The Bucknellian

Siobhan Murray
Writer

This year’s formal sorority recruitment lasted from Aug. 24 to Aug. 31 and placed 270 women into six sororities: Alpha Chi Omega fraternity, Alpha Delta Pi sorority, Chi Omega fraternity, Delta Gamma sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta fraternity and Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity.  Each organization had a quota of 42 new members. Sorority recruitment differed from last year because there were six, rather than seven, sororities engaged in the process. However, the Office of Residential Education and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs is currently reviewing applications to bring a new sorority to campus.

“Starting in the spring of 2012, seven national sororities have expressed interest and are under committee review,” said Amy Badal, associate dean of students and Director of Residential Education and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.

Sorority recruitment consists of “Sisterhood,” “Song” and “Philanthropy” rounds, which take place over three consecutive days. During these rounds, potential new members (PNMs) are assigned a group led by a Gamma Chi, a neutral recruitment counselor. PNMs have the opportunity to go to “parties” that last for equal and specific amounts of time. As the process continues, PNMs go back to fewer and fewer sororities each day. They begin by going to all six parties, and have the opportunity to rank which sororities they would like to visit again. If they are invited back through this process of “mutual selection,” a PNM can be invited back to up to five sororities for the second round and up to four sororities for the third round. The fourth round, called “Preferentials,” took place on Aug. 28 this year. The event allows a PNM to visit up to two sororities, and after doing so, rank her possible two choices.

Aug. 31 was Bid Day, where a new member receives her formal invitation to a sorority and runs from Larison Dining Hall to the Smith Quad to meet her fellow sorority members.

“Women’s recruitment differs from men’s recruitment in that the women follow the National Panhellenic Council (NPC) guidelines, the governing body of the 26 national sororities,” Badal said. “Using Release Figure Methodology (RFM) and consulting with our RFM specialist, a NPC professional consultant, a quota is determined by taking into consideration the total number of participants in the process.”

The men’s process does not follow the same methodology, and this year it placed 226 men into fraternities. With only six sororities participating in this year’s recruitment, less PNMs may have participated, but the Office of Residential Education and Fraternity and Sorority Affairs refused to give any numbers regarding the recruitment process last year.

“I believe that fewer girls participated in recruitment this year than in past years, so from that point of view I do believe that six sororities are enough for the women participating in the process,” Gamma Chi Caitlin O’Connor ’13 said.

Some students may have chosen not to rush because they felt that they did not fit into the currently active organizations on campus.

“Not that sororities have strict stereotypes, but they do have characteristics that girls identify with. I think that perhaps girls who would have felt very comfortable at Pi Phi were left to find where they fit in during rush,” a sophomore PNM said.

Sorority women feel that the potential number of PNMs might have dropped out of recruitment due to harsher cuts that were made during the process.

“I think it was more intense [for the PNMs] this year because we had to make larger cuts and there were less spots. The quota was actually smaller this year, 42 this year verses 45 last year,” a Bucknell sorority member who took part in recruiting members this year said.

 

Christina Oddo
Assistant Arts & Life

The Kappa Delta Rho fraternity (KDR) took part in the recruitment process this fall after its recolonization. With a current total membership of 15, members of KDR are looking forward to the future.

“First off, the Formal Recruitment process was a very big success this year, and we placed over 225 men into the fraternities on campus,” Interfraternity Council Recruitment Chair Bill Prendeville ’13 said. “During the process, KDR had several out-of-town members as well as the few founding members come to the house and hold their recruitment events.”

Recruitment for KDR included the same format and events as those for every other fraternity recruitment on campus.

“ … The major difference is that we began meeting with freshmen last semester and held a formal dinner at the new fraternity house that included 70 undergraduates,” Sviatoslav Lesko ’13 said. “During the summer, the original four members who were offered bids last semester–Dotun Odewale ’13, Mo Karam ’13, Nathan Coughenour ’14 and myself–attended KDR’s national conference in Pittsburgh, Pa. to learn about KDR’s traditions, values and organizational structure.”

According to Lesko, this group developed strong relationships with brothers from other institutions, such as Rutgers University, Lycoming College and Bloomsburg University, and these brothers visited the University to assist with the recruitment process.

“With the help of these individuals, our [Educational Leadership Instructor] Brad Ostermann (who will be living at the fraternity house for the entire year), our national advisor Shane Henry, our national director Joseph Rosenberg and generous alumni who helped fund our meals and furnished the house, we were able to go through the recruitment process smoothly,” Lesko said.

By the end of the recruitment process, nine sophomores, one junior and one senior accepted bids.

