Categories
Sports

Volleyball heads into league play

By Cooper Sutton

Contributing Writer

The women’s volleyball team finished its non-league schedule poorly this weekend, losing three matches by a combined score of 9-1 in the Columbia Classic in New York.

The Bison lost their first match of the tournament on Friday against Fairleigh Dickinson. They dropped the remaining two matches on Saturday, losing to Columbia and Fordham. The Bison won one game against Fordham.

“Although we didn’t pull out a win, we still had moments of awesome volleyball—we just weren’t able to string points together,” Heidi Kamp ’11 said.

Ragin Jackson ’11 was named to the All-Tournament Team for the second week in a row. The middle hitter recorded 16 kills and 11 blocks in her three games. Coming into the weekend Jackson had a hitting percentage of .291, high enough to rank fourth in the Patriot League.

The Bison‘s record now stands at 2-10.

The team’s best hope for a win came in the final match of the tournament against 8-7 Fordham. The first set featured 60 hard-fought points, but the Orange and Blue finally came out on top, 31-29. But the Bison failed to capitalize on their momentum. Fordham regrouped and won the next three sets consecutively.

The other two matches were less competitive. Against Columbia, the Bison hit a staggeringly low percentage of .019, after hitting .110 against Fairleigh Dickinson. Columbia out-hit the Bison by over .150 points, and the knights of FDU posted a hitting percentage that was .200 points better.

In the end, this weekend should only help the team, which starts its Patriot League schedule today. The team’s non-league schedule has been unusually tough; this weekend’s opponents had an overall record of 19-17.

Although the Bison have not found success thus far, the team remains optimistic.

“This weekend was another learning experience for the team. Although the results didn’t show it, the team has made strides… We all need to realize the potential and talent we have and start executing our skills in order to be on our way to a Patriot League Championship,” Kat Tauscher ’13 said.

Categories
Sports

Tennis teams capture four singles titles

By Joyce Novacek

Contributing Writer

The men’s and women’s tennis teams opened their seasons with impressive appearances at their respective tournaments last weekend. The men earned two singles titles in the Northeast Intercollegiate in Providence, R.I., while the women claimed two titles in the Bucknell Invitational.

For the men’s team, Scott Bernstein ’14 and Kelly Morque ’13 each won their singles draws and finished the weekend undefeated in singles play.

Bernstein defeated Marist’s Jacob Solley in straight sets to earn his first career title in his debut tournament.

After losing the first set in the Indigo Draw 6-3, Morque came from behind to win the second set and clinched his first tournament title by defeating Norman Gelman from Bryant in a 10-6  tiebreak.

“The team’s mentality going into the weekend was to compete hard and have fun,” Morque said. “Obviously it feels great to win the title, but I know at the same time that it’s just the beginning of the season and there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Elena Vidrascu ’14 won the Flight C Singles Draw for the women’s team in her tournament debut. Dumitrita Iepuras ’12 and Courtney Casey ’11 also won their singles back draws. Dara Dwojewski ’11 and Lauren Rottkamp ’11 won a doubles title by default.

Vidrascu finished the weekend undefeated in singles play, going 4-0 in the tournament. She defeated Maddie Bittner of Duquesne two sets in a row to earn her title.

In the Flight A Singles Back Draw, Iepuras ultimately overcame Lauren Clifton of Hofstra in a super tiebreak, defeating Clifton 11-9.

Casey defeated teammate Jennie Ciotti ’13 in straight sets to win the Flight C Singles back draw.

“It was very exciting winning my first title, especially because I wasn’t that confident with my match play coming into the tournament,” Vidrascu said. “I felt as if my level progressed with each match that I played, and towards the end I had a pretty good rhythm, especially with my serve.”

She also partially attributed her win to the support of her teammates.

“I was tight playing my first match in doubles and singles, but soon after I loosened up. I think it was the atmosphere of the tournament … just being with my teammates helped with keeping things fun and relaxed, not stressful or anything,” she said.

This weekend, the men’s team heads to Connecticut for the UConn Invitational and the women’s team travels to West Point to compete in the Eastern Championships, hosted by Army.

