Study abroad student struck by a car in Cape Town, South Africa

On April 4, Ryan Vermette, a Bentley University student studying abroad in Cape Town, South Africa was hit suddenly by an oncoming motor vehicle, sustaining serious injuries to his spinal cord. Due to significant damage and pressing need for extensive rehabilitation, the cost of his safe transportation back to his home in Yarmouthport, Massachusetts poses a substantial financial burden for his loving family.

Vermette is currently a junior in with a major in Global Studies and concentration in ethics and management. Vermette had spent a majority of his summer volunteering in Ghana in coordination with a farming NGO for two months.

“While in South Africa, he volunteered to help students with math and science homework with an organization called SHAWCO,” said classmate and friend Mark DiMaggio.

In an effort to raise the necessary funds for Vermette’s highly anticipated return, Vermette’s friends and family have joined together to create the “Bring Ryan Home Fund”.

“We are asking for donated items to be raffled at a Family BBQ fundraiser to be held,” reads a flyer detailing information of the event.

“I dont think there has been a more influential person in my life,” said DiMaggio. He is the best person that I have ever met.” In addition to his closest friends, Vermette has touched the lives of many.

“For those who may not know Ryan, he is an amazing young adult who has touched so many lives. He always strives to be the best he can be and is always willing to put others first before himself,” reads the Bring Ryan Home Fund flyer. “It is this caring and passionate personality that sent him to South Africa.”

“Even throughout this entire ordeal his compassion and desire to help other people has not wavered. Anytime that I have spoken with him or others have talked about him, his first questions are about others not himself.”

The Family BBQ will be held on Sunday, June 24, 2012 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Dennis Inn in Dennis, MA. Monetary donations can be sent to:

Bring Ryan Home Fund

c/o Cape Cod Five

514 Station Avenue

South Yarmouth, MA 02664

The countdown to Spring Day began as soon as we returned from spring break, but few students are realizing what exactly they are counting down to. This year, CAB has made it their mission to provide the best possible experience to the students and to outdo all years previous. “This is shaping up to be the best spring day we’ve had so far,” said traditions co-chair Mitch Hadfield.

“This year, we tried to revamp the whole Spring Day process to get more student input. The past decisions were made taking into account as much student opinion as possible, but we wanted a really formal, concrete way of getting student input and running the statistics on it,” said concert committee co-chair Greg Kokino.

CAB sent out a survey that got a generalized overview of some artists students were interested in as well as the genres students want to see. Naturally, with any open-ended survey, the results produced were diverse and numerous with 1,535 respondents. But the information garnered through that survey showed Bentley students preferred hip-hop/rap and electronic/house genres for the headlining performer. From the results, CAB took budget and availability into account to send out a second survey, to which 1,862 students responded, which asked students to rank artists by preference. After those results, Kokino said, “Whatever artist fit [budget and availability] that ranked the highest was the one chosen.”

The White Panda will be the opening performance to Nelly and although many students may not have heard of the mash up masters, they will definitely know the top billboard songs they remix. The survey results also aided CAB in this decision, as it was very clear students want a rap/hip-hop or electric/house show.

“[The White Panda] is the best fusion of electronic music [and hip-hop] while still keeping in line with the Nelly show,” said Kokino.

So, what is on tap for the rest of the day? Traditions committee co-chairs Mitch Hadfield and Madhu Narayan have bigger and better things planned for students this year. Of course, the inflatables are coming back – but don’t just write them off as same old, same old. In addition to the always-fun obstacle course, CAB has rented out some other fun ones. Tournaments will be held throughout the day, including kickball, a scavenger hunt and Harry’s Hill Climb. You can also win prizes at the different carnival games that will be present.

The BBQ near the Dana Center will be complemented with other fun foods. We can all expect the fried oreos and fried dough, but an ice cream truck will also be there. This year, get excited to have smoothies provided by Maui Wowi.

To keep you entertained all day leading up to the concert, CAB has thoughtfully planned big things. The day will feature three live performances. A live karaoke band will be on lower, giving students the opportunity to show off their singing voices as well as their memorization capacities. You better be brave, because this karaoke offers no lyrics screen. But this frees you up to really put on the performance of your life. Starting around 12:30 p.m., a well-known magician from the area will be blowing people’s minds and the Bentley Beats winner, Tyler Winthrop, will be performing to get the crowd amped as they wait in the long line to get into the concert.

CAB really has outdone themselves even just in terms of preparation. They are really making a move to incorporate student opinion and preferences. “[We] are reaching out to freshmen and sophomores on our committees to find out what they want to see as well as juniors and seniors to find out what they’ve already seen,” explains Kokino. Another thing to anticipate on Saturday: a new sound and light system. “With the sound and lights we put in this year, we think we are creating an experience that is unrivaled. When you walk into the Dana Center you will see something you haven’t seen before – guaranteed,” says Kokino. “It is definitely more of an experience than a concert,” adds concert committee co-chair Taylor Murphy.

So hope for amazing weather, prepare yourself for all of the festivities and brush up on your Nelly because for some of you, this will be your last Spring Day! But for the freshmen – welcome to Bentley!l

At a quick glance, Mongolian Grill was experiencing a flurry of activity as usual, but after closer inspection, one would notice that the chefs occupying the space were not Sodexo staff. Books were swapped with kitchen utensils while backpacks were traded for aprons. The clinking and clanking of pots and pans reverberated through the dining hall as the aroma of sautéed shrimp permeated the air. In the midst of all this, competitors flew across the kitchen, determined to hit their stride. Bentley students were beginning to find their cooking flow, as Sodexo hosted its first ever Battle of the Chefs competition.

45 minutes. The start of the entrée round has just begun as finalists of team Radhika Bansil and Alex DeLong and team Tammy Vo and Karen Chan scrambled to put together a dish that would be creative, presentable, and most importantly, delicious. The chefs had already spent 25 minutes familiarizing themselves with the tools and appliances of the Mongolian Grill during the appetizer round. Now, it was all about finding a way to synthesize the list of pantry items and one of the three “mystery” ingredients that John Carney, operations manager and organizer of Battle of the Chefs, sent a week prior to the event. Pressure began to mount as Bansil and DeLong, later explained, “Our dishes didn’t turn out the way we had hoped… We ended up changing our entire game-plan in the last six minutes.” Their quick thinking paid off as the judges thoroughly enjoyed their salmon with wild rice and strawberry salad, eventually crowning them the winning duo of Battle of the Chefs.

30 minutes. Across the grill, opponents Vo and Chan competed determinately. They stuck with Team Bansil and DeLong all the way to the end through their diligence and impressive cooking skills. Karen prepped well, meticulously cutting the tomatoes and zucchini while Vo kept a watchful eye on the stir-fry needed to be stuffed in the vegetables. Ultimately, however, Vo and Chan fell short as they lost by a heartbreaking one point. Even with this disappointing loss, Vo and Chan exhibited great grace as Vo showed tremendous support of the event praising, “ I had such a great time cooking for the judges and being alongside my big, Chen.” Both Chen and Vo are already looking forward to the next Battle of the Chefs to avenge their loss.

10 minutes. Also looking forward to next semester’s competition is the Bentley community. Bansil and Delong and Vo and Chan both had a strong following as their friends and peers came out shouting words of encouragement to urge them along. Even those who did not know either team members personally, walked up to Mongolian Grill curious to see what all the commotion was about. Never were the chefs alone, only relying on each other even in the arena. An executive chef paced the kitchen floor, observing and offering both teams pointers during and after the competition. DeLong described the executive chef as “so helpful” and his tips as “educational.”

1 minute. The overall success of Battle of the Chefs is encouraging to both the Sodexo crew and Jason Laprade, resident district manager of dining services. When asked about how he thought the event went, he beamed, “I am proud of the students. I wish to draw more of the student body around competition and food. Hopefully it will start becoming a semester tradition.”

3 seconds. Reflecting back on their victory, Bansil and DeLong memorably recalls, “[the food] looks like crap but sure as hell tastes good.”

2 seconds. The competitors would like to send special thanks to the judges and the entire Sodexo team for their efforts.

1 second. Be on the lookout for more events hosted by Sodexo in the near future.

Time.

Students engage in competition and networking opportunities

Bentley’s annual Business Bowl was held last weekend for the 15th year in a row and the turnout was impressive, to say the least. With 216 students starting their days as early as 8:30 a.m. and competing and presenting in front of 90 judges, this successful event says a great deal about the passions and entrepreneurial spirit of Bentley students.

