BINGHAMTON REVIEW Editor-in-Chief Contents
P.O. BOX 6000 BINGHAMTON, NY 13902-6000 EDITOR@BINGHAMTONREVIEW.COM
Founded 1987 • Volume XXXIII, Issue VIII Jake Schweitzer
Managing Editor Matt Gagliano Copy Desk Chief Madeline Perez
Business Manager Joe Badalamenti
Social Media Shitposter Arthur O’Sullivan
Editor Emeritus
Patrick McAuliffe Jr.
Staff Writers
Dillon O’Toole, Spencer Haynes, Sara Traynor
Contributors
Julius Apostata, Charles Forman, Thomas Loos, Wuhan Wong
Special Thanks To:
Intercollegiate Studies Institute Collegiate Network Binghamton Review was printed by Gary Marsden We Provide the Truth. He Provides the Staples
SA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION INTERVIEW: LOGAN BLAKESLEE
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by Joe Badalamenti
3 Editorial by Jake Schweitzer 4 Press Watch by Our Staff 5 A Student’s Guide To Making A Difference by Charles Forman 6 St. Patrick’s Day: A Reflection on Identity Politics by Wuhan Wong 7 Boy, I Wish I Had A Dining Hall by Madeline Perez 10 Handsy Andy and #MeToo Hypocrisy by Patrick McAuliffe 12 Binghamton University: Budget/PR First, Student Health Second by Thomas Loos 14 GME Stonks: Is It Legal? by Julius Apostata 15 The Binghamton University Quarantine Experience by Charles Forman
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! Direct feedback to editor@binghamtonreview.com 2
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Vol. XXXIII, Issue VIII
EDITORIAL Dear Readers,
From the Editor
C
hronological snobbery [is] the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited. You must find out why it went out of date. Was it ever refuted (and if so by whom, where, and how conclusively) or did it merely die away as fashions do? If the latter, this tells us nothing about its truth or falsehood. From seeing this, one passes to the realization that our own age is also a “period,” and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions. They are likeliest to lurk in those widespread assumptions which are so ingrained in the age that no one dares to attack or feels it necessary to defend them. — C.S. Lewis Welcome back to another issue of Binghamton Review and happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s been an interesting couple of weeks since our last issue. Firstly, we fixed up both our office and our website to be more manageable. We also scheduled a GIM via B-Engaged, hoping to recruit more contributors while showing off our new office. Then, of course, the administration put a kibosh on the GIM by announcing that all in-person activities would cease immediately (the GIM was supposed to be a hybrid event). In spite of this, I was genuinely surprised to see some new faces eager to start contributing in the hastily rescheduled GIM, some of whom wrote for this issue! Much of the content for this issue revolves around on-campus goings-ons. With the pandemic still gripping the world, the administration has made some questionable decisions in regards to its COVID policies. One new contributor, Thomas Loos, noticed this and argues that these policies put students last. Another new contributor, Charles Forman, had decided to petition the school into making changes to the mailroom, writing about his experiences in organizing the petition. Two weeks later, however, Charles caught COVID-19, and has been isolated in quarantine housing ever since. There, he details his awful experience in quarantine housing, and what he levels as faults of the University. In other campus news, you may not be aware but SA is having student elections. Joe Badalamenti decided to reach out to SA presidential candidate Logan Blakeslee to interview him regarding his election platform. Additionally, Madeline Perez decides to embark on a bit of creative writing regarding the closure of the CIW dining hall. Of course, it won’t be Binghamton Review if we just focused solely on campus news. Since it’s St. Patrick’s Day, Wuhan Wong, another new contributor, has decided to reflect on the role of identity politics in Ireland. Additionally, Patrick MacAuliffe has taken aim at Governor Cuomo, and the recent scandals leveled against him. Lastly, Julius Apostata looks at the recent GME stock craze, and questions whether any of the actions by hedge funds, Reddit, and Robinhood were even legal at all. We truly hope you guys love this issue while having a fun and safe St. Patrick’s Day! Sincerely,
Jake Schweitzer Binghamton Review is a non-partisan, student-run news magazine of conservative thought founded in 1987 at Binghamton University. A true liberal arts education expands a student’s horizons and opens one’s mind to a vast array of divergent perspectives. The mark of true maturity is being able to engage with these perspectives rationally while maintaining one’s own convictions. In that spirit, we seek to promote the free and open exchange of ideas and offer alternative viewpoints not normally found or accepted on our predominately liberal campus. We stand against tyranny in all of its forms, both on campus and beyond. We believe in the principles set forth in this country’s Declaration of Independence and seek to preserve the fundamental tenets of Western civilization. It is our duty to expose the warped ideology of political correctness and cultural authoritarianism that dominates this university. Finally, we understand that a moral order is a necessary component of any civilized society. We strive to inform, engage with, and perhaps even amuse our readers in carrying out this mission.
Views expressed by writers do not necessarily represent the views of the publication as a whole. editor@binghamtonreview.com
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CPampus resswatch “Property destruction in protests can be a powerful political tool when all else fails” Colin Mangan, Pipe Dream, 3/11/21 “I want to address one of the recurring criticisms of the movement, and that is regarding the minority of BLM protests which have turned “violent.” I use the term “violent” in quotations, as more often than not, these “violent” protests are largely defined by the destruction of property rather than enacting harm against individuals.” Your rhetoric makes it sound like destruction of property is not violent but “violent” within quotes because there’s a difference. No, property damage is just as violent [finger quotes] as murder. Not to mention that harm against individuals has occurred at some of these protests. “I am not advocating for property violence, or any violence for that matter. I am, however, asking whether or not sabotage tactics such as property violence hold any utility in the context of mass movements such as BLM. From the question of utility, I hope to explain under what circumstances and what forms of property violence may be considered just.” I do not advocate for property violence, BUT...yeah, you can’t just use a disclaimer as a justification for violence. “It must be kept in mind that over 93 percent of BLM protests are entirely peaceful — i.e. not involving any damage of either property or persons — according to a report by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).” To borrow an argument from Jonah Goldberg: this reliance on data does not excuse the real acts of violence committed at some of these protests. “I do not say this to insinuate that property violence should be the primary means in the fight of [sic] racial justice, only that it should not be ruled out as a method of resistance when other op-
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Written by our Staff
We know you don’t read the other campus publications, so we did it for you. Original pieces are in quotes, our responses are in bold.