Categories
News

Students to participate in ‘Paint Your Space’

By Olivia Seecof

Contributing Writer

A whirlwind of color will soon decorate the white wall hiding the construction of the student hearth space in the Elaine Langone Center (ELC) as part of the “Paint Your Space” campaign initiated by Bucknell Student Government (BSG) and Activities and Campus Events (ACE). The wall will be divided into four parts, and each class will have the opportunity to showcase its creative talents and display Bison pride.

Each section will represent an individual class, but the four sections will come together to form a unified symbol of the University as a whole.

“As president of the class of 2014, I am personally very excited for the ‘Paint Your Space’ project,” Lindsay Smith ’14 said. “I think it is an ideal opportunity for the freshman class to collaborate on a project that is truly going to benefit the entire Bucknell community.”

While this wall gives first-year students a chance to express their early impressions of the University, it also grants other classes the opportunity to display their memories and growth as University students.

“I’m excited to see what the seniors paint on their section of the wall because they have the opportunity to show how they have grown and developed as a class here at Bucknell,” Nicole Diamantides ’14 said.

Creating the mural showcases student feelings and opinions about what it means to be a University student.

“It’ll be cool to see how different people reinterpret the mural,” Samantha Lara ’13 said. “Each class has different talents that will be exemplified from the new mural.”

Planning meetings took place the week of Sept. 20 and official mural proposals are due today. The actual painting of the mural will take place Sept. 27 to Sept. 30 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. in the Elaine Langone Center mall.

The official presentation of the completed mural will take place Oct. 1.

Categories
Featured News

Arboretum encourages ecological awareness

By Kate Mallory

Contributing Writer

Each tree in the arboretum is numbered and labeled with biological information.

A group of students and professors has worked to install the new arboretum on campus in an effort to help the University community learn about and appreciate the many different types of trees on campus.

All of the trees marked with orange numbered plaques are part of the University’s new campus arboretum. An offshoot of the Campus Greening Initiative, the project was designed to maintain and promote sustainability for the campus landscape.

The arboretum was envisioned as a place where students and faculty could learn about botany, ecology and environmental sustainability. President Bravman will preside at the arboretum’s official unveiling at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 1 in the Grove.

Over the last three summers Bobby Mullin ’11 and Nick Gonsalves ’11 worked with Mark Spiro, associate professor of biology,and Duane Griffin, associate professor of geography, to identify, catalog and measure the diameters, breasts and heights of more than 1,700 trees on campus. This comprehensive inventory can be viewed in an interactive map.

The project’s centerpiece is the half-mile walking tour that highlights 73 trees on campus. The walking tour extends throughout the entire campus, including the Grove, a remaining portion of a large forest that dates to the 1770s.

“I’ve already used some of the data from the project to explain the historical origins of the Grove,” Gonsalves said. “I hope this data keeps the University accountable for what it plants—and removes—with an emphasis on favoring native species better adapted to the local environment.”

The group has done other work on the new arboretum, including collecting herbarium samples, which involves cutting off parts of the tree and drying them, and creating individual web pages for the 95 tree species in the arboretum.

The question pending for the arboretum is what will happen after the seniors who have spearheaded the project graduate. While Griffin and Spiro will remain involved, they will need more student volunteers to keep the project alive.

“We will need people, hopefully some kind of full-time position, to keep the arboretum going because there are day-to-day challenges I do deal with,” Gonsalves said.

“For instance, just the other day, a tree tour post was taken from the ground, and now we have to go through the effort of reinstalling it. Another issue is the tree plaques themselves. The plastic has started to bend due to the stress of the hot weather we’ve had in the past weeks. Obviously this can be remedied, but only if people keep working on the project,” Gonslaves said.

With a growing interest in the green movement on campus, the founders of the arboretum may not have a problem finding caretakers. Patrick O’Keefe ’13, vice president of the Bucknell Environmental Club, believes the arboretum will have ardent supporters on campus.

“I think this project will be very beneficial for the University community. Not only will students be able to learn more about the environment, but they’ll also learn how to appreciate our environment,” O’Keefe said.

Gonsalves hopes students will attend the official unveiling on Oct. 1.

“We encourage any ecologist, tree fanatic or just somebody with just a slight interest in gardening to come,” he said. “I hope there will be plenty of educational opportunities coming from the arboretum besides the obvious ‘Oh, I’ve always liked that tree and now I know it’s a white oak.’”

