Truth and Two Staples
September 2009
Binghamton Review
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So, You didn’t make it into Cornell... welcome to binghamton
Binghamton Review
PO Box 6000 BinghamTOn, NY 13902 editor@binghamtonreview.com
Founded 1987 • Volume XXIII Number 1 • September 2009 Editor-in-Chief Adam Shamah
Contents
Managing Editor Randal Meyer
Departments
Associate Editors Rachel Gordon
3 Editorial 4 Campus Presswatch
Copy Editors Yadin Herzel Lawrence Faulstich Stephen Herman Layout Editor Elahd Bar-Shai Treasurer Rod Alzmann Business Manager Alex Paolano Secretary Marissa Beldock Contributors Nick Valiando, Jason Birriel, Seth Knutson, Ian Swan, Aaron Sebag, Michael Lombardi, Will Griffin Godfather of the Review Louis W. Leonini Friends of the Review Dr. Aldo S. Bernardo The Leonini Family Mr. Bob Soltis WA2VCS The Shamah Family The Grynheim Family The Menje Family The Leeds Family The Lombardi Family The Packer Family Binghamton Review is printed by Our Press in Chenango Bridge, NY. We provide the truth; they provide the staples.
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The ABC’s of B.U. by The Editors Your A-Z guide to life as a Bearcat
Our Last Stand by Adam Shamah Get out to vote or get kicked to the curb
Binghamton 101 by William Griffin An introduction to the Southern Tier by BR’s Townie
Left and Right by Adam Shamah The campus political spectrum broken down
Voter Registration form Fill it out locally or P. Diddy will kill you
BR’s Guide to Restaurants by Ed Mays and Mike Lombardi Get out to vote or get kicked to the curb
Look Before Your Rent by Randal Meyer Tips for dealing with a slumlord
Clarifying the state of the world’s favorite victims
Right and Wrong by Jason Birriel Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Say “No” to Obamacare by Ian Swan The case against socialized medicine
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20 The “Plight” of palestinian refugees by Aaron Sebag 22 23
Ed Mays was NOT involved in the production of this paper. In any way. At all.
EDITORIAL
Free Speech Zone
W
elcome, freshmen! You may have heard of us already (only half of what they say about us is true), but if you haven’t, we are Binghamton Review. Good work picking up our first issue of the year. By doing so, you have in your hands Binghamton University’s only true non-conformer. You’re probably sitting in a lecture hall right now, listening to your sociology professor blabber on about western civilization’s destructive effect on mankind or how the Jews caused 9/11. If you’re disgusted by that or whatever else your professor is spewing, then you’ve picked up the right magazine. Once per month, we try to give BU students a taste of something different, something that unfortunately is not present on many college campuses: a forum of ideas. Yeah, we’re the conservative magazine on campus. We promote a certain set of ideals, but that does not mean that we all agree with each other on everything like some kind of cult. Rarely is there an issue of the Review that I, or anyone involved in the production of this paper, agree with completely. Some of us are civil libertarians, others are culturally conservative, and some of us want war in all four corners of the world. We even have a liberal or two. We’re about ideas, and expressing them freely and openly. Free expression and academic inquiry is what the university is about. Unfortunately, Binghamton University—or just about all universities for that matter—abandoned that idea long ago. We’ve all had professors whose syllabi include only books written by leftists, or who will use class time to spew liberal dogma rather than teach objectively. Those of us brave enough to speak up have been ridiculed—by classmates, TAs, and professors alike—for what we believe. I had a professor who would spend the beginning of class bashing then-President Bush. This was in a class that was supposed to teach us basic accounting. I’ve been kept off the Multicultural Resource Center’s email
listserv because I don’t come from an organization that represents “typically-underrepresented students of color.” The office’s website advertises inclusiveness. Reviews have been stolen and thrown out. They’ve tried to shut us down—more than once, I might add. We were defunded by the SA for over a decade for printing a cartoon that some students disagreed with. A university department once distributed pamphlets containing “tips on challenging the right wing” to multicultural group leaders. The College Republicans can’t advertise their meetings without their flyers being ripped down hours after they are put up. Last year, a student was nearly suspended for criticizing a university department and was only saved when the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) made the case public. Is this the kind of free exchange that academia should represent? The Review is here to stand up to this trend in academia that has turned the university’s liberal arts curriculum into a multicultural mess rather than a balanced, objective, fact-based study of humanity. Come write for us. Share your ideas. If you don’t write, come to our meetings and participate in debate. If you disagree with what we print, let us know; we’ll respond. Stand up to your professors when they try to indoctrinate you. You may not be effective in changing their views, but at least you’ll let them know that you won’t sit there and be brainwashed. We used to print an ad in the Review that said “You’ll get your degree from Binghamton University… but your education from Binghamton Review.” So, turn the page and begin your college learning experience. If you want to affect the experiences of others, come by our GIM tonight (Thursday) at 7:00 PM in UUW-325. Everyone’s welcome. ◄
— Adam Shamah for the staff
Our Mission Binghamton Review is a non-partisan, student-run periodical of conservative thought 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. In that spirit, we seek to promote the free exchange of ideas and offer an alternative viewpoint not normally found on our predominately liberal campus. It is our duty to expose the warped ideology of political correctness that dominates this university. We stand against tyranny in all 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. Finally, we understand that a moral order is a necessary component of any civilized society. We strive to inform, engage, and perhaps even amuse our readers in carrying out this mission. www.binghamtonreview.com
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PRESSWATCH
THE EDITORS
Campus Presswatch So you’ll know what to expect
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sually, Campus Presswatch is where we expose writers from other campus publications as the liars and communists they are. But, because it is the second week, many of these publications have yet to print this semester. So instead, we have decided to bring to you brief summaries of what you can expect to find when you read some of the rags you’ll find on campus. In short, don’t expect much.
