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News

Studying abroad helps break comfort zones

Paige Bailey
Writer

At the study abroad panel entitled “Powerful Engagements with Difference,” the three participants agreed that embracing the uncomfortable leads to life changing experiences. The event, which took place on Nov. 12, was part of International Education Week to give students a glimpse of the life-changing aspects of international education. The panel featured three seniors who traveled to different parts of the globe, pursuing academic interests, exploring new cultures and discovering who they are.

Alex Bird ’13 first talked about her time in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Bird was in part drawn to Russia because of familial ties but ended up learning a great deal about herself and her capabilities throughout the semester. Initially, she felt behind in her Russian skills, but after becoming more comfortable there she said that her progress in the language was “addicting.” Bird implored potential study abroad participants to go alone to a new place since it was “eye opening” because of the personal growth she underwent while in a foreign land.

Lindsey McLeod ’13 said that studying abroad in Argentina was the “ultimate social experiment.” McLeod said she did not know what she would find in Buenos Aires but left the country feeling like a local. She said that she “learned how to adapt” from being placed in new situations each day. She also said that she learned that the uncomfortable eventually becomes quite familiar. Overall, McLeod said the confidence she gained traveling around Central America will always be a part of her.

The last speaker was Andy Watts ’13 who travelled to Rabat, Morocco in order to expand his knowledge of Middle Eastern politics, culture and language. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, Watts was inspired to investigate the degree of liberalism within Moroccan society. He traveled to many “isolated villages” throughout his semester in order to connect with “average” Moroccans. In these personal interviews, Watts was able to connect his formalized education with the realities of everyday people. Watts said he “got to know himself” through isolated travel during his time abroad. He said that his time in a new culture has made him “prepared and confident” in pursuing a career in the Foreign Service.

In response to the personal stories the panelists shared, Mariah Midyette ’16 felt excited at the chance to explore a new country alone. She also said she would “benefit in the long run” by feeling temporarily uncomfortable in a new place.

Stephen Appiah-Padi, director of the Office of International Education, hopes that first- and second-year students look to his office for resources about studying abroad. He also suggested that students look to Facebook and Twitter for continuing updates on study abroad options and application deadlines.

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News

Matchmaking idea wins business competition

Courtesy of Muyambi Muyambi for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
Winner Bryan Richman ’14 with his grand prize. LEFT TO RIGHT: Brenda Holdren, Bryan Richman ’14, Steven Stumbris.

Jen Lassen
News Editor

In the spirit of entrepreneurship, six different student groups recently set out to break the “Bucknell Bubble.”

On Nov. 12, the University “Beyond the Bubble” 2012 Business Pitch Competition final round dinner and awards ceremony took place in the Center Room of the Elaine Langone Center.

This event, hosted by the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and supported by the generosity of James Ferguson ’73 and Bob Esernio ’80, featured six finalists chosen from 23 competing teams after a preliminary round of presentations.

Courtesy of Muyambi Muyambi for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
Second place winners of the Beyond the Bubble business pitch competition, LEFT TO RIGHT: Zhihao Ren ’14, Jesse Dondero ’13, Nicole Papaleo ’14, Alik Kurbanov ’14, Haokang Zhu ’14, Patrick Bucaria ’15, and Elise Perazzini ’15.

Courtesy of Muyambi Muyambi for the Small Business Development Center (SBDC).
Third place winner Felicia Mgbada ’13 holds her $500 check. LEFT TO RIGHT: Brenda Holdren, Felicia Mgbada ’13, Steven Stumbris.

The first place prize, $1,500 and a year’s worth of desk space in the Entrepreneurs Incubator located in the DeWitt Building downtown, went to Bryan Richman ’14 for “Shared Spark,” a unique online relationship platform that helps college students “escape the ‘friend zone’ with one another.”

“I was pretty surprised; I honestly didn’t believe I had what it took. But, I believed, and I’m extremely excited about being able to set out what I achieved to do in the first place,” Richman said.