Categories
News

Research on campus beneficial to students

By Courtney Bottazzi

Contributing Writer

Many students spent last summer in Lewisburg working alongside their professors to further their learning experience. Subject matter, experiments and research varied across the board as students took on projects and studies. Not only did the students break new ground in their chosen fields, they also came one step closer to answering that ever-present question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Various departments were represented on campus this summer as University students explored different areas of research pertaining to their respective interests.

Computer science engineer Aurimas Liutikas ’12 worked on an Apple application for the University during his time on campus.

“I was working on the iPhone/iPod touch/iPad application for University students and visitors. It [will be launched] sometime this fall. It has such features as campus map, Bucknell Directory and dining menus,” Liutikas said.

“It was really exciting to get hands on experience with a project that involves the entire Bucknell community. I got a great feel of [what] a real-world job is going to be like as I had to deal with Bucknell administration, testers and team members (my professor),” Liutikas said.

When Liutikas applied to the University, one of the possible application questions was how to bridge the University community with the world. Liutikas hopes that students will be able to better bridge the gap between the University community and the surrounding world.

An important part of summer research on campus is the opportunity students have to explore their interests and learn to apply them in a real setting. Ally Hopper ’11 also hopes to bring the knowledge she has gained from her summer research project to the world within and beyond the bubble.

“I was doing research with Professor Flack in the psychology department, helping him with his research on sexual assault as well as getting a head start on my thesis proposal for this year,” Hopper said.

Music and religion were also prominent subjects being studied this past summer on campus.

“My research this summer was focused on John Coltrane’s musical development post-1965 and how his spiritual studies effected this development. Almost all of his music in this two-year period—he died in 1967—was spiritually oriented and is linked into the various religious and spiritual traditions he studied, including but not limited to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and some forms of Cosmology,” Nick Horner ’11 said.

Summer research projects at the University give students a chance to pursue knowledge in a chosen field that may one day help them decide their plans for the future, as well as connect them more so to their surrounding communities today.

“[Summer research] has given me the chance to develop a keen understanding of this music and to solidify a path of scholarship that I may be taking into my graduate studies. Likewise, knowing this biographical information and musical repertoire has allowed me to communicate more effectively with artists and scholars within the jazz realm,” Horner said.

Hopper agreed and is grateful for her experience and is excited for what the future may hold.

“By doing research over the summer and continuing with it during the school year, I’ve begun to figure out what I want to do with my life. I’m not sure that I necessarily want to continue on with research in psychology as a career path, but I am hoping to get a job where I can apply my knowledge of sexual assault on college campuses and in the real world,” Hopper said.

Categories
Arts & Life Featured

Getting a bird’s eye view: University flying club takes off

By Jessica Rafalko

Writer

Aerial photography is one possible activity resulting from joining the University's flying club.

If you ever find yourself hyperventilating on an airplane, wracked with fear and without a Dramamine, you might hope to be seated next to Steve Krivoshik ’11. Krivoshik, a certified private pilot, is the president of the University’s flying club. The club seeks “to promote and encourage aviation in the college environment,”according to the flying club’s promotional flyer.

New to campus this year, the club’s creation was driven primarily by student interest. Krivoshik learned from Heritage Aviation, a fixed base of operation for flight in Selinsgrove, that students at Susquehanna University had already established a flying club. Working with the names obtained from Heritage, Krivoshik and his like-minded peers managed to attract approximately 20 students to the club.

Michel Ajjan ’14 learned of the club through flyers and the message center.

“I’ve always liked civil aviation … even since I was a child. I think flying is awesome, being able to be that high up in the sky and see the world from a different point of view is really cool,” Ajjan said.

Ajjan took an aviation course in high school and was a student employee at Washington Dulles International Airport. His attitudes and interests are typical of the club’s members.

“The majority [of members] are interested in someday having a private pilot certificate,” Krivoshik said.

The club offerings include screenings of aviation-themed movies like “Top Gun”; tours of airplanes, airports and towers; and the opportunity to hear professionals in the field speak. The club has also already attended one of the weekly barbecues offered by the Penn Valley Airport for aviation enthusiasts and professionals. The club intends to make these barbecues a regular outing, in an effort to keep club members in constant contact with others in the aviation field, Krivoshik said.