tions fail. That is what it means to fight oppression by any means necessary.” See, you did it again! You make a disclaimer then elevate the rhetoric which allows you to justify radical violence. This is the same kind of rhetoric that has been used to justify the January 6th Capital Riot. “I write this article keeping in mind Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s declaration of riots as “the language of the unheard.” But in a wider sense, I think it is apt to describe civil resistance as a whole as being part of this language. Civil resistance, whether it comes in either “violent” or nonviolent forms, is representative of the failure of established institutions to address the material conditions facing the most disenfranchised in society. It gives the oppressed not just a voice, but a megaphone, and that is why it is absolutely necessary for mass movements.” To respond to the argument in full: no, the use of violence is not justified in this current system because 1. American government institutions are not as discriminatory as pre- Jim Crow US, Apartheid , or even modern day China and 2. the US government is a democratic institution, meaning everyone’s voice is heard equally. Also, nice out of context quote. “The orgasm gap highlights misogynistic sex education in the U.S.” Willa Scolari, Pipe Dream, 2/22/21 “As published by Archives of Sexual Behavior, a study in the US of over 52,500 adults, including those who are lesbian, gay and bisexual, shows that…”
Only the second sentence and you’re already missing an Oxford Comma. You have to be doing this on purpose at this point. Why are you like this, Pipe Dream? Why? “This dates back to the medieval period, where it was a common misconception that a woman having an orgasm was necessary in order to produce a baby…” Wouldn’t that result in more women having orgasms? How is this the beginning of the filthy patriarchy preventing women from orgasming? “Nancy Tuana, a professor of philosophy and women’s, gender and sexuality studies at Penn State University…” OXFORD. COMMA. USE IT! “Tuana puts this in contrast to her male students, “who can tell you the length and the diameter of their penis both flaccid and erect.” Who the hell is out here measuring the diameter of their penis? “While this ignorance doesn’t apply to everyone, I am criticizing our society in general…” wE LiVe iN a SoCieTy!!1!!1!
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A STUDENT’S GUIDE TO MAKING A DIFFERENCE
A Student’s Guide To Making A Difference By Charles Forman
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f you had waited in line to get a package for the first few weeks of this semester, you probably were there for quite a while. With the new semester in full effect, I came back from the 2-month long winter break forgetting many essentials. Hair gel, face wash, and cords for various electronics were things that I mistakenly left at home. While these items are not as essential as bedding and clothes, life was inconvenient without them. Therefore, instead of spending hours shopping in person, I decided to order my items online for convenience. However, I could not have been more wrong. The first day I went to pick my items up, I immediately turned around because of how long the line was. I figured I would get them tomorrow when the line was not as long. The next day, it took over 45 minutes of waiting in line. Additionally, my contact lenses were arriving the next day, so I went to wait in line, and it was even longer than the day before! I did not have the time to spend an extra 1-2 hours waiting in this line. Additionally, I, along with many other students, did not have availability during this time. With only 4-6 staff on duty, they needed to expand this operation, because it was out of control. This was when I knew the mailroom needed fixing. I decided to create an online petition with the following suggestions: 1. Open the Mailroom at 10, and close 5, so that there is enough time to get mail, and the line can be shorter. 2. Hire 2-4 more staff to help get packages. The suggestions were reasonable enough to the point where most people could agree that the school should make the change. Prior to these changes, the mailroom was open from 11 AM - 3:50 PM, only 4 hours and some! Additionally, there were only three windows, with some staff occasionally accepting students through the side door. Starting the petition was just the beginning of this process. This type of
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“legislation” only works if one can get the support of fellow students. I knew the limited voice I had within the school would not be enough, but I still used whatever platforms I could. I shared this petition on my Snapchat and Instagram stories. I posted it to the Binghamton University subreddit and the Freshman Facebook group. I recently switched dorms, so I was able to share it in both group chats. The online presence was helpful for the first 100 signatures, but this petition would need more if it were to succeed. While these methods of sharing
“There is always room for improvement, and anyone can create that change.” got some attention to this cause, it was not enough. I was working with my friends on ways to get more signatures, brainstorming different ideas. The big question was still looming: how many signatures do I need for this to be successful? The answer to this question was unknown; I knew it would have a greater chance to be successful if more people signed it. I got the idea to go to the package line and ask every person standing in it to sign the petition. I did this around one day after starting the petition. It had already garnered over 300 signatures, and this effort was to ensure it kept growing. The line that day was stretching into the marketplace, at one point reaching Tully’s. To make things efficient, I created a QR code for the link to the petition so that there was no confusion about getting there. Then, I asked the first person standing in line, “Hi, have you been waiting in this line for a while?” to which they
replied, “Yes.” That is when I started my spiel about my petition. “This is ridiculous, everyone; the lines should not be this long. Sign this petition to end this abomination.” I went on to tell them about what the petition was aiming to do, and the first people signed it. The students behind them signed it and started a chain that reached the end of the line. Out of all of the methods I used to garner signatures for this petition, this required the most confidence. Overall, I got approximately 50-60 signatures, with some of the line-waiters telling me that they had already signed it, and some were saying they did not want to sign it. The out-of-dorm advertising was the special sauce this campaign needed to be successful. Stories, posts, and messages can only do so much. If one wants any change on campus, they must go directly to the people that matter most: the students. We all put up with little inconveniences, but it does not have to be this way. There is always room for improvement, and anyone can create that change. I do not hold any student government positions, and I am not in many clubs. Nevertheless, I saw a change that had to be made, and I took matters into my own hands and found success in doing so. As of Monday, the Mailroom will be open from 10 AM to 4:50 PM, from February 22nd - March 5th. The change occurred after the petition got around 568 signatures, which answers how many signatures we needed. I initially thought it would require much more, but it does not take much for the school to listen when there is a problem of this magnitude. If the line grows as long as it was pre-petition, I expect the school to keep the new hours when they return to regular hours. I am happy with the school’s decision to extend the hours, but that is not what matters. What matters here is that every student has a voice, and you can impact this school when you put your heart into something.