Pipe Dream Your first clue that Binghamton does not offer a journalism major. If you happen to pick up a copy for something other than the Sudoku printed on the “fun page,” here’s a bit of what you can expect: hard-hitting stories on topics such as Academic Advising’s new office space or the local deer population, leftwing editorials (last year, the paper printed fourteen pro-Obama op-eds during election season while printing zero supporting McCain), and an occasional anti-Israel piece. The paper reads more like a collection of university press releases than a student newspaper; investigative journalism has about as much place at Pipe Dream as Review members have at Cybercafé West.
Free Press There was a time when the quality of reporting done by Free Press was substantially better than that of Pipe Dream, but the paper has taken a serious turn for the worst since its founders’ 4
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departure. (The paper was founded three years ago by two Student Assembly representatives). Last year they were criticized for not properly reporting on several stories, including one sloppy, factually inaccurate piece on OCCT that led to the resignation of the paper’s publisher. Many of the stories they print have already been covered by Pipe Dream, and the editorials often don’t have anything to do with campus at all. However, we do like the fact that BU has a straight-news alternative to Pipe Dream; so we are crossing our fingers that Free Press returns to the newspaper it was back in its younger days.
Prospect Magazine It is policy of the Review to not mention libelous tabloids in our publication; however, since this is the freshmen orientation issue, we must bring up Prospect. Prospect is the publication of the College Democrats, sort of. The executive boards of the two groups are basically the same. Besides the two or three disingenuous (and sometimes totally made up) political articles they print each month, you’ll also find dating advice from fat chicks and two week old sports news. Also, their copy editors are starting kindergarten this fall.
EMO Zine Published by mostly white, uppermiddle class students from Westchester, the E.M.O. Zine is about making you feel guilty for being white or upper-class. A
short list of what I’ve learned from the E.M.O Zine: I am white, so I am racist. All Binghamton students are living on stolen Indian land and should feel guilty about it or else be deemed racist. I support Israel, so I am responsible for occupation and the genocide of the Palestinian people. And if I’d like to apologize for my whiteness, I can start by joining E.M.O. or the American Socialist Party and be given a “get out of racism free” card. You know, the kind of stuff you learn from your sociology professor.
Inside BU The Pravda of Binghamton. Inside BU is produced and distributed by the University administration and should otherwise be called “Why Binghamton University is the best school ever.” Never will it publish anything negative about the university, so it is up to papers like ours, Binghamton Review, to get you the real news and an accurate picture of our university.
Asian Outlook And now to an even more useless paper. Asian Outlook publishes sporadically throughout the year with the mission of fabricating oppression against Asians and publishing dumb poems. Also, inciting hateful protests became a favorite of theirs last semester, when the paper took a hard left turn and became more of a mouthpiece for the campus multicultural movement than a journal of Asian culture. September 2009
Q-Magazine Yes, the “Q” stands for queer, in case you were wondering. If you want to read about “where trannies come from” or “how to be gay on a budget,” this is the publication for you. And, as expected, the gays have the snazziest layout.
The Education Worker Binghamton University’s newest publication, The Education Worker, is published by the Binghamton Education www.binghamtonreview.com
Workers Union, an organization that, by the looks of it, is openly communist. Take the preamble to their constitution for example, “The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things in life. Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the means of production, abolish the wage system, and live in harmony with the
earth...” Karl Marx could sue them for plagiarism if he believed in intellectual property rights. To join BEWU, you must be “an education worker,” or a “student (eventual worker)” who is “not responsible for hiring/firing” and “not employed by law enforcement.” So, if you’re an English major with no hope for a career in management, you’re set for an embittered future in BEWU. ◄
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CITY ZONING
Adam Shamah
Our Last Stand Get out to vote or get kicked to the curb
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or the past several years, a battle has been waged in the City of Binghamton. On one side are students, though most aren’t even aware that this battle being fought. On the other side, a select group of west side residents who have the support of some in City government and are relentless in the pursuit of their goal: a student-free Westside. The City of Binghamton is divided into several zoning districts, three of which are residential; R-1, R-2, and R-3. These districts encompass most of Binghamton’s Westside (ie. one of the few places in Binghamton in which you don’t need to worry about being mugged on the way to and from your car, and the area
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in which most off-campus students live). The Westside Neighborhood Association (WSNA) does not want you to live there. WSNA has employed a number of tactics in pursuit of their goal. What they want is the implementation of a law that would empower the city to automatically evict any group of three or more unrelated renters living together in a residential district, no questions asked, no due process. If you’re a student living with two or three friends it would be automatically assumed that you’re violating the law and an eviction would ensue. You would then have to appeal and “prove” to the zoning board that you and your friends display the functional
equivalence of a family. Currently, the law states that the process is complaint-driven, meaning that a neighbor would have to complain for the city to initiate eviction proceedings. Then the city would need to prove that the students are not acting as the functional equivalent of a family to carry out an eviction. This complaint-driven process makes things much harder for WSNA. Their website encourages members to look through their neighbors’ mailboxes and at their license plates to determine how many people with different last names are renting there. If they find that number to be more than three, the website explains the process for formally informing the City. This was used to evict six students living at 8 Lincoln Avenue (an R-1 property) in the spring of 2008. They were turned in by BU Professor and WSNA member, Marilynn Desmond. Now, these were not students who were disruptive to the neighborhood. They didn’t throw loud parties six nights a week, or at all for that matter, and were generally well-behaved. In a desperate address at a public forum last November, the best Desmond could do was complain about the number of trash bags placed in front of the home on trash day. Code Enforcement invaded the home of the students and was eventually successful in evicting them. Don’t be mistaken into believing that WSNA is just a small group of fringelunatics. They have a following on the Westside and sympathizers on the City Council and in City Hall. September 2009
Turn to page 10 for voter registration information Last year, Mayor Matt Ryan convened a commission to investigate how to better improve home ownership rates in Binghamton. He appointed a man named Ken Kamlet, who was once a member of WSNA and also the director of legal affairs for the Newman Development Group. He has a vested stake in city zoning laws, as Newman Development Group plans to build a student-only apartment complex in downtown Binghamton. Last summer, he submitted to the commission a report titled “Need for Tighter Zoning to Control Student and Other Rental Housing.” In it he included, among other things, the recommendation that the city implement the law mentioned above; a presumptive limit of three unrelated renters in the R-1, R-2, and R-3 districts. Some have suggested that he wanted to drive students out of Westside housing and into his employer’s downtown complex. The commission issued its report last spring, furthering some of Kamlet’s suggestions and rejecting others. It recommended the implementation of a presumptive limit in R-1, but not R-2 or R-3. It also recommended the creation of a rental registry program in which landlords would have to submit personal information about their tenants to the city. WSNA is in favor of both of these recommendations. Imagine how easy it would be for the city to target students if they had a list of exactly who is living where and the power to evict without a full hearing. The City Council is now free to craft legislation based off the recommendations. Presumably, the Mayor will have a lot of sway in what policies are implemented. We as students need to keep pressure on the city and let them know that we will not www.binghamtonreview.com
The Exodus WSNA’s members get off to this photo, so we’re re-running it. Don’t say students never did anything for you.
