Bernard Londoni (photo from Boca Mag)

A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bernard and his family relocated to Zimbabwe in 2001, where they lived in a refugee camp. In 2005, Bernard became a student at Lynn University, and today, he is at George Mason University working on his master’s and Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies.

“Without the scholarship I was granted from Lynn University, it would have been impossible to study in the U.S.A.,” says Bernard.

As my fellow blogger Jason wrote last month, “Watch out world… Bernard’s one to watch. He’s going places.”

CNN is learning that first hand today. According to Bernard, he and Dougherty will discuss the benefits of Education USA, a program sponsored by the State Department Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to educate international students around the world about opportunities for studying in America.

And what was special about Bernard’s education at Lynn? “I had the opportunity to diversify in different areas of study,” says Bernard. “I majored in International Relations but took many classes outside of my major. This is not common in my country.”

We don’t know when the interview will air yet, but I’ll keep you posted! Keep reading, and congratulations Bernard!

And the students have taken quite a shine to feeding their little wildlife friends, which I’m sure can’t be a good thing. Even in protected zoos there are signs about not feeding the animals, etc. So, I imagine those tossed French fries and burger buns can’t be very good for them. Plus, because they know they’ll be fed eventually, you have birds literally breathing down your neck.

So, what’s the consensus: to feed or not to feed? Just what are we doing to our Lynn bird population, besides making them nice and plump?

• On the current journalism scene: He was amazingly blunt when answering the question from a student about the job market in that field. “Bad,” he said. Local news has plummeted, but he said “the walls have been broken down on the production side” (describing an intern using a flip camera to capture a story), allowing for more outlets and opportunities.

• On social media: He realized he needed to reach out to a younger audience, and clearly understands and embraces today’s communication tools, with 1,388,481 Twitter followers (but who’s counting?). He recognizes that Twitter is part of the universe, but it isn’t the universe.

• On a college education: Today’s students expect information to find them. He talked about the importance of a strong liberal education, the need to be well read, write well and be a good critical thinker – even if you don’t know what you want to be (which he did since the tender age of 15). Great advice, I thought.

• On his career: The job of journalist seemed exciting, he was naturally curious and wanted to be a participant; never wavered from his ambition. He’s been at NBC since the 1990s; covered the White House and his first presidential election (2000) during which he remembers “lots of partying including disco balls and margaritas on the plane.” He describes his job as moderator of Meet the Press as the best he ever had, but a very difficult and challenging one – “a real gift.” He said preparing for interviews is rigorous; you want to make news; get people “in the moment;” and he identified Hilary Clinton as his best AND worst interviewee.

If you were at the student session or the actual Dively lecture, feel free to share your impressions here.

Is this a simple case of littering, or a larger university conspiracy? (Read on to find out.)

Liz McKey, editor of Lynn Magazine, is – in what spare time she has – a fan of writing and reading mystery novellas. So perhaps she alone would have suspected something sinister was afoot when she came upon this scene in the Schmidt staff lot last week. What appeared to be a simple case of littering – and a squirrel intent on making the most of the act – caught her attention.

Acting on her tip, I started sniffing around. Literally. A visit to the scene (one of the admissions office’s visitors spaces) revealed nothing but a spot of mustard and a discarded napkin (the squirrel’s?).  Next, I set out to discover if the staff lot was under surveillance (”No, should it be?” said Mike Mayer, director of security). With no camera footage to reveal the source of the McDonald’s bag, I was left to following a hunch. A sinister hunch.

Knowing that our squirrel population, though cute and curious, was a source of occasional consternation due to their affection for jumping power lines and transformers (and causing more than their fair share of power outages), I went to the university’s auxiliary services director to see if he might have some intel to offer. Boy did he.

Matt Chaloux, who also piloted the winning raft in last week’s “Anything That Floats” boat race (see video evidence here), apparently felt the need to get his secret operation off his chest. This is what he told me via e-mail:

“You have caught us.  In the Office of Auxiliary Services never ending effort to reduce the disruption of power on campus caused by squirrels getting onto the power lines, Auxiliary Services staff have been baiting campus with a variety of Mickey D’s delights.  It is our objective to cause significant weight gain to the squirrel population so that their ability to climb trees and utility poles is hampered to the point of causing no further outages.  A socially conscious group on campus has been seen sneaking food from the Sunshine Cuisine Healthy Choices line in the cafeteria to counter our efforts however.  The battle wages on.”

Battle lines are apparently being drawn. And we all may be forced to pick sides. Me? I’m with Matt and his team (and my fellow blogger Laura Vann, who was once stuck in an elevator during one of those squirrel-induced outages). Say we: “Eat well, little buggers.”

You heard it here first, folks. I am now clearing desk space for my Pulitzer!

So, Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful, we know, but we also know that it is really all about eating (and watching football).

So to honor our forefathers, let’s talk turkey! Everyone has a favorite recipe handed down through the generations.

What is your favorite, or unusual or mouth-watering, not-to-be-believed recipe – the one that keeps ‘em coming back for more?

Steph said in her recent blog post: “I would have never imagined last year at this time that I was truly capable of putting together an entire month of events and having them go as well as they did.” Well, Steph, imagine no more. You did it!

When you live in South Florida, the leaves don’t fall from the trees in November. Citrus fruits do. So it’s always hard at this time of the year to believe it really is fall. But then along comes Founders Day at Lynn and suddenly you’re a believer. There’s something about the smell of roasted, syrup drenched corn that now says “fall” to many of us. Oh, and the smell of lake water on cotton.

This year, organizers of our fifth annual Founders Day have upped the saturation point on the day’s most popular event (Canoe Challenge) by adding a new “Anything That Floats” category to the mix, along with a costume competition. That means you’re likely to see someone navigating the lake between the administration building and Old Lynn on a recycle bin or a Gilligan-style raft of coconuts and bamboo shoots (use your imagination – and local materials – here, people). Me? I’m showing up early to ensure I get my kettle corn and a good spot on the south bank to watch the madness unfold.

A Sun-Sentinel photo from the 2007 canoe challenge. Man overboard!

As in year’s past, the buzz on campus isn’t about who will win, but who will swim. President Ross, along with CIO Chris Boniforti and senior vice president Greg Malfitano, had one of the wettest runs on record back in 2007 (that’s our president above with a drier team – sorry Chris and Greg – back in 2006). And last year, I saw a bunch of students in banana suits all but park their canoe on a fountain head. Good times.

Of course, my third favorite part of the day (behind the canoe races and outdoor breakfast) is the evening picnic. This year, keep your eyes on two-year-old Eli Hughes on the carnival games circuit. Kid’s got an arm (a gift he didn’t inherit from his father, I’m sorry to say). Consider yourself warned!

As for those of you who are canoe challenged, any predictions?

That said, apparently not all is lost if you’re intent on being among the first to get the vaccine. One of our own students (thanks Adriana!) emailed to say that she and her daughter both received the vaccine earlier this week at a local hospital. If you’re in a hurry to get this, try going through the county. You can access more information at:

http://www.pbchd.com/spotlight/h1n1.html.

In the meantime, keep washing those hands!

Fans and even non-fans seem to have a love/hate relationship with one or both of these teams. So, I’ll admit my team preference here and say: Go Phillies! Can they do it a second year in a row? What do you think? I’ve gotten several high fives from fellow Philly fans here at Lynn. So, come on … fess up, who are you rooting for?