Amalissa Beaubrun, Senior and President of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA), explained that the idea of the Business Bowl started 15 years ago by the President of NABA at the time with the intention of giving accounting majors the chance to participate in a friendly case competition that would also serve as a networking opportunity. With the support of corporate partners and the fact that it is now open to students of all majors, the event has expanded year after year. The organization’s ability to bring so many professionals in to act as judges every year demonstrates the strong relationship Bentley has developed both with local Boston companies and with large international corporations. Amalissa assures that the judges are incredibly impressed with the presentations and personalities they encounter during this event and gladly return to meet more driven young minds year after year. The unique thing about the Business Bowl is that it offers the chance for not only students to go up and chat with their respective judges after they’ve presented but also enables professionals to reach out to students who have impressed them and this serves as an incomparable networking platform. The judges consistently meet enthusiastic freshmen and sophomores that have no prior experience with case presentations but are willing to learn through experience. The Bentley community is heavily invested in this event since the three-month long preparation of the Business Bowl called upon members of the NABA Executive board, undergraduate and graduate career services, the accountancy department, the management department and more.

Amalissa advises students hesitant about participating that this opportunity looks intimidating from the outside if you have never experienced it yourself, but the coursework built into the Bentley curriculum is a preparation for events specifically of this nature. “Knowing how to network and how to represent yourself is key as well as not being fearful”, she added. When asked what she would personally do if she had another year to host the Business Bowl, Amalissa hoped that it would get much bigger while retaining the same high quality networking opportunities because it is an important experience to have gone through. She appreciatively states that the committee consistently does an amazing job of keeping all the people involved in mind when planning this major campus-wide event every year.

Congratulations to all the winners of Bentley’s 15th annual Business Bowl case competition. It is truly a feat to win against so many equally bright competitors. The freshmen earning first place include Joseph Hark, Stephen MacKenzie, Dean Wilson, Sara Gallucci, and Tamzin Ellerbeck. The sophomore class winners were Pok Hin Lau, Chunhui Xu, Wei Du, Xiaozi Mei, and Yi Hu. Juniors Lacey Nemergut, Jill Weiss, Tim Avrutik, Juliet DiLillo, and Matthew Rose took home first. The senior class included Carlos Ibarcena, Felipe Unda, Evan Lamanes, Lucas Santos, and Vladimir Parfenov. Last but not least, the graduate students who earned first place were Emira Ajeti, Sezin Ata, Cesar Hernandez, Neel Bhalaria, and Bijal Saurastri.

Battista named tournament Most Outstanding Player, Finn named to all-tournament team

Last week, students flocked to the Executive Dining Room to watch the Senior Class Cabinet’s crowning of Mr. Bentley 2012. Entertained by the six young men, viewers felt the highs, the lows, and all the drama between on the emotional rollercoaster the contestants were riding.

The night’s host, Joe Nascembeni, helped showcase the personalities and talents of the contestants to “determine the man who most represents the utmost Bentley-ness.” Before he went any further, however, he introduced the men and women who would determine the contestants’ fate: the judges. On the panel were the “Queen of Seasons” Camille, “GB 401 Professor Extraordinaire” Montalbano, “Marketing Legend” Ian Cross, and “Sassy Student” Sarah Swidler.

The contestants, unique and talented in more ways than one, represented the epitome of Bentley men: fun guys, great dancers, and sometimes stalkers. As Nascembeni introduced the contenders, we were able to see all that Bentley has to offer. John Chihuli won the ladies over by showing his more sensitive side, admitting he loves long walks on the beach, Madonna, sensitive poetry, and the color fuchsia. Contrasting, Michael Fisch loves to write rap lyrics, hates Valentine’s Day, and enjoys eating ice cream while watching television. We found out perhaps a little too much about Jose Gutierrez, as he revealed both his love affair with Serena Williams and being the love child of Sarah Palin and Clark Kent. Michael Ahrendt came out guns blazing, presenting himself as the “Eighth Wonder of the World” and admitting he is “the envy of other men.” Next, we were introduced to Spencer Smitherman, with whom Nascembeni seemed particularly infatuated. Nascembeni did not hold back, “Between your irresistible blue eyes and your pasty white skin I can hardly contain myself when I spend time with you.” And last, but certainly not least, was James Santalesa whose accolades and talents made him the “most interesting Bentley man in the world.” Not only is he so smart that professors use his tests as the answer key, but he can provide power to NYC for a year, needs to measure his biceps in terms of equatorial circumference, and has a personality so magnetic he cannot carry credit cards.

After such an astounding slew of introductions, the crowd knew the competition would be fierce, causing many of them (21 and older) to run to the cash bar for refills.

The men walked the walk during the talent showcase after Nascembeni talked their talk during introductions. Ladies love a man who can dance, and Chihuli kept with his sensitive introduction by showcasing his diverse repertoire from the YMCA and the Macarena, to Soulja Boy and Cat Daddy. Dr. Fisch delivered an original rap and showed how “Bentley” he is by referencing chicks and FIFO in the same breath. Gutierrez showed why, as Nascembeni says, “they call Spanish a Romance language” as he sang in Spanish and seduced both the girls in the audience and the judges behind the table. Ahrendt was set to have the crowd roaring with laughter, but last minute he decided to dance instead. Now this was a huge risk that could have backfired, but no one can deny the intoxicating powers of the song “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen. Smitherman gave the men in the audience a lesson in how to procure a female’s number in a bar. This was his second choice in talents, but apparently no one wanted to give him a cat to train on stage. His demonstration went just as planned – restraining order with the girl’s number on the public record. Santalesa showed off his sensitive and impressive acoustic guitar skills before breaking out into Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain.”

The final hurdle for the men was the stressful Q&A segment. This was the last opportunity for the judges to really get inside the hearts and minds of the contenders. For example, the judges learned that Ahrendt is not very good at reciting a cheesey pick-up line, which may in fact be a good thing. Fisch’s 24 hours as a girl would ideally be spent in Macy’s to find something nice, and Smitherman wants to combine the voice of Morgan Freeman and the body of a ginger-form of Ryan Gosling to create the superhuman to play him in a movie.

Before Mr. Bentley 2012 was crowned, Nascembeni awarded Mr. Congeniality to the man the contestants voted as the nicest to work with – Mr. Spencer Smitherman. And finally, the moment everyone was waiting for, Mr. Bentley 2012 was awarded to sophomore Jose Gutierrez. Gutierrez, according to the judges with heavy influence by spectator support, was found to be the true essence of Bentley-ness. He is not new to being a leader; on campus Gutierrez is extremely involved. As one of two sophomore representatives on the Honors Student Advisory Council, an undergraduate admissions ambassador, executive producer of student events for BTV, anti-bullying project manager for Service Learning, and a member of both Alpha Psi Omega honorary theatre society and Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity, Gutierrez definitely has his hands full. Now, he can add Mr. Bentley to his long list of duties.

By Lacey Nemergut

Former Bentley University Professor Diane Tetreault has been working with Bentley students and others in the community to assist Father Bill’s, a homeless shelter in Quincy, Massachusetts, in repairing recent damages from an emergency plumbing problem; specifically, a sewer backup in the laundry room ruined necessary linens and bedding for members of Father Bill’s community.

“When I taught at Bentley for the past five years, my students were very committed to service-learning that involved problem solving for Father Bill’s/Mainspring, so I thought it would be smart to let students, faculty and staff know about the linen drive and hope that they’d help out,” said Tetreault.

Father Bill’s/Mainspring serves as a non-denominational non-profit organization aiding homeless individuals by providing temporary shelter, seeking affordable housing, and offering permanent shelter for those who demonstrate a need. There are emergency shelters, family shelters, and permanent housing units.

Currently the Quincy shelter is in need of twin blankets, twin sheets, and towels; nothing needs to match. Donations can be left in the box located outside The Vanguard office Tetreault said she hopes to “fill the void quickly and painlessly.”

“It’s important to note that this organization does more than simply provide a bed and a hot meal, although a bed and hot meal are important components.

“While staying at the shelter, guests can participate in a wide range of services designed to help them move from homelessness to a home of their own,” said Tetreault. “These services include healthcare, adult education, mental health services and substance abuse services. Entering the emergency shelter is often the first door of entry for a homeless person to move toward independent living and self-sufficiency.”

Tetreault is continuing to foster the long term relationship between Bentley and Father Bill’s/Mainspring. “I have been working with Bentley graduates from New Jersey to Maine as well as my own network of friends,” said Tetreault. “Not only has Bentley provided goods and services, but also, Bentley grad John Yazwinsky, CEO and President of FBMS, told me today that Bentley students are presently working on a multi-year project with FBMS to look at the costs of managing homelessness compared to ending it.”

Tetrault hopes that this effort is a step in the right direction. “If there’s ever a chance to diminish homelessness, I think this is the solution,” said Tetreault.

