Brown and White Vol. 118 no. 8

              Vol. 118 No. 9
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
The deal with drug testing
Page 13
ONLINE
Follow us on Twitter
twitter.com/lubrownandwhite
Double
Trouble
Page 7
LIFESTYLE
A heart-felt show
B&W photo by BRIAN CASTELL
Students perform at Love Jones, an open-mic and talent show, to celebrate Valentine’s day last Friday in Lamberton Hall. The show was sponsored by Lehigh’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.
Graduates to go green with caps and gowns
By ALYSSA GUTJAHR
This year’s graduates will be the first to experience Lehigh’s new brown and white custom rental gradu­ation gear, implemented with the goal of saving the environment.
In contrast to recent years and programs at many other universities, Lehigh is returning to the days of rental regalia for graduates. This idea will spare landfills from the burden of non-biodegradable caps and gowns — because landfills are usually exactly where this graduation gear ends up.
What use do graduates have for their caps and gowns after their commencement?
According to many students, in­cluding Ashley Kamauf, ’10, an em­ployee at the bookstore, there is none.
Saving the environment is not the only benefit to the new graduation re­galia. Another is the style that comes with custom gear.
Instead of the black caps and gowns worn by most university grad­uates, this year, Lehigh’s graduating seniors, masters and doctoral gradu­ates, as well as university authority figures, will be sporting the school colors along with the university shield.
“Not that the black gowns weren’t nice, but they weren’t special,” Ka­mauf said. “I think the new custom gowns will make graduation unique.”
Along with many other Lehigh students, Kamauf feels that keeping the tassel is enough.
That is exactly what the graduating seniors will have as a keepsake with this new program.
“It’s a win-win,” said Brynn Bus­kirk, assistant director of marketing and business services.
Especially with today’s technol­ogy, looking unified at graduation is important.
Kamauf pointed out that graduates will be on Facebook, posting pictures of graduation on their pages. She feels that brown and white caps and gowns will add to photographs, making Lehigh’s graduation stand out.
By JESSICA SZAFONI
Muslim students at Lehigh have the opportu­nity to pray and gather officially on campus for the first time in university history.
Until recently, the Muslim Student Associa­tion was only able to utilize the second floor of a Fourth Street apartment rented many years ago when the club first originated. The space was suit­able for the gathering of about 40 people at Friday prayer and available to Muslim students for daily prayer, but the location and lack of exposure left some feeling unrecognized or unaccommodated.
The MSA acquired a desirable prayer room on the third floor of the Dialogue Center with the help of University Chaplain Lloyd Steffen late last year. The Dialogue Center, located at 661 Taylor St., is dedicated to meeting the needs of the reli­giously diverse community on campus by provid­ing both prayer and meeting space to the MSA.
Steffen, who makes himself available to help all religious organizations at Lehigh, hopes the space benefits individual MSA members in ad­dition to the group as a whole. He refers to the Dialogue Center as a “safe space,” where anyone should be able to find hospitality and comfort.
Muslim students, whether MSA members or not, have quickly taken advantage of the desig­nated prayer space. The room is suitable for 5-to 10-minute daily prayers and includes a bathroom to accommodate the necessary washing before prayer. Rather than seek out a quiet corner in the library or other academic buildings, students are now provided with a convenient and comfortable area to practice.
Khalil Uqdah, ’10, said he is excited to uti­lize the prayer room because he will now have a space outside of his own room to go for daily prayer. He expects the location to provide a com­mon ground among members, as well as a con­nection with the other religious groups the Dia­Space
offered on campus for Muslim prayer
See REGALIA Page 4
See PRAYER Page 4
By MARTINA RUSSIAL
What does it mean to make college relevant?
According to a Dec. 29 article in The New York Times, universities are restructuring their curricu­lums to meet the most pressing needs of students in today’s world, from finding a job to getting the ultimate college experience, to getting rid of archaic courses.
What is the “right” way to approach university education at Lehigh?
The bigger questions
Making college relevant can be interpreted very differently by different people, Greg Reihman, direc­tor of faculty development and co-director of Lehigh Lab, said.
“It means teaching in a way that makes subject matter, matter to students. It’s not just about stu­dents passing a test, but for them to understand what they’re learning,” he said.
He added that some students’ motivation is get­ting a job, while for others it’s for “the sake of intel­lectual, pure curiosity.”
Faculty members, Reihman said, refocus and develop curriculum to make it relevant to students constantly.
“Every class of students is quite different, so cur­riculum is always in need of change,” he said. “There is a constant desire to make education relevant.”
However, Reihman believes schools that solely focus on making themselves relevant to the work­place and students’ first jobs are missing the point of college.
“I think schools that do this are going down a bad path,” he said.
Lehigh, he added, has done a great job with bal­ancing immediate educational relevance to practical professional relevance.
“Some programs put the work place training first and foremost, but I think a better approach is for students to challenge themselves with bigger and bet­ter questions,” he said. “Lehigh is among the schools that try to engage students and provide them with the tools to ask those bigger questions.
“We want to provide students with an in-depth education,” he added.
College purpose different for profs, students
See COLLEGE Page 5