Lewisburg the other day, and my affirmative response brought shock from my peers. I would definitely spend one of my summers in Lewisburg. Here’s why.

Firstly, Lewisburg is adorable. I would love to see the downtown neighborhood with all of the shops, the park, the cafes and the local music scene in the summer. I imagine there are festivals in the park, and concerts, and I could really see the town from a sort of non-student perspective. During the school year, everywhere is inundated with students and we’ve acquired a sort of reputation among the townies. I’d want to see what it was like, a day in the life of a summer in Lewisburg. I’d wake up early, go for a walk, eat some breakfast somewhere and probably do some writing for the morning and early afternoon. Lewisburg is quiet, yes, but that doesn’t need to be a hindrance. Lewisburg’s the sort of town that you can write a book in Cherry Alley and no one will bother you, no matter how long you stay. Then I’d take a nap. Afterwards, I know I would deplete most of savings going to the Campus Theatre. Finally, I’d befriend a townie so they’d grant me access to their porch, because, in my book, no summer is complete without a porch.

I might even consider taking a course or two to get ahead, but that wouldn’t alter my vision from above too drastically. I know many students pursue summer courses here at the University for a variety of reasons, and I do think it would be interesting to try out some time. Mostly, people wonder if I would grow bored. I honestly don’t think I would. I love small towns. I’d probably seek ways to recreate a “Dandelion Wine”esque summer for myself, and I would definitely read the book again (you should, too). I’m really interested in getting to know the people of Lewisburg, the ones who’ve lived here for a long time. I love learning about people: their stories, what they do, what they like to read, what they don’t like to read, stories about their children, anything. I would continue going to Scrabble on Tuesday nights … in fact, I’m going to be really upset when I cannot for the whole summer. I would try and do whatever I could to go beyond a typical student’s perception of Lewisburg to attempt to understand it beyond its appearance of a sleepy little place with nothing to do. I think it’d be the makings of some great stories to tell my friends when they return in the fall.

Categories
Letters to the Editor Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Sleeping Around

To the Editor:

I have been reading the “Sleeping Around” column for the past three weeks and have found it trivial, juvenile, vulgar and badly written. For a time I thought this opinion due to my age: I am no longer a sexagenarian but a septuagenarian.

I asked a graduating senior, a good writer and a good friend, what he thought. He said: “Only The Bucknellian could make a sex column so boring.”

I rest my case. Thank God the semester is almost over.

Paul Archambault (Ret. Guest Faculty)

Categories
Letters to the Editor Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Pool Pass Project is justified

To the Editor:

Mr. Klaus makes an interesting claim regarding the fact that poor parenting led to the tragic drowning of Assunda Rotolo and Les Davis Jr., more so than the lack of public support for access to the Lewisburg community pool (Letter to the Editor, April 20, 2012). Unfortunately, we find this point of view one that is commonly leveled against low income parents alone. For instance, newspaper accounts from the June 2002 abduction of Elizabeth Smart, the affluent 14-year-old from Salt Lake City, do not mention her parents’ lack of responsibility with their failure to set their home alarm prior to bedding down for the night as a cause for Elizabeth’s subsequent kidnapping. We know from our interactions with the families that every day, Assunda and Les’s parents feel guilt over the loss of their children and what they might have done to prevent it.

As a community, we have little oversight over the parenting practices of individuals. We do, however, have the ability (and we might go so far as to say responsibility) to construct the kind of healthy, supportive community we envision. We imagine a community where children have opportunities for safe and accessible play with their families. That is why we organize the Pool Pass Project. Each recipient makes a financial contribution to their pass–-whatever they can afford. Last year, we helped 16 families safely play. We hope we have helped to create a system where a parent does not have to choose between providing food or supervised family play. We go to bed feeling good about this commitment. We hope that Mr. Klaus is equally as comforted by his position.

Sue Ellen Henry, Associate Professor of Education

Selected members from EDUC 318/618, spring 2012

Categories
Letters to the Editor Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Pool Pass Project is justified through understanding

To the Editor:

I would like to thank Sue Ellen Henry and Bucknell University for their continued dedication to the Lewisburg Pool Pass Project. As the principal of Linntown Elementary School, I have witnessed how this event benefits many of my students who would have otherwise not had affordable access to a safe swimming environment. I have heard parents cry with gratitude when they were told that their families would be receiving pool passes.  Not only does it offer a way for students to stay cool and have fun during the summer months, but it also provides them with the ability to stay connected with their schoolmates and peers while school is not in session.