By Sindhu Palaniappan

Bentley will be offering four new Bachelor of Arts programs in addition to a business studies major this coming fall. The new majors include: actuarial sciences, public policy, sustainability sciences, and Spanish studies. The business studies major, or BSM, functions similarly to the LSM paired with a BS degree. This new BSM, consisting of the six general business core classes and two business electives, pairs well with the new majors.

“These majors pair well with a business background,” said Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences Juliet Gainsborough. She went on to explain these new majors go above and beyond what they would at a normal institution, in the sense that these four new majors, paired with the BSM, prepare you for different types of jobs in the business arena.

“Many students make the decision not to come to Bentley because they aren’t entirely committed to business,” said Dean Everett. “All of the new majors fit our business mission, and offer a unique pairing [of both liberal studies and business] that no other institution yet offers.” He went on to explain that majors like the Spanish studies major aren’t just about training students to speak Spanish, but they are intended to teach students the culture and the history, so students can both learn to be fluent and perhaps learn to work in business in a Spanish speaking country.

The Actuarial Sciences program is a development from an existing program – some students currently attending the university major in mathematical sciences with a concentration in actuarial science. Dean Gainsborough explained that this develops that concentration into a free standing major, providing students interested in being actuaries a much better and well-rounded education, both geared towards preparing for their examinations and allowing the university to be recognized as having a specific program for actuaries.

“A career as an actuary requires a combination of strong quantitative and communication skills with a good foundation in business. Bentley is a great place to pursue training for this career since the ability to combine liberal arts and business education is exactly what is required,” said Professor Kimball.

Another new major offered is Public Policy, which is housed in the global studies department.

“The nice thing about pairing this major with the BSM is that it could prepare students to go into the government or the government relations arms of any private business company. Public policy expertise and business principles also extend into non-profit organizations,” said Dean Gainsborough.

The new Bachelor of Arts programs do an immaculate job of catering to what students would like to learn more about, and applying it to something that related to the job field post education. Sustainability Sciences teaches students about natural sciences, environmental public policy and psychology, global challenges, sustainability, and more. The major includes field visit courses that range from Cape Cod to Peru.

“While many other colleges and universities offer excellent environmental science or environmental studies degrees, we will be the only one to pair it with a business studies major. That will give our graduates an advantage when seeking employment and career growth opportunities in the rapidly growing sustainability planning sector of the increasingly energy-intensive and technology-centered economy,” said Professor Rick Oches.

Spanish Studies is not just about the language, but about fluency, the culture, the history and the politics of Spanish speaking regions.

“Schools may aim to prepare students to be [language] teachers or translators, but we want to teach students business principles so they can work for Spanish companies or US companies that work in Spanish speaking regions,” said Dean Gainsborough.

Professor Jane Tchaicha expanded on the experience, explaining that non-native speakers would have the opportunity to study a semester abroad in Spanish speaking countries, and native speakers would have the opportunity to complete an internship in a Spanish-owned and operated company.

These majors and the business studies paired major will officially be online this Fall, however current freshmen and sophomores can go to the respective departments and retrieve the paperwork in order to declare this fall.

“It’s almost a certainty that as knowledge and society evolve, universities have to evolve too,” said Dean Everett. “What we’re really after is educating students, not just attracting them. We can’t just be teaching one set of majors and not paying attention to the changing society around us.”

Luvn’ Local provides incentives to shop

Bentley alumni Monil Kothari and Vikram Chabra, class of 2011, have started Luvn’local, a local business in Cambridge, after drawing significant knowledge from Bentley University’s entrepreneurial spirit and focused classes. Luvn’Local generates rewards points for patrons who shop locally. Consumers earn points and are then able to redeem their points at any participating merchants to receive promotions or discounts.

Kothari and Chabra, both finance majors, began to formulate their business plan while completing the curriculums for Professor Tuffile’s Entrepreneurial Thinking class and Professor Schiavo’s Venture Capital class.

“For both of them, we had to create a business plan for a product or service. Our first iteration of Luvn’local was called OneCard, and it was a service that allowed you to aggregate all your loyalty cards onto one platform,” stated Kothari. “There were huge technical obstacles to this, so we kept changing it. We had multiple “pivots” ranging from high tech loyalty cards to custom built Point of Sales systems. Finally we stepped back and realized that the traditional consumer loyalty market was already saturated and fragmented, so we decided to retool our idea and adjust for small businesses.”

Kothari detailed the challenges the company currently faces given the inherent obstacles of their competitive market. “We’re in a tough market place; the barriers to entry are low, but the hurdles to scalability are very high,” said Kothari. “Besides Groupon no one has “cracked” the local market (and I would argue Groupon’s success). There are obviously huge opportunities for us if we’re the ones who break the code; this also highlights the difficulty of the market space itself. We’re not the first, and we certainly will not be the last company to try breaking into the local loyalty space.”

Furthermore, Kothari spoke to the difficulty of raising capital. “It might seem like many investors just throw their money in anywhere (or at least that’s what TechCrunch might have you believe), but for the most part, investors are strategically investing in companies that have huge potential because scalability is there,” said Kothari.

Luvn’Local has found support from other recent Bentley alumns Adrian Wong and Cortland Johnson, who “are two very recognized startup mentors in Bsoton’s start up scene,” said Kothari. “They’ve connected us with many enriching opportunities. In fact, if it weren’t for Adrian we wouldn’t have known about Boston Beta.”

Looking to the future, Kothari and Chabra have outlined specific short term goals for the expansion and success of their company. “Our short term goals are to create as much traction as we can for Luvn’local in Cambridge, our first network,” stated Kothari. “Beyond that, we want to create a rich feature set for merchants, in order to maximize their engagement with their customers.”

Given their real life experience, living the process detailed quite frequently in our GB curriculum, Kothari offered advice on entrepreneurial practices. “Most of all, know that you will hit extreme lows and highs,” said Kothari. “There have been times where we’ve been discouraged and depressed; enough to almost throw in the towel. At other times, we’ve felt like we were on the top of world, creating the next big thing. If you keep all this in mind, you’ll be that much better prepared to handle a startup.”

Furthermore, Kothari offers a warning for those caught up in the glamorous obsession with becoming the next Mark Zuckerberg. “Do not be fooled by the hype around startups. It is not a rock star life filled with pool parties and beautiful women (or men),” said Kothari. “Instead, expect to sit long hours at your desk grinding away at all sorts of mundane, but important projects. I’ve done everything from filing legal documents to writing 4 different versions of our business plan, to making 6 batches of rice krispy treats. It’s really not fun.”

Lastly, Kothari encourages all students to explore their surrounding area. “Immerse yourselves in Boston’s thriving start up scene,” said Kothari. “Even if you aren’t sure about pursuing a startup yet, the events and organizations in Boston will help shape your decision, and you’ll make many valuable connections along the way.”

Bentley senior Jimmy Haight and Joey Milstein of SUNY Oneonta created Simplify Reality so you can stop procrastinating learning once and for all what the Electoral College is all about or what this whole Occupy Wall Street thing is. They have developed a “launching pad” to start your knowledge in about 400 words. Since their launch date of January 29, they have had early success with getting their message out there – even to readers in Austria!

You never know who you will meet and how events will unfold and when Haight went abroad to Australia, the last thing he was looking to do was find a business partner. Milstein, a business major, and Haight have been close ever since they went down under, sharing interests in music, past times, and especially entrepreneurship.  After throwing any and all ideas back and forth for over a year, they seemed to have stumbled upon a problem that many young people face, so the two men met up and SimplifyReality.com was born.

“People always want to understand the issues going on, but [there is] no real way to get [a] consolidated version of it,” explains Haight. Simplify Reality is your “Cliffnotes to life” and explains serious political issues such as the article “Syrian Conflict Explained” and lighter reviews such as “Battle of the Web Browsers” or “Battle of the Online Music Players.” If there is an issue you want explained, just shoot them a Tweet (e.g.,“Hey, can you simplify March Madness?”), and they will deliver you what their slogan promises: Your World in 400 Words.

As we know from our GB courses, startups require dedication and time. Haight is charged with the responsibility of content management. In the beginning, he and Milstein wrote all of the articles, but now with more writers on board, his main focus is as editor.  All articles are run through him not only to check accuracy, but also to guarantee that only unbiased information will be posted. The point is to give readers a resource from which they can branch out, armed with new knowledge, and form their own opinions and stances.

Nowadays, with college students being those who will find the site the most useful, Milstein and Haight needed to find someone who is “socially fluent,” and who better than Bentley senior Melissa Roehr, named one of bostoninno.com’s top 13 Greater Boston students to follow on Twitter.  “[Social media] just isn’t our cup of tea,” admits Haight. And in the future, they are hoping to add to their arsenal of extraordinary members and writers to produce some of the best content out there. They are looking to expand their collection of, what they like to call, “content gurus,” already garnering the talents of a SUNY senior passionate about political science issues and a young woman extremely knowledgeable on dietetic and nutritional topics.