stand for housing policy that discriminates against students. We did last year twice; once at a housing forum at city hall and once at a forum held on campus with Mayor Matt Ryan. By showing up in large numbers to both of these events, we sent a message to the city. We can send a similar message this fall. On November 3rd, the next Mayor of Binghamton will be elected. Matt Ryan, the incumbent, is running for reelection. This is the man who appointed Ken Kamlet to the housing commission and whose administration defended the threeperson limit based off the inane idea that it somehow makes living conditions safer; like a six-bedroom house that houses a family of six is somehow safer than a house that houses six BU juniors. Ryan’s Department of Code Enforcement has been accused by members of the Broome County Landlord Association of selectively targeting properties that are rented to students. For example, its Vice President, who is a popular studentlandlord, was arrested—yes, arrested—for owning a home with chipped paint. Take
a drive through Binghamton; look at the buildings. Do you really think chipped paint is the city’s concern? Students put Ryan into office in 2005. He won by a couple of hundred votes, and some claim that as many as 700 students voted for him, enough to make the difference. Let’s not make the same mistake twice. If Ryan, as expected, wins the Democratic Primary on Tuesday, he will be running against Republican Rich David and Independent Douglas Walter Drazen in the general election in November. Drazen was the lawyer who defended the students at 8 Lincoln Avenue and came several hundred votes away from beating Ryan in 2005. If you live in the City of Binghamton (not on-campus, not University Plaza, but almost everywhere else), register to vote. The deadline is October 9th. On November 3rd, help elect a mayor who will respect students by allowing us to live where we choose without fear of eviction. ◄ Adam is a junior at Binghamton University and is Editor-in-Chief of the Review. 7
TOWNIE
William Griffin
Binghamton 101 An introduction to the Southern Tier by BR’s Townie
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SUFFRBOY
nlike the vast majority of students here at BU, I’ve lived my entire life in Binghamton and have never even been to, let alone lived on, Long Island. As a result of this, I have a very different view, and significantly more knowledge, of the area than most students do. I plan to use this space to share some of my knowledge with the incoming freshman, as well as the upperclassmen, reading this issue of BR. Most of what I write is directed toward the majority of BU students—those who are downstaters. To those of you who are lucky enough not to be downstaters, I mean no offense. I’ll begin with a basic bit of advice that you have probably already heard and will see written ad nauseum in Pipe Dream, and that is to actually go out and see the area beyond campus, the parkway, and State Street (“downtown”). There are at least half a dozen towns, cities and villages within “Greater Binghamton,” all of which have things for you to see and experience. Drive around the area, and walk around downtown while sober. I don’t care if you like my town after you see it, but at least see it before you depart four years from now.
Recreation Park on Binghamton’s west side
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Now this advice does come with one caveat. Binghamton is a city and as a result has ghettoes and crime. You may feel that a place this “small” must be like Mayberry or StarsHollow and couldn’t possibly have ghettoes, but we do. As a result of this, keep your head about you and avoid the worst sections of the city at night. Want to know where those are? Come to a BR meeting, ask for Will, and he’ll tell you. A college town in a city with actual crimes does have one silver lining. Friends of mine from places like New Jersey or Long Island tell me that the police there have nothing better to do than hand out tickets, break up parties, and arrest drunken teenagers. Here, that doesn’t happen because Binghamton police have far better things to do with their time; they have real criminals to deal with and your drunken ass isn’t worth the time or the paperwork involved. (Now I should tell you that this only counts if you aren’t harming anyone or being a public nuisance—so if you’re loud enough to warrant someone calling the cops or you start hassling the Binghamton Police Department (BPD), all bets are off and enjoy waking up in lockup. Also, the University Police Department (UPD) are a different matter entirely, being charged solely with controlling us means that they are far closer to the police you grew up with than my hometown BPD.) As long as I’m explaining how to deal with local police in a civil manner, I might as well generalize most local people. I’ll be honest; a large part of the populace will hate your guts. This isn’t your fault but rather a result of the cultural differences between those of us who live upstate and the downstaters who make up the general student body. You can help bridge this cultural gap through a number of things that I will illustrate below.