These activities provide both entertainment and a degree of pre-professional preparation for those interested in pursuing a career in aviation. The club intends to learn about careers such as “commercial pilot, Tower controller, Ground crew, maintenance and [airport terminal] operations,” Krivoshik said.

Though still awaiting official recognition from the University, the flying club is interested in pursuing partnerships between pre-existing clubs on campus. Aerial photography is one area of intersecting interest between aviation and art buffs, Krovshik said. The club also hopes to pursue partnerships with the business and women’s clubs as a means of exploring flight as an industry and the impact of female aviators on the field.

Associate professor of management Michael Johnson-Cramer will serve as the flying club’s adviser. An adviser’s responsibilities include “supporting our students as they take initiative, try to do interesting things and explore those activities that interest them,” Johnson-Cramer said.

The club’s activities at present are all non-flying, but both Krivoshik and Ajjan have already flown independent of the University: Krivoshik this summer while obtaining his private pilot’s certificate, and Ajjan in a class he took as a high school junior. The club supports members with dreams of flight, and may help students study for the private pilot written exam.

Interested students are encouraged to join. If the mere mention of airplanes doesn’t make your stomach drop, the flying club may be a great place to explore aviation and its related careers and hobbies.

“There are clearly many careers that can be linked to academic studies … many of which do not even involve having any time behind the controls of an airplane,” Krivoshik said.

Categories
Arts & Life Featured

Griot Institute celebrates culture

By Carolyn Williams

Contributing Writer

The Griot Institute hosted a welcome back performance by Soul in Motion this year.

The University’s Griot Institute for Africana Studies, which launched in January, has an exciting semester planned to conduct an interdisciplinary exploration of culture and art. Griot is a traditional West African figure that functioned as a storyteller, historian, artist and spokesperson, according to the Griot Institute for Africana Studies mission statement.

Professor of English Carmen Gillespie is the new program director. “We’re hoping to fill a niche that will enable interdisciplinary staff, students and community to discuss and explore these topics together,” she said.

This year, the Griot Institute has already hosted a welcome back performance by Soul in Motion, an African dance and drumming troupe. Emily Conners ’14 attended the event. “It was really interesting to see a form of dance from another area of the world. It’s great that Bucknell celebrates different cultures.”

The Griot Institute also organized the Facing RACE Installation last February. Students and faculty created various forms of written expression, including poetry, nonfiction writing and journal entries that explored their perceptions and personal definitions of race. The three-hour event concluded with a one-man show by E. Patrick Johnson, a performance artist and chair of the department of performance studies at Northwestern University.

According to Gillespie, one of the Griot Institute’s aims is to make possible “not just lectures, but interactive events which bring together constituent bodies, examining more in-depth, pondering questions.”

The program hopes to introduce interdisciplinary prospective courses to complement a series of lectures by staff members and guest speakers. One topic for these classes, currently under consideration, is the relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings.

In October, the Institute is planning a group-read inspired by writer Toni Morrison. In a speech given by the Nobel Prize winner, titled “The Dancing Mind,” Morrison worries that as a society we have lost the ability to disengage ourselves at length from our electronic “necessities” and simply read a book that we were not assigned. Today, pressured by busy schedules and increased expectations, many people have let the art of pleasure reading fall by the wayside.

University students will try to take Morrison’s advice this October by gathering to read for eight hours straight. Gillespie calls this “deep reading,” and says that practicing extended readings of unassigned books is a critical part of sustainable life and intellectual engagement. The date and location of this event are currently undecided.

In the semester since its formation, the Griot Institute has had the support of over a thousand students, faculty and staff members, as well as individuals from the Lewisburg community. The Institute looks forward to hosting a number of events throughout the rest of the school year, open to the public.

“Our long term goal is to help to tell the story of Africana studies in a way that will help Bucknell come away with new answers and new questions,” Gillespie said.

