Active Minds, a nonprofit organization that empowers students to increase awareness of mental health on college campuses, sponsored a visit from speaker Jordan Burnham May 20 to speak about his experience with depression and attempted suicide as a part of Mental Health Awareness Week in Mitchell Auditorium.
At age 18, Burnham attempted to take his own life by jumping from a nine-story building after suffering with depression and bipolar disorder. Today, he travels the country sharing his story and working to encourage students to seek help with mental issues, speak up to prevent stigma and not remain silent. Burnham believes the words of the heart to be stronger than the voices inside the head.

Photo Credit: Brianna Cameau

Burnham began by describing his experience as a middle schooler in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he was ridiculed for the way he dressed and spoke. He was accused of being an African American who acted too white. To cope with the emotional distress of bullying, Burnham exerted his energy into sports, nurtured his sense of humor, and enjoyed telling jokes and meeting new people.
He also relied on his older sister Tara to talk with him when he needed comfort. When Tara went away to college and he lost her support, Burnham weakened. When his father was offered a job as athletic director at Upper Merion High School in Montgomery County, Pa., Burnham left Pittsburgh to attend Upper Merion.
In his new school, Burnham was teased again for similar reasons, but his sister was not there for support this time. Elected class president his freshman year, Burnham began to feel pressured to please and impress his peers. He and his friends turned to drinking in order to relax.
“I didn’t drink just to black out or get wasted, or as the young kids say, ‘turn-up,’ for no reason,” Burnham said. “I drank because that was the one time me and my guy friends could talk about something real, other than girls or sports. … I found out it’s not awkward or weird to be a guy and talk about my emotions when we’re drinking.”
In ninth grade, Burnham was diagnosed with depression, and he learned the difference between feeling depressed and having depression.
“Anyone, at any given time, can feel depressed, but more times than not you know what you’re depressed about. … You know why you’re crying, you know why you don’t feel like yourself, you know why you’re depressed,” Burnham said. “But someone like me who has depression and bipolar disorder, I could wake up one day and have no idea why I feel so sad, why I feel so depressed, why I don’t want to get out of bed. It’s frustrating.”
In 10th grade, after failing his driver’s test for a third time, Burnham lost his temper and yelled at his father, alarming his parents, who were not used to seeing such an angry side of him. His mother decided to take him to a therapist.
Today, Burnham can advise that finding the right therapist is key. It is necessary to feel comfortable around your doctor in order for the relationship to work.
Burnham began contemplating how the people in his life might be affected if he took his life. One day at the beginning of his senior year of high school, Burnham’s parents found a bag of liquor in the trunk of his car. Their disappointment shattered him. Ashamed of himself, Burnham jumped nine stories from an open window in his home. After five days in a coma, he awoke with vertebrate injuries and no memory of his jump. To this day, he does not remember the moments leading up to his leap.
Senior biology major Samantha John found this shocking.
“When he talked about being suicidal and when he would think about going through with it — I didn’t know that was an impulse. The fact that he didn’t even think about it before he did it is very scary,” John said.
Burnham cited his nurses as instrumental in easing his experience in the hospital and later throughout physical therapy. The nurses let him know that they were there for him if he needed to talk.
After a period of recovery, Burnham attended his senior prom in a wheel chair and graduated with a walker.
Sleep deprivation, substance abuse and anxiety are what Burnham claims to be the greatest causes of mental illness among college students today.
According to Burnham, 60 percent of college students qualify as being sleep-deprived. Students turn to drugs and alcohol to relieve stress and symptoms of depression. Alcohol also relieves social anxiety.
During his junior year of high school, Burnham learned a valuable lesson while being treated in a mental hospital.
“We can never choose the bad things that happen to us in our lives, but we can choose how we cope with them,” he said.
Friends and loved ones of the mentally ill can be instrumental in helping them cope. According to Burnham, it is important to identify mental illness as it’s seen. Burnham said people often choose to ignore the signs of symptoms in a friend and mentioned the case of young girls cutting themselves. People may brush this self-harm off as a cry for attention, when it is a behavior of mental illness.
“When someone’s going through a deep, dark emotional time, it’s important to talk about it with someone you trust,” Burnham said. “It’s great to talk about it with a friend, but we have to ask the right questions and actively listen rather than waiting for our turn to talk.”
Burnham also mentioned the role of religion in coping with mental illness.
“Religion affects people in different ways. So many times when I was younger and even when I was in high school, it was said, you know, if you’re depressed, just pray about it,” Burnham said. “I say that it’s good to have a variety of things. I don’t just rely on one thing. Yeah, I have my faith, and I believe in what I do, but that’s just one part of things that keep me healthy.”
This marks the second annual Mental Health Awareness Week sponsored by Active Minds. Throughout the week, other activities shined the spotlight on coping with stress and mental illness.
On May 19, Water Balloon Stress Relief was held on Lancaster Walk. Students could write something that was stressing them out on a balloon and then throw it at a brick wall.
On May 22, poet and obsessive-compulsive disorder sufferer Neil Hilborn visited Papadakis Intergrated Sciences Building as a part of “Recovery Through Art.”
Active Minds President and junior psychology major Jessica Rafalko hopes that these festivities have helped ease end-of-spring-term stress.
“We’re kind of vulnerable during finals, so it’s nice to kind of have people talking about mental health. Then you’re able to take a step back and realize that we’re all kind of struggling a little bit,” Rafalko said.
Active Minds started at Drexel in May 2013. With over 400 chapters nationwide, the organization aims to foster comfortable environments where students can engage in serious conversations about personal issues with trustful peers. Active Minds also sponsored Puppy Palooza during fall and winter terms. In February, it held a panel discussion during National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

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A panelist of educators sought to address a long-standing debate in Philadelphia: the challenges that face urban education today in Grand Meeting Room 220 of Gerri C. LeBow Hall May 13.

“The New Public,”a documentary by Jyllian Gunther that follows the journey of a principal, teachers and parents committed to designing “the ideal school” in Brooklyn, N.Y., was screened at the beginning of the event. The film captures the founding class’ academic and emotional growth over the course of four years.