For starters, no matter how small and boring you feel the area is, try to refrain from asking every local you meet what there is to do around here a hundred times or whining about how small the city is. Grow up and learn how to entertain yourself away from a fifteen-minute train ride into NYC. On a related note, pizza is a food and not a religion, so stop complaining about how you can’t get real pizza around here. As long as I’m on food, I will remind everyone to try spiedies before you graduate. It is the main regional food and it is delicious, so if you’re ever in a local restaurant and see it on the menu, order it. Another thing that will make you look like the worst local student stereotype revolves around clothes. This area is still far more of a working class, industrial place than a college town so going on about what designer your clothes are from, or what place in NYC you got them from, will get you either a blank stare or make people think you’re a snob. Remember, nobody’s heard of the boutique you got that purse from around here, so dropping the name won’t get you anything. On a similar note, if you are a guy telling local girls about your Prada shoes and salon styled hair, you aren’t making them think you’re sexy. You’re making them think you’re a homosexual. As a final bit of advice, no matter how much you may love NYC and downstate, it has its own faults so don’t go on and on to those of us from around here about how great it is. To conclude, I reiterate that one should see my town. As long as you avoid whining and complaining, you will do fine in dealing with townies like me. ◄ William is a sophomore at Binghamton University. September 2009
STUDENT GROUPS
Adam Shamah & RANDAL MEYER
Left and Right The only stench more potent than the “shower-oppression protesting” EMO/SAC member is the odor of the self-righteousness he or she gives off. EMO/SAC members, collectively (every decision the group reaches is by consensus—independent thought is neither wanted nor warranted), believe in breaking down the prison-industrial complex, destroying the capitalist oppression structure, supporting minority rights over majority rights, and other worthy causes like those. The Collective (BR’s colloquialism for the Experimental Media Organization and Student Action Collective), also represent radical opinions on the environment, economy, and participatory government, and grammar (not a joke, sadly—they actually believe grammar is oppressive). Attending a meeting of The Collective is like attending The Burning Man, sans the fun and music—just ask our undercover reporters! But hey, what would college be without some crazy smelly hippies dancing around the quad in an LSDinduced haze, screaming about lizard kings.
GSO
From offering free legal aid to the infamous “Binghamton 9” protesters to hosting movie screenings on the horrors of Guantanamo Bay, the Graduate Student Organization “stands in solidarity” with just about every left-wing cause it can find. I can’t tell you a thing it’s done for the graduate student body, but I know it sends gifts to “misunderstood” prison inmates during the holiday season. www.binghamtonreview.com
«
EMO/SAC
COLLEGE DEMOCRATS
«
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
«
COLLEGE REPUBLICANS
« ◄ LEFT
«
RIGHT ►
COLLEGE LIBERTARIANS
◄ IRRELEVANT
EMO/SAC
INFLUENTIAL ►
The campus political spectrum broken down
PROSPECT
« Prospect Magazine
Prospect Magazine likes to think of itself as the Review’s liberal counterpart, but in reality, all it is is a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party. Don’t expect well thought out pieces on liberal philosophy—most liberals on campus think it’s a joke, which explains why its readership has been dwindling over the past few years—expect the kind of partisan mudslinging that you see from politicians in Washington. Last year, they wrote and published a bigoted letter-to-the-editor under the name of a Review editor, something that could have
« NYPIRG
cost them their SA charter, and perhaps a lot more.
NYPIRG
NYPIRG is the New York Public Interest Research group, a lobbying organization founded by Ralph Nader that lobbies for an array of left-wing environmental and consumer advocacy causes. Since the 1970s, PIRGs have sprung up on college campuses across the country, garnering a portion of students’ Student Activity fees to support their off-campus lobbying initiatives. Four years ago, NYPIRG 9
STUDENT GROUPS
received over $100,000 of your money from the Student Association. Today, they receive a mere $200 thanks to the work of both conservatives and rational liberals on the Student Assembly who thought that that money would be better off funding actual student groups rather than liberal lobbying efforts.
College Democrats
They’re not as big as one might expect on a liberal campus such as ours. They’re known for hosting underwhelming rallies during election season and getting they’re asses handed to them biannually by the College Republicans at every debate ever held between the two groups.
REGISTER TO VOTE in Binghamton
WIN A PRIZE Your choice of an XBOX360, iPod Touch or CASH
College Republicans
A relatively young group, the College Republicans resurfaced on campus several years ago and has quickly surpassed the College Democrats in terms of membership and activity on campus. They stand for the ideals of the Republican Party, but have a diverse membership made up of conservatives of all different stripes: religious conservatives, libertarians, and 9/11 national security Republicans, just to name a few.
College Libertarians
Another young group, the College Libertarians stand for small government and individual liberty, attracting everyone from capitalists to full-blown anarchists. While it’s had some trouble getting off the ground, we predict that Obama’s growth of government and other illiberal policies will light a fire under those of us who are interested in preserving liberty, which should bode well for the College Libertarians.
Binghamton Review
We’re always right. Read on for more.
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◄
Fill out and drop off this form in the Student Association office, UUW203, before October 9th to be entered for a chance to win one of the aformentioned prizes. You must be a BU student currently living in Binghamton to qualify. This is a non-partisan initiative!
NEVER FORGET Join College Republicans and Binghamton Review as we plant 2,977 flags to commemorate the victims of the September, 11 attacks. Name reading begins on 9/11 at 9:30 a.m. on the campus spine. September 2009
New York State Voter Registration Form You Can Use This Form To:
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• you can register in person at your county board of elections • to vote in an election, you must mail or deliver this form to your county board no later than 25 days before the election in which you want to vote • be 18 years old by the date of the election in which you want to vote • your eligibility to vote will be based on the date you file this form • your county board will notify you of your eligibility
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*Except the Independence Party, which permits non-enrolled voters to vote in their primary elections.
