The Bucknellian

By Sam Krassenstein

Contributing Writer

Dr. Michael W. Moohr, an Associate Professor of Economics, passed away on Jan. 31 at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville at age 68.

Moohr was an integral part of the University community for 35 years and was known for his charismatic personality and endless dedication to his students as a mentor and teacher.

While at the University, he devoted nearly all his time to teaching and helping his students. “Michael was especially devoted to his students, counseling them on life lessons and always offering career advice,” said Nina Banks, associate professor of economics.

Moohr earned his Bachelor of Science degree in economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain and his Ph.D at Kings College in Cambridge. Moohr researched the sugar industry and its impact on the slave trade in the Caribbean.

Professor Emeritus Peter Kresl hired Moohr in January 1975 to join the economics department, which consisted of only three members at the time.

Their shared interests in German automobiles, jazz music and economic thought allowed them not only to become colleagues, but also best friends for the next 35 years.

“We hired Michael to teach American and European economic history,” Kresl said. “We both deplored how the history of economic thought was being forgotten in economics education.”

Moohr’s addition to the University marked the beginning of the building of the largest department in the College of Arts and Sciences, while preserving the fundamental balance between political economy and neoclassical economic theory.

During his tenure at the University, the department grew from five faculty members, as he was hired alongside professor Jean Shackelford, to its current size of 17 faculty members.

Since the fall semester of 1997, Moohr has had 1,820 students in his classes in addition to all the students he has taught in the 22 years prior.

“He was immensely interesting in class and was the one professor who was genuinely interested in getting to know and making time for each of his students,” Sam Stulberg ’12 said.

Typically in the economics department, a faculty member will average 25 advisees, but Moohr had 150, reflecting his immense popularity among students.

Moohr’s classes were consistently among the first to fill up on campus, so he often taught an extra to ensure that he could help and teach as many students as possible.

Moohr had a profound effect on students on and off campus. He always shared his experiences of growing up on the south side of Chicago where he witnessed the devastating impact of blocked opportunities on the lives of his African-American friends.

As a master lecturer and a fierce proponent of affirmative action, Moohr was the keynote speaker at the New Frontiers of Knowledge mentoring project in Chicago where he spoke to high school students of the aspirations that parents have for their children.

“By the end of his talk, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, and a new group of students had come to love him,” Banks said.

At the University he often used his extensive network of previous students and friends to help his promising students find jobs in the finance sector regardless of race or gender.

He made sure that all his students had an equal opportunity to a successful career and future such as his alumni from 35 years ago. They made their way across the country this weekend and have sent in numerous tributes to pay their respects to a man who has had a tremendous impact on countless students’ lives at the University.

Former students from as far back as the start of his tenure in 1975 recalled his passion in teaching and credited Moohr as an inspiration being, as one former student from the graduating class of 1979 put it, “the one special professor that made a huge impact on the direction of their lives.”

Moohr loved the University and greatly admired John F. Zeller III, who passed away in Dec. 8, 2010, for his exceptional dedication and loyalty to the University.

Moohr had similar devotion to the institution, serving as the chair of the economics department for five years and often spending what little free time he had walking around campus with his dog, Christopher, striking up conversations in every office he visited and with as many people as he came across around campus.

Outside of the economics department, Moohr was no stranger on campus. He advised numerous student organizations including the Pi Beta Phi sorority, the Real Estate Club and the Investment Club.

As a faculty member, Moohr represented academic interests of the University in trustee meetings always ensuring that budget decisions did not adversely affect the students’ education.

Moohr’s dedication to his many students and the University as well as the profound effect he has had on all that he has touched over his lifetime will not soon be forgotten.

Although he has passed away, his legacy as an inspirational professor, colleague and friend will always live on in our memories.

By Meghan Finlayson

Staff Writer

Moving to downtown Lewisburg has enabled the Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University to expand its range of products and services.

The bookstore increased its size and volume to include a café and additional merchandise.

“Moving from the 12,500-square-foot space in the Elaine Langone Center to the 29,000-square-foot space at 400 Market Street allowed us to dramatically increase the amount and variety of merchandise we are able to carry, especially in regards to books and Bucknell clothing,” bookstore manager Vicki Benion said. “As a Barnes & Noble collegiate superstore, we also carry a large assortment of games and gifts for readers. In fact, our store is among the top sellers of the Nook, Barnes & Noble’s e-reader.”