“The New Public” hypothesizes that the education and qualification of teachers is not the only factor that impacts the performance of their students. A teacher’s race, class and social identity contribute to how well he or she may be able to communicate and connect with a student.

“The New Public” identified other problems specific to urban schools, such as violence and drug use, which haunt public schools in Philadelphia.

Photo Credit: Miranda Shroyer

Following a screening of “The New Public,”a group of University professors and academic administrators highlighted effective actions for teachers and administrators to take in order to improve the attitudes and performance of students in city schools.

Audience members were permitted to ask the guest panelists questions after the panelists addressed the questions provided by the School of Education’s Urban Education Committee. The Committee sponsored the event as part of its Critical Conversations in Urban Education lecture series, which enables members of the Drexel community and stakeholders outside of the University to learn more about pressing issues that affect urban schools.

Donyall Dickey, assistant superintendent of schools at the School District of Philadelphia, moderated the discussion.

He addressed a teacher in the audience who asked the panel’s opinion on the ability of money to ease Philadelphia public schools’ current struggles. The teacher was also concerned with the neglect that boys experience in the classroom and inquired how this could be fixed.

Dickey responded with an explanation that belittled money’s importance. “I think if you throw — and forgive me for using the word throw, as if it is disrespectful in some way — but if you throw money at a problem, you have money on top of a problem.” Dickey said. “So I believe that among folks who are responsible for ensuring that students have equal access to a quality education, someone should be ashamed of themselves. A group of people should be ashamed of themselves.”

He elaborated on what he believes to be the heart of the problem.

“The issue is not a financial resource. I believe the issue is a knowledge resource,” Dickey said. “Let me give you a biblical reference, without proselytizing: ‘people perish because of the lack of knowledge.’”

He explained to the audience why he believes that urban students, particularly African-American males, are not doing as well as they should.

“Most often and too often, students in urban settings, particularly students who are of African decent and students who qualify for free and reduced meals, they have the worst teachers,” Dickey said. “They have the worst principals. They have the worst assistant principal. You can track it. So, there’s a positive correlation between who’s serving the kids and who can get the most.”

Dickey explained that the improvement of professional development is the route to bettering teachers’ instruction. Professional development refers to the ongoing advancement of teachers’ knowledge and practices. According to the U.S. Department of Education, professional development is one of the seven critical components of transforming teaching and leadership.

“From induction for novice teachers designed to accelerate their growth and development, to replicating the practices of the most accomplished teachers, professional development is a critical lever of improvement. As a profession, we must develop greater competency in using it,” the department’s website reads.

Dickey believes that the delivery model of professional development has to change.

“There can’t be five people between the knowledge and the person who needs that knowledge the most, because they have to transfer that knowledge to students who need it the most,” Dickey said.

Following the next panelist’s response, Dickey made an effort to clarify the statement he made regarding the worst teachers and principals.

“I didn’t mean to characterize all students and teachers and administrators in urban settings as bad. I want to clear that up,” Dickey said.

“Because I taught in an urban setting, that would make me bad. I lead an urban setting, and that would make me bad. I’m bad in a different way,” Dickey continued, receiving laughter from the audience.

Audience members and panelists discussed how well Philadelphia public school teachers relate to their students. They mentioned that a disconnection between teachers and students may be contributing to the low performance of young black males in particular. A debate arose over whether teachers can learn to empathize with students who come from different backgrounds than their own, or if most teachers are only able to meet the needs of students of their own ethnicity.

Robin Roberts, an African-American attendee and mother of two boys who attend Charles W. Henry Elementary School in West Mount Airy, feels that teachers have to understand their students in order to nurture them and that understanding requires having a similar background.

“You have to have some identification with the people you’re going to be teaching,” Roberts said. “And when that doesn’t happen, even in kindergarten and first grade and second grade, when these little black boys are trying to figure out who they are, when they cannot find a safe space for themselves, when the teacher cannot understand where they’ve come from and how to connect with them, it’s already setting up a pattern of failure.”

Roberts also believes that money is not the strongest tool schools have to make change.

“The money’s important, but we can solve the smaller problems, like the need to get down on your kindergarteners’ level,” Roberts said. “Realize that the little black boy is really just active and not acting out, or realize they’re acting out because of something that’s going on outside of your control and take the next step. If we could work on that, as academics, I think we could solve a lot of problems in Philadelphia public schools.”

The unhealthy diets of urban students may contribute to their inability to focus. Ana E. Nunez, associate dean for Urban Health Equity, Education and Research and professor of medicine at Drexel, spoke about children going hungry outside of school. While they receive breakfast and lunch at school, many kids will not get dinner at home. Children cannot think when hungry.

Dean of the School of Education William F. Lynch gave hopeful closing remarks following the panel discussion. He shared his pride in Drexel’s ongoing collaborative relationship with elementary schools in the area, like Samuel Powel Elementary School.

The Urban Education Committee has held a Critical Conversation during the fall and spring terms since spring 2011. It is committed to bringing together diverse groups of educators to think critically regarding urban education.

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Photo Credit: Rachel Wisniewski

Campus Soapbox, a mobile polling application for students, will run a poll April 21-28 in which users have the chance to win a free food truck meal for themselves and a friend. Later, a student will also have the opportunity to design a meal to be featured by the food truck of their choice.

The winner will be able to name the meal and choose a theme song to accompany it; every time the meal is ordered, the song will be played.

The poll will be known as the Food Truck Challenge and will ask students specific questions about their food truck experiences and what they hope to see in the future. Questions such as, “When you think food truck, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?” and, “What is the strangest hour that you’ve had a craving for a food truck food? What was it?” will be asked.

“It’s going to be as much about engaging the individual — their favorite music — as it is about your experience with food trucks,” Kert Heinecke, founder of Campus Soapbox, said. “We’re figuring out who is Drexel, who are food trucks and what happens if you mesh those two together.”

Heinecke hopes for the poll to foster a food truck conversation and supply the restaurants on wheels with feedback to increase customer satisfaction.