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Date
ABCs
The Editors
The ABC’s of Binghamton University Your A-Z guide to life as a Bearcat
A
Academic Advising
Big Daddy’s
Budget Cuts
If you’re a Harpur student,
A place to get pizza across from the bars. Like Taco Bell, don’t eat it while sober.
Last year, the university suffered many. So when you’re in a class taught by an Englishas-a-seventh-language professor alongside 250+ classmates, you’ll understand why.
expect a substandard experience with incomplete answers and poor guidance.
That’s us. If you’ve read this far you are racist.
Adderall Coffee can help you focus but not for long, and Meth is not worth being addicted to. Cocaine is just too expensive. That’s why Adderall is a must. It’ll keep you focused when you’re cramming for exams and you won’t feel like a scumbag when trying to purchase some off your TA.
B
Binghamton Review
Bearcats The name of BU’s sport teams. While a stupid choice, it is better than the Stony Brook Seawolves.
B-line According to the Binghamton University website, B-Line is “a daily distribution of items of interest and importance to students. Items range from official University announcements to information on studentproposed events and meetings.” In reality, it’s a daily reminder that you go to a lame state school where nothing cool happens.
Blue Buses Off Campus College Transport (OCCT) is the bus company run by the Student Association. The buses are blue because our school colors are green, black, and white. Though you don’t pay per-ride, it’s costing you more than you think; a hunky portion of both your Student Activity fee and your university transportation fee go towards operating the bus service—even if you never use it.
BTV A real bearcat, pictured above, looks more like a cat than does our university’s ridiculous interpretation 12
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Watch it to see what television in the ‘70s was like: shoddy programming with poor audio and even worse video.
BU Brain The incredibly confusing website used by students to pay their tuition, register for classes, and complete other administrative functions during their time here. Every task is made at least four times more complicated than it has to be.
C
Café Oasis
A hookah bar on Washington Street and a great place to hang out on weeknights or weekends. It’s got a very chill atmosphere, cheap hookah, and a good DJ.
College-In-The-Woods (CIW) This is where you go to find a drug dealer.
College of Community and Public Affairs It’s not as prestigious as Watson, SOM, Decker, or even Harpur, so if you’re a part of this school, you fucked up. We’ve never met a CCPA major and probably never will.
September 2009
Downtown Center
Health Services
This extension of the university is one of the only buildings in downtown Binghamton built in the last thirty years. While it mostly houses the College of Community and Public Affairs and some graduate-level classes, some undergraduate Harpur courses are offered there too. If you live on campus or don’t have a car, you should avoid these at all costs to save yourself the hassle of making the trip downtown.
May God help you if you live on campus and you get sick. Located in the woods across from CIW, University Health Services makes Britain’s healthcare system look like 5-star service. Their hours suck and their cure for almost everything is rest or Ibuprofen. (Get used to it if Obamacare passes.) You’re better off not going at all, but you’ll need a note from them if you’re going to miss class.
E
Engineering Building
It looks like a parking garage and you'll need an engineering degree to find your way around. Now you know the difference between state and private architecture.
Event Center The university spent $33 million to build a sports complex for our second-rate basketball team.
D
D.A.R.S
The degree audit program that is probably responsible for 50% of the cases in which students do not graduate in four years. It’s supposed to tell you what requirements you need for graduation, but that’s only if you can decipher the information it provides.
DC++ The file-sharing program that on-campus students use to illegally share movies, music, porn, etc. If you’re looking to get in on the action, connect to the unofficial campus DC++ server, dc.cgiforme.com:80.
Deer There are a lot of them on this campus. At first, you’ll think they are beautiful and majestic creatures, but then after you’re driving on campus at three-in-the-morning and you almost hit five of them, you’ll wish it were hunting season. www.binghamtonreview.com
F
Food Co-op
Where the hippies go to eat and the reason why parts of the union smell like the inside of a soccer cleat. However, it is the only free-market alternative to Sodexo on campus, so we can’t trash it as much as we would like.
G
Glenn G. Bartle Library
H
Harpur’s Ferry
99% of the students who go there do so only to use the PODs or to study. A book hasn’t been taken out in 10 years.
This is the student volunteer ambulance service. Store this number for when one of your friends drinks too much: (607) 777-3333.
I
Internet on Campus
This isn't your mom and dad's internet connection, it's much, much worse. FiOS hasn't yet found its way upstate, so you'll just have to get used to your YouTube and streaming porn videos freezing at the most inconvenient times. Also, our wireless network is totally unencryped, so plug-in whenever you can.
Inter-Cultural Awareness Committee The committee of cultural groups, including the Black Student Union, Asian Student Union, Latin-American Student Union, and the Pirate Club. Seriously.
J
Judicial Affairs
Recently renamed the Office of Student Conduct, Judicial Affairs deals with students who get caught smoking pot in their dorm rooms. If you get a letter from them, call the SA Vice President for Academic Affairs to be put in touch with a Student Advocate that can help get you through the process. Email vpaa@binghamtonsa.org or call (607) 777-4297.
K
Keystone Light It’s cheap. It gets you drunk. That’s all you need to know. 13
ABCs
L
Late Nite
This is a university-run social event that takes place on the weekend. It is where the people who can’t find a cool party go for “fun.”
Law School Binghamton is trying to get one here. Taking mediocrity from the undergraduate to graduate level has long been a dream for many Binghamton administrators.
Lois B. DeFleur The President of this university. Many of you will see her for the first time at your commencement ceremony.
The Loop Rt. 201’s exit onto Vestal Parkway. It’s very fun to ride around while high, not that we’re encouraging that kind of thing.