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ST. PATRICK’S DAY: A REFLECTION ON IDENTITY POLITICS
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St. Patrick’s Day: A Reflection on Identity Politics By Wuhan Wong
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hen mentioning St Patrick’s Day, one often conjures the alluring images of green clad leprechauns and soft harps playing on a green pasture. Some take this day as an opportunity to pompously display their Irish heritage, while others use it as an excuse to consume vast quantities of alcohol. However, the geographical region most associated with this day, Ireland, serves as an exemplary display of how identity politics is dangerous. After the Tudors conquered Ireland in the late 16th century, the English crown facilitated the growth of plantations. The plantations were tracts of land given to Protestant settlers to civilize the Catholic natives. This project was accelerated after Oliver Cromwell conquered the island in 1651. The Catholic Irish and the Protestant settlers did not get along. The Cromwellian era sowed the seeds for discontent, as Irish were killed en masse. The Parliamentarians, English Kings, and eventually the British Empire used ethnic divisions as a tool to divide, conquer and subjugate the island. Protestant yeomen looked with contempt upon the Catholic majority, viewing them as backwards papists. Similarly, Catholics saw the settlers as invaders and heretics. This clash of cultures caused several Jacobite Risings, famines, and eventually led to the formation of an Irish Republic in 1922 and a volatile Northern Ireland. More recently, in Northern Ireland, the Troubles serves as another example of how sectarianism is exceptionally volatile. After the rise of a Catholic civil rights movement and Bloody Sunday, in which members of the Para Regiment opened fire on Catholic protestors, a socialist extremist movement called the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) emerged. The PIRA styled themselves after the IRA of the 1920s but used more terrorist tactics to achieve their ends. They planted bombs, mortared government buildings, established no-go-zones, and murdered soldiers and civilians, Protestants and Catholics alike. On the other side, Ulster loyalists waged their own insurgency and terror campaign. A third faction, the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary, sought to keep order, although they had a loyalist bias. Certain parts of Belfast were exceptionally dangerous. British armored personnel carriers roamed the streets. The PIRA also took their campaign to England, planting bombs in Hyde Park and nearly killing Margaret Thatcher. What is the cause of all this conflict? The English tried to settle Ireland, and, under the pretext of civilizing the indigenous populace, conquered the land and natives there. This failed, and although thousands of Irish emigrated or starved, the Catholic population remained, and eventually waged a successful separatist movement. Although Ireland was initially a settler colony, it was eventually incorporated as a core territory by the Act of Union 1800. A new ethnic group formed from Protestants appeared in Ireland: the Anglo-Irish. The Anglo-Irish served as a ruling elite, epitomized by one of its most famous associates, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington and Prime Minister in the 1830s. Because of the failure to dislodge the Irish, Ireland
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transformed into a “salad bowl” society, with a well established Protestant minority. During this era, the Anglo-Irish still had disdain over the local Catholics. The Protestant identity was immiscible with the Catholic population. This was exemplified by the potato famine when British MPs provided little assistance to Ireland. Here, the mother country ignored the needs of its supposedly equal kingdom and people. In fact, some MPs regarded it as a blessing as it depleted the opposition and praised it as an example of Malthusian theory in action. Both factions were divided into their unique sects, which combined their ethnic group and their religion. Caltholic Unionists and Protestant Nationalists were therefore extremely rare. With each group forming unique identities, tribal violence erupted. It is worth mentioning, however, that most Protestants and Catholics did not approve of violence and tensions have died down since the Good Friday Agreement. But the fact that a large minority of both populations both hated each other enough to conduct paramilitary operations speaks to the destructiveness of identity politics. From the history of Northern Ireland, it is reasonable to conclude that multiculturalism leads to sectarianism and identity politics. Upon looking at how identity politics and multiculturalism are being utilized by contemporary American media, one would think they are the cure for all social ailments. If that were the case, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would still exist on the globe. The same can be said for Palestinians unwilling to integrate into Israeli society. If multiculturalism has a large record of failure, why is it so popular among universities and public schools? Multiculturalism is often conflated with multi-ethnicism, which in comparison is an acceptable concept. One local example is how the Multicultural Research Center encourages “diversity”. For instance, giving a list of restaurant suggestions to students based on the most superficial of factors, that of “minority owned” businesses, facilitates sectarianism. The free market should decide which restaurants students go to spend their money on. Arbiters of multiculturalism are encouraging cultural enclaves within this country. Instead of encouraging Americans to emphasize their own cultures and identities, they should encourage Western principles, the institutions ought to encourage Western culture. This is called the melting pot, and it is the best option when assimilating different cultures. Recall as the British used identity politics to incorporate Ireland, bad faith actors are using the same ideology to divide and conquer the United States. Of course, multiculturalism is always beneficial to a certain sector of society; the enforcers of identity politics in academia, people who cannot be employed in other sectors, and politicians who need validity for election. The entire system is a massive scam, designed to keep the hoi polloi in check. The next time you hear the common university talking point, “Diversity is our strength”, instead, keep in mind how identity politics inevitably leads to a fragmented society.
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BOY, I WISH I HAD A DINING HALL
Boy, I Wish I Had A Dining Hall By Madeline Perez
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woke up tied to a chair. “Kinky,” I thought, but now wasn’t the time for that. As my hazy vision started to clear, I recognized the musty atmosphere of what could only be the electrical closet near the Underground Commons. I tugged at the rope that bound my wrists together behind me. Wouldn’t budge. I hadn’t encountered knot-tying this skilled since my altercations with the Boy Scouts of America. While wondering if those pocket-knife-wielding “outdoorsy types” were back for round two, I was alerted by a buzz and a click as the screen in front of me illuminated the darkness. Overcome by a blinding white flash, I found myself bathed in the light of a Zoom call. Squinting, a familiar figure began to take shape. “Harvey…” I growled. As the man intent on destroying my very livelihood, I should’ve known a meeting like this was bound to happen. “Hello, Ms. Perez. Looking well, I see.” His balding head shone with malicious intent. “You’re looking bald, as usual,” I retorted. My fiery expression burned with the strength of ten thousand suns. “Why am I here?” Moments after I uttered the phrase the circumstances of my capture became obviously clear. “Where is she? What have you done to her!” I yelled, heart rate thumping louder than my own thoughts. She needed me to protect her, and I failed. I failed both of us. “Oh?” Stenger purred. “You couldn’t possibly be talking about the CIW DINING HALL!” The screen flashed as the building came into view. She looked as sad and decrepit as ever, and I loved her more than life itself. “Baby…” I muttered under my breath, eyes darting back and forth across the screen. I once again tugged at my rope restraints, to no avail. Slyly, I started to work on the knots. Getting out of here wouldn’t be an issue; this wasn’t the first time I’d had to deal with being tied up. The share screen option was canceled and I was once again held cap-
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tive by Harvey’s gaze. “I don’t know if you’ve heard the recent news…” he made the smirking emoji face. “But this dining hall will close Friday, February 26th until further notice.” My heart bled. I hadn’t felt pain so intense since the Friendly’s staff publicly sang happy birthday to me. “But the CIW students… They’ll starve!” I looked at him pleadingly, “They’ll… they’ll die.” Harvey let out the loudest laugh I had heard all day. “You idiot, THAT WAS THE PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING!” “No...” My voice was almost a whisper, as weak and depressing as the dining hall food I once hated. “Yes!” Harvey Stenger roared, hearing my aside. “We must accommodate the sick and dying COVID students… for how else can we continue to take their money?” He chuckled heartily. “Ah…I love money,” he said, to no one in particular. “NO!” I shouted at such a volume that surprised him and me both. “As long as I’m still alive, I won’t let that happen,” He gave me a catlike grin. “That’s the problem.” Suddenly, 10 ninjas dropped from the ceiling. Were they there the whole time? But now wasn’t the time for critical thinking. Judging by the low effort put into keeping me bound to the chair, it was clear I was being underestimated. I gracefully slipped out of the restraints and jumped on top of the chair. I punched the ninjas three at a time. Though I couldn’t tell their gender, I kicked at their groins just in case. I dodged every attack and delivered knuckle sandwiches left and right. My swift and agile movements paralleled the cafeteria fight in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man. I would be Peter Parker, of course. Before I knew it,
6 ninjas lay on the ground, groaning. The other four had turned back and were running in the opposite direction. Must’ve been Mountainview students…I smirked at the screen where Harvey watched, paralyzed. Within the next second, he quickly ended the Zoom call, but with that one look, I knew my message had been sent. Within the hour, I had found him. He was cowering in his walk-in closet, hugging his comically large bags of money. Pathetic. I stared down at him. He still couldn’t meet my eyes. “Ok, Ok,” he wept, scared shitless by my strong muscles. “I won’t do it.” I pulled his head up by his three remaining hairs and got close to his face, challenging him to look at me. “Won’t do what?” I thundered. “T-The CIW dining hall...” stuttered Harvey. “I won’t shut it down. You can still be served inedible food after buying painfully overpriced meal plans.” I got threateningly closer. “Promise?” He looked at me with frightened, teary eyes. “Pinky promise,” he choked. I walked back to the CIW dorming community as a hero. As is routine after every conquest, the girls began to swarm. “Oh, Madeline,” they swooned. “You were so strong and brave… however can we repay you?” I gave them a light chuckle, looking longingly at the CIW dining hall. “Sorry ladies, there’s only one girl for me.” As they dispersed disappointedly, I approached the doors of the dining hall. Placing a hand on the glass, I let out a sigh. “That’ll do pig.” I patted the door. “That’ll do.” I took one last look at the majesty of the old building, then turned and walked away, never to return.