Up to 15 food trucks will participate in the poll. So far, 10 have committed, including Philly Street Food, Say Cheese, Taco Shack, and Chicken and Rice. The participating trucks will be able to contribute a question to the poll in order to get feedback from Campus Soapbox users about their businesses.

Entrepreneurship major Alex Prus and finance major Moyassar Eltigani inspired the idea for the food truck competition as part of a project for a management class, in which students must consult with one or more business clients. Prus and Eltigani came up with the plan to solicit the food trucks. Later, they acquired the help of the Campus Soapbox advisory team, which has developed the competition into a community event.

The Campus Soapbox advisory team consists of two full-time members: Lauren Patterson, a pre-junior English major, and Laurelle Holley, a pre-junior sport management major, who joined the team at the beginning of winter term.

“We’re already on our phones and social media, but we’re connected to just our friends there, not to people who are four years ahead of us and in a completely different major,” Holley said. “[Campus Soapbox] is a place where, no matter who you are or who you know on this campus, you can be connected.”

Patterson believes this will help her future career. “Working with Campus Soapbox has given me a chance to stretch my creative muscles a bit and really work to engage other students through my writing,” Patterson wrote in an email. “I think the experience could definitely help with the social media and marketing sides of the publishing career that I am pursuing.”

The team’s goals for the Food Truck Challenge were to make it fun, allow students to engage with their community, and involve businesses in the area. Heinecke and his team also wanted to give users what they have continuously asked for: free stuff, as they had done in the past.

Prus and Eltigani figured it would be fun and unique to work with businesses close to the hearts and stomachs of students.

Campus Soapbox launched in July 2013 as a social media platform where users can actively consume content, reflect on it and engage with other users. It is functional on the iPhone, Android and mobile web app. It also has its own website, campussoapbox.com. Users can create and take polls, read news about campus events on their news feed, and start conversations with other users.

There are just over 1,600 individual users of the app today, mostly freshmen who were encouraged to download it at New Student Orientation, and Heinecke is striving to acquire more upperclassmen users. Campus Soapbox is also accessible to University of Pennsylvania students.

Heinecke thought of the app himself. He started by surveying between 100 and 150 students in university coffee shops asking what they might be interested to have on campus. He then began to develop the idea of the app with a friend, who eventually dropped out of the project. Later, he collaborated with a development team that helped with the design. In April [CE2] 2013, he pitched the app to Drexel.

Heinecke spoke with Dean of Students David Ruth and Associate Dean John E. Cooke. Around the same time, he began to work with Elizabeth Lee, a UPenn alumna who assisted him in launching the app over the summer. Lee signed off in late November.

“We didn’t want to have the administration policing the community,” Heinecke said. “We wanted to let students decide what conversations they wanted to have — what’s appropriate, what’s important.” A system of flagging has been set up to determine appropriate posts.

Since then, Heinecke has started to teach himself coding in order to design new functions. The code utilized in the app is in Ruby Programming Language, which, he says, reads like English, but a little like logic. In creating new utilities, he loosely emulates the codes already in existence, but adds variations to meet different specifications.

Campus Soapbox is funded by Heinecke.

“I’m not looking to change the world. I’m looking to bump it, or nudge it, to get it slightly more active,” Heinecke said. “And that’s because I know I can.”

In July 2013, when the app was marketed to students at New Student Orientation, users had the opportunity to win two iPads in a polling competition. The creators of the polls that received the most number of votes by the last week of September each won an iPad.

The Food Truck Challenge is the first Campus Soapbox competition that reaches outside of the app and its users and involves a greater part of the community.

Since the summer, the app has evolved significantly. Today, any user can log on and create a quick poll, which allows them to pre-pick types of answer choices, or a classic poll in which they create their own. They can also use “Chatter,” which functions like a message board, to start a conversation about anything.There is now also a private groups feature for groups to communicate with their immediate peers and share information specific to their group with the entire Drexel community. A student group or club can post about events along with links to tickets or share news articles that relate to their purpose or what members of their group find interesting. Daily Headlines alert users of groups’ happenings.

The group or its members can also easily post group-only, private content to all group members just by adding @(the group name) to the front of a question or post title. This aspect is integral to the student group account.

In order to register as a private group, a group must be registered as a student organization by Student Affairs and will then be registered and trained by Heinecke or the advisory team.

Today, 35 of 407 student organizations on campus are registered as private groups. The Drexel Interfraternity Council, however, did not want individual sororities or fraternities to join. IFC did not want Greek Life to divide itself.

The adaptation of private groups to the app is a step in the direction of connecting people less anonymously. Heinecke was originally hesitant that the private groups feature would separate tight-knit groups from individual users instead of connect them. But groups’ ability to share their content publicly allows cross-pollination between all users.

Today, users are requesting that the app connect to Facebook. Heinecke believes in the app’s current legitimacy but is willing to change it to please his users.

“If I say I don’t want to do it and students say, ‘I’m not going to use it if you don’t do that,’ then it will die anyway,” Heinecke said. “If I avoid Facebook entirely, it might give me no chance of actually succeeding.”

Campus Soapbox may also create a Swag Shop in the future. Users could redeem points when they vote in polls, then use the points at the Swag Shop to buy things like t-shirts, sunglasses or things from the community, like DragonDollars and discounts at campus vendors.

Heinecke is always looking for feedback and individuals interested in working to advance the app. He hopes for it to be run completely by students one day, as he believes students know best what will satisfy their needs.

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Photo credit: Ajon Brodie

Jacob Cline, a freshman biomedical engineering major, was awarded a new bicycle, helmet and U-lock Jan. 29 for registering his bike with the bike registration program. Upon registering his bike at the Department of Public Safety’s Safety Fair last September, Cline’s name was automatically entered into a raffle to win new wheels.

According to the Public Safety website, the goals of the bike registration program are to deter thieves, heighten awareness in the community and provide law enforcement with possible crime-solving information in the event of a theft.

Registration of bikes on campus began in 2009, however students did not begin to register in greater numbers until July 2013. From January to June 2013, only 24 bikes were registered.