Simplify Reality prides itself on giving credit where credit is due, and their writers are always cited as the rightful authors. Writers are encouraged to have an open dialogue with Haight and Milstein. “We want [the writers] to write about things that are meaningful to them. If they are passionate about something to write about it, there are people who are passionate enough who want to read it,” says Haight.

Check out simplifyreality.com, and if you like what you see and want to be a part of it, join the team! They are always looking for new writers and contributors, and there is even talk of posting a summer internship to BentleyLink soon. Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and stay connected to relevant issues.

Dana Center filled to the brim with eager students looking to win prizes

Last Friday night, CAB sponsored Bentley’s annual Super Bingo event in the Dana Center, a tradition that has been around for over five years. About 1,300 students participated in the event, hoping to win prizes that included a 42-inch TV, iPad 2, Macbook Air, sports tickets, and $1,000 for various travel trips.

“The turnout was great,” said CAB Traditions co-chairs Madhumita Narayan and Mitchell Hadfield. “Super Bingo is definitely one of the most anticipated and well-attended events that CAB sponsors.”

“For CAB, Super Bingo is an essential event because we love seeing students get excited for such a tradition,” said Narayan. “We love seeing their anticipation.”

The Super Bingo event also incorporated a charity component by allowing students to donate two t-shirts, a pair of jeans, or a dress in return for an extra bingo card. The donations will benefit both Big Brother Big Sisters, a national charitable organization, and Bentley’s own Enchanted Closet, which donates dresses to underprivileged young women. Because this was more difficult than last year’s charity initiative of donating canned goods, no one had to be turned away from the event.

“I’ve heard only positive things about the event from students,” said Narayan. “People loved the prizes and they appreciated the clothing drive. Many students seemed to enjoy having something else to do on a Friday night besides the usual weekend routine.”

At 8 p.m., over 1,000 students lined up outside the Dana Center waiting to gain admittance to the event, which lasted until around 11 p.m. Students then played about 30 rounds of bingo, and many shouted their excitement for their friends when they were close to victory or their disappointment when someone won a prize that they really wanted.

Upon the conclusion of these games, students were able to receive a raffle ticket in return for handing in their bingo cards. During the raffle, even more prizes, including gift cards to local restaurants and popular stores, were given away.

In recognition of the value Bentley students place on the Bubble, the administration is conducting thorough focus groups to better understand and accommodate the needs of students.

“We developed the focus groups as a general assessment tool for the Student Center as well as a more specific tool to gather information that will guide our plans for space changes in the Student Center next year,” said the leaders of the focus groups, Nicole Chabot-Wieferich, Director of Student Activities, and Paul Stanish, Associate Director of Student Affairs.

Generally, the small groups focused on typical student use of the student center. “The focus of the groups concentrated on students’ general patterns of traffic on campus and particularly in the Student Center,” said Chabot-Wieferich and Stanish.

Starting with this general umbrella question, Chabot-Wieferich and Stanish hoped to narrow the focus on the frequency with which students utilized Bubble services. Specifically, they aimed to concentrate on Bubble services that lacked what student’s felt would be equivalent substitutes. Two proposed questions included: “What are the untouchable aspects of the Student Center?” and “What could the Student Center afford to lose with minimal impact?”

Conclusive results that the team found indicated that the most popular demands of the Student Center include meeting rooms, unique study spaces, and printing opportunities.

“It became very clear that students see the Student Center as a premium location on campus and their home away from home,” said Chabot-Wieferich and Stanish. “The building lends itself well to socializing and studying which makes it a very popular space for most students.”

The primary issue behind the need for these focus groups is space. “As we spoke about next year’s space planning, the strong identity that students have with the Bubble was very evident,” said the team. “The need for individual group offices in the era of digital communication and file storage, however, was deemed less necessary as we move forward.”

Given the greater need for space planning and full accommodation of Bentley’s counseling and residence life services, students have voiced consent to a compromise: “Most students did say, however, that they would rather student organizations stay in the student center next year, even if that means having space that is smaller and less flexible than the Bubble has been,” said the team.

Mixed emotions were drawn from the team’s efforts. While students identified clear positives of the plan, there were blatant negatives as well.

“Students are pleased that there is no plan to cut any services that we currently offer in the building,” said the team. “I also believe that students are happy to hear that we all want to keep this a student centered building, despite the heavier administrative presence for next year. We also saw a great deal of optimism about what the changes might provide in the long term for student club and organization space.”

Such positive feedback and student perspective provided the team with detailed insight as the proceed further with the project. “It provides us an opportunity to think critically about what students and student organizations need so that we can provide an optimal space inside the Student Center in future years,” said the team.

Negative feedback, as anticipated prior to the focus group presented itself through student personal experience and emotional connection to the area. “Students are understandably concerned about losing office space, storage space, and group meeting space for next year with the Bubble offline,” said the team. “They are also concerned about losing a space that means a great deal to their identity as a student/student leader on campus.”

With this specific and focus feedback, the team hopes to move forward with student suggestions and perspectives in mind. “While there will be construction happening next year in other parts of campus, we have not addressed any construction to the Student Center for either the temporary or permanent plans moving forward,” said the team. “Paul and I, with the help of our student committee, will review all of the feedback and develop recommendations for space in the Student Center for next year.”

RHA Breaking the Fund Raising Record though Breakfast by Moonlight!

Last semester, The Residence Hall Association raised $2,086.53 from the 41st Breakfast by Moonlight event to donate to Chesterbrook, a Learning Center located in Waltham. With that number, last semester’s Breakfast by Moonlight officially became the event that collected the highest amount of fund raising ever by RHA.

Breakfast by Moonlight, for those of you who haven’t heard of it, is a one-night event taking place in Seasons on the Reading Day before Finals Week. It’s an event to relieve stress before the final exams. Each year, RHA co-sponsors the night with another group on campus; Fall 2011 was Bentley Student Gaming Organization. With $2 admission ($1 for those who are dressed to theme) you can come to have free food and play free Xbox with prizes.

Saahil Melwani, RHA’s treasurer, recorded that 1,165 students came to Breakfast by Moonlight last December.. Melwani says there are key factors that attract so many people to come to the event, especially when people are in the tensest and most stressful period of time. One is that RHA chooses a different theme for Breakfast by Moonlight each semester. Therefore, people don’t get bored of the repetition and are always excited to see what’s coming up. Also, RHA invites live musical bands and professors to come to join the students. Breakfast by Moonlight becomes a place for students to meet each other and have some fun before confronting the most important week of the semester.  A contributing factor to last semester’s success was the fact that the event was co-sponsored with Bentley Game Society to set up Xbox 360s that students could play for free.

Chesterbrook is a free after-school learning center for children whose parents cannot afford a regular after-school program. Chesterbrook has been partners with Bentley University for years and receives donations and volunteers from us each year. The funds that were raised from Breakfast by Moonlight will be spent to upgrade Chesterbrook’s facilities and supplies.

RHA has always been one of the organizations that has had the most impact on campus; not just actively working in the domain of campus, RHA even makes its impact outside of its border, by establishing charitable fundraising through campus events, such as Breakfast by Moonlight.

“Even though we are just a residence hall association and the amount of charity fund is not that big, we learn to work hard for a better community not only on campus but also outside of the campus,” says Melwani.

Forming this type of events is an effective way to benefit both the local town community and the students’ community. It also shows how much RHA and the Bentley students as a whole care about the welfare of the local community.

“We love to do this event every semester, so it is a great way to give back to the community,” said Patrick Rielly, Vice President of RHA External Affairs.

With the passion of the E-board of RHA and the support from us Bentley students, hopefully this semester’s Breakfast by Moonlight will not only give students a good time before the finals but also break the fund raising record yet again.

For information about Chesterbrook Learning Center, visit chesterbrookwaltham.org.

Student organizations may need to make a move

Dramatic office changes are underway on Bentley University Campus for the 2012-2013 academic year. After completion of the current construction in LaCava and future renovations in historic Lewis Hall, the counseling center will move to the Residential Center area, the Residential Center will move into Bubble offices and Bubble offices will potentially be dispersed throughout the student center. After 2013, the administration plans to move the wellness and counseling centers to Lewis hall in order to maximize student benefit in their environment.

“We have long envisioned the ideal of having a Wellness Center where mind and body health are integrated,” stated Dean Andrew Shepardson. “Lewis Hall will be a great location for this. There will be the ability to focus more on preventative care such as meditation and yoga as well as integrating services.”

Currently, the Bubble is home to various student organizations which have either applied for an office for the year or are guaranteed permanent office space. This temporary move will displace their usual operations throughout the year.