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SA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION INTERVIEW: LOGAN BLAKESLEE
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SA Presidential Election Interview: Logan Blakeslee By Joe Badalamenti
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he following is an abbreviated transcript of an interview conducted between Joe Badalamenti (JB) and SA presidential candidate Logan Blakeslee (LB). The full transcript can be found on our website, binghamtonreview.com : JB: So why don’t you introduce yourself and explain why you should be SA President, briefly? LB: As you already know, my name is Logan Blakeslee, and I’ve been involved in the SA for about two-and-ahalf years now. Before that, I attended SUNY Broome as a freshman, where I was elected as a Student Senator and later Vice President of Student Affairs. These days I represent OC3 in the SA Congress. I feel as though I would be a good fit for SA President because I have the determination to make real change for the Binghamton community. I answer to the constituents who voted for me in the first place, and every vote I have made in the SA was done with them in mind. I will be assertive with the administration, and I will listen to students about their needs. That is my top goal. JB: Explain why you have decided to run for this position. LB: I chose to run for SA President because I, and many other students, have lost faith in student government when it comes to solving issues. We see this in the low voter turnout rates and the lack of options in previous elections. I was deeply frustrated at how the same agenda kept popping up every year, and previous candidates had disturbingly similar platforms. We need new ideas, and the courage to implement them! I’m not giving up on Binghamton, and I’m not going to use this position as a stepping stone for a career. This election is more about us versus the administration more than it is about student leaders facing off against each other. Also, I really, really detest Sodexo. It is a deplorable company and I wish to use the power of the SA President to bring them in-line with
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student values. JB: What makes you stand out as a candidate for this position that sets you apart from other candidates? LB: The other candidates for SA President had much higher positions than I ever did during my time at Binghamton. Curiously, the same issues that they are pledging to solve now are virtually the same issues they pledged to solve a year ago. Mental healthcare is still lacking. Food services are still subpar. Campus safety is still a major worry. The difference between me and the other candidates is that I won’t hold back, and if I am elected, we can finally put these long-running problems to rest. I succeeded in my campaign promises while I was in
SUNY Broome’s Student Assembly; I helped revive their campus newspaper after years of inactivity, I gathered donations for the homeless, and I was in charge of a system where student clubs held administrators accountable. I have long-lasting accomplishments that I am proud of. My record speaks for itself. JB: What exactly is your main platform as a candidate for student office? LB: The short version of my platform is “Pro-Student, Pro-You.” To elaborate on that slogan, I am calling for a more decisive approach to SA oversight of the administration. I am against any increases to tuition or the Student Activity Fee, I am against Sodexo’s monopolistic policies as a food provider, and I am against the university’s nonsensical policies towards the
Greek Life community. Beyond that, I take the mental health of Binghamton students very seriously, and I call upon the university to hire more counselors. What I think is the most important part of my platform, however, is a return to normalcy. COVID-19 has done unimaginable harm to the Binghamton community. It has created an environment of constant fear and stress. The fact that many students can’t get a housing refund if they leave campus is absolutely horrendous. If I am elected, I will steer this community back to how it was before the pandemic, back when we could enjoy the company of our friends and peers. I will prioritize vaccination so that we can restore the large-scale events that we used to enjoy, while also keeping everyone safe. I want Binghamton to live again! JB: So how do you plan to improve the SA? How can you improve its relationship with the student body? LB: The SA needs more than just symbolic power. As many are likely aware, resolutions passed by the SA demanding significant change are almost always shot down by the administration. The position of SA President is one exception to this, as the title gives the opportunity to meet these bureaucrats face-to-face (or screen-to-screen, depending on how much longer Zoom is utilized). I will be the biggest advocate for expanded oversight into university affairs and operations. We students pay for this school, we should have a role in deciding how it is run. As for improving relations with the student body, the solution is quite simple. Get results! If the SA managed to achieve some permanent victories for students, then perhaps they would start caring about the SA. It is essential to break the image of the SA being a clique that only looks good on a résumé. People need to believe that someone has their back in difficult times, and if I become SA President, I will stand on the side of students every single day. JB: What would the first thing you
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BINGHAMTONREVIEW.COM do as SA president, assuming you get elected into office? LB: Good question. The very first thing I’d do is give an epic speech that lists all of my grievances with the university administration. The next thing I’d do is begin my plan to reopen campus. Once we’re clear of masking and social distancing requirements, I can promise you that the good times will be just around the corner. U-Fest, which I intend on bringing back to its glory days, will be a celebration unlike any other (and that’s just the beginning!). I wish to be the SA President that made Binghamton a happier, more fun place to live and learn. I wish to make the 2021-2022 school year our best one yet. JB: Recently, some students have been frustrated with the approach that the administration is taking in regards to the pandemic. What are your thoughts on the administration’s approach? LB: I fully understand the concerns of these students. They’re right to be disappointed, frustrated, or angry. I feel the exact same way they do. Denying housing refunds during the pandemic, as I mentioned before, was a terrible thing for the administration to do. Many students also rely on a consistent OCCT schedule to get to work off-campus, and the administration showed how little they cared by limiting busing hours on weekends. Cramming everyone into the University Union by shutting down the other dining halls was especially awful. How do they expect us to social-distance? Yet, the administration has the audacity to blame us for the spread of Covid-19. They fail to recognize that their own policy may very well have contributed to the pandemic. JB: What would you change (if anything) about the University’s approach to the pandemic? LB: My approach would be to phase the university out of pandemic-related restrictions. The existence of multiple vaccines, which the university should be keen to provide to the whole student body, is the surest sign that we are near the end of the lockdown era. I believe that, fairly soon, we should return to in-person instruction, and that