Second place and $1,000 went to Zhihao Ren ’14, Elise Perazzini ’15, Patrick Bucaria ’15, Alik Kurbanov ’14, Thomas Zhu ’14, Jesse Dondero ’13, Nicole Papaleo ’14, Mahilet Oluma ’13 and Samuel Schlitzer ’14 for “Buck$ell.com,” a college goods and services trading website; third place and $500 went to Felicia Mgbada ’13 for “SOFO Collection,” a Nigerian fabric fashion company.

“I am so proud of our team. We worked so hard to get where we are. Yes, we didn’t get first place, but we definitely put so much time and effort into this. This is just the beginning,” Papaleo said.

Other finalists included Alexander Meijer ’14 for “Bitcoin Mining Venture,” Davon Bailey ’13 and Adriana Zermeno ’14 for “Upper Class Productions” and Adedotun Odewale ’13 and Eric Stillwell ’14 for “Wilderness Expedition Team.”

Prior to the event, all six finalists presented their ideas to a panel of judges in a five-minute business pitch presentation. Finalists were judged on innovation, clarity, comprehensiveness, feasibility and “wow” factor.

The six judges included George Burman ’74, James Ferguson ’73, Michael Hinchman ’79, Yoshi Maisami ’01, John Patterson ’84 and F. Kyle Shoeneman ’06, all University graduates and accomplished businessmen.

“It’s great to see this type of program here at Bucknell and also great to see the students taking advantage of it. It was fun to see the presentations, but I enjoyed getting some one-on-one time with the students,” Patterson said.

“I’m not sure there was much of an entrepreneurial spirit when I was here at Bucknell; we were all much more career-oriented in those days. I think [entrepreneurship] is something that the University should spend a lot of time and energy encouraging,” Ferguson said.

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Arts & Life Campus Events Review

The Fall Dance Showcase keeps audience engaged with a variety of styles, music and dancers

Anna Jones
Writer

The University may be well known for its Engineering program, but the Arts program is rich with opportunity, and is growing in popularity and success. On Nov. 9 and 10, in Harvey M. Powers Theater, the University Department of Theater and Dance presented the Fall Dance Showcase.

The Showcase involved more than 60 dancers from all around campus. Anyone could audition for the show, and then, if selected, they could be cast in up to three pieces. Choreographers included students, faculty and guests.

“The student choreographers were really great. It was inspiring to see how passionate they were about dance,” Rachel Fernandes ’16, a dancer in the show, said.

Guest choreographers included alumna Kourtney Ginn ’12 and Erin Rehberg. Ginn is currently working for Dance/USA, Adventure Theatre-MTC and Dance 4 Peace in the Washington, D.C. area. Rehberg is founder and artistic director of Core Project Chicago, a performing arts collective.

The Showcase choreographers are experts in a vast variety of techniques and styles, so the show featured almost every type of dance. The music ranged widely too, including pieces from David Guetta to Tchaikovsky to Bon Iver.

“The show was really a mix of everything–jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, modern and even Irish,” Fernandes said.

“I really enjoyed the dance showcase because it showed a large variety of dances,” Eileen Cook ’16 said.

The show also included dance groups like the Lewisburg Dance Conservatory and students from Jazz I, Ballet I, Watersleeves and Social Dance classes. Two dancers from the Bisonettes were featured as well. Each number varied in size; some dances including eight or more dancers and some only featuring three.

Including a pre-show installment, the show featured 21 different numbers. The show was about two hours long with a short intermission.

“Everyone was saying that it gets better every year,” Fernandes said in response to how this year’s show compared to the shows in past years.

“Everyone was really talented, so it was really cool to see all those people that I knew from my classes in their element, performing really well,” Cook said.

Dancers enjoyed being a part of something so creative on campus.

“It was so fun being in a showcase here and meeting all the dancers at Bucknell,” Fernandes said.