Police Captain Fred Carbonara was instrumental in revitalizing the program. All officers are able to register students’ bikes. Carbonara arranged for the flexibility of these officers’ schedules in order to make their service more accessible to students. He also computerized the program, upstarting two portable journals to store students’ registration information.

Over this past summer, the program evolved into a proactive resource for students. From July to December 2013, 272 bikes were registered. Members of the Drexel women’s and men’s crew teams, who ride their bikes to and from Boathouse Row daily throughout the fall and spring seasons, registered their bikes in October.

Police Officer Kim McClay, Police Lt. David Caristo, and community relations police Officer Thomas J. Cirone are nurturing the program today.

Officer McClay said she has enjoyed the work she’s done to protect bikes thus far, and she is excited for what’s to come. She looks forward to educating and aiding more students. She enjoys meeting with them on the street and at events like the Safety Fair held in September each year.

“I had some fun with it, I really did,” McClay said of her experience with the raffle.

McClay and Vice President of Public Safety Domenic Ceccanecchio hope that Cline can be an ambassador for bike safety. Now that he has registered two bikes, they believe he has the power to spread the word about the most effective ways to prevent theft on campus.

“Everybody should be using U-locks,” Ceccanecchio said.

A U-lock is a rigid metal ring shaped like a “U,” that attaches to a bike and locks with a cross-bar section. In comparison to chain, cable and wheel locks, which can be easily removed from a bike, the U-lock is resistant to cutting.

The bike of one of Cline’s friends was stolen, so the winner understands the reality of bike theft. He plans to lend his friend his old bike to use. The two live in Myers Hall, where many students lock up their bikes in the courtyard and in front of the building.

Cline said that he did not expect to win the raffle. At the Public Safety fair in September, he registered his bike on a whim, one that brought him great luck.

“I figured I might as well just register my bike in case something happens to it,” Cline said.

Cline is excited to own his new bike and use the U-lock in place of his wire lock. Because he rides his bike to class and other destinations not easily accessed by foot, he plans to take great precaution when locking it up.

As spring approaches and students begin to pedal more frequently, McClay hopes to protect more bikes from theft. Bike registration is a simple process: An officer documents the bike’s description and serial number and then retrieves the owner’s information.

“You can look forward to seeing us [police officers] out there as the weather gets nicer, continuing to register bikes and looking for students,” McClay said.

If you wish to register your bike, please visit Drexel Police Headquarters at 3219 Arch St., which is open 24/7. If you have specific questions regarding registering or wish to register a group, please call McClay at 215-895-2152, mailbox 87331.

Keswick Cycle donated the prizes. The branch located at 4040 Locust St. supports Drexel’s efforts to provide bike safety to students.

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The Drexel University Police Department welcomed Eileen W. Behr Jan. 7 to serve as the new director of police operations. She is the second director of the Department and the first woman to serve in the position.

Behr served as the first female chief of police for the Whitemarsh Township Police Department from 2003 to 2011. In 2011, she became the first female sheriff of Montgomery County. She held this position until December 2013.

Source: Emma Cardwell

As sheriff, Behr did not deal much with the hands-on, full-service operations of a university campus like Drexel’s. Now she is looking forward to becoming better acquainted with the community she serves.

“The ability to be able to be in an environment with young people who are learning and growing — I really liked that,” Behr said. “Young people are inspirational. They teach us a lot. That was a huge draw to come to this campus.”

As sheriff, she worked to reaccredit the Montgomery County department. In June 2013, the department received reaccreditation based on its practices and ability to meet established standards.

Vice President of Drexel Public Safety Domenic Ceccanecchio is glad to gain a director who understands the importance of accreditation. The Drexel University Police Department and the Drexel University Public Safety Communications Center both earned international accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies in November 2011.

Ceccanecchio was also glad to bring Behr to Drexel because of her community orientation.

“I wanted somebody that would provide strong leadership, someone that could come up with fresh, new ideas to move our program forward,” Ceccanecchio said. “We needed someone that understood interoperability and was a good communicator, and we found that with Eileen.”

Behr is looking forward to communicating with Drexel students. As chief of police for Whitemarsh, she served as liaison to the District Attorney’s School Safety Committee. In Montgomery County high schools, education programs about alcohol and driving were incorporated. She believes that drinking is an especially important issue to pay attention to on a college campus.

Behr also worked with high school and college students in internships and shadow programs in Montgomery County. Now, she has hopes to further educate Drexel students interested in law enforcement.

“If [young people] are interested in something in law enforcement, it’s important that they get exposed to different areas within a police department,” Behr said. “And, if you bring interns in, and they work with you, I think they go back to their friends and acquaintances. It bridges a gap. It builds trust with the students and the police.”

Interacting with the students and the surrounding community is as important to Behr as building strong relationships with her team and officers. She hopes to spend her first month as director getting to know the campus and her colleagues.

“I’ve been here just a week and a half, and I have to tell you, people are very welcoming here. People are willing to teach me things and doors are opened. I find the students, if I stop and ask people questions, to be very helpful and informative. I’m eager to get out into the community more than I have been,” Behr said.

Her eagerness brings fresh energy to a department that is proud of its past accomplishments, but set on continuous improvement.

Ceccanecchio believes that Behr brings an objective viewpoint to Drexel. She will be able to evaluate Drexel Police’s past and its goals for the future with an unbiased approach.

“What she brings is a different set of eyes and perspectives to try to make things better here,” Ceccanecchio said.

Behr can evaluate what has recently progressed. In June 2013, the Drexel Police Department adapted active shooter training, which instructs officers to seek out the perpetrator of a shooting before aiding victims. Students and faculty took part in mock scenarios in residence halls and the W.W. Hagerty Library, during which active shooter crimes were imitated.

The goal of this training is to neutralize all threat to the community first and foremost. It hopes to prevent victimization of further individuals while the perpetrator may still be on the loose.

“That’s the first thing that we want to do: stop the violence,” Ceccanecchio said.