“With KDR being new, people were interested in joining, but they were unsure of who else was going to join and what kind of a group it would be,” Stephen Prescott ’15 said.

Lesko feels this new group has so far proved to be compatible and close.

“ … we developed chemistry immediately, mainly because of the sense of opportunity we all felt for building an organization based on the principles of honorable leadership from the ground up,” Lesko said.

KDR will begin rolling recruitment Sept. 14, and this will be open for the remainder of the year.

“I would like to express special thanks to Bob Lynd, Gene Spencer, Joseph Rosenberg, Gary Buchmann, Brad Ostermann, Shane Henry, Hensley Akiboh, Omicron Alpha Chapter (Rutgers University), Psi Chapter (Lycoming College), Kevin Foster, Dean Badal and the generous alumni who helped fund Iota Chapter’s recolonization,” Lesko said.

Kevin Foster, the Intrafraternity Council Advisor, declined to comment on KDR and its recruitment process.

Justin Marinelli
Writer

A new law recently put in place allows Pennsylvania students to vote using their university ID.  The law, which now requires Pennsylvania voters to show photo identification when they arrive at the polls, allows university IDs provided they have an expiration date. While Bucknell University IDs currently do not have expiration dates, the administration is implementing two solutions.

Starting in September, the University will begin distributing stickers with expiration dates  (an option the law allows for), so that students can use their current University ID. In addition, next year all University IDs could have expiration dates printed on them to enable future compliance with the law.

For many students, this isn’t much of a big deal.

“I’m not old enough to vote yet, so this doesn’t mean too much to me,” Mark Stafurik ’16 said.

Justin Meshulam ’15 said students could just use their current drivers’ licenses.  However, this would force students from other states to fill out absentee ballots rather than be able to vote at Pennsylvania polls.

John Powell ’15 thinks the new law and the University’s efforts will make voting easier.  “Using my Bucknell ID? That sounds convenient!” Powell said.

It should be noted that this isn’t the first law of its kind to be put on the books. Georgia controversially enacted a similar law several years ago, and in 2011 seven states either passed new voter ID laws or made current laws stricter. These laws have come under scrutiny since some of these are poised to be key battleground states in the coming election, becoming targets of political sniping that has brought both the constitutionality and the political effects of these laws into the limelight.

While the law was intended to cut down on potential voter fraud, critics question the need for having to show an ID in order to exercise a constitutional right. They also point out that those who are least likely to possess a photo ID but would otherwise be capable of voting are groups such as minorities, people in lower-income brackets and youth; groups which tend to swing Democratic in elections. A common worry is that under these laws, enough people will be prevented from voting so as to sway the results of the election in some counties (or even states). Supporters of the law claim these critiques are overblown, and preventing voter fraud is a far more important concern to deal wit. Official arguments will be brought in front of the state Supreme Court on Sept. 13 in an attempt to settle the matter.

Connor Small
Writer

Avicii will be performing at the University on September 30th, marking the first big concert of the year. The Swedish DJ and producer (real name Tim Bergling) was ranked the no. 6 DJ in the world by DJ Magazine and is known for singles such as “Levels,” “Fade Into Darkness” and “Silhouettes.”

Right off the bat, the University and Concert Committee have continued the tradition of bringing big name artists to perform on campus. Last year’s acts included Chiddy Bang, Wiz Khalifa and Nelly. Avicii will be the second Grammy nominated artist in a row that has performed on campus. While there was some criticism about last years artists being too similar (all three were in the Hip-Hop genre,) Avicii provides a fresh avenue of live music with his accessible blend of house and techno music.

Avicii has performed all over the world, including major festivals such as Lollapalooza. His first single, “Levels” was released on October 28th, 2011, quickly putting him at the top of the electronic/dance charts. The twenty-two year old has worked with such artists as David Guetta (for which he was nominated for a Grammy), Tiesto and Lenny Kravitz and notes Swedish House Mafia among his many influences. His single, “Bromance”, has reached number 20 in Sweden and charted in the Top 100 UK Singles. Earlier this year, he realeased the single “2 Million” for free on Soundcloud after reaching two million fans on Facebook.

The concert will be held in Gerhard Fieldhouse at 8 PM (doors open at 7). Tickets are on sale starting September 7th at 11 a.m. through the Book store, CAP Center and Campus Box Office, either online or by phone at 570-577-1000. They are $30.

Sara Blair Matthews
Opinions Editor

The new Involvement (IN) Network was created to connect students to opportunities outside the classroom and provide an easy way to navigate their involvement on campus.

Currently, around 80 clubs and organizations are a part of the IN Network and more are planning on joining in the near future.