With many guests at both shows, the Fall Dance Showcase was a huge success. Fernandes urges everyone to come out and audition for the Spring Showcase in April.

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Arts & Life Columns Cooking Corner

Mini Pumpkin Pie Cheesecakes

Katie Mancino | The Bucknellian

Katie Mancino
Writer

per cheesecake: 25 calories, 0g fat, 5 carbs, 1g protein

This is one of the biggest hits among my friends, and they have all agreed that if it wasn’t for me making this dessert, they would have never realized cheesecake could be so healthy. You can easily use this cheesecake recipe to make other flavors by just swapping out the pumpkin. You could even make a few kinds by splitting the recipe into halves for an extra impressive Thanksgiving display!

I decorated these with cool whip frosting (found in the freezer section) and fun sprinkles. The frosting is 60 calories for two tablespoons, but I only used half a teaspoon on each, adding only five extra calories.

Makes 36 mini cheesecakes

Ingredients

  • 5 Honey Maid Low Fat Cinnamon Graham Crackers
  • 1 Tbsp Land O’Lakes Light Butter
  • 2 fresh egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp ginger
  • 1/4 cup fat free sour cream
  • 8 oz (1 pack) fat free cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • Mini cupcake liners

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350 F.
  2. Crush graham crackers until fine and melt butter.
  3. Combine butter and crushed crackers. Press 1/2 teaspoon into the bottom of each mini cupcake liner.
  4. Whip egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form (this is much easier with a mixer).
  5. Beat together pumpkin, sour cream, cream cheese, sugars and spices until smooth.
  6. Gently mix egg whites into pumpkin mixture.
  7. Add 1/2 tablespoon of batter to each mini cupcake tin.
  8. Bake 15-20 minutes until solid at the top but still jiggly.
  9. Refrigerate for 1 hour to set.
  10. Decorate and enjoy!

 

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Opinion

Excessive PDA is unappealing

Gillian Feehan and Mary Morris
Contributing Writers

It was a rare night that we were eating in the Bostwick Marketplace. We were just minding our own business, eating our money’s worth, and then, the unspeakable happened: gross couple at six o’clock. Cue the vomiting. It started out with Eskimo kisses, but quickly progressed into face licking (we cannot make this stuff up). As if it couldn’t get any worse, the show quickly turned into something straight off the Discovery Channel. A couple of baby birds started to enjoy an intimate dinner. Yummy. The male bird, sensing that his lovely female companion was hungry, held a slice of melon in his mouth and offered it to the female, who nibbled the melon thanks to the assistance of her lover. How romantic. Who needs utensils these days?

There is a line, my fellow students, and it has most assuredly been crossed. If you must perform public displays of affection, can we agree on some ground rules? Your PDA should make me jealous by its simplicity and naturalness. It should not make me want to claw my eyes out or hurl in the nearest trash can. Couples should aim for the casual hand holding as opposed to a Gorilla-glue death grip; a cute good-bye peck on the cheek instead of sloppily mapping the anatomy of the throat with your tongue; simply getting your own plate of food instead of feeding each other like you’re baby birds.

I would rather feel bad about my personal life than feel nauseated on a regular basis. Holding hands, gazing into each other’s eyes or a bit of snuggling is totally acceptable. But please, for the love of all things good and happy in this world, stop the excessively, lovey-dovey PDA. Save that for after dinner, back at your own rooms. All of the innocent bystanders will appreciate you for it.

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Arts & Life Campus Events

Feinstein and Young share their poetry and experiences

Molly Ford
Writer

The Stadler Center for Poetry hosted a joint reading with Sascha Feinstein and C. Dale Young on the evening of Nov. 13 in Bucknell Hall. Both poets took turns reading a selection of their poetry for University faculty, students and guests. Earlier that day in Willard Smith Library, Feinstein spoke on jazz and memory, while Young talked about balancing artistic pursuits with a professional life in Walls Lounge. Their readings that night reflected these topics.