Because the Drexel University Police Department works alongside the Philadelphia Police Department, the University of Pennsylvania Police Department, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, this type of training integrates various law enforcement partners throughout the community.

Behr supports the cross-training of all officers in the University City area.

“I just hope to be able to strengthen and continue those relationships with law enforcement agencies and federal agencies,” she said.

Behr is impressed by the Drexel University Police Department’s innovative endeavors. She has learned through her work in Montgomery County that building strong connections among all elements of the community propels the betterment of all police work.

By January, most Calhouligans have reserved a soft spot for the 42-year-old, blue-carpeted and horseshoe-shaped residence hall in their freshman hearts, no matter what sort of sour opinion they possessed of it in September. Calhoun has certainly turned my heart tender.

Calhoun is a dormitory of geniality, recreation and practicality. Elevator travelers shout praises of joy and invitations to gatherings to floor dwellers on the other side of the metal doors as they glide up and down. We share furniture, using the elevator as a marketplace where a desk chair can be swapped for a bag of Kit Kats, under two conditions: the salesmanship of two architecture majors prevails, and the gullibility of the dim-witted bargainer who thought the architects only needed the chair for the night holds fast. The daily news, or what Joe on the sixth floor thinks of Maya on the eighth, can be conveniently read scribbled on the wall of the shuddering elevator. Calhouligans stay connected and have each other’s backs. We even finance our neighbors’ shopping excursions, or at least we encourage each other to work hard to earn spending money; coins were once glued to the elevator floor for anyone with a strong thumb or a kettle of boiling hot water to unstick. After you blistered your thumb to retrieve the money, you could have gone and purchased a pair of those fingerless gloves they sell at Urban Outfitters that homeless men wear when they’ve got things to itch. Then, around the corner when you had your throbbing thumb cast in the ER, you could have picked up a good-looking University of Pennsylvania medical student.

We Calhouligans all want each other to be happy in love.

Ah, love is a language that any Calhouligan is built and tested to understand. We know the heat and shiver of the building’s embrace, the smoothness of its lips and the crawling of its skin, how to comfort it and love it toughly. We know that love is not easy but unconditional. Misery loves company.

During the first week of winter break, while most residents had long since gone to grandmothers’ houses, some athletes, international students and others remained nestled in Calhoun’s embrace for winter training and whatnot. Either because our darling Calhoun had forgotten to send its Christmas letter or it had yet to receive a single sugar cookie from a friend, its pipes grew cold, and it threw a fit of icy proportions, sobbing chilly water into the girls’ bathrooms’ showers and sinks. Sweaty, exhausted and homesick residents yearning for cleanliness were turned away by their lover and had to accept that, baby, it was cold inside, too.

Fortunately, Calhoun finds ways to compensate for mood swings like this and knows how to tickle your soul just when you feel that the depth of it has frozen. If ever you are abandoned in the confines of a stalled elevator or stranded on your laptop when the Wi-Fi fails faster than Apple sold out of iPhone 5S’s, have no fear: A cockroach can be of service and will guide you toward the light. I’ve found six of the creepy crawlers as my love has run its course, and I have run from each burgundy-brown, writhing one. The other morning, a live one was socializing with a dead one in the shower. The jury is still out on whether or not the live one is actually the campus cockroach mortician and was taking measurements of the dead guy for his coffin size. Maybe he was just looking for someone to get kinky in the pipes with, conscious or not.

Calhoun’s roaches don’t let their personal lives interfere with our entertainment. When the building that we love is inclined to show public displays of affection to its residents, it delivers with relentless passion. Its roaches perform pirouettes in the bathroom and shimmy up the walls in the hallways. Word is that if you give one a peanut it’ll strip tease for you (but only in private under your covers).

Does Calhoun believe that its residents have invasive bug species fetishes? Is this a type of S&M that Rihanna failed to lure Chris Brown into bed with? Is that why he hit her? For sticking a roach down his boxers? We’ll have to stall further investigation until Jive Records releases Brown’s next album, rumored to be titled “I.T.C.H.”

This residence hall has more in common with Rihanna than one may think. Like the songstress, Calhoun also sings short, melodic phrases and chants a range of rhyming, high-pitched syllables that only a restless, dirty-diapered baby could identify the artistry of. On the eighth floor, the smoke detectors screech in the hallways from dawn to dusk. The sending of maintenance requests online does little to solve the problem when you need it. It was over 24 hours before anything was done by campus maintenance to quiet the voice of the detector in my room last week. My roommate decided to fix it herself after waiting a few hours. So, much later, when it was finally “fixed” a second time by maintenance services, the detector began to squawk again. It came back stronger than ever, yelping a heartbroken, angry melody akin to Rihanna’s “What Now.” A week later, maintenance replaced our detector. We are very thankful.

This is not to say that Calhoun is Disturbia. Bom-bom-bi-dum-bom-bom-bi-dum-dum. While there are roaches in the night to come and grab you, to creep up inside you and consume you, the faint musk in the halls reminds its residents of home, or of the home of many residents past. Past Calhouligans have lived to tell the tale of the building’s pheromones, its omnipotent odor. Just ask one. The stale dampness of the air that is an interesting cross between corn chips and body odor is what welcomes each and every one of us home. When Ricky Ricardo stops by on every move-in day, he shouts at the threshold, “CAAALLHOOUUN! I’M HOOOMMMEE! YOU SMELL ABSOLUTELY FRITO LAY-ICIOUS!”

The rooms are cozy, albeit too cozy for some. Their cone shape does not facilitate changing into your pajamas in the dark at 3 a.m. next to the immovable dressers. The curved shape of the building means that my gorgeous window view of the Philadelphia skyline is obstructed by the sight of some dude clipping his toenails across the way on the opposite side of the structure. Fortunately, Calhouligans can communicate through the blinds if we ever need to.