“It is a great tool for student organizations to help manage their group. They have the capability to manage their roster, easily communicate to their organization, upload photos and documents, re-recognize each academic year and much more,” said Laura Yeckley, assistant director of Campus Activities and Programs.

The University was inspired to create this tool because “the Division of Student Affairs wanted an easy way for students to find opportunities about getting involved on campus. We wanted one centralized location for students to find information on student organizations, leadership opportunities and weekend events and activities. In short, it is also to help students navigate their involvement at Bucknell,” Yeckley said.

“The IN Network will absolutely make it easier for me to manage the Fire and Ice staff. It will also make our club more transparent to the Bucknell community. Plus, it is free advertisement!” Asha Harvey ’15 said.

Yeckley and the Division of Student Affairs hope this network will make it easier for students to discover the opportunities the University offers in a fun and interactive way.

The network came about because “staff members in Library & Information Technology, the Office of Communications and Student Affairs worked together this summer to institute this addition to the online services currently available,” Yeckley said.

The IN Network advertises upcoming workshops, concerts and club meetings. Upon enrolling, each student is automatically linked to his or her class page, which will be updated to show class news, photos and events.

“Class officers will use this as a resource to connect with their classes. In addition, all residential halls have been placed in a group to help create a residential online community to connect with their RA and hall,” Yeckley said.

To get the word out to students, the Campus Activities & Programs Center distributed flyers to all the first-years at Activities Unlimited, installed “plug IN” charging stations and  is looking to hold a raffle in the near future.

Lauren Buckley
Assistant News Editor

This July, the University implemented an innovative single-stream recycling system that was initiated this semester. The new program seeks to increase opportunities to recycle on campus and decrease waste that ends up in landfills.

“I have coordinated the efforts of many folks that believe, as I do, that moving to a single-stream recycling program is the right thing to do at Bucknell. When we presented the idea to senior management this summer, they endorsed it and we have aggressively moved to implement it in time for the return of students this fall,” said associate director for facilities operations, Merritt Pedrick.

Single-stream recycling is a process where all recyclable items are mixed and unsorted in one collection bin. These items can include any sort of paper fibers (including newspaper and cardboard) as well as containers (steel, glass, aluminum and plastic). The mix of materials is then processed by specialized equipment at a Material Recovery Facility (MRF).

Recognizing that up to 25 percent of items discarded as waste under the University’s former recycling system were in fact recyclable, the facilities team, along with the University’s Campus Greening Initiative (CGI), decided to opt for a more effective system that could increase recycling on campus from 20 to a possible 60 percent.

The biggest challenge to the new single-stream system is updating and labeling all of the new collection bins around campus and changing their locations.

“Everything had to be changed; not only regarding which cans were used to place items in, but also who takes it out, and the size and location of cans, dumpsters and recycle sheds,” Pedrick said.

Overall, Waste Management will handle all of the transportation and sorting, so the University will spend less time on these jobs and students will no longer have to transport their own recycling. Additionally, Waste Management is able to accept a 10 percent contamination rate, so the program will not be harmed if some unacceptable waste items are accidentally thrown into the collection bins.

“We are hoping to see a major increase in recycling on campus. However, we still need to be mindful of our consumption and what we’re throwing away. When we say ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle,’ reduce is still the most important concept,” Dina El-Mogazi, director of CGI, said.

In addition to this new environmentally-conscious system, other efforts are being made on campus to reduce waste. The Office of Civic Engagement has adopted a program called TerraCycle, a global organization that collects and converts waste into new products, such as recycled park benches or items sold at stores like Wal-Mart or Whole Foods.  TerraCycle will then donate $0.02 per unit of waste to a charity, which for us is the Bucknell Brigade in Nicaragua.

“I originally thought that the TerraCycle program would conflict with the new single-stream recycling program, but we have already raised $200 for the Brigade, and our goal is to implement more Terracycle bins around campus to spread the word,” Jessica Paquin, coordinater for the Office of Civic Engagement, said.

Items like cell phones, computers and ink cartridges have always been collected by the Bucknell Brigade, but now with the TerraCycle program, items such as toiletries (makeup cases/tubes, shampoo bottles, etc.), office supplies (old tape dispensers, glue bottles/sticks) and food waste (yogurt containers, wrappers, aluminum drink pouches) can all be recycled to benefit the Bucknell Brigade.

While other urban universities may benefit from access to more sophisticated recycling programs, the University’s single-stream system and participation in the TerraCycle program, attempt to compete with progressions made across the nation to reduce waste.  With the opportunity to effortlessly recycle without any sorting, the hope is that students and faculty will be more inclined to take advantage of this new system.