Along with the increase in merchandise, the new bookstore has also updated the textbook sales process for students.

“We have streamlined the textbook sales process by providing a link from the class schedule page in BannerWeb, where students can see the required course materials for their classes. Through our textbook reservation system, students may choose to either pick up their books in the store or have them delivered to their homes or the post office on campus,” Benion said.

Finally, the bookstore now hosts events for University students, faculty and administration, and the Lewisburg community.

“[In the café] we schedule frequent entertainment by local performers and a monthly Open Mic night. For special weekends, the café hosts performances by performers such as the Bucknell a cappella groups and visits from Bucky Bison and the Lewisburg Green Dragon,” Benion said. “Most recently, in celebration of Lewisburg’s Ice Festival, the bookstore featured a beautiful ice sculpture plus musical entertainment and three local authors. The store also has a Wii in the café and sponsor-related special events.”

In terms of events for all of Lewisburg, the bookstore has “Little Bookworms” story time every Saturday and hosts the American Girl Book Club once a month.

“I think the new and expanded bookstore is great. It now sells more than just books and basic merchandise. Students can go there to hang out, have a cup of coffee or study,” Kate Monahan ’13 said.

Despite all the new advantages the bookstore has to offer, not all students are a fan of the new location and expansion.

“As a freshman I went to the bookstore all the time since it was centrally located in the ELC. Now that it is downtown, I do not go as often, and last year as a freshman without a car, I would never have gone,” Katherine Griffith ’13 said.

However, moving the bookstore downtown has also had its benefits.

“The added events, merchandise and being located in a beautifully restored historic building downtown has led to significant increases in community traffic,” Benion said.

The new building has started a lot of conversation and, looking ahead, the bookstore will continue to develop and grow.

“Our most recent expansion has been in trendy, non-imprinted merchandise such as rain boots, leggings, and adding a Clinique vending machine,” Benion said.

The Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University bookstore relocated to downtown Lewisburg this past summer. There was a “soft opening” on June 26, followed by a grand opening celebration the weekend of August 27-29.

By Carleen Boyer

Contributing Writer

A new University iPhone, iPod, and iPad application was released on Jan. 19 by associate professor of computer science Richard Zaccone. The application includes resources for University students such as maps of the campus, dining menus, people search, campus news and courses offered to students.

Zaccone worked with Aurimas Liutikas ’12, a computer science and engineering student, on the original program that had begun in one of his fall semester classes, but tweaked many of the original program’s features.

The project “started as a class and Aurimas and I took what the class did as a starting point. We rewrote almost everything,” Zaccone said. Though many changes were made to the project, Zaccone still notes the significance of the class’s work on the project. “There’s a lot of utility in making a stab at it and failing.”

The application has collected nearly 400 downloads from the iTunes store, with the greatest number of downloads coming from the U.S., and the second-highest number of downloads coming from China.

The program was first released in beta form, and feedback from the students was incorporated into changes made in the programming. Many current students suggested that the application should contain the dining menus from across campus, and Liutikas and Zaccone incorporated this suggestion.

In addition, they decided to fix deficiencies in current programming and on the University’s website. The people search feature that functions as a directory was changed to incorporate automatic feedback. Aside from these changes made to the directory, the campus map on the application is much more detailed, containing pictures of each building on campus with information about the buildings.

One feature particularly useful to prospective students is the locator on the map, which allows the person holding an iTouch, iPhone, or iPad to locate him- or herself on the map. It also includes a feature which allows the map to rotate depending on which direction the person is facing.

“The map portion is very useful. You can get a list of all the buildings on campus, click on them and know where you are. You’ll never get lost,” Liz Ziebarth ’14 said.

Constantly changing technology had to be considered through the development of this application. “The biggest change for us was the iPad. We had to restructure a lot of our software when the iPad came out,” Zaccone said. Despite this slight setback, Zaccone and Liutikas still managed to make the application compatible for Apple devices.

Zaccone hopes to expand his horizons to products such as various versions of Android, but after that he wants it to be “what they call a universal app, so it runs on all devices.”