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SA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION INTERVIEW: LOGAN BLAKESLEE we should have more in-person events as we did in the past. On another note, the administration should be ashamed to have had classes open on significant religious holidays back in the Fall semester. That won’t be happening again if I am elected SA President. JB: Some students have complained about the lack of care taken in regards to quarantine housing. How would you approach addressing these concerns? LB: They are right to complain! My heart goes out to the students who have been, or currently are, stuck in quarantine. It is painfully evident that the university takes action without thinking deeply on the logistics or the effects. I will do my best to provide students in quarantine with adequate food and care, if that will still be necessary by the time I take office. Students should not have to deal with unclean or unsanitary living conditions for as long as they are forced into isolation. It is time that we held someone responsible for this. JB: One of the biggest complaints with the administration has been their communication with the student body. How would you address these concerns? LB: It is no secret that the administration is bad at communicating. It infrequently sends out vaguely-worded emails that do little to instill a sense of trust or respect. The administrators themselves like to pat their own backs for pretending to solve an issue that they either created, ignored, or made exponentially worse. I will be taking student feedback directly to those in charge of this university, and I will be highly active in improving transparency. It is crucial to be straightforward and clear when addressing the student body. JB: Last year, a popular instagram account began sharing accounts of students who claimed to have been harassed and assaulted by their fellow students. Many of these accusations blamed Greek Life organizations at Binghamton. What are your thoughts on this and how would you address the situation in regards to Greek Life? LB: Firstly, I would like to state that I
take the issue of assault or harassment very seriously. It is good that people are coming forward with their stories so that victims of these heinous acts don’t have to feel alone or ashamed. Secondly, I acknowledge the fact that Greek Life is an important resource for students to get involved in the campus community, and to make friends. I do not wish to blame every Greek Life organization for the wrongdoing of a few students, and furthermore, the recent policy that suspends these organizations for having a connection to an assault/harassment case is an overreaction. We need to hire more sexual assault investigators and collaborate with the U.P.D., not shut down organizations before their case is resolved. I want to protect students, first and foremost. I want to go after individual perpetrators and make them face the consequences of their actions. JB: What services could you provide to students through the SA to help them in their college experience? LB: This is one admittedly far-fetched idea that I’ve had for several years, but if I had the opportunity, I would create a student-run retail store on campus where folks could buy and sell materials that they no longer need. Want to get rid of a notebook that you never wrote in, or a lava lamp that’s been sitting on your desk for ages? Sell it off to the SA General Goods Store, or whatever its name might be. It would operate almost like a pawn shop, and any profit derived from it would go into reducing the activity fee. Another idea I’ve had is to host an end-of-semester campus yard sale that would function similarly, but it would give the chance for students to be their own vendors and to keep whatever profits they earn from it. JB: Do you have any suggestions or a message to send to our readership? LB: I want to tell all of you that the upcoming SA election might be the most important one in this university’s history. There is much at stake. I hope that my words have given you hope for this college’s future, and I would be honored if you voted for me to be your next SA President. Also, be sure to follow my campaign Instagram: blakeslee4prez.
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HANDSY ANDY AND #METOO HYPOCRACY
BINGHAMTONREVIEW.COM
Handsy Andy and #MeToo Hypocracy By Patrick McAuliffe
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y Twitter account (@sadtrickmcawful, shameless plug) has become an official Andrew Cuomo hate account over the past few weeks. Back in October, I cataloged the Cuomo administration’s deliberate miscounting of the deaths in New York’s nursing homes, which the major news outlets have finally gotten around to reporting about. By itself, this should be enough to immediately remove Big Fredo from the governorship and destroy his public reputation, as he allegedly threatened to destroy NYS Assemblyman Ron Kim for leading the charge in the nursing home scandal. Cuomo seems unable to leave bad enough alone, however, and as of March 9th, six women have come forward to accuse the governor of sexual harassment over a period of over 20 years. For those that don’t blindly thirst after Cuomo or Democratic leadership at any level, no matter what they’ve done, this particular sequence of events can be frustrating and especially counterproductive for discussions about sexual harassment. Whether or not a woman is believed in the court of public opinion - propagated by pundits in mainstream media - has become a matter of the politics of the person being accused, and nowhere is this more evident than in Cuomo’s arrogant and insensitive responses to the recent storm of accusations. Those in upstate New York may be familiar by now with Cuomo’s pattern of narcissistic behavior, making grand gestures to look good for the voters in major urban centers and relentlessly bullying and gaslighting anyone who criticizes him. Nowhere is this more evident than in his handling of the Moreland Commission. The commission, established by Cuomo and former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in July 2013, was created to provide recommendations for anti-corruption measures ranging from the conduct of public officials to reforming campaign finance laws.
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According to the New York Times, the Moreland Commission, originally established with an 18-month lifespan, was ended in March 2014 with “little fanfare and no advance notice”. Over the course of the nine months that they were permitted by the governor to operate, the commission repeatedly uncovered corrupt organizations or officials; when word reached the governor’s office that these organizations or officials had ties to him or his administration, Cuomo’s office pressured the members of the commission to retract their subpoenas or investigations. In the end, the state legislature passed a much more toothless pack of anti-bribery laws, directly recommended to them by the governor, than what the Moreland Commission could have accomplished. In a style reminiscent of a mob boss pressuring the authorities to look the other way, Big Fredo dissuaded those who could have made a serious dent in cleaning up New York politics. More than six years later, Cuomo’s administration still handles perception problems the same way it handled the Moreland Commission’s investigation into the very people that founded it. Secretary to the Governor, Melissa DeRosa, in a February video conference call with state Democratic officials, admitted that the Cuomo administration covered up the true number of state nursing home deaths from COVID-19, according to the New York Post. DeRosa says that the administration “froze” when former President Trump’s Department of Justice sought to launch an investigation into New York’s death toll last August. NYS Assemblyman Ron Kim, a progressive Democrat representing Queens, was the first whistleblower on DeRosa’s admission of a coverup, having been a vocal critic of Cuomo’s handling of COVID in New York’s nursing homes. According to CNN, Kim and three other anonymous Democratic legislators alleged that Cuomo and of-
ficials from his administration had either explicitly or implicitly threatened retribution if they considered voting to strip him of his emergency powers or if they didn’t put out statements of support for the governor’s position. Assemblyman Kim has been the most vocal about these threats, saying that he received a call from Cuomo himself threatening to “destroy” him if he did not disavow his comments and put out a supportive statement for the governor. To only underscore Cuomo’s particular political style, during a regularly scheduled press conference the next day, Big Fredo cited Kim’s initial support for and then opposition to a 2015 nail salon bill that the governor had recommended to the legislature as the beginning of the assemblyman’s animosity towards him. It appears clear that Cuomo goes to any length to shift any sort of blame from him and his administration onto those he deems disloyal or critical of his actions. It is vital to establish a timeline for each instance of sexual harassment that the women accusing Cuomo have made public, as well as the governor’s or his administration’s rather lackluster and sociopathic responses to each one. Peter Ajemian, Cuomo’s director of communications, sums up in a March 7th statement the governor’s attitude toward both these six women and all women afraid of speaking up to share their experiences of harassment or assault: “All women have the right to come forward and tell their story — however, it’s also the responsibility of the press to consider self-motivation. This is reckless.” Listed below are all women at the time of writing that are looking to score “cheap points”, as Ajemian says in the same statement (info taken from sources including The Washington Post, CNN, the New York Post, and the New York Times): 1. Lindsay Boylan, Feb. 24: In Dec. 2016, Cuomo told her he had a “crush” on her and suggestively made reference to a cigar box he received as