M
Mando Books
This is the bookstore just off campus where most smart people purchase their textbooks. Though they sell incense and many of the workers look stoned, you cannot buy pot there.
Matt Ryan A drunken, alcoholic public defender who somehow got elected mayor of Binghamton.
Men’s Basketball Team We made it to the NCAA tournament last year. It’s not going to happen again so don’t bother becoming a fan. Also, if you see one of the players in class you get a gold star.
Merlin’s It’s a gay bar for gay people’s straight friends to have a good time and for fat chicks to make friends. 14
Binghamton Review
N O P
Nature Preserve
Sodexo Marriot
A place for hippies to be “at one” with the trees and for freshmen to smoke pot at night.
They are responsible for the “delicious” dining services on this campus. The high prices and substandard service is why monopolies are never a good idea.
STDs Oakdale Mall It’s crap, but Westchester and Long Islanders can feel at home at Hollister, the Gap, and Abercrombie.
PODs
The computers in the library. Expect long lines, so arrive early if you need to print something before class. Speak to your ResCon to enable PODs printing from your laptop.
Q R S
Quality Food Don’t expect to find any on campus, but check out our restaurant reviews if you’d like an enjoyable bite to eat.
The Rat By the time you’re old enough to get into bars legally, you’re too old for The Rat.
School of Management The kids who walk around all day in suits. Everyone in SOM thinks they are better than you. They aren’t.
Security If your social security number, health records, or any other important personal information have not yet been made publicly available, they soon will be.
You’ll soon learn why you had to take health class in high school. If that rash doesn’t go away overnight, stop by the Broome County Department of Health on Front St. in Binghamton. STD testing is free between 10 AM and 4 PM on Tuesdays, no appointment necessary.
Student Union We don’t have one here. The “Old University Union” has more classrooms than some academic buildings.
Sugar Mountain Do you need “tobacco/water pipes”? This is the place to get it. A knowledgeable sales staff that doesn’t creep you out makes it a must visit for the “tobacco-smoker.” Just don’t be a douche bag and talk about illegal substances while in the store.
T
Taxi
You’ll need to call one when you’re downtown and shitfaced with a bunch of friends. The drivers are creepy, but the fares are cheap at night. ST Taxi is our favorite: (607) 621-7356.
Teaching Assistants For the most part, these grad students (sometimes undergrads) are pretty nice, but they don’t want to be teaching a class any more than you want to be in it. Don’t expect a lot of help or clarity. Here is a little piece of advice for you: if your TA does not speak English, DROP THE CLASS. We warned you.
Townies Even though their economy relies on college students, they really don’t like us. September 2009
JOHNWILLIAMSPHD
Z is for “zealots”
U
University Bookstore
If you bought your books there, you are a sucker. That reminds me. I’m selling a used car. It’s only been driven by my grandma who only used it to get groceries. It’s in perfect condition, I swear.
University Plaza The student apartment complex built in a strip mall on Vestal Parkway. The apartments are adequate and the hefty price tag attracts only Binghamton’s jappiest Long Islanders who either couldn’t find anything downtown or are too afraid to live in Binghamton.
V
Vehicle
You will finally understand the news reports that claim Americans are fat and lazy. Every other person you encounter there will have diabetes.
Wegman’s God’s gift to the Greater Binghamton area. When you need to do food shopping, this is the place to go.
Wikipedia You’re never ever supposed to use it as a source for a paper. But if you don’t then you’re not really a college student.
Westside Neighborhood Association (WSNA) finally
When you have one registered on campus, good luck finding a place to park it. Between construction and an oversold stock of parking passes, be prepared to arrive 45 minutes early for class.
www.binghamtonreview.com
W
Wal-Mart
Assholes whose mission in life is to harass students and their landlords in homes on the west side of the City of Binghamton. They’re behind such fascistic initiatives as the “three person rule,” which would limit the number of students allowed to live together on the Westside to no more than three, and a rental registration program that would require
renters turn over personal information to the City, so groups like WSNA can use it to target students living on their lovely west side.
WHRW Our student-run radio station. Every single person who works there is creepy in their own special way. Do not feed the DJ’s; just observe them carefully from a safe distance.
X Y Z
Xanax Great for taking the edge off after your exam-night adderall bender. See “A” for details.
Years You’ll Be Here You assume it’ll be four, but plan ahead or it will quickly become five. Or six.
Zealots
You’ll meet a lot of them on this campus. Most are rebels without causes or just don’t fully understand what they’re fighting for. ◄ 15
RESTAURANTS
Michael lombardi & ed mays
BR’s Guide to Restaurants You can’t take a hot date out for Sodexo
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reshmen, if you haven’t already, you are soon going to get tired of dining hall food. You’ll venture off campus and probably hit up Fuji San, Five Guys, or Texas Road House. Those are all great restaurants, but, along with everything else on the Parkway, can get a little tiring after a while. Here are some spots that not as many people might know about:
Consol’s Family Kitchen 101 Oak Hill Avenue, Endicott NY As you all know, or are starting to learn, finding good Italian food in Binghamton is nearly impossible. However there is one restaurant truly worthy of acclaim. Consol’s is well worth the ten-minute drive into Endicott. Prices are fairly low to moderate and the food is delicious. Consol’s pizza is the closest to New-York-City-quality pizza that I have encountered upstate. The average cost of a dinner at Consol’s is around $15 to $20.
Grotta Azzurra 52 Main Street, Binghamton NY Grotta’s serves Binghamton’s best chicken parm among other fine Italian dishes. The Pizza is not as good as Consol’s but the homemade pasta with homemade sauce is a must-have. They close between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM, so keep that in mind if you’re planning to go there. They’re also closed on Sundays.