“We have talked to the student groups impacted and students understand this disruption is temporary and will lead to a great end result,” said Shepardson. “Students have been very supportive and helpful. A student group is currently working on how to ensure we make this work for all students.”

In addition to displacing student offices, the changes will also affect the lounge area built in for students, equipped with printers, couches, and chairs.

“A sense of community stems from this building,” stated SGA member Buddy Gormley during the meeting, referring the many uses of the student center.

“Staff members and students are working on the logistics of the temporary moves and we are confident that while some functions may have to shift to other parts of the building we will be able to continue to offer all of the services expected,” said Shepardson.

Paul Stanish, Associate Director of the Student Center, recently met with SGA, staging a pseudo-focus group where they discussed typical daily uses of various buildings throughout campus. The lounge area in the bubble was mentioned as a popular study destination, while the printers were named for their convenience.

Stanish and other administration members are working to coordinate another focus group to which they have invited the top thirty Bubble printer users since the beginning of the school year. This ranking was determined by number of swipes into the system.

“As far as the temporary moves are concerned this plan has relatively no costs (other than moving) and this is why it was developed,” said Shepardson.

SGA will continue to work with the administration as they work out details for these construction plans.

“Changes like this are difficult,” said Shepardson. “Many staff members will be moving functions twice in just over one year. Students will be, at minimum, inconvenienced. However, I am very confident that the end result will be terrific and well worth it….I encourage students with concerns or ideas to bring them forward (to SGA or to me directly).

Do you think positively about your future? Or, do you envision it as the famous apocalyptic movies? Over the years, people have focused on measuring others’ happiness based on things that aren’t really important to them, like their wealth. In reality, these measures of GDP and purchasing power parity measure production, but they fail to measure the only thing that makes life worthwhile.

Then, what makes life worthwhile? Well, according to a survey, the top three things that people really want are love, health, and happiness. Happiness is the number one aspiration of humankind. The New Economics Foundation created the Happy Planet Index (HPI), and they believe that the goal of every nation should be creating equilibrium between maintaining its resources and becoming happy. They created a graph where on the vertical axis we have the measure of happy life years and on the horizontal axis, we have the ecological footprint. When we look at this graph, the countries that seem to be the future of the world are the Latin American countries rather that the United States and the western world.

So, what can we do as a nation to be happy or to increase our HPI? We need to be happy and at the same time minimize the use of our resources. So, let’s turn off our lights when we get out of our dorm rooms. Bentley’s campus is ahead of many others with its Blackout Challenge. Let’s use the recycling bins all over campus and let’s try to use less paper. Let’s make Bentley resource-efficient. All of these tiny steps will reduce our ecological footprint.

But now we also need to focus on trying to be happy. According to the foresight program, a project that was looking for the positive actions for wellbeing, there are five things that will help us feel happier. The number one is to connect or socialize. Bentley offers so many opportunities to meet new people that might have the same interests as you do, which is something that it prides itself on. There are also organizations that can connect you with others to work together toward a common goal, like the Festival of Colors. Let’s get involved!   The second is to be active. Let’s walk to the gym and get a moment of distraction from all the assignments and free our minds. This will clear our minds and help us continue with our assignments. The Dana Center is more advanced and nicer than many other universities’ athletic facilities and we should take advantage of it. The third one is to take notice. We need to be aware of what goes around us. Be aware of all the events on campus that might create a life changing opportunity for you. The fourth is to keep learning. That is easy; since here, we learn every day. What we need to do is find the greatness of this learning and not just try and memorize for the sake of our GPA. We should focus more on better understanding what we are learning. Never stop learning. The final is to give. Helping others will make you happy. Get involved in service-learning, a great and unique experience where you make others happy. Help your own classmates and help those who really need help by tutoring.

It’s possible to achieve all five ways towards happiness that don’t cost the world. Bentley provides us with all the opportunities; we just need to be aware of them. You should wake up every morning thinking about the positive things that your day will bring. Don’t wake up thinking about how hard GB is. Wake up thinking about how well you will do on your presentation and how everyone will enjoy it. Think about all the things you will learn on this day. Stop thinking that the future will be a nightmare and envision it as a dream – a dream that can come true.

Over the past week, the Bentley population has been swarming to one popular Facebook page – Bentley Memes. The page points out the quirks of Bentley and was created by our very own Conner Charlebois. Charlebois is a sophomore at Bentley who is majoring in Computer Information Systems. He created the page in his spare time. Charlebois is a busy student as a member of numerous clubs and he holds jobs around campus. He created the page, not expecting much, but the page spread like wildfire and does not show signs of stopping.

So, what inspired Charlebois in the first place? “I’ve really enjoyed meme humor,” he said. Over winter break, he thought of the idea when he frequented the popular 9gag.com. “I noticed Canadian universities had Facebook pages with memes that made fun of other competing schools. I wanted to make it better spirited and point out the quirks of Bentley,” Charlebois said. The popularity of the page has been growing tremendously; the first day had about ten likes, which exploded the next day. This came as a shock to Charlebois, as it started mostly as an outlet for himself. “I made the page on Friday night and it was going to be a page for me to post memes that I liked,” he said. Once he opened it up to users to post their own, it grew to over 1,300 likes and more that 275 user posts in just over a week.

The Bentley Meme page has been getting a lot of attention and Charlebois was asked by some of the students to make the page easier. “I’ve had a lot of requests to organize the memes by the number of likes. It’s a logistical challenge to do that on Facebook,” he said. This project has taken on a life of its own that he now has a small team of moderators to assure that the content is of sufficient quality. Charlebois was toying with the idea of moving the page away from Facebook to its own website, but there were challenges associated with that. By being on Facebook, students “don’t have to open up another page in their browser,” Charlebois said. Our new content gets routed straight to their newsfeeds.”

With a passion for the memes that he created and for the user-created ones, Charlebois must have a favorite. “My favorite meme was the one about the most interesting cat in the world which says ‘I don’t always eat seasons, but when I do its almost as good as meow mix.’” As a CIS major, Charlebois has been working with advanced programs for years, which lends itself to other works that the Bentley student body would enjoy. “The team and I are working on some things and you’ll just have to wait and see. We are looking at Facebook apps and other uses for social sharing,” he said.

By opening up the page to the Bentley public, many students have been able to show their creativity in a humorous way. The page has sparked many people to express the little quirks at Bentley in the form of memes, which most of us can relate to. The Bentley Meme page has brought the Bentley community closer together with humor. Although Charlebois initially created the page just for fun, it has formed this community, because students understand the little things that only Bentley students notice around campus. Charlebois has a strong belief in the power of humor to affect a person’s feelings and mood, and he hopes that the humor generated from the page will help foster a greater sense of school spirit. The Bentley Memes page continues to grow and bring happiness to Bentley students and brings us together in a way that was not anticipated.

“The heart to conceive, the understanding to direct and the hands to execute”

Yvonne Yaw, beloved teacher, colleague, and friend of the Bentley community, passed away at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Tuesday, January 31 at age 75 after a courageous fight with pneumonia and heart complications. President Gloria Larson addressed the Bentley community late Tuesday afternoon to inform those she had touched of her peaceful passing.

Yaw was born on August 16, 1936 in Columbus, Ohio. She graduated from Wellesley College in the class of 1957 as a Durant Scholar. She then continued with her education as one of the first two women to receive a Ph.D. in English from Harvard University. Following her impressive schooling, Yaw accepted a career at Bentley University, where she would become an integral part of the community for the next 30 years teaching English, drama and creative writing.

“Yvonne was a loved and respected colleague, scholar, teacher, mentor and friend, and we are so fortunate to have had her as a part of the Bentley community for so long,” said Larson to the community. “Her department chairs and students heralded her as a popular and innovative professor whose classes were interactive and creative, helping to bring to life her courses in drama, literature, fiction writing, Shakespeare, gender issues and images of women and men in literature.

While at Bentley, Yaw led the Gender Issues Council, while teaching Bentley’s first women in literature courses. She later continued to teach a popular Contemporary Women Dramatists course which included student-produced plays and insight into feminist theory. She also facilitated Bentley’s relationship with the Patrina Foundation, an organization that supports women’s studies initiatives.

“I am comforted by the emails I have received from Yvonne’s former students who are eager to express their admiration for her,” said Wiley C. Davi, the English and Media Studies Department Chair. “Students describe her as someone who loved being in the classroom, who cared about them, and who influenced them significantly.”

Another colleague in her department, Pierce Butler, described her with words from a 13th century poet, Jelaluddin Rumi:

Keep walking, though there’s no path.

Don’t try to see into the distance: that’s not for human beings.

Don’t move the way fear makes you move.

Move within.