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BINGHAMTONREVIEW.COM a gift from President Clinton (which, in Boylan’s mind, was an allusion to the Monica Lewinsky scandal). In Oct. 2017, Cuomo suggested that the two of them play strip poker. In 2018, Cuomo gave her an unwanted kiss on the lips. The governor has obviously denied the accusations but ordered an investigation into these instances. 2. Charlotte Bennett, Feb. 27: In June 2020, Cuomo asked personal questions about her dating life and whether she had been sexually intimate with older men. He also said that he would be open to a relationship with a woman in her 20s (Cuomo is 63, Bennett is 25). Cuomo responded by acknowledging that he may occasionally make jokes in poor taste. 3. Anna Ruch, Mar. 1: At a wedding in September 2019, Ruch, who is not a former or current member of Cuomo’s staff, was approached by Cuomo and touched inappropriately on her lower back and cheeks. The governor asked if he could kiss her when she moved his hand away from her back. Cuomo’s office responded by referring to his previous claims that his actions could have been “misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation.” 4. Karen Hinton and Ana Liss, Mar. 6: In 2000, when Cuomo was a member of HUD, Karen Hinton was summoned to his hotel room at night, where she attempted to and eventually succeeded in escaping from his unwelcome, extremely uncomfortable embrace. Meanwhile, from 2013-2015, Ana Liss was subjected to flirtatious gestures and invasive questions from Cuomo while working as a policy and operations aide. Cuomo’s office responded with dismissal to Liss’ claims, saying “That’s what people in politics do.” Meanwhile, Hinton’s claims have been met with outright hostility from the governor’s administration, and the statements from communications director Ajemian quoted at the start of this list were in response to Hinton’s accusations. 5. Member of Executive Chamber staff, Mar. 9: Late last year, an anonymous employee of Cuomo was groped under her skirt when summoned to help the governor with his cell phone at the governor’s mansion. Cuomo
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HANDSY ANDY AND #METOO HYPOCRACY claims that he knew nothing of this most recent allegation, despite confirmation by the Times-Union that his administration was made aware of the allegation as early as over the previous weekend. I encourage anyone curious or angry about this issue to look into the allegations and the governor’s subsequent responses themselves; I’m trying to give a more abridged version. However, if one takes into account both the serious nature of sexual harassment allegations in society today and the past statements on sexual harassment that have come from the governor’s desk, one can come upon a very clear contradiction. From tweets and press conferences to legislative proposals, Cuomo has propped himself up since 2013 as a champion of defending women, vowing to return campaign donations from Harvey Weinstein and calling on two assemblymen accused of sexually propositioning members of their staff to immediately deny the claims or resign, according to the Washington Post. To see him and his staff act so flippant and, at times, hostile, in the face of allegations against him is something that the people of New York need to reckon with. Remember when President Trump was reviled for more than four years because of sexual assault and harassment allegations against him? Remember when Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination was turned into a character assassination in the court of public opinion? In spite of this, I’m willing to wager that any number of Cuomo fanatics go onto social media every day claiming that the women accusing him of harassment are either looking to cash in now that Big Fredo is under the microscope, or are part of some convoluted Republican conspiracy to get a red governor that will pardon Trump, or are somehow responsible for the unwanted attention they received. They explain it away! Chris Cuomo on CNN won’t even be covering his “Love Gov” brother’s saga of accusations. Maybe it’s because the Italian Stallion has more popular appeal than most people accused of sexual harassment; maybe it’s his warped psychology that
prevents him from immediately apologizing and taking steps to make things right. Maybe it’s Maybelline, for all I know. Something about Cuomo and his fans makes them unable to believe the women coming forward, and hurts the future prospects of anyone hoping to get some recompense for the discomfort and humiliation they’ve suffered. The narcissist inhabiting Albany may end up with another Moreland situation, as his longtime ally, State Attorney General Letitia James, is handling his sexual harassment investigation. If Cuomo is cleared, as I suspect he will be, and he refuses to resign or relinquish his emergency COVID powers easily, I want to remind the reader of the six names aforementioned in this article. Think of them and his ambivalent responses next time you consider buying his book, or simping for him on social media, or casting your vote in the next primary or general election. If the justice system finds no merit to the accusations against him - free from his influence or not - let Governor Cuomo know that you haven’t forgotten how he behaved when finally confronted with the consequences of his actions.
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BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY: BUDGET/PR FIRST, STUDENT HEALTH SECOND
BINGHAMTONREVIEW.COM
Binghamton University: Budget/ PR First, Student Health Second By Thomas Loos
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UNY at Binghamton had a robust COVID-19 plan for the Fall 2020 Semester. With an initial goal of staying below 100 COVID-19 positive students, faculty, or staff on a two-week rolling period, the University implemented a variety of precautions and policies in order to keep students safe. Currently, the Restarting Binghamton web page lists the University’s goals as being: § Protect the health and safety of everyone associated with the University: students, faculty, staff and community members. § Maximize the value of our education by maintaining access for all students admitted to the University regardless of economic means, and maximize the success of all of our students to enhance their lives and futures. § Sustain the research activities of the University to the greatest extent possible. § Contribute to the economic recovery of our region. The goals are clear. Keep students, faculty, and staff safe, while keeping education sufficient, and keep research going. Furthermore, contributing to the economic growth and recovery of the Binghamton community is also a factor at play. These words show that Binghamton is trying to keep the community safe, while keeping the education quality. However, actions speak louder than words; the University has consistently put students last, behind policies that are meant to help the university fiscally, as well as enhance public relations. Remote Learner Designation The decision to declare yourself as a remote learner is a monumental one. Do you feel safe coming to in-person classes, considering the Fall Semester’s two shutdowns? Is it worth giving up clubs, sports, or other recreational social-distanced activities we have come to love to stay safe at home