I am also grateful for how the event continues to honor the memory of Assunda Rotolo and Les Davis, Jr. It saddens me to see that there are individuals who still wish to point fingers in this tragedy and blame the parents of these children. Having known Assunda for the two years she was at a student at Linntown, I saw firsthand the love and devotion that her parents felt towards her. She was truly the center of their universe. Assunda was one of the most genuine, caring and compassionate children I have had the pleasure of knowing. She always sought to take care of others and, no matter what she herself might need, was always generous and giving. This was not something that happened by accident and is a testament to her parents for instilling those traits in her. Anyone who knew the family would never question their parenting or that the safety of their child was important to them. Sadly, there were many who chose not to know them because of their economic situation and lack of resources. While there were many children at school who had far greater material items, there was no child who was loved more by her parents.

While I want to be angry when I hear the judgmental comments being cast, I do try to understand the source of those sentiments. I think it is a way for us to try to feel safer, to believe that something like this couldn’t happen to our families and those we love. If we can find fault or a way to place blame, then just maybe we are somehow immune to tragedy. Sadly, this is not the case. We are all vulnerable to the many things that can go horribly wrong in life. The parents of these children should not be cast as villains. They have already suffered the greatest heartache anyone could face.

Paula J. Reber
Linntown Elementary School Principal

Categories
Opinion

Mean girls shouldn’t be tolerated

By Sarah Blair Matthews

Assistant News Editor

Every girl I know can quote scenes from “Mean Girls.” by heart. Even though “Mean Girls” is a widely influential movie in U.S. culture, it is important to realize that it satirizes an issue that is still very much a problem in girl culture today. When girls quote this movie, do they really know what they are saying? Probably not. “Mean Girls” does a good job of presenting the issues of girl friendships in an accessible way, but I think it’s important that we also take the time to analyze why these actions occur in the first place.

In my own life, I remember one instance where the phrase “mean girl” has been directly relevant. I guess you could say I was a victim of girl bullying in this situation. A group of girls in my third grade class sat at a lunch table every day, and they decided to make a chart of who could sit with them on certain days. I was in their friend group, and I think they assigned me to sit with them on Wednesdays. This would probably bother most girls, but I just thought it was how things worked. I think there were around eight of us, and everyone else had to follow the rules, so I didn’t see any reason to get upset about it. One day, our teachers found out, sat us all down and told us this was a “mean girl” thing to do. Now, when I look back on it, I find it hilarious, but some of the other girls might not have felt that way.

Why did these girls feel the need to act this way? To be honest, I’m not sure. I think you would find that a lot of girls don’t know the answer to this question. Maybe it’s society or maybe it’s encoded in our DNA at birth. I’d love to know. Clearly, girl culture is dominated by the concept of exclusion. For the ones doing it, they think it makes their group appear more selective and elite in the eyes of others. For the victims, being excluded is one of the worst feelings in the world, especially when girls are young and vulnerable. Girls keep participating in this system of continuous rejection because of the feeling we get that one time we are included. It only takes one instance of being included to make a girl want to erase the other bad experiences from mind. But when things go back to normal, the cycle continues and we are worse off than when we started.

I think the best way to deal with mean girls is to not take them too seriously, although this is easier said than done. Mean girls will always be there in our lives. Whether it’s in the sorority we join, the apartment we live in or one of our coworkers, most of us will have to put up with them at some point in our lives. Although this issue isn’t going to be solved overnight, I think it’s important to raise awareness. Maybe our culture will change when we expose the mean girls, one Regina George at a time.

Categories
Opinion

Regulations on sugar intake/production should be institute

Justin Marinelli

Contributing WRiter

Should sugar be regulated like alcohol?  That’s the thought that Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the University of California, proposes. His argument is that the metabolic effect of sugar, especially fructose, is similar enough to that of ethanol to warrant similar restrictions. However, the good doctor, though well meaning, is utterly wrong.

