Top Stories
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Welcome to Lewisburg, Class of 2011!
Dozens of downtown Lewisburg merchants will greet Bucknell's 900-member Class of 2011 with entertainment, free food, and gifts when they arrive this month for student orientation. [full story]
"Welcome to the Neighborhood: Lewisburg Day," now in its sixth year, will be celebrated Monday, Aug. 20, from noon to 5 p.m.
This year, 62 merchants plan to participate in the town-gown welcome. Each will be provided with the names of about 15 first-year and new transfer students. When a student finds his or her name on a list at a business establishment, they introduce themselves and receive a free gift from the merchant.
Gifts, food, and music
In past years, gifts have ranged from homemade cookies and wool bookmarks to chocolate-candy Bison. Along the way, students can sample some of the fare prepared by downtown eating establishments.
New this year is the addition of live music at a half-dozen businesses.
Last year, more than 90 percent of the Class of 2010 participated in the neighborhood welcome, said Amy Badal, assistant dean of students at Bucknell. "The event serves to leave students with a very favorable impression of what will be their new neighborhood for the next four years," said Badal. -
Grants yield new chemistry research capabilities
An influx of grants for chemistry research at Bucknell will enhance equipment and support more than 20 undergraduate research positions. [full story]
The nearly $1 million in grants includes a new pulsed carbon dioxide laser and an atomic force microscope. Along with the recent addition of a nuclear magnetic resonance facility, the acquisitions offer powerful new capabilities.
“Not only is this enabling our faculty to conduct important research, it’s also providing research-grade instruments that are available for undergraduate use,” said Timothy Strein, professor of chemistry and chemistry department chair.
Funding and topics
The grants come from NASA, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the American Chemical Society's Petroleum Research Fund (PRF).
They support various individual research projects involving development of chemical analysis methods on the nanoliter scale, study of clay minerals, structural studies on bile salt micelles, investigating chemical reactions within the Earth’s atmosphere, vibrational energy transfer, and the development of new methods for the production of polymers and plastics.
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Professor creates street opera Down Under
Bucknell music professor William Duckworth and media artist Nora Farrell are spending the summer halfway around the world in Australia, creating a public opera to be performed in the streets of Brisbane at the end of August. [full story]
His composition "iOrpheus" will be performed on iPods, mobile phones and laptops, along with interactive installations and performers Aug. 31 in the streets, parks and promenades of South Bank, originally the site for Expo '88, according to Duckworth.
"The intent of this public opera, based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, is to create guided moments where park visitors — using their everyday digital devices — may interact artistically with parallel worlds as they move through the events of their daily lives," said Duckworth, who blogs on the “iOrpheus” web site.
Fulbright grant
Duckworth is in Australia as the inaugural Cultural Arts Fellow for South Bank Precinct (Brisbane) and a Senior Fulbright Specialist in Information Technology, assigned to the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.
Known as the founder of Postminimalism, Duckworth is a well-known theorist and composer of more than 100 works, including his "Time Curve Preludes," which have been performed on five continents. He was named one of six Master Teachers in America in 1983 by the College Music Society.
A 1992 Rolling Stone magazine profile called him a "hip, bright, innovative" teacher who "opens up worlds" students never knew existed. He is the author of six books, including two textbooks on music theory.
Duckworth has been teaching at Bucknell since 1973. In this month’s featured video, he discusses his avant-garde compositions as well as his teaching experience and the University music program.
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Students blog about study abroad
The Bucknell Study Abroad Blog chronicles the academic adventures of eight Bucknell undergraduates studying around the globe - from Europe and Africa to Asia and the high seas. [full story]
Part of the global village, they're just a few of the more than 40 percent of Bucknell students who spend a portion of their undergraduate careers abroad. Join them as they travel the globe.
• Page Kannor '09 explores New Zealand.
• Loretta Miller '09 travels to South Africa.
• Mallory Coup '09 will be in Belgium and the Netherlands.
• Odinakachi Justice Anyanwu '09 is in London.
• Cara Maria Cambardella '08 spends the Semester at Sea.
• Saskia Madlener '08 journeys to China.
• Jessica Vooris '09 discovers Spain.
• Christopher Simco '09 investigates France.