What keeps us riding the roller coaster of love that Calhoun tries so hard to hurl us from? Maybe it is the fact that this residence hall shapes its residents into people not like Rihanna but instead strong as the spirited Jennifer Lopez. Calhouligans, like J-Lo, embody humility. Jenny from the block worked hard to make it where she is today, sweating and striving, and she continues to perform with grace and ferocity. Calhoun is wise and a lover of many students. It whips us into shape. It prepares us for the harshness of residence in the real, clammy, scuttling, freezing world, just as the block did for J-Lo. It teaches us to negotiate (someday we’ll all work at Ikea selling dorm furnishings), exterminate and conglomerate. We pride ourselves on our inclination to build friendship. We Calhouligans, who have been kicked out of our common rooms and into the hallways outside of them, will always include one another, bug one another, smell one another and watch out for one another. Thank you, Calhoun, for teaching all of us to wear the pants in this debonair and dysfunctional relationship.

*Note: Details of life at Calhoun Hall have been dramatized.

Emma Cardwell is a communications major at Drexel University. She can be contacted at op-ed@thetriangle.org.

In the winter term, the Filipino Intercultural Society of Drexel University will be holding a fundraiser to assist the people affected by the earthquake that shook the Philippines earlier this season as well as those devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.

Their hope is to host a coffeehouse concert on campus that will feature Drexel’s a cappella groups and Greek Life organizations.

Along with hosting the concert, FISDU is also seeking donations from the Drexel community to send to the Philippines. Clothing, medicine, bandages and any other items that will help improve the quality of life in the Philippines are in high demand.

“Honestly, Filipinos see the Philippines as their family. Any time we go to the Philippines, everyone is your friend. Everyone is fun. Everyone is a part of you. You have close relationships. And so if it hits any part of the Philippines, everyone is affected. Everyone is sad even if your family hasn’t been affected directly. You still feel for them,” Damie Juat , internal vice president of FISDU and a sophomore biological sciences major, said.

A 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the Philippines Oct. 15, leaving more than one hundred dead and many others injured or displaced.

Typhoon Haiyan, a Category 5 storm, made landfall in the Philippines early Nov. 8. The wind gusts during the storm were some of the highest ever recorded, reaching 195 miles per hour. The death toll for the entire area known as the Philippines, which includes 7,107 islands in the Pacific Ocean, has reached over 4,000 people. Over 13 million people have been affected by the storm in some way.

“I feel like people are forgetting about the earthquake. It destroyed about 70,000 homes and monuments in the Philippines. I just want people to know that it isn’t just this one thing that happened,” Juat said.

FISDU usually focuses on spreading the Filipino culture on and around campus. The society has approximately 70 active members this year. FISDU meets in room 120 of the Constantine Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building. The society is open to all members of the Drexel community regardless of age or race.

“We actually just want to spread the Filipino culture because a lot of people know the Chinese culture and the Japanese culture, but no one really knows what the Filipinos are all about. We are also trying to spread awareness for any destruction that happens in the Philippines,” Juat said.

In an attempt to spread awareness across the United States, FISDU is working with Filipino societies from other universities in Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, New Jersey and California. These groups hope to sell a universal T-shirt, the proceeds of which would benefit the Philippines.

“We are actually trying to spread it throughout, and we are hoping that the shirts will get everywhere. It is kind of a big dream but you know, it could happen,” Juat said.

FISDU will host its annual culture show, Barrio, April 25-26 of next year. This event will consist of the Filipino national anthem, cultural dances and many other Filipino-themed activities.

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The Department of Public Safety’s Commendation and Award Ceremony and Police Officer Induction was held Nov. 5 in the Mitchell Auditorium of the Bossone Research Enterprise Center.

The efforts and accomplishments of emergency medical technicians, police officers and detectives, telecommunicators, AlliedBarton Security Services workers, and the assistant director of emergency preparedness were honored. The Drexel Police Color Guard, along with bagpiper John McGinty, began the ceremony with a musical tribute. Jericho Taylor sang the national anthem.

Five new Drexel Police officers were inducted: Charles Phillips, Justin Reader, Chrystina Amelotti, Che Brown and John Heleniak. Student EMTs Allison Brophy, Eric Baranoff, Hendrik Bilek, Peter Louis, Ekta Panjrolia and Eric Williams were honored for the critical role they play in first response to emergencies.

Vice President of Public Safety Domenic Ceccanecchio gave opening remarks, and recently retired Director of Fire and Life Safety Armour Floyd announced and revered the stories of the men and women in the force who committed great acts of valor on Drexel’s campus over the past year.

Drexel’s Department of Public Safety works closely alongside the University of Pennsylvania’s. Throughout the night, an emphasis was placed on the similarity of crime at the two schools and the cooperation between each that is tirelessly maintained.

Members of the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University police departments were honored for their work over the summer. A task force comprised of Joseph Devine, Henry Dunbar, James Bonner, Chris Vandervort and Robert McKellick was established to address a series of bike thefts occurring on both campuses. On July 26, a fake bike was set up at a strategic site and put under surveillance via closed-circuit TV. When the offender cut the lock and fled with the bike east on Ludlow Street, he was caught by the team.

The valor of Drexel Police in the beginning of October was also commended. On Oct. 3, Drexel Police responded to an unresponsive civilian lying face down on the 3200 block of Market Street. Police Officer Thomas Cirone arrived to find civilian Ray Robinson unresponsive on the sidewalk. Cirone checked the male for vitals and found him to have no pulse. Cirone notified dispatch and requested additional personnel. Police officers Seth Kanner and Charles Lashley arrived, cut open Robinson’s shirt, and began CPR. Lashley retrieved an automatic external defibrillator and applied a shock with no immediate effect. After a third shock, Robinson’s heart rhythm stabilized, and he was brought to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where doctors said he would have died without the prompt response of Drexel Public Safety.

The work of Irene Opendak, the leader of the University’s emergency preparedness plan, DrexelReady, was also honored. Opendak has developed strong operations within the University and was honored by the Order of the Sword and Shield, an academic and professional honor society, this year.

Drexel’s Department of Public Safety aims to protect by paying attention to detail, Ceccanecchio said.

“We’re here not only to prevent and solve crime,” Ceccanecchio said, “but to make sure that people get through their day in many different ways as safe as possible.”