Outside the Bentley community, Yaw pursued her passions and interests, benefiting society with her involvement. After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the early 1980s, she became a peer counselor at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge. Yaw chose to donate her body to advance multiple sclerosis research. In addition to her contribution to the MS community, Yaw was President of English At Large, an organization that provided free English and literacy skills tutoring to various communities in Eastern Massachusetts.

With a love for English, she wrote her own novels, receiving popular recognition for them in the field of literature. For her novel, “Sky”, Yaw received the top award for fiction from the Artists Foundation of Massachusetts in 1987, and the Esteemed Daughter of Mark Twain award by the Mark Twain Journal. Her other novels included “Woman Doctor” and “Weave the Thread with Bones”.

Yaw inspired her colleagues with her intense dedication to her field of study and love for her students. Catherine Fung, Assistant Professor of English, described the impact Yaw has left on her. “I didn’t know Yvonne well— I’ve only been at Bentley for less than 2 years, but I know that she had taught for longer than I have been alive, and she still maintained a passion for her work and for her students. Whenever I come home from a rough day of teaching and wonder if I can continue in this career, I draw inspiration from her strength and endurance.”

Diane Tetreault, colleague and close friend during her days at Bentley, whom Yaw often conversed with about writing, literature, pedagogy and family, said, “I appreciated the time we spent talking about different teaching strategies. This past summer she called me to talk about how I taught graphic novels. We spent hours on the phone and explored Persepolis in detail. It was such fun. She didn’t hesitate to learn something new and find a meaningful way to share it with her students and her colleagues. I will miss her.”

There will be a memorial service for Yvonne Yaw which will be held on Saturday, February 11 at 2:00 p.m. at First Parish Church in Lexington, Massachusetts.

]]> http://bentleyvanguard.com/2012/02/09/remembering-professor-yvonne-jeannine-yaw/feed/ 0 http://bentleyvanguard.com/2012/02/09/lurch-forward-correct-your-math-skills-now/ http://bentleyvanguard.com/2012/02/09/lurch-forward-correct-your-math-skills-now/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:03:14 +0000 gavanguard http://bentleyvanguard.com/?p=13483

Professor Nathan Carter of Bentley University is in the final stages of designing a free, math software, Lurch to help students correct their math. Professor Carter has been working on bringing about Lurch for the past 10 years, with the help of his former Professor, Ken Monks at the University of Scranton.

Professor Carter is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Bentley University, and has been teaching since the Fall of 2004. He conceived the idea for Lurch during his undergraduate studies in Professor Monks’ class. Professor Monks “wanted everything to be done very particularly and all the steps laid out, which for the specific stuff he was teaching, was really helpful to know what was going on instead of thinking you had done it right when you really hadn’t.

Carter said, “I started to think, well gee, could a computer help me check my work here. Then he [Professor Monks] and I started to talk about not only would it be useful in that class, but in other classes. We started to think about what math classes you could build this for and what you would need to do.”

“Lurch is a word processor that you can type mathematics into,” said Carter. Moreover, he said ,“Whenever you have something you want the software to pay attention to like in a mathematical equation, [you] highlight and say this is meaningful – pay attention to this. Then it would look at all of the little pieces of math you had put in that way, and especially if you put in reasons. It will try to see, OK, is there reason for why that’s true?

Originally, the software had been designed to be directed by the students. Thus, students input their desired math actions and the software would do it for them. This would prevent them from doing illegal or incorrect operations. However, the students in Professor Carter’s logic class found that while helpful, it was also too easy and after a while students just started plugging and chugging to see what worked. Hence, the shift to the current design, which forces students to do all the work and then allows the software to check to see if there is a mistake.

Professor Richard Cleary, the former chair of the Mathematics Department at Bentley, further explained that, “Lurch is meant to check a student’s logical progression through a problem.  This is easiest to imagine in a ‘pure math’ setting like geometry or logic.  However, even at Bentley where most of our courses are applied, students studying mathematics have to know if the sequence of steps they are taking to solve a problem is reasonable.  Lurch has a lot of potential to help demystify the problem solving process.”

In order to finance Lurch, Carter applied for the National Science Foundation’s Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement Program grant. There are three phases of grants for this program; the first for starting and testing a new idea/concept, the second to broaden it, and the third to expand its availability nationally. Carter’s award grant is of the first phase and is financed for four years, in the amount of $130,000. This is the fourth year, and the latest version of Lurch is anticipated to be released in mid-February of 2012. Lurch is licensed as an open source code, meaning that it can be adapted by other individuals to suit their needs, but because it’s open source, any adaptations made to Lurch as well as the original Lurch will remain free to the public. For more information about Lurch, visit lurch.sourceforge.net/.

Professor Lucia Kimball, current chair of the Mathematics Department at Bentley, summarized that Lurch is “a really exciting project. It’s a great tool for helping students learn math and it’s very different than anything out there.” It “gives us the opportunity to do some different things in our classes.”

Shortages of books at the Bentley Bookstore have left a number of students wondering when their orders will be coming in.

Coming into the spring semester, some students were forced to attend the first days of classes without their books. Such delays left students curious as to what the problem was. Regional Manager for B & N College, Teresa Cury, shared her thoughts on the cause of the shortage, “In most situations, it was human error. The missing titles were not ordered in a timely manner.” Cury added in the bookstore’s defense, “We responded immediately to identify which classes and faculty were impacted.” To benefit the students left without books, Cury and her colleagues “worked with the faculty to keep them updated on their required course material and when it would be available in the bookstore” to prevent any more stress for the affected students.

To fix the problem, Cury mentioned, “Once the titles were identified we worked with the publishers, other store locations, and our home office partners to expedite shipping and ensure the majority of the books were on the shelf within 1-2 business days.” While this fixed most of the book shortages, sophomore Lissie Martin was faced with a much worse delay, “There was a problem with my lit class where we did not get one of our books in until two weeks into the semester.” In regards to ordering books unavailable at the bookstore, sophomores Ally Dorman and Abby Mixer shared their alternatives, “Amazon all the way” and “Bigwords.com,” respectively.

Looking back on the shortage of books, Cury said, “While this was not an ideal situation, the entire Bentley campus community has been supportive and understanding.”

The regional manager shared her plan for moving ahead, “We are reviewing all of our processes, timelines, and communications to ensure we have all the resources and training necessary to prevent this from happening in the future.” Cury was also very apologetic to those students who were affected by the book shortage, “we regret that we had some classes where we failed to provide course materials at the start of classes.”

On behalf of B & N College, Cury said, “We have proudly served the Bentley University campus for over 25 years.” Throughout all those years, there has never been a shortage of books as serious as this spring semester. As for the future, Cury concluded, “We are committed to resolving any issues and working collaboratively with the Bentley campus community going forward.”

Bentley ranks #11 on Forbes’ “Colleges That Will Make You Rich”

This past December, Bentley University was ranked eleventh place on the list of “Colleges That Will Make You Rich” after graduation, as produced annually by Forbes.com. The unique ranking focused on college graduates whose future endeavors exceeded expectations based on their school’s ranking in quality of education and student population.

The study was part of Forbes’ annual rankings conducted in 2010, but was just recently pushed on the web, thus subject to a basic Google search.  It does not simply list the colleges whose students earn the most money after graduation.  Instead, the rankings were determined by looking at which schools produced graduates who rose above salary expectations.

“We first control for student background,” noted the article.  “Then, we calculate how much you would expect graduates to earn in their careers, and we compare that to their actual earnings.  Schools that do the best job raising their students above expectations rank higher on the list.”

“Their formula seems to focus on how well a school prepares its students, regardless of their financial background,” said Bentley’s News & Communications Department and Institutional Research Department in a joint statement.  “Based on this, we are pleased to see Bentley rank well.  Among the top ranked schools are several that combine a professional education (business or engineering) with liberal arts, emphasizing critical thinking and analysis – a hallmark of the Bentley experience… One can surmise that this type of integrated education is the key to financial and other types of success.”

The News & Communications Department and Institutional Research Department also emphasized the importance of keeping rankings in perspective. “We know rankings are helpful to many in choosing a school and to employers in assessing a candidates’ background,” they said.  “While some are more credible and objective than others in their data gathering and methodologies, we can find useful information in almost all of them.”

“For this one, our community can take pride in the fact that our graduates are outperforming expectations and proving that the Bentley experience is a stepping stone to financial success.”

To conduct its rankings, Forbes.com contracted with The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, an independent, not-for-profit research center.  Together, they used data from schools that is publicly available, as well as student surveys from a variety of sources online.

After reading the internet-released rankings, sophomore Julia Osborn responded, “I guess it gives me high expectations to be rich at some point in my life after I pay back student loans of course. It makes me proud to see our school represented in this unique national ranking”

The study used the average salaries of alumni 10 to 19 years after graduation to determine these rankings.