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Binghamton Review
Rolando’s Diner 140 Court Street, Binghamton NY
Skylark Diner 248 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal NY
If you are in the mood for a great, fast, and extremely cheap breakfast, be sure to try Rolando’s Diner. Located slightly off the beaten path, past City Hall on Court Street, Rolando’s is a great place to go to start a morning. A large delicious breakfast complete with coffee will run you around $5 to $6. The omelets are highly recommended as are the pancakes. One small reminder: Rolando’s is cash only, so don’t forget to stop by an ATM before you go.
Looking for a diner open super late? Look no further. The Skylark has been an institution on the parkway for quite a while (you’ll be able to tell by looking at the place) and is a twenty-four hour diner. Boasting the usual assortment of diner fare and open into the wee hours of the morning, the Skylark is always a good call after a late, late night or at any time of the day. Highly recommended dishes are the pancakes, fries, and cheeseburgers, all of which are quite good. Average price for a meal will be between $7 to $15.
Cracker Barrel 876 Upper Front Street Binghamton NY
Sonic 1103 Upper Front Street Chenango NY
Many of you reading this may know of the Cracker Barrel because of its large presence in the Southern portion of the states, but many may not know that we have one here in Binghamton. Cracker Barrel is a great dinner choice if you are going to see a movie at the theater on Upper Front Street, which shares the same parking lot. Highly recommended are the country fried steak, fried chicken, Reuben sandwiches, and the baked apples side dish. Average price of dinner will be around $10 to $12.
Many college students know of Sonic, which, until recently, had been a chain located primarily down South. New this year, Binghamton now has its very own Sonic located on Upper Front Street. Boasting classic carhop style service and great fast food and shakes, Sonic is definitely a place to eat at at some point this semester. Highly recommended are the thick shakes, limeades, burgers, hot dogs, and the cheddar peppers, which are delicious jalapeno poppers complete with ranch dressing for dipping. Sonic is definitely a welcome addition to the Binghamton fast food landscape. Average price for lunch or dinner will be between $7 to $10. September 2009
South Side Yanni’s 1200 Vestal Ave, Binghamton, NY What might seem like a typical bar to most is actually one of the best places in town to get really good food. While freshmen won’t be able to enjoy any alcoholic drinks, their extremely well-priced and excellent menu will make it worth the visit. They have a ton of good sandwich options and it’s definitely worth trying the many different types of wings they have. If you’re not old enough to drink, avoid eating-in on Friday or Saturday night. Also it’s closed on Sundays, which really sucks. Try the hot Greek wings; they are magically delicious.
The Spot Restaurant 1062 Upper Front Street Binghamton NY The Director’s Cut Deli 1185 Vestal Avenue Binghamton NY Located near the beginning of the city of Binghamton, towards the end of the parkway, is the Director’s Cut. Boasting all the standard deli fare plus good burgers, sandwiches, wraps, and Panini, they are a solid choice for lunch. The burgers are definitely recommended, at around $7 they are a solid deal and come with excellent French fries. The Director’s Cut also boasts a challenge that you should all attempt before you graduate: the 2.5 pound burger challenge. If you can eat this burger and a requisite pound of French fries in under thirty minute’s time, you will be put on the wall of fame. Just a warning, I myself have never attempted this challenge and have no comprehension of its fortitude. Average price for a meal will be around $10.
Despina’s Mediterranean Taste 128 Washington Street Binghamton NY Despina’s is home to excellent, inexpensive and convenient Greek fare located near the hookah bar on Washington www.binghamtonreview.com
Street. Friendly service and excellent inexpensive food are why I put Despina’s on this list. Highly recommended are they Gyros, Greek salads, and Greek frappe, which is a iced Greek coffee. Average cost of a meal will be between $7 to $12.
K & K’s The Old Teahouse 1101 Bunn Hill Road, Vestal NY Located next to Mando Books, this place is a must-visit for freshmen. There aren’t a lot of good hangout spots within walking distance of campus, which makes K&K’s the best option if you’re looking for a place to kill some time while chilling with your friends. The lighting is poor and there is never anything good on the TV; however, the drinks are delicious. My personal favorite is a large cold grape green tea with extra tapioca. You probably won’t find your favorite drink right away, so make sure to change your order every visit until you find the one you like the most. It’s a hipper, more relaxed version of Starbucks. They don’t accept credit cards so make sure you have cash on you.
After a long night of drinking and smoking, the next step is a delicious meal. If you haven’t noticed already, you will soon realize that there are almost no places to get food after 10:00 PM in this great “college town” that we live in. The Spot is open 24/7. The only other 24/7 option is Denny’s, which is total shit, so trust me when I tell you, The Spot is worth the drive if you’re in the mood for good food in a sit-down place with your friends. I hate diners but The Spot has renewed my faith in them.
Grande’s Bella Cucina 1171 Vestal Avenue Binghamton NY Grande’s is hands down the best pizza you’re going to get within a 20 mile radius. Domino’s may deliver but come on, it’s Dominos. Papa John’s is extremely overpriced. Mario’s is decent, but the place definitely has health violations. Nirchi’s is mediocre. And campus pizza is NOT pizza. Aside from the pizza, Grande’s has amazing Italian food; however, if you’re a freshmen on a tight budget, save that experience for a date. There is not a lot of room to sit down so make sure you get your order to go. ◄ 17
Do you think of diversity as a way to manage your stock portfolio, not a university? Need an escape from your commie professors?
Binghamton Review
WE ALREADY CONTROL CAMPUS. SOON IT WILL BE THE WORLD.
JOIN US BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE General Interest Meeting Thursday, September 10 at 7:00 PM University Union West 325 Refreshments will be served!
