Brown and White Vol. 129 no. 19

              The Brown and White Vol. 129 No. 19
Tuesday, November 10, 2015 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
International Week kicks off
Lehigh’s annual International
Week is one of the largest events
of its kind, according to the U.S.
Department of State. There will
be over 30 internationally focused
events this week that are spon-sored
by the Global Union and 40
co-sponsoring clubs.
“We want to bring the world to
Lehigh,” said Danielle Hanes, ’16,
president of the Global Union.
Clubs who co-sponsor events
work with the Global Union to get
the funding and publicity to bring
their ideas to fruition. From com-petitions
to performances to edu-cational
events, the week is filled
with opportunities to share and
experience difference cultures.
Because so many organizations
are participating in International
Week, every student on campus
has at least one connection to an
event, according to Global Union
intern Lauren DiNapoli, ’18.
Whether through their friend, her-itage
or involvement in a partici-pating
club, everyone has a reason
to attend part of International
Week, even if they just want to
expand their palate.
“There is free food at almost all
of the events, so if you wanted to
you could basically eat for free
all through International Week,”
Hanes said.
By KAREN KONKOLY
B&W Staff
Fire in Packard disrupts classes, exams
Sidebar: Global
problem solving
event addresses
sustainability
The fire alarm in Packard
Laboratory went off around 9
a.m. on Tuesday, prompting a
response from the Bethlehem Fire
Department and Lehigh University
Police Department. The report-ed
trashcan fire on the second
floor was extinguished prior to the
arrival of first responders.
Everyone in the building was
evacuated, and multiple classes
were disrupted. There were no
injuries
“We had started my lecture for
about five minutes when it hap-pened,”
wrote Gang Tan, a profes-sor
who teaches CSE 262, in an
email.
Tan had planned to use the lec-ture
to finish a topic and review for
an in-class exam. By the time the
situation was over, there was only
time left in class to do the review.
“The good thing is that the exam
does not cover the topic I planned
to finish,” Tan said. “But we lost
two-thirds of lecture time, which
means less time for some advanced
topic later.”
Some students also were taking
exams during the evacuation.
“I was very irritated because I
By PHUONG NGUYEN
B&W Staff
pulled an all-nighter for my cell
biology test,” Nicole Fiene, ’16,
said. “The fire department takes
about an hour to clear the build-ing,
so of course our test was can-celed.
I was extremely frustrated
and so was the rest of the class”.
To make up for lost time because
of the fire, some professors had to
make arrangements for exams to
be given outside of class so the syl-labus
would not be changed.
Despite the frustration that
some students experienced, most
professors and students were calm
about the situation and the fire did
not cause significant damage.
“Honestly, I was pretty excit-ed
when the situation happened,”
Chloe Stein, ’17, said. “It was a
beautiful day out, and we got to
spend an hour outside. I was a
little nervous about not knowing
what would be on the test next
week, but I figured we would some-how
get that information.”
According to an email sent out
by Chief Edward Shupp, the build-ing
was evacuated and the fire was
completely extinguished.
Joanna Targowski/B&W Staff
The Global Union kicked off International Week with the Global at
a Glance event in the STEPS atrium Friday. Various countries were
represented giving students the chance to learn more about other
cultures.
This year, Global Union aimed
to connect with more organiza-tions
from unique corners of cam-pus.
For example, the Residence
Hall Association is co-sponsoring
with the Global Union to host
The Amazing Race, a competition
where teams of students race to
complete challenges through the
underclassmen dorms.
The week also features a num-ber
of performances from dancing
to skits. On Thursday, the Black
Student Union and Asian Cultural
Society are holding Fusion, the
largest dance performance at
Lehigh of the semester. Hanes
said that in the past, both clubs
See INT’L WEEK Page 3
By MEG KELLY
B&W Staff
As a part of International
Week, the event featured
sustainable solutions to
growing problems in
today’s society
An alumni network for the dis-placed,
a 100-gallon water tank
and “LinkedIn for Refugees” were
among the many ideas presented
at this week’s Global Problem
Solving Event.
Friday’s program, which
was part the Global Union’s
International Week, was co-spon-sored
by the Baker Institute,
the Sustainable Development
Department, Engineers Without
Borders and the TAMID Israel
Investment Group. According to
Danielle Hanes, ’16, the president
of the Global Union, each of the
sponsors was chosen specifically
for the occasion.
“When I first conceptualized the
event, I realized that if I want-ed
business and engineering stu-dents
to come, we needed to have
cosponsors who would bring in
those types of students,” Hanes
said.
The scenario presented to stu-dents
was also more specific than
in previous years. Participants
were tasked with developing a
product or non-profit business
that addressed the problems of a
Syrian refugee camp.
“We really wanted to shift gears
this year, which is why we did
something more current or press-ing
in the news,” Hanes said.
While working in groups of no
more than four, students were
introduced to the scenario and
were given an hour to prepare a
presentation for a panel of judg-es.
The panel, which consisted of
two members of the Global Union
executive board and two profes-sors,
offered advice and feedback
to the contestants for the first
half hour of the challenge. One
judge, Paras Khan, ’16, said he
was looking for an idea that could
allow the refugees to thrive in
the camps while also giving them
the possibility of a future beyond
them.
“The most important thing that
I’m going to be looking at is how
the students integrate the ref-ugees
into society as a whole,”
Khan said, who also serves as
See GLOBAL Page 4
Kelsey Alpaio/B&W Staff
Students wait outside Packard Lab after a small fire occurred last
Tuesday on the second floor of the building.