Categories
Opinion

Snapquote: Mosque

How do you feel about plans to construct a mosque near Ground Zero?
“We have no right to say no. It’s as if we told a church, synagogue or any other place of worship they couldn’t build there. And that clearly goes against what this country stands for.” -Laura Snider ’14

“I think it’s fine to have a mosque near Ground Zero. An entire religion can’t be represented by a small group of extremists.” –Kathleen Molgaard ’12

“I can see how people are against it, but we as Americans have no right to tell fellow citizens where or where not to build a place of worship.”- Grady O’Brien ’12

“Construction of the mosque should be allowed. Not allowing it to be built would just perpetuate the idea that all Muslims are terrorists.” – Katie Koch ’12

“I think it’s great. We’re supposed to have religious freedom in this country, so why shouldn’t a neighborhood be allowed to build a mosque? My mom’s against it, though.”- Phil Perilstein ’11

Categories
Sports

Golf sets records

By Rob Duffy

Managing Editor

The women’s golf team scored a school-record 296 on Sunday to take first place in the Bucknell Invitational. The record-setting final round capped a remarkable weekend for the Bison, who tied the previous record with a 303 in the first round Saturday and nearly again with a 304 in the second round later that day. The team’s total score of 903 beat the previous program record by 40 strokes.

The Bison earned their second tournament win in program history and first since 2006, beating defending champion William and Mary by 19 strokes.

Katie Jurenovich ’11 tied the individual program record with an even-par 70 in the final round. Jurenovich won a four-hole playoff to become tournament champion after her three-round score of 221 tied Jeanne Waters of Rutgers.

Minjoo Lee ’12, who held the individual lead by one stroke at the end of the first day, finished third overall, one stroke behind Jurenovich and Waters.

Lauren Bernard ’14 and Kasha Scott ’14, who finished tied for 15th with 233, and Bridget Wilcox ’14, who finished tied for 31st with 241, also contributed to the victory.

The Bison will next travel to Wisconsin next weekend to compete in the Badger Invitational.

Categories
News

Public Safety Logs

Wednesday, Sept. 8

ALARM/FIRE

Sigma Alpha Epsilon: Caused by cooking.

TRAFFIC ACCIDENT

Moore Avenue: Report filed.

MEDICAL REFUSAL

Ziegler Health Center: Report filed.

ANIMAL COMPLAINT

West Fields: Report filed.

Thursday, Sept. 9

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF

Fraternity Road: Under investigation.

THEFT

Delta Upsilon: Under investigation.

CRIMINAL TRESPASS

Taylor Street House: Citation issued.

PROPERTY/LOST

Marts Hall: Under investigation.

ALARM/FIRE

Bucknell West: Caused by cooking.

ALARM/FIRE

Bucknell West: Caused by cooking.

Friday, Sept. 10

ASSIST/MEDICAL

Larison Hall: Transported to Evangelical Community Hospital.

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Parking Lot: Under investigation.

THEFT

South Sixth Street: Under investigation.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

Taylor Hall: Unfounded.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

Elaine Langone Center: Unfounded.

ALARM/FIRE

Bucknell West: Caused by cooking.

LIQUOR LAW VIOLATION

Delta Upsilon: Judicial referral.

ALARM/INTRUSION

Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library: Caused by students.

ALARM/INTRUSION

Golf Course Club House: Caused by employee.

ALARM/INTRUSION

Golf Course Club House: Cause unknown.

Saturday, Sept. 11

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF

Seventh Street/River Road: Under investigation.

ALARM/FIRE

Bucknell West: Caused by cooking.

THEFT

Sojka Lawn: Under investigation.

Sunday, Sept. 12

EMS TRANSPORT

Smith Hall: Hospital transport.

ALARM/INTRUSION

West Fields: Caused by employee.

PROPERTY/FOUND

Vedder Hall: Property found.

PROPERTY/FOUND

Ward House: Owner located.

ALARM/INTRUSION

Elaine Langone Center Gallery Theatre: Cause unknown.

ALARM/INTRUSION

West Fields: Employee activated.

ALARM/FIRE

Bucknell West: Caused by cooking.

ALARM/FIRE

Swartz Hall: Caused by cooking.

CRIMINAL TRESPASS

Taylor Street House: Under investigation.

Monday, Sept. 13

TAMPERING WITH FIRE EQUIPMENT

Trax Hall: Under investigation.

ALARM/FIRE

Bucknell West: Caused by cooking.

ALARM/FIRE

Gateway Vidinghoff: Faulty detector.

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

Vedder Hall: Report filed.

Tuesday, Sept. 14

ALARM/FIRE

Bucknell West: Detector malfunction.

PROPERTY/FOUND

Roberts Hall: Report filed.