Feinstein’s work incorporates jazz in its patterns and form, and refers to other artists and their work. Through his poetry, Feinstein hopes to “express the lasting qualities of art.” Feinstein’s work puts the arts of jazz and poetry in conversation.

Young is an oncologist, as well as a poet and editor. During his faculty introduction, Young’s measured stanzas were described as “immaculate, well-structured rooms in which the reader walks.” He combines his experiences as a full time physician and his life as an artist in most of his poems. Young offers a unique point of view as he reveals the emotion and art behind a professional job in medicine.

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Arts & Life Movies Review

Based on a true story,”Argo” proves to be a successfully suspenseful off-season opener

Carolyn Williams
Writer

Ben Affleck’s latest directorial effort, “Argo,” tells the recently declassified story of a little known escape during the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. Heavily hyped as being based on a true story, the actual events make for some pretty nail biting cinema.

The film opens on the hostile takeover of the United States Embassy in Tehran. As fear mounts and American employees hasten to destroy government records and batten down the embassy’s hatches, a group of six covertly escapes through the back door, taking refuge at the Canadian ambassador’s residence a few streets away.

As their fellow countrymen live as hostages, these six hide out in relative comfort for several months. The Canadians don’t want the responsibility anymore, and the Americans fear that if the Iranians find them, the escapees will be made into examples by public execution.

Enter Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA staffer who specializes in “exfiltration;” basically he gets people out of dangerous situations. He immediately rejects the original escape plan: give the group six bikes, maps to the border and best wishes for their survival. As he’s brainstorming, Mendez chats with his son over the phone (he and his wife are estranged, another reason for the audience to sympathize) and has an epiphany–what if they were a film crew?

Given the late-70s trend for science fiction movies, Mendez decides that one of the most far-fetched (and therefore least suspicious) ways of exfiltrating these citizens is to pass them off as a Canadian film crew looking for an exotic location to film the next Star Wars rip-off. What’s even more unbelievable than this plan is the fact that the CIA okayed it.

To make the film seem legit, Mendez goes to Hollywood where he contacts John Chambers (John Goodman), a prosthetics designer who has worked with the CIA in the past. They begin spreading the buzz about their upcoming film–they choose a film called “Argo”–but things don’t really get going until they have their producer, played hilariously by Alan Arkin, who proclaims that if he’s going to make a fake movie, “it’s going to be a fake hit.” Once all the groundwork has been laid in stateside, there’s nothing left for Mendez to do but carry it out.

Once again, Affleck proves that as a director, he’s got chops. The real-life story is so outlandish that it’s automatically the stuff of good cinema. Kendall Woods ’14 called the film “better than I anticipated.” Affleck does slip into some bad Hollywood habits by exaggerating some of the escape sequences, and perhaps the denouement is overly indulgent, but most of the movie is interesting, tense and emotionally involved. Though probably not much of a contender come Oscar time, “Argo” is not too shabby for an off-season opener.

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Arts & Life Campus Events Movies Review

Professors Goodale and Andersson help audience understand the life of Elizabeth I

Laura Crowley
Senior Writer

Associate Professor of History James Goodale and Professor of Art History Christiane Andersson presented the Hollywood portrayals of Queen Elizabeth I in Tudor England on Nov. 13 at the Campus Theatre. Goodale discussed the beginning of Elizabeth’s life in “The Other Boleyn Girl” and “Elizabeth” (1998), while Andersson presented the later half of Elizabeth’s life in the mini-series version of “Elizabeth” (2005).

Throughout the event, they showed clips from the period films and analyzed their historical veracity. They also analyzed the accuracy of the plot itself and the ways in which Hollywood used lighting and music to often make the films more dramatic than Elizabeth’s life may have actually been. Goodale pointed out that the lighting used in “Elizabeth” (1998) is especially dark in the beginning of her life to contrast the brightness and purity of when she officially became “The Virgin Queen.”