The top three schools on the list were Williams College ($120,684.00), Dartmouth College ($120,468.00), and Stanford University ($116,954.00).  Bentley’s average salary was reported as $95,948.00.

Given the choice, students prefer to pay for parking over cable

Last semester, Dean Andrew Shepardson notified the student population that necessary monetary changes would take place affecting either the student body’s cable usage or parking permission. In response to such a magnanimous potential change in student life, SGA and RHA sponsored forums, featuring further explanation from the dean. After careful consideration from all parties involved, the administration has decided to impose a permanent parking fee starting in the fall semester of 2012 in order to supplement our current budget.

“At the conclusion of the fall semester, after gathering a great deal of student feedback, the Student Government Association unanimously passed a bill against adding an additional fee for cable.  Together with the budget office of the university, we were able to identify other areas of savings and not need to institute this new fee,” stated Shepardson.

Shepardson also spoke to the complications a cable fee would have posed, “There were many reasons, but primarily that students regularly watch cable TV.  In addition, it would be a complicated service to split up among roommates (if some wanted to pay for cable and some did not).  Finally, it would not have been easy to create an individual billing plan for students.  Students would have to pay the residential rate rather than the bulk rate currently charged to the university. The residential rate was considerably more expensive and would take more time to implement at the beginning of each semester, as students would have to pick up new convertors when they moved in to housing.

“Cable continuing to be a free service is a direct result of the students and administration working together towards a common goal,” stated SGA president Maggy Reynolds. “Most students were comfortable with the introduction of a parking fee and from our conversations with administration, SGA believes this fee will be fair and comparable with other similar schools. SGA was also very grateful to work with RHA, ABA and AIA on these issues.”

Shepardson acknowledged what he felt was the students’ general reasoning to justify a parking fee. “Students recognized that there is a cost associated with maintaining the parking facilities that currently all students pay for through tuition and fees.  Most schools researched charge for parking and it seemed reasonable to do so.”

Nearby, in the Boston suburbs at Brandeis, residents pay about $125 per year. Further away, at Boston College, residents pay $518 a semester or are given the option of contacting a private company to discus other rates. In Cambridge, Harvard residents are charged a yearly rate of $2,811. Meanwhile, in the city of Boston, Boston University student residents must pay anywhere between $571.32 and $967.14.

The Dean and the administration are currently unsure on the exact fee amount at this time. Shepardson and Police Chief Ernest Leffler plan to present a formal suggestion to SGA in the near future.

“SGA is extremely thankful to all of the students who voiced their opinions on these issues and to the administration who worked with us to come to this conclusion. We had a very constructive forum and countless conversations with students all over campus to find out what they really wanted and needed,” stated Reynolds.

“I think [the forums] allowed for a two-way conversation that helped students understand why we were looking at these changes and for the administration to understand the student perspective.  It helped us a great deal and we have an outcome that took into account many viewpoints,” concluded Dean Shepardson.

After the Jell-O wrestling competition this past Saturday, Alpha Gamma Pi (AGP) brothers regarded the event as “the cat’s pajamas” for its success. It is a long standing event that for the last 10 years has been honored by the brothers of Alpha Gamma Pi as a tradition.

At 7:30 p.m. on January 28, the Back Bay doors opened and spectators began filing in. After paying the $7 admission fee or $5 in advance from a brother, everyone entered the room to be met by quite a spectacle. In front of them stood a 12 foot long, 8 foot wide and 5 foot tall pit filled with green gelatin. In total, the builders of the pit said that it contained more than 10 barrels of green Jell-O, costing several hundred dollars and took more than a day to build. Around the edge of the pit were gym pads and a tarp to provide for a safe competition.

When 8:00 p.m. hit, the competition began with a round robin tournament to determine the two teams that would move on to the final round. The competitors were as follows: Brittani Yeung and Courtney Smigiel from Alpha Phi, Julianne Deleo and Kirsten Dean, Chanel Batiste and Nicole Coolbrith from Phi Sigma Sigma, and Anika Sutty and Christine Mazza.

Each round, one competitor faced off against the opposing team for one minute and then switched with their partner. Two referees (Jarrod Allen and Nolan Taormino) were in the ring keeping the match safe and fair. A panel of three judges determined the winner of each round and the team that would move on, closer to the final round. The competition raged on between the teams of two until the team of Batiste and Coolbrith would compete against the team of Sutty and Mazza. This was Coolbrith’s second year in a row fighting in the final round.

For the final round, each wrestler competed for a minute and a half then switched with their partner as usual. However, for the last round, the teams could choose their best wrestler to send out to win the match. Eventually, the team of Batiste and Coolbrith were chosen as the victors, receiving the highly sought after Jell-O wrestling championship title and trophy.

The Back Bay was full of spectators who cheered on the competitors and it was truly a night to remember. When asked about the event, which has been running for 10 years now, AGP President Ethan Machurat said, “It’s always a fun event. A lot of work to put on, but we’re able to raise a lot of money for the YMCA.” Alpha Gamma Pi, through this event, was able to raise roughly $600 which is donated to their local philanthropy partner, the Waltham YMCA.

By Lesile Dias

It is easy to be at Bentley and be consumed by the “Bentley bubble.”It can appear as though the world outside of the intersection of Forest Street and Beaver Street does not exist, and we go about our merry way up the Smith stairs and to the classes, people and drama that have become the norm for us.

However, there are many news highlights that capture even the attention of the most oblivious audiences, and those images are plastered on this week’s front page. In a tribute to a year with good, bad and everything in between, like the rest, 2011 was a year for the books.

So, if you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, here are some of the highlights. For starters, we all faced the “Snowpocalypse” this past January and February, with a snowfall of 35 inches after just one storm in some areas of Massachusetts, and snow storms after snow storms hitting states all over the country.

Concurrently, the world got their first look at the Middle East uprisings, starting in Egypt and Tunisia. Protesters fought gruesome battles for democracy against long standing dictatorships. The uprisings continue in several other Middle Eastern countries, including Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen.

In March, Japan was hit simultaneously with a tsunami and an earthquake. Coming in as the sixth largest earthquake since 1900, the earthquake set off the deadly tsunami that swept the shores of Northern Japan. With death counts in the thousands and an estimated cost of $300 billion, it was one of the costliest disasters of all time.

Mother Nature continued her disaster reign in the U.S. in May with the Joplin, Missouri tornado causing Missouri’s largest insurance payout in the state’s history from the storm’s damage.

May began with the announcement that on May 1, 2011, Osama Bin Laden had indeed been found and killed by U.S. Navy Seals. With triumphant outbursts happening all over the country, Bentley University made its appearance on CNN’s top university celebrations for Bin Laden’s death.

June brought much jubilation in Boston when the Boston Bruins took home the Stanley Cup, being the last of the four Boston sport teams to win a championship in the past seven years.

The LGBTQ community made strides this summer with gay marriage being legalized in the state of New York in June, and in July, a group of U.S. service members marched in the gay pride parade in San Diego, leading an unprecedented step for gay and lesbian personnel in the U.S. military.

On July 22, 2011, Norway experienced two terrorist attacks in the same day, one happening at the government headquarters and the other at a summer camp supported by Norway’s Labour Party. The attack killed over 70 civilians.

The beginning of what has now been labeled the European Debt Crisis ignited this summer in July with a new round of bailouts failing to calm the markets in Europe. The economic condition of Europe has not gained its momentum yet and is still currently facing issues in its banking sectors.

Also in July, the music world mourned the death of Amy Winehouse, British singer-songwriter, after she was found dead in her home in London, England.

Contrary to what some may believe with the confusion surrounding the riots in England, Amy Winehouse’s death was not the cause. Although the riots seem to have begun in relation to a police shooting of a London man in August, reasons for the riots are contributed to several political, social and economic factors faced by the English citizens.

Hurricane Irene touched down on the East Coast of the U.S. in late August, causing widespread destruction, an estimated damage of $10-15 billion and 56 deaths.

September 11, 2011 marked the 10-year anniversary of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks. With the announcement of Bin Laden’s death earlier in the year, Americans could finally gather some kind of justice from the monumental attacks.

September was also marked by beginning of the Occupy movement which started on New York City’s Wall Street. With demonstrations springing up in cities and university campuses all over the United States, the movement is against social and economic inequalities and unemployment. They use the tagline, “We are the 99 percent” to bring attention to the growing financial disparity between the rich and the poor in the U.S.

The death of Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, Inc. and one of the foremost leaders in innovation, has ended the year on a more somber note. The business world looks for others to follow in Jobs’ very large footsteps.

And how can we forget those interesting discussions that took place mid-2011 claiming that the world was in fact ending on May 21? The discussion led by American Christian radio host, Harold Camping, was backed by religious evidence that predicted the world would come to an end. Luckily, we can wait until next year’s last edition of The Vanguard in December 2012. Have fun with that recap, Sindhu.

