LEWISBURG, Pa. — The following are Bucknell University story ideas that may interest you during the summer.
PROVIDING FINANCING AUTHORITY – It’s taken financing to fund Bucknell’s recent expansion building projects, both on campus and in downtown Lewisburg, and that has been made the Union County Higher Education Facility Financing Authority (UCHEFFA) quite busy. Founded in 1991, UCHEFFA is the authority that facilitates the University’s debt borrowings by issuing Bucknell bonds. It has helped provide financial support of approximately $125 million between 2010 and 2015 for University projects, including the newest buildings on campus (South Campus Apartments, Academic West, Academic East and the future College of Management/art and art history building) and the four building projects in downtown Lewisburg (Barnes & Noble at Bucknell University Bookstore, Campus Theatre, Dewitt Building, and the Post Office Building). UCHEFFA’s board of six people are appointed by the Union County commissioners and include Chairman Bill Metzger and its newest member Wayne Bromfield, former chief legal counsel at Bucknell. “The borrowings have enabled us to combine debt with University cash with generous donations to allow us to support our building investments,” said Dave Surgala, Bucknell vice president, finance and administration. CONTACTS: Metzger, 570-524-2055; Surgala, 570-577-3811, dsurgala@bucknell.edu
TEACHING TEENS FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY – As parents prepare to send their children off to college and the new world of independence, some don’t want them to go without a good lesson in financial responsibility. Curtis Nicholls, a professor in Bucknell’s Freeman College of Management, teaches personal finance. He offers these teaching tips:
1. Demonstrate responsible fiscal practices in your home. “Being open and honest and helping your child recognize the necessary trade-offs and allowing them to participate in the decision-making process makes an abstract topic (money) a little more concrete,” he said.
2. Open a joint credit card, work together through the actual mechanics. “A big part of this process is an understanding of how to use the card, how to access the bill, and how to pay it,” Nicholls said.
3. Project into the future. “I’ve adapted this for use with my teenage children to help them think about college borrowing before it becomes a problem,” he said.
4. Teach children how to use a checking account and how to write a check. “It’s one thing to learn in a high school personal finance class, but nothing replaces the reality of writing an actual check,” he said.
Ultimately, Nicholls says the more you can help your teenage child participate in the financial process, the more likely they are to think less abstractly about money and personal finance. CONTACT: Nicholls, 570-577-1802, curtis.nicholls@bucknell.edu
TOUGH TALK ON TRADE – In the stalled U.S.-China trade war, Bucknell political science and international relations professor Zhiqun Zhu sees President Trump trying to impose his demands upon China, and that’s probably the wrong approach. “It reflects Trump’s lack of understanding of Chinese culture, in which face is highly valued,” said Zhu, a member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations. Zhu predicts a trade deal that reflects the interests of both nations will possibly be reached sooner or later, but the competition between free market economy and state capitalism will continue. “As the two powers put their own national interests first, one wonders whether they can co-exist peacefully, like the proverbial two tigers sharing the same mountain,” he said. A recent national survey from the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy shows what kind of stomach Americans have for the trade war. CONTACTS: Zhu (abroad, but answering email), zz004@bucknell.edu; Chris Ellis, BIPP, 570-577-1960, chris.ellis@bucknell.edu
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CONTACT: Mike Ferlazzo, 570-577-3212, 570-238-6266 (c), mike.ferlazzo@bucknell.edu