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with your family? Well, whether being a remote learner is right for any particular student, a big factor is universal: how many of your classes are going to be online anyways? A student who is taking four classes, three of which are online, would more strongly consider being remote. Perhaps all of a student’s classes are in-person, and they want to be there. On the other extreme, what if a student had all their classes online? Knowing your potential options for your schedule is a big deal. The problem is that the deadline to declare oneself a remote learner was 11-4-2020, whilst the schedule of classes was not released until 12-2-2020. Nearly a whole month before students could even know what their options for
“Did the University reduce the gym capacity by 10, 20, 50, 75, or even as much as 90%? No, they simply shut it down, as it was just the easiest solution to enact without the student body in mind.” classes were, they were forced to make this monumental decision. Students were entrapped into either giving up in-person learning, with the possibility of most classes being traditional learning, or committing to in-person learning, with the possibility of just one of their classes being in-person. Dormitory Cancellations For students living on campus, not coming back to campus for the spring semester and becoming a remote learner could be a painful decision. Even with social distancing, living on campus gives an opportunity to be around many different diverse people, despite being six feet apart. Living away from home gives students inde-
pendence, freedom, and, for many, joy. However, with the Fall semester seeing cases rising above the ‘shutdown threshold’ of 100 cases twice, students with preexisting conditions, or families with similar conditions, may not have felt safe. If the potential health risks of being on campus outweighed the benefits, cancelling housing for Spring 2021 could have been the safest option. However, Binghamton University and Cayuga Community College were the only two universities that would not even offer a chance of a refund for Spring housing based on an anonymous survey. Before a student even steps foot in the room, they are forced to pay for it. Alfred State, Brockport, University at Buffalo, SUNY Canton, SUNY Delhi, Farmingdale State College, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY Maritime, SUNY New Paltz, and SUNY Plattsburgh all would give a full refund if a student felt unsafe going into the Spring 2021 semester. Other SUNY universities would entertain the thought of giving a refund, though not guaranteed. Binghamton University was one of two that simply gave a hard no. Students who cannot cancel housing are paying for it anyway, enticing them to come back to the University just to avoid throwing thousands of dollars down the drain, even if coming back to campus feels unsafe to them. Furthermore, allowing people to refund housing would decrease
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BINGHAMTONREVIEW.COM the density of the on-campus population, meaning a safer environment for those that returned to campus. What happened to protecting the health and safety of everyone associated with the University? Well, health and safety come second to the tens, or even hundreds, of thousands of dollars that can come from not offering a partial nor a full refund. This policy exists to help the budget, not the students. Poor, Unprofessional Communication Regarding COVID Policy The first time Binghamton University went ‘on pause’ for the fall semester began on 10-8-2020. With no in-person classes, on campus activities, or even sit-in dining, many students considered leaving the campus for some or all of the pause. At 5:32 PM
“If the administration truly wanted to stop the spread, why would they simply shut down everything for this undefined length of time?” on 10-8-2020, more than 17 hours into the first day of the pause, Binghamton University Residential Life sent out an email stating that students who left campus “for the duration of the pause” may not return for the remainder of the fall semester. Now, this policy won’t be critiqued, as it came from the SUNY level. It is rumored that Binghamton would allow students to come back, provided they tested negative upon arrival, which is a very pro-student policy, though this never came to fruition. However, this email was very unprofessional, and poorly worded. No header/signature, just a wall of text that seemed to be typed up quickly by any random person in res-life. The ‘for the duration of the pause’ was the most deceiving part. What if students were already planning on going home for a day or two on the weekend? What if students had a med-school interview, and planned on staying over the night before their big day? What about students that have already departed, and were long gone? If students did not
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BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY: BUDGET/PR FIRST, STUDENT HEALTH SECOND
stay for the full ‘duration’ of the pause, would they be barred from coming back? With this confusion, I personally reached out to residential life asking for answers, within 20 minutes of the initial email. They did not reply for more than five hours, at nearly 11 PM at night, with a dry reply that echoed policy. No sympathy given for individual circumstances, or anything alike. Now, in spring 2021, the confusing policy changes continue. On Monday, February 22, 2021, it was announced that all on-campus activities will be cancelled, except for in-person classes. The cancellations are as follows: • All non-classroom student activities, including Greek life. • All student group dance rehearsals and other non-academic student activities. • All intercollegiate athletics, club sports and intramurals. • All performances of any kind. In addition: • All dining facilities will be take-out only. • The Rec Center at the East Gym is closed. • All residential hall lounges will be off limits. • The ice skating rink is closed. • OCCT will run only during class times. Now, with COVID cases on the rise, this seems to be a good measure to keep students safe from contracting and spreading the virus. However, this pseudo-shutdown was put into effect with no warning. Furthermore, the University is less than halfway to the 5.0% positivity rate on a rolling 14-day
average that mandates a shutdown. The administration did not attempt to scale-back certain high-risk areas of campus living; they simply shut it all down. This was the simplest and easiest solution. Of nearly 46,000 COVID-19 cases that were contact traces in New York, less than 0.075% of them came from gyms. Binghamton University’s rec center is restricted to time slots of a limited capacity, low enough that social distance is always maintained in the space. Did the University reduce the gym capacity by 10, 20, 50, 75, or even as much as 90%? No, they simply shut it down, as it was just the easiest solution to enact without the student body in mind. This policy, though protecting students from the virus, seems to neglect the fact that ‘health’ also has a mental component. When will students be able to return to the gym to exercise and decompress? When will athletes be able to see their teammates again? When will students be able to leave their dorm room, their primary place of study, to grab a bite to eat and simply not be cooped up in their workspace? The answer to that, is “until further notice.” There is no specified end to the pseudo-pause. Even if the positivity rate drops below 2%, 1%, or 0.5%, there’s still no discretion as to what will cause this halt of services to stop, or any time scale as to when it may be ending. How can the University “...maintain access for all students admitted to the University regardless of economic means,” when WorkStudy students do not even know how much longer they will be out of work for this pause? However, not everything is cancelled. In-person learning still continues. If it is not evidently clear, this decision was made to ensure that the University can still, potentially, go a whole semester without ceasing online learning. The University simply wants the talking point of making a whole semester of ‘traditional’ learning. If the administration truly wanted to stop the spread, why would they simply shut down everything for this undefined length of time? Well, this is a policy made to benefit the PR of Binghamton University, rather than the student body.
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GME STONKS: IS IT LEGAL?
GME Stonks: Is It Legal?