Junior nursing major and EMT Allison Brophy was honored for her act in saving the victim of a fall at 30th Street Station last December.

She remarked on the mindset of her colleagues, “I think it’s a personality trait that most people involved in this have.”

Drexel EMTs go through over 200 hours of lectures and hands-on lab training before taking Pennsylvania’s EMT preparedness test. Drexel Emergency Medical Services does not offer its course or program through the University but operates independently as a student group on campus. The organization is growing and holding orientations so that people can learn about it and decide if they want to join.

Last year, Drexel EMS was voted student organization of the year under the direction of Floyd, who served as its professional staff adviser. Floyd expected no less of the student volunteer EMTs than what is expected of employed Public Safety officers, and perhaps that is why their efforts shone so brightly.

After the ceremony, Floyd stressed how Drexel is a city in itself, requiring its own distinct safety measures.

“Drexel University, and any university for that matter, is just like a city. The only thing that we don’t have is a firehouse. We have industry, office buildings, we have residence halls, you name all the different types,” Floyd said. He also said that there is a diverse amount of crime on campus that must be continuously monitored.

After 20 years of service for the Philadelphia Fire Department, Floyd arrived at Drexel in 1991 with expertise in the field of fire safety. There was no program in place when he arrived, but eventually he became the director of fire and life safety for the University in 1994. He oversaw a movement to have all residential facilities fully equipped with sprinklers, and he also supervised the institution of an emergency response team.

“[We] had to create programs and different policies. It took a good 10, 12, 13 years to actually get the program up and rolling,” Floyd said.

The EMS student organization on campus is relatively young, with about 40 members and counting — small in comparison to student EMS squads at other universities.

“You can only do so much here because you do have the Philadelphia Fire Department that provides EMS services in addition to, not in lieu of. We can’t transport yet. Our job is to stabilize — Philly transports,” Floyd said. However, Drexel EMTs respond to the scene of accidents and crimes minutes before the Philly rescue squads arrive, providing initial assistance.

Drexel EMTs hope to eventually be able to transport victims via emergency vehicle. The City of Philadelphia manages this currently, prohibiting Drexel’s involvement. Drexel does not yet have the money or manpower to transport.

Looking forward, Drexel EMS is on the threshold of instituting a campuswide AED CPR program that should be fully functional by the end of the year. The main goal of the program is to have at least two people in every building certified in CPR and eventually to have one AED in all buildings on campus.

“My guys here are going to do it!” Floyd said.

The Department of Public Safety’s ability to do what they do is remarkable. Brophy put it simply, “[We] focus on a problem and how to fix it.”

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A rainbow of ideas were shared at the opening of Drexel’s new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Allied Student Center, held Oct. 22 in Behrakis Grand Hall. The center is located on the ground level of the Creese Student Center.

Following a reception, a panel of Drexel professional staff and alumni, as well as the Foundation of Undergraduates for Sexual Equality president, shared experiences and advice glorifying the mission of this new proponent of the LGBTQA community.

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Dave Lanza of Campus Philly moderated the event, which concluded with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the door to the center. Panelists noted shortcomings of the past and highlighted stimulating hopes for the future of the LGBTQA community on campus.

Lives of LGBTQA students at Drexel today are different than those of students three decades ago. Stephen Facenda, Drexel alumnus of the class of 1990 and employee of ViaMark Advertising, explained how the community was treated at Drexel in 1985.

“Society was homophobic, and Drexel was just a part of that society,” Facenda said.

“There has been an evolution of change on campus,” Joseph Salomone, registrar of the University, explaining the current culture, said. “Everybody is expressing their individuality and being who they are, and if we don’t continue to stress that, we won’t get the resources and support that we need at this University or anywhere.”

Now, because more people come out earlier in life, action must be taken to educate people about the sexual variations under the LGBTQA umbrella.

Panelist Erica Deuso, an employee of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies and an advocate for equal rights of transgender individuals in the workplace, was born male and underwent the process of becoming a female during adulthood. Deuso spoke fervently of the need to educate about transgender issues so that prejudice against individuals does not precede the development of their passion in school and at work.

Following the ribbon cutting, Maureen Nolan, a senior at Drexel and president of FUSE, noted the current mistreatment of transgender individuals on campus.

Transgender students are unable to alter the name given to their instructor on class rosters if they wish.

Nolan’s involvement in FUSE began her sophomore year. She joined as an ally to support a friend but eventually made reactionary progress. She created the petition for the development of the student center two years ago.

The idea for the LGBTQA Student Center came from a group of deeply committed students who organized a request that showed a clear need for the center. They presented that request to Dean of Students David Ruth in winter 2012, and he was swift to begin identifying a space.

Both he and Associate Dean of Students Rebecca Weidensaul enlisted the help of campus partners to design and sustain the center.

“This project has been pushed by a lot of passion, and that’s what we’ve got going for us. Tatiana Diaz is a really big driving force. Under her leadership, Drexel will really transform,” Nolan said.

“It is our hope that the LGBTQA Student Center will be a cornerstone in educating students on sexual orientation and LGBTQA topics as well as building allies in our community,” Diaz said in an email.

The LGBTQA Student Center is supported by the Student Center for Inclusion & Culture. It will be staffed by trained graduate students from the Couple & Family Therapy department in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. The staff will be available to meet with students to provide support and offer referrals to both Drexel and local community resources. Additionally, the center will house books, magazines and information on upcoming events.

The center will coordinate LGBTQA History Month and Transgender Remembrance Week programs. It will also host LGBTQ 101 and ally trainings for students and will support the affinity student organizations.

Finally, the center will partner with different offices to provide services specific to LGBTQA students, such as resume review sessions and mock interviews in collaboration with the Steinbright Career Development Center as well as alcohol and other drug counseling with the support of Drexel’s Choosing Healthy Options in Challenging Everyday Situations Center.

Most impactful of the benefits that the LGBTGA Student Center offers is the inspiration of students to be true to themselves. Panelist Rebecca Reyman — a Drexel alumnus, past FUSE president, and employee of a civil engineering firm — said she believes that those who are vulnerable or hurting should seek out community in order to explore who they are on the inside.