(NOTE: For the purposes of this argument, I will assume that the government has a right to tell us how we should eat. Whether it actually does is a completely different article, one that will be covered in the fall. Stay tuned!)

Consider the restrictions on alcohol. What’s the result of that? Have we succeeded in keeping alcoholic beverages out of the hands of those who are “not mature enough to use them?” I’m not even going to answer that question. Age restrictions can be, have been and always will be circumvented by people with fake I.D.s or older friends. You don’t even have to be particularly clever.

Lustig proposes a similar restriction on sweetened products. To buy ice cream, soda, Oreos, whatever, you would need to show an I.D. proving that you were of appropriate age—he suggests at least 17. According to his argument, this would keep sugary junk food out of the hands of those who were underage. The intention is good, but let’s not pretend it would be effective.

That idea’s not even worth taking seriously. So, let’s look at some of his other ideas. Lustig also proposes zoning ordinances to keep fast food restaurants and convenience stores out of low-income neighborhoods and away from schools. This will incentivize grocery stores and farmer’s markets to move into those areas, and will in absolutely no way cause people to simply spend more money on gas to go to McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts. Right?

Lustig’s third proposal is that the government imposes a tax on sugary beverages and cereal. I’ll admit this might have some merit, as it could possibly dissuade people from buying such things. But you want to know a better solution? Abolish the corn and sugarcane subsidies that the government hands out. That money isn’t going to small farmers growing crops on the same plot of land that their families have owned for generations; it’s being funneled to massive agribusinesses making sinful amounts of profit. They don’t need that money.

Yes, this would make the processed sugar on which the American diet is based more expensive. I don’t have a problem with this. People shouldn’t be eating that stuff anyway.   Americans eat, on average, 150 pounds of sugar a year (and I eat a lot less than that, so at least one person is scoffing about 290 pounds). Do I think sugar consumption should be regulated? No. But that doesn’t mean that I’m unaware that the consequences of it are far from sweet.

Categories
Opinion

Sophomore year rush is justified

Molly Brown

Writer

We all know Greek life is a huge part of campus life here at the University, and many students make the choice to go through rush in the fall of sophomore year.  On other campuses, it is much more common to go through rush during the first or second semesters of your first year. While some students are frustrated by the wait to join a fraternity or a sorority, I feel the delay allows prospective members of the Greek system to explore other organizations and social groups here on campus.

Joining a fraternity or sorority automatically makes an individual part of a social group that incorporates both community service and social activities. There’s an entire selection of people for you to hang out with, study with, go get meals with, etc. This is a great thing, really, but by not rushing their first year, students get to make their own friendships and join clubs or organizations. They can branch out without a greater agenda of a sorority or a fraternity governing their choices. Because students have gone through an entire academic year before rushing, by the end of that year they have a host of diverse friends, some of whom may rush and some of whom who might not. Thus, once a student is involved with a Greek organization, he or she still has friends outside the organization, allowing him or her to maintain a varied social life. Also, because students have already discovered their personal interests in terms of activities, it means greater diversity within an individual sorority or fraternity chapter. There might be athletes, musicians, actors, artists, engineers, scientists, writers—the list is endless. By having members with such a diverse range of talents and interests, the sorority or fraternity chapter also branches out as members support one another in their endeavors.

Another benefit is the opportunity for first-years to get some solid footing during their first year on campus. Orientation and the transition from high school to college are already daunting enough. Can you imagine going through rush on top of the orientation schedule and your first week of college classes? If rush were during a student’s first year, many first-years might feel overwhelmed by everything, which might cause all their various commitments to suffer if they are spread too thin, both academically and socially.  This is not to suggest that academics are not crucial to Greek organizations—in fact, there is a minimum GPA requirement that must be met if an individual wishes to join and/or remain a part of the chapter—but rather an observation on the already-crazy whirlwind those first few weeks of University life and the fact that going through rush at that time might not be the most prudent.

All in all, I believe that the University’s “wait” to rush is beneficial to students because it forces them to develop lives outside of a sorority or fraternity, or even decide if rushing is right for them, before they worry about making a commitment to an organization. Patience is a virtue and students will enjoy being involved in Greek life more if they have had to wait and look forward to its opportunities.