Calling EE's: Electrical phenomenon explanation requested!

[Qbranch]

Hello all, while sitting at my desk here in my dorm room, I've just witnessed a fascinating phenomenon. There's a little backstory:

The flourescent light over my desk went out, so I took the bus to Wal-Mart and bought an immitation banker's desk lamp. Upon getting it all put together, I read that it was the type you touch any part of it that's metal to cycle through off, dim, medium, and bright.

Here's where the phenomenon comes in: Whenever I turn on my broken flourescent light (the starter filaments in the bulb come on but the light doesn't start), my banker's lamp changes brightness, just like if I had touched it. It even works at a range of a few feet (between the broken flourescent light and the desk lamp).

I'm sure it's some sort of electromagnetic phenomena... but what's really going on?

-q