Both professors helped audience members gain a more holistic and accurate view of Queen Elizabeth’s life story than the movies and series provided by themselves. They particularly noted her use of humor to get her way with Parliament when it continuously urged her to get married. As the head of her country, Elizabeth’s duties led her to be a “rational, coldblooded and deliberate woman and Protestant,” Goodale said. Queen Elizabeth I felt she wouldn’t be able to lead England as well if she were married, and cut her hair like a man to deliberately strip herself of her femininity.

The professors felt the films were fairly accurate. In the mini-series, “Elizabeth” (2005), Andersson pointed out that the producers even reconstructed White Hall from the original blueprint for the film.

They also stressed how, in Tudor England, love was a political entity rather than a romantic one. It seems that gender was also more of a “performative act,” Goodale said. Both Elizabeth and one of her suitors Henry III of France were both known to possess and project qualities of both genders for a number of motives.

The event was part of the Film/Media Series and was open to the community. There is an event every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Campus Theatre.

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Arts & Life Columns

Trend Report: Black Friday

Black Friday

Kate Jansen

Writer

In one week’s time, we will be stuffing ourselves with Thanksgiving leftovers and deliberating whether or not we are fit enough to join Black Friday’s shopping extravaganza.

For the past few years after Thanksgiving, my mom and I have ventured to New York City to join the anxious mobs of other mother-daughter pairs in search of the best bargain. For those who have not participated in Black Friday, allow me to put things into perspective. Black Friday is a survival of the fittest game of sorts. Women of all ages fight for the cheapest overall haul of garments. My mom and I have witnessed this on several occasions while shopping at Bloomingdale’s. Small mountains of last season’s sweaters litter the department store floor. Mothers go through piles in the dressing room, willing to snag the cheapest cardigan, even if it means they will lose an earring in the process.

I have found that the best way to cure any Turkey Day hangover is to beat the mad rush and shop online. Personally, I think that major department stores like Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue offer better deals online than they do in stores. Other popular retail stores offer major blowout sales the Friday, Saturday and Monday after Thanksgiving. I’d pay close attention to sales that are exclusive to Cyber Monday; these could be the best deals of the season. And so, next weekend, channel your inner shopaholic and grab your laptop.

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Opinion

Voting is a rewarding experience

Sarah Morris

Staff Writer

On the days leading up to the Presidential Election, I was becoming extremely jittery at the prospects of voting. What if I chose the wrong candidate? (Wrong being subjective, of course). I was not 18 during the last election, so this was my first voting experience. The feeling of contributing to an important political movement was something I later realized and cherished.

Around 2 p.m. on the day of the election, I realized that the decision might not actually go my way. I could vote and put my heart and soul into the pushing of the screen over my preferred candidate’s name and find that his opposition had won at the end of the night. I kept nervously bringing it up to friends, but their looks of confusion disheartened me. How was nobody else as scared as I was? The future of the free world was being chosen and everybody seemed so blasé!

When I saw that Pennsylvania had turned blue, I screamed at the top of my lungs and jumped off the couch to high five everybody in the room. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more American than that very moment when I realized that my vote had actually counted. My vote helped President Barack Obama win a second term in office.

After the results were in that Obama would be back in the Oval Office yet again, I, of course, checked my Facebook. The number of people claiming they were going to leave the country was unbelievable. Someone I went to high school with back in Georgia actually claimed something along the lines of: “I will personally lead the South in a secession.”  Needless to say, he was unfriended immediately. The results of the election were so joyous for me! Healthcare, gay marriage and rape is real! How could I be unhappy? The reactions of my peers were highly disappointing.

Yes, of course I would be sad if Romney won, but leaving America isn’t the right idea. It would mean that four years later, there wouldn’t be a voice like mine to share an opinion in the next election. It is so easy to think of the election as some competition that is won and then over with forever. We are so lucky to live in a nation that allows us the opportunity to have a say in the future of the country. It’s worth it to stick around and make your voice heard.