Marketing Bentley as more than just a business university

Many find the task of describing Bentley University in one word to be difficult. David Perry, chief marketing officer of Bentley, spoke to the Student Government Association (SGA) about marketing the University in order to spread the word about the institution.

The Marketing Department is working on sifting through their research in order to develop advertising and marketing techniques they hope to debut within the next few months to one year. Bentley is already considered to be a positive university that is emerging onto the scene, with the 11 audiences recognizing Bentley’s strengths.

Though there are some misconceptions that Bentley is solely an accounting, business preparation school that is not innovative, it is one of two universities, the other being Babson, with EQUIS accreditation in the United States, which is the European Quality Improve System, showing that Bentley is well-rounded in the business field.

Perry described Bentley as being in “good position with a lot of potential.” Surprised that awareness for the University is not higher, Perry helped to conduct research that covered 11 different audiences, including current students, prospective undergraduate high school students, parents, faculty, alumni and more. Research was conducted to “evaluate Bentley awareness, perception and attributes” as a university to see where the institution stood in comparison to others, as well as to see how known Bentley was to the 11 audiences.

According to the research conducted by Perry, Bentley is seen by others as having “three core brand strengths,” which are a great accounting and finance reputation, high job placement and being well known for its real-world, hands-on experience. Without providing Bentley as a choice in the survey conducted (unaided awareness), Bentley was named six percent of the time when survey participants were asked to name colleges or universities in the Northeast region. When asked, again unaided, to name undergraduate business colleges or universities, Bentley was named 24 percent of the time, ultimately showing itself as the highest percent overall. With Bentley’s name given as a choice among a list of undergraduate business schools (aided awareness), survey participants chose the university 49 percent of the time.

Perry said that it is a challenge to be clear about what Bentley is. He said he was “impressed with the student body, along with how agile both the faculty and students are to new trends and markets.”

“The University is unique in that it’s a business university,” said Perry. “In a way, I am surprised that awareness is not higher for such a solid, accomplished institution.”

One reason for this lack of awareness could stem from the fact that Bentley is a business school, unlike other schools such as Boston College, Boston University and Northeastern.  These are all institutions that have been around much longer than Bentley, and they are larger schools that are not solely business based.

Freshman Andrew Hoey said that he would call Bentley “advanced” as an institution.

“I applied to Notre Dame, BC, Providence, Holy Cross, Babson, Quinnipiac, St. Michael’s and Bryant, but I chose Bentley because it had the best credentials,” said Hoey.

Sophomore Rachel Fern said, “I applied to Quinnipiac, Siena, University of Rochester, SUNY Binghamton, WPI and Clarkson University because I was between business and engineering. I chose Bentley because I felt that it would provide me with endless opportunities, and I really felt like I could picture myself coming here.”

It is clear that some students are not going to be interested in Bentley because it is known as a business school. Perry stressed that “Bentley should not try to be something [the institution] is not” because it will turn away prospective students. There are good alternatives that make Bentley flexible, such as Liberal Studies Majors to coincide with a business degree, and all students are required to take courses not strictly business, such as natural sciences. Perry added that there is a “nice balance between social and academic life” here on campus between internships, clubs and service learning opportunities.

In order to further brand Bentley, Perry said, “The best thing we can do is have graduates that go out and make a difference.”

Bentley focuses on well-rounded approach

A unique characteristic of Bentley’s curriculum is the Liberal Studies Major (LSM), which gives students the option of choosing to double major in an area of liberal studies in addition to their business major. However, students are not able to pursue a double business major. Juliet Gainsborough, associate dean of Arts and Sciences, and Dorothy Feldmann, associate dean of Business Programs, explained the reasons behind this setup.

In addition, Bentley offers “very thorough” major programs that provide both breadth and depth into the subject matter.

“In other business programs, majors are often not as deep as ours,” said Feldmann. For these reasons, a double business major could result in an overload of business courses. An LSM, however, provides a balance with liberal studies classes.

“From a practical point of view, it is bad practice to have over 50 percent business courses. At least half of the curriculum should be non-business,” said Feldmann. “More technical knowledge is not always best. It’s about the skill set you develop and the educational experience you gain.”

Gainsborough echoed this sentiment by explaining that Arts and Science classes give students the context they need to keep learning after they graduate from college. Students have to take these classes as part of their general education requirements, and an LSM helps them get the maximum benefit from these courses.

“Students can group their general education classes around a theme they find interesting and compelling,” said Gainsborough. Furthermore, the LSM requires students to complete an e-portfolio, in which they reflect on their experiences and how their courses connect with one another. Students are encouraged to ask themselves “how does this fit with my major?” in relation to their experience as a whole. This promotes a well-rounded knowledge base and allows students to pursue a course of study that interests them.

Students are enjoying this blend of liberal studies and business. “The reason I like my double major in American Studies in addition to Accountancy is to focus my arts/science and general education courses so that I get more out of them instead of taking random courses that do not connect to each other,” said junior Ashley King.

“Bentley’s goal is to create a lifelong learner who will contribute to the community and be in touch with what’s going on in the rest of the world,” said Gainsborough.

By incorporating arts and sciences classes into an LSM rather than pursuing more business courses with a double business major, Bentley’s curriculum facilitates the achievement of this goal.

“Bentley has a very comprehensive business core,” said Feldmann. The University’s General Business program consists of what would be a major in business at many other schools. This creates a “solid grounding” in the business core, so students are already well-versed in the many aspects of business.

Students experiment with technology in new CIS lab

In this cold weather, a lot of students are wishing they could head to the coast. Although Bentley may not have a beach, we do have the brand new CIS Learning and Technology Sandbox in Smith Academic Technology Center room 234. Mark Frydenberg, senior lecturer of CIS, is responsible for this incredible transformation of the former CIS Tutoring Lab into a state of the art technology center, which opened in September.

What used to be a cold, dark room has been converted into a bright, welcoming place for students to come learn about technology. In software development, “sandbox” means an online environment in which changes can be made without affecting the original system. The environment of the Bentley Sandbox intends to reflect this idea. It is a place where students can explore new technologies freely.

“When I was asked to oversee the CIS Lab at Bentley starting this year, I knew that I wanted ours to become an informal place that supported learning and discovery not only about course-related topics, but also about the Web and technology in general,” said Frydenberg. “In industry, the term ‘sandbox’ refers to an environment for experimentation and trying new things. That’s our vision – to create an inviting, collaborative space for exploring and learning new technologies and to support student learning for our courses in ways that resonate with today’s digital students. We chose that name – the Sandbox – for our facility.”

The Sandbox is open seven days a week, for a total of 70 hours of exploration time. It is staffed by graduate students in the MSIT (Masters of Science and Information Technology) program and undergrad students with a minor or major in CIS. The staff members are very passionate about sharing the new technology in the center.

When students enter the Sandbox, they must swipe into a computer which records why students are coming in order to better serve students and teachers.

Michelle Aldag, a graduate student, said that the Sandbox is “not just for tutoring, but more of a place for students to come and learn about new technologies and how to make use of them.”

Previously, the CIS Lab featured one long table and multiple desks with desktop computers lined up against the walls. The new space encourages conversation around multiple small tables and a gaming area with comfy chairs. It is equipped with Google TVs, an interactive SMART board, touchscreen Windows 8 computers and an Xbox 360. There is also a quiet study lab in Smith 212 and other Google TVs in Smith that are controlled by the Sandbox. Just last week, they were used to broadcast Gloria Larson’s TED talk.

“The Academic Technology Center has a budget for maintaining specialty labs,” said Frydenberg. “Smith 234 hadn’t been updated since the Smith building opened eleven years ago, so they designated funds from that budget to apply to these renovations.”

Students can come here for tutoring in their CIS courses, but according to Michelle, their “real focus is to help students get more creative and learn more about technology.”

Some of the events the center has hosted include an IT seminar on new features in Windows 7, a workshop teaching students how to make their own Xbox games and a mobile app development program.

“I went to the Sandbox for help with my classes, but I ended up staying to play around with the technology,” said Evan Farina, a CIS major. “There is a lot of cool stuff there that I would not have been able to access on my own.”

There is currently an ongoing competition to design a logo for the Sandbox. The winner will be revealed at the Sandbox’s open house on Thursday, December 1 at 3 p.m. First place will receive an iPod nano, second place will get a $50 Amazon gift card and third place will win an Xbox or PC game. Along with revealing the winner, the open house will also have all of the technology available on display for students to check out.

To learn more about the Sandbox, you can visit their website cis.bentley.edu/sandbox, Twitter (@cisSandbox) or Facebook page (Bentley CIS Sandbox).

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