BINGHAMTONREVIEW.COM
By Julius Apostata
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’m going to start this article off in a way completely different from most Binghamton Review articles: with a disclaimer. I am, by no means, a financial or legal expert; if at some point I seem to be questioning the legality of specific tactics or strategies employed by certain groups, take this speculation with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, I do want to talk about something I am passionate about: trading stocks. When I first got the Robinhood app, I seldom took notice of the GME (GameStop) ticker, having observed it as continuously in a downward flux. I never truly noticed it until that fateful day, when, on January 28th, GME reached an all time high of $483 dollars per share. This was insane; never before have I ever witnessed such a dramatic sway in price in such a short time. What exactly was going on with GME? What did Reddit and hedge funds have to do with this? And what was the response from Robinhood? To begin this tale, we should start by talking about GameStop as a company. To put it mildly, GameStop was not in the most financially advantageous position going into 2020; with an increasingly shrinking market in gaming thanks to the competition of online platforms and a series of poor returns of investors (if any, at times, as GameStop would eliminate quarterly dividends in 2019) meant that GameStop as a company was on a downward spiral. Compound this withGameStop closing nearly 783 stores in the past two years along with the ongoing pandemic and we have a business with a near hopeless strategy of staying afloat. Cue the typical investors: many rightfully suspected that the GameStop stock was overvalued given the poor performance of the company, and decided would not invest directly into GME. However, there are other ways for investors to profit off of GameStop; one means of capitalizing from the inadequate performance of a company is through the practice of short selling, where the person borrows a stock, sells the stock, then waits for the stock to fall to a certain price and then officially purchases the stock, pocketing the difference. A jerk move? Perhaps; short selling essentially banks on a company failing, and when you have a large portion of your company’s stocks being shorted, it makes financial recovery all the more challenging. A consequence of shorting a stock, however, is that if the stock’s price rises, you could face unlimited loss. Pouring gasoline into this dumpster-fire was the fact that many large investment firms, called hedge funds, had actually gone out of their way to continuously short-sell GME. To the
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perspective of many casual investors, it seemed that many of these hedge funds profited off the misery of GameStop, keeping it from financial recovery while pocketing gains. Some of these hedge funds, such as Melvin Capital, had continuously bet against it, to the point that there were more GameStop stocks being shorted then there were on the market by a margin of 140%. Is this illegal? Yes: this practice, called naked shorting, is illegal, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Many online observers had noticed this, including a wellknown Reddit forum called r/WallStreetBets. They also noticed that some, such as Melvin Capital, could stand to lose quite a bit of money if, say, the price rises unexpectedly in a short period of time. Combine this with the hopeful expectations of Ryan Cohen, former CEO of Chewy, entering as a major shareholder and publicly promising to restructure the company in a more favorable way for investors. This was the fountainhead for Reddit users on the forum to start heavily investing in GME, essentially rocketing the price sky high to get back at the hedge funds that short sold the stock. Is it legal for redditors to coordinate this? Questionably yes, although it certainly woke America up to what was going on in the financial world. Naturally, in order to prevent further losses on their part, many hedge funds had to buy their shorted shares in the company, lifting the price even further. Melvin Capital, having continuously bet against the company, suffered such extreme financial losses from the short squeeze that it required a $3 billion infusion from Citadel and Point 72. Conveniently, Citadel provides a significant amount of investment into Robinhood, the popular trading app that many redditors utilize for their trading needs. So, imagine how convenient it was when, all of a sudden, GME (in addition to a few other stocks) could no longer be purchased, but those already owned could be sold back into the market. Out of all the questionable acts to transpire, this is likely to ACTUALLY be illegal; over 90 lawsuits have already been filed against Robinhood for their role in this fiasco. Of course, it is worth noting the irony in their slogan, “democratize finance for all”, when they essentially closed the market to their audience. We will have to wait and see how this transpires in the coming months, but it would be an understatement to call this brief moment historic. The fact the entire US economy nearly crashed from this episode is evident enough of the mypotic view that many acting parties have regarding the situation. This isn’t an excuse for the actions of some of these hedge funds, of course. Legal action should befall those that break financial laws. However, it’s almost certain that we will see GME fall from its current price of $260; the price is simply too overvalued for what the company is worth (sorry gamers). Plus, many of these hedge funds, such as Melvin Capital, have already seen a return to financial stability, essentially rendering the scheme failed. If there is one thing that this has genuinely helped Americans with, its being able to understand the importance of the stock market in our general lives.
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THE BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY QUARANTINE EXPERIENCE
The Binghamton University Quarantine Experience By Charles Forman
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t was clear from the beginning of this surge of coronavirus cases that the school would be austere toward the student body and that there would be little room for nonsense. It was inevitable that students would catch and spread the virus. The school’s administration had to do something with these students. The solution was to put students with a positive test in a quarantine dorm, where they could not leave their rooms except to go to the bathroom. I write this on my first night in quarantine housing, where I have met my new roommate and have placed my order for takeout dinner via a phone call. The options are limited, and I do not have access to the sheer variety of food options offered in the dining halls. They are using a google form to take orders for meals, and you have to place the order the day before. There is no telling exactly what time the food will arrive, but there is a good range. Once I hear that knock, I light up with the thought of something to do. When I got the call that I tested positive, I knew what they were going to say because I had been anxiously awaiting my test results. Once I received them, I was told that a consultant would contact me about the next steps to take. After awaiting the call about what I had to do, I began thinking about what I would bring to a place where I would stay for an unknown amount of time. After waiting, waiting, and waiting, I got a call from a blocked number, where a light-hearted lady on the other end of the line was telling me what my various options were for quarantining. “You will be the most comfortable if you go home,” the lady, whose name was never mentioned, said to me before she laid out my other options. Staying in quarantine housing was the next option, which involved staying in an on-campus dorm where I would remain with other COVID-positive students for ten days. After my parents said they couldn’t get me, my only option was to stay on campus inside the same room for ten days straight. After I was forced into staying on campus, I was told I would be contacted again, this time by the Binghamton University CARE team, who currently handle the logistics of students with a positive test. Then I got the call from a jolly-sounding man, who told me that I had about an hour to get to Old Digman; I received an email with what I would need and began packing. Luckily, I had done my laundry the day before because there was no laundry in the COVID dorms. Upon packing what I would need, I went downstairs to the lobby of my dorm wearing two masks to get a green bin, so I could wheel my stuff over to Old Digman. There were no carts available, so I went back up to my room and called the number, but no one picked up. I called a few more times and left messages, but still got no callback. I finally decided to check again to get a bin, and there were some downstairs. I packed up my stuff and started walking over. The walk was treacherous. I had to wheel half of my personal belongings while being infected with COVID to the dorm. I continued to wear two masks and tried to stay as far
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away from other people, so as not to infect anyone. When I got closer to the dorm, I saw a van blocking the direct route to the dorm, so I looked for an alternative way, but every path I found was a dead end. After circling Whitney to get in, I got to the back of the dorm, where I knocked for a few minutes. Finally, someone came to the door, asked my name, and quickly went back inside. Then, around 10 minutes later, they told me to go to the place I had started from. The amount of walking I had to do while having COVID is just one way that the handling of this pandemic by the administration is a total disaster. Finally, I got to the place I was supposed to be. The movein guide helped me wheel my stuff over for the last leg of the trip while I was asking him various questions about what quarantine life would be like. Then, I got to my room, met my roommate, and began unpacking my stuff into my home for the next ten days. Currently, I am sitting in this room, with nowhere to go except for the bathroom down this dreary hallway straight out of a horror movie. I am trying to find ways to pass the time. This is a college prison, and because I had the virus, I have to subject myself to loneliness, boredom, and restlessness. The significant impact this has is not on my physical health, but rather mental. Humans are not meant to go days without being outside. While I am in this situation for the next few days, I want to reflect and maybe make some life changes when I get out. I have always tried to be COVID-safe. However, it is essential to remember that this can happen to anyone. Luckily, I got this virus one year into it, when the vaccine has already started distribution and hospital beds are open. To those who have lost loved ones, I am sorry that it had to be this way, but we will be stronger as a society when we come out of the other end of this.
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
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