The Bucknellian

Jen Lassen
News Editor

NEW HOOKAH POLICY ON CAMPUS:

As of Sept. 23, hookahs are now considered drug paraphernalia and are prohibited on campus. A recent session involving Residential Life and Public Safety, entitled “Continuing RA Education,” acknowledged the 2012-2013 Student Code of Conduct, page 16, for direct reference to this new regulation. As stated in the Student Code of Conduct:
“Residential Living Policies–Prohibited Items and Behavior”
drugs (illegal), marijuana substitutes (K2, spice, salvia, etc.) or drug and alcohol paraphernalia–including but not limited to smoking, gravity or water bongs, water pipe, hookah, tobacco or pill grinders, rolling papers, smoke vaporizer, whip-it dispenser, liquid funnel, alcohol slides or stands, bulk quantity alcohol tanks, party balls, kegs, alcohol refrigeration systems, etc.

MEN’S SOCCER TEAM BUS ROLLS INTO DITCH:

On Sept. 23, the men’s soccer team got a post-game jolt of excitement as their game bus rolled into a ditch. Their trip home from Lehigh University ended with their bus going into a ditch when turning off a highway exit.

“We were going too fast off an exit ramp and the bus driver had to bail on the turn, so we ended up in a ditch. We were in there for an hour,” soccer player Rafi Enriquez-Hesles ’15 said.

Two tow trucks were called to get the bus back on the road, but the boys made it safely back to the University.

Brianna Marshall
Writer

A new volunteer campaign, the Bison Service Challenge, launched this week with the goal of encouraging student contribution to the University community and beyond. Participants can register to compete in teams of up to 30 individuals under the leadership of team captains. The team that contributes the most hours per member will be the winner.

“This program was created as an effort to encourage students to give back to their local area and as a vehicle to create campus unity around a good cause,” Lynn Pierson, assistant director of community service, said.

The Bison Service Challenge is a collaborative effort of multiple campus organizations including Activities and Campus Events (ACE), Bucknell Student Government (BSG), the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the Panhellenic Council, Bucknell Outdoor Education and Leadership and the Office of Civic Engagement. With diverse and expansive leadership, coordinators hope to attract volunteers with a wide range of interests and talents that can help to expand the service experiences within the Community Service Challenge. The combined efforts of multiple organizations will help to highlight the variety of activities that the University has to offer while positively contributing to community outreach.

“It’s been awesome to see how this has come together in a short time and how leaders from different organizations have worked together to do something to bring the whole campus together and give back to the community. We’re hoping it will have a big impact,” said Nick Pistone ’13, IFC community service and philanthropy chair.

With team captain selection and pre-registration complete, it’s now time for students to join a team and get involved. Students can access Bison Service Challenge forms from the Office of Civic Engagement’s page on the University website. Additionally, sign-up information including the link for registration is being distributed via flyers throughout campus and the Message Center.

“This challenge will be a strong step in the right direction for Bucknellians as we, as student leaders, attempt to reinvigorate the higher purpose that service holds in our community. We want students to be familiar with the gift of community service,” Pat Zailckas, IFC president said.

All team volunteering contributes to reaching an overall program goal of 10,000 hours of service. Teams will have approximately two months to volunteer with the competition running from Sept.ember 29^th to December 1^st.  If the program goal is met, a free campus event will be held to celebrate. this accomplishment.

Amanda Ayers
Managing Editor

According to a recently released ad hoc Committee report compiled in the Spring 2012 semester, a student’s academic engagement is not determined by the major that his or her class falls under but rather the level of effort put forth by the students and professor. The report highlights both strengths and weaknesses of the University and outlines 67 recommendations for individuals, offices and committees to foster academic engagement.

The report clarifies University expectations about the amount of time students spend on academic work because it falls well short of what it should be. The report also suggests that students of color have not enjoyed the same benefits of a University education as their white counterparts.

According to the study executive summary, “The overall impression is one that reinforces negative perceptions about non-white students’ academic engagement, especially African-American students. It appears that in general, non-white students are ‘engaged’ more in their first year than in their last.”

The Committee analyzed existing University data to look at academic engagement from three angles: academic engagement in the classroom, transformative educational experiences and other factors that influence academic engagement.

In the classroom, increased student engagement will rely on increasing faculty-student and student-student engagement on academic issues, improving data collection so our community can better identify the specific areas for improvement, track changes and better encourage faculty efforts at engagement.

“The report on Student Engagement represents a step in the right direction for Bucknell’s continued growth and maturation. It is not enough to merely attend class and do assigned work; one must also strive to learn outside of the classroom,” Jeff Finegan ’14 said. “The effort on the part of Bucknell, students and student organizations to increase intellectual engagement on this campus is a necessity and should be lauded.”

Transformative educational activities that were listed as capable of enriching a student’s four-year University experience include foundation seminars, residential college programs, service learning and civil engagement, study abroad, undergraduate research and student leadership and organization membership opportunities.

Finally, the report points to other factors that can influence academic engagement such as the admissions process, evaluation of faculty and health factors. An applicant should have characteristics of someone likely to be academically engaged in the future. The University should recognize faculty efforts that seek to contribute to student academic engagement and encourage rigor in the curriculum. The University should address binge drinking and its negative effects on student performance, as well as the ways in which harassment can hinder a student’s academic engagement.

According to the committee’s study, “Our analysis of the data suggested that several negative trends with respect to student academic engagement begin in the very first year, suggesting that particular attention be paid to examining how the first year experience might be altered to improve this situation.”

The findings came from the ad hoc Committee co-chaired by Dean George Shields and Professor Mike Prince. The committee is made of 14 members, composed of three students and 11 faculty and staff. The report findings were presented to the Committee on Instruction (COI), Committee on Campus and Student Life (CCSL) and the Provost’s office at the end of the 2011-2012 academic year. The report was released publicly to the campus community on behalf of Provost Mick Smyer and Associate Professor Tim Raymond, Chair of the COI.

The committee plans for the study to be ongoing.

“We have already begun that process [of improvement] in the Provost’s Council and in the Committee on Instruction,” Smyer said. “Again, thank you to Dean Shields, Professor Prince and their colleagues for their very good work. We look forward to considering their recommendations in formal and informal settings in the coming weeks.”