“Lean on others when you need support,” Reyman said. “Be an advocate. Stand up for others.”

Deuso agreed that pain is eased if replaced by unanimous courage.

“How you reconcile who you are is important,” she said. “Say to yourself, ‘Yes, this is who I am. There are others like me here. We should stand up and be counted.’”

The work of the new center would be in vain if leadership floundered. “It’s important to be an advocate for yourself, but it’s also important to be an advocate for your fellow community members. Remember everyone else that you represent in your community. Be a leader, not a follower,” Nolan said.

The panelists also told of organizations in the greater Philadelphia area and beyond that support civic and professional engagement in LGBTQ rights. Deuso mentioned her work on the Human Rights Campaign.

According to the campaign’s website, it, “advocates on behalf of LGBT Americans, mobilizes grassroots actions in diverse communities, invests strategically to elect fair-minded individuals to office, and educates the public about LGBT issues.”

“You have to be yourself and not be afraid,” Harri Weinberg, associate director of Academic Information & Systems at Drexel, said. “Find a mentor. That will help you to understand that you can move forward.”

Edited Oct. 25 2013 at 5:30 p.m. – The original version of this article in print and online included a misquote from Tatiana Diaz. The article has been updated to remove that quote.

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The Collection of Excellent Alumni Works from China Central Academy of Fine Arts made its United States debut Oct. 4 at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery in the URBN Annex of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design.

The exhibition showcases various oil paintings, Chinese paintings, prints, installations, sculptures and videos from 24 CAFA graduate students that have been created in the past two years and will run through Nov. 22.

The Start of a Long Journey, as the exhibit is titled, was first shown in China and celebrates, in part, the 95th anniversary of the founding of the school from which CAFA was born.

CAFA was formed from two smaller schools in Beijing in April 1950 and is the first national academy of fine arts in Chinese history. It is comprised of eight different schools: a School of Fine Art, School of Chinese Painting, School of Design, School of Architecture, School of Humanities, College of City Design, School of Continuing Education, and the Affiliated High School of Fine Art. Over 90,000 students apply for admission each year, but only a select 1 percent of applicants are accepted.

The welcoming of the CAFA exhibit to Drexel’s campus completes an exchange between the two schools. Last summer, nine Drexel faculty members traveled to Beijing to display paintings, sculptures, installations and photographs, and CAFA students received the work with great appreciation. This fall, the Pearlstein Gallery hopes that the exhibit will spark conversation among artists in the Philadelphia area and titillate mindfulness of China’s evolving creativity.

“I would hope that Westphal students come here. This is like their peers’ work, in China. It’s very informative work, educational work. We hope it will attract people from all over Philadelphia,” Marnie Lersch, graduate assistant at the Pearlstein Gallery, said.

A work titled “Adding and Subtracting” used the advanced craft of “trimming fur.” It consists of books stacked in a haphazard structure. Each book lays horizontal with pages facing outward, and the paper is cut meticulously so that the alternated jaggedness of the shaved volumes makes up the greater design of a tiger’s black-and-white fur.

Gabrielle Zayas, a freshman in Westphal College who visited the exhibit in its opening week, found the work exhilarating. She favored a piece by Wu Wengehi with lavender and blue coloring, where branchlike tentacles dance off of the canvas, titled “The Growth of Emptiness.”

“The way it grew out was really interesting. It looked like leaf growth. It looked like a different medium than it actually was,” Zayas said.

“When you think of China, automatically you’re thinking of red dragons and flames,” Amber Lauletta, Pearlstein Gallery manager, said. “But this is extremely advanced. There’s a mix of so many ideologies, icons, concepts. It’s really a reflection of what’s going on in China right now. It really speaks to the institution and the strength of the teachers.”

Lauletta said that the work of CAFA graduate students is evolution to be emulated here in the United States.

But CAFA students have only just begun. “This is sort of considered the jumping-off point for each student’s career. After this show, it allows them to meet the necessary people to really start their career in the arts, in the art world, in China,” Lersch said.

Students and graduates of CAFA also have the opportunity to display their work in the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, which is connected to the academy. The elite receive attention from audiences who view the work as professional and groundbreaking.

“Worm Installation” by Wengehi displays small, black, worm-shaped balls writhing on a white-clothed pole. The lifelike critters are stimulated by an electric current and appear to be cocooning.

“It takes you back a little bit. It was kind of creepy, but it was very interesting,” Courtney Klinger, a senior interior design major in Westphal, said. “It drew me in to figure out exactly what it is. I knew it shouldn’t be a bunch of bugs inside. There’s a mystery behind what’s happening.”

An oil-on-canvas piece by Jeong Seong Jun titled “The Sound of Peace” spotlights the artistic integrity and fearlessness of CAFA students. It depicts the story of a Chinese boy standing in a vacant battlefield with his animals, playing the trumpet and praying for peace. A helicopter looms overhead and the street stretches empty before the hopeful adolescent as he offers music to the sky.

A neighboring display of the work, presented in new media art and animation, brings the emotion of the scene to life. Carrots sprout from the instrument’s horn to satisfy the wishes of the boy’s donkey, and fishes swim out to the contentment of his hungry cat.

“That idea of dystopia we all have of China is present here. It’s really beautiful,” Lauletta said.

The beauty of each work lays in its hidden complexities — its ability to baffle the mind while expanding the soul, according to Lersch. “It definitely has an emotional impact on the viewer, which is what good work should have, right? That’s the point of art. To impact you and make you think about it,” Lersch said.

The artwork arrived at the Pearlstein Gallery Oct. 1. Gao Gao, one of two international curators at CAFA, constructed the layout of the exhibition. Lauletta oversaw the setup.

About 200 visitors attended an opening reception for the exhibit Oct 4. Audio tours were available. Westphal College Dean Allen Sabinson gave remarks at the reception. The current dean of CAFA’s School of Design, Wang Min, who aided the design of promotional materials for the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, also spoke, as did Julie Mostov, vice provost for global initiatives at Drexel.

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