SLUMLORD
RANDAL MEYER
Look Before You Rent Tips for dealing with a slumlord
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his year, I moved into a new apartment on Washington Street. I figured I should move closer to State Street to avoid walking home at 4:00 AM through the safe and welcoming streets of Binghamton. So, I left my cozy home on Riverside Drive and my hospitable WSNA neighbors for a new place. The first time I toured my then potentialapartment, it was, for lack of a better term, an absolute shithole. However, my landlord assured me that the carpets would all be replaced, walls painted and sanded, kitchens fixed, and that other various amenities would be added. I took him at his word and signed a lease agreement for one year. I sent in my first rent check over summer and went down to see if he was keeping up with
broken, my roof leaked, my couches were picked up off the trash curb (and looked it), and there was no electricity (my landlord said he would supply it for the first month)! As a result, I decided not to pay my landlord a dime after spending copious sums on tetanus shots and other various vaccinations. He will not see a dime of my money until everything is fixed. That is my right as a tenant. A lease is a contract, and when a party fails to satisfy that contract, the aggrieved party is entitled to damages. I am currently in proceedings to sue my landlord. However, the point of this article is not to complain or throw out fancy legal terms like some BR douche bag; it is to pass on to you, fellow students moving/living off campus, how to avoid
landlord owns a house that was up to code the last time it was inspected and has the right to rent to you. 3) Off Campus College Office. Go there before you sign a lease and ask about your landlord. They maintain a list of landlords and know who the bad ones are. 4) Research you landlord. Hire an attorney or use Google to see if your landlord is often sued by tenants or has any outstanding warrants for code violations. 5) Watch out for absentee landlords. If your landlord does not live in Binghamton, be very cautious and definitely research them out through an attorney. Some of them are very hard to find if problems arise.
I decided not to pay my landlord a dime after spending copious sums on tetanus shots and other various vaccinations. He will not see a dime of my money until everything is fixed. our agreement. Work was progressing well; there were new floors and the apartments were cleaned a bit. I told the landlord that the progress was nice and that I looked forward to seeing the finished product in one month. On move-in day, I was excited. I was off campus, ready to have fun in my new nice apartment and to have my friends over for nonalcoholic martinis and Rum & Cokes. I opened the doors, and boom: I realized that my landlord is a slumlord. No work had been done since I left. In fact, the place had gotten worse. There was no furniture in the bedrooms, no blinds on the windows, broken glass in the windows sills, and the fire escape had broken steps. There were no smoke alarms. The place had a broken toilet and there were cigarettes all over the apartment. My kitchen cabinets were non-existent, my dishwasher was www.binghamtonreview.com
ending up like me. Remember, many landlords in Binghamton are wonderful people and their homes are maintained and nothing like the one in my example, but if you do find yourself in my situation, here are a few pointers: 1) Eviction. If you complain and your landlord says he will evict you, he can’t. He needs to prove in court that you didn’t pay rent and that he satisfied the terms of the lease and the implied warranty of habitability. The implied warranty means that the apartment must contain amenities regularly expected in a home made for humans living in 21st century, such as doorknobs (I lack these), power outlets (hit or miss), running water (not hot), sinks (one-for-four), windows (1.5 for 5), etc. Contact a lawyer if you are in this situation. 2) Occupancy Certificate and Deed. Ask the landlord to see the occupancy certificate and deed before you take residence. This guarantees that the
6) Call NYSEG yourself in advance to connect your electricity. Don’t trust your landlord to have your power on unless he covers utilities in your lease. Call NYSEG yourself to set up your apartment electricity at least two weeks in advance. If your landlord supplies utilities, then this doesn’t apply. I hope that you all learn from my experience and never have to know what it feels like to live in what is essentially a dilapidated project. Remember, as many off-campus people will tell you, not all landlords are bad. In fact there are many good landlords in Binghamton, but there are also absentee slumlords who will rape your wallet. Those are the ones you have to watch out for. ◄ Randal is a junior majoring in Philosophy. 19
REFUGEES
Aaron Sebag
The “Plight” of Palestinian Refugees Clarifying the state of the world’s favorite victims
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here have been countless refugees in just about every era in the annals of history. Many have fled political persecution, religious harassment, racial or ethnic targeting, or gender or sexual discrimination. In the twentieth century alone, tens of millions of refugees were compelled to find new homes. Among these were victims of world wars, border adjustments, population transfers, political demagoguery, and social pathologies. The exodus from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam after the victory of Communist and rebel forces was colossal. The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which codified the population exchange of Greeks and Turks, created more than 1.5 million refugees alone, and both sides suffered the destruction of their ancestral homes. Massive numbers of Hindus and Muslims were moved to accommodate the partition of the subcontinent into two independent nations – India and Pakistan. Millions of refugees were established by the oppressive twelve-year regime of the Third Reich, never to return to their countries. Czechs, East Germans, Hungarians, Poles, and Romanians all fled the suffocation of Soviet-led tyranny whenever the opportunity presented itself and thus had to abandon their countries of origin in exchange for freedom. Yemenis were expelled from Saudi Arabia by the hundreds of thousands during the first Gulf War due to Yemen’s support for Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. I, myself, don’t have to look very far to understand the unending refugee crises of our times – or the trauma they have created. My mother’s family 20
Binghamton Review
fled from Eastern Europe following the aftermath of years spent as prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. They arrived in New York and had to start over again, with a new language, a new culture – a new everything. My father’s story is similar. As a Moroccanborn Jew, he grew up when the Arab world was undergoing a period of turbulence and unrest. Following the outbreak of the Six Day War in 1967, Jewish communities throughout North Africa and the Middle East were forcibly expelled from their homes, indiscriminately attacked, and stripped of their right to maintain businesses and their freedoms to migrate. For my dad and his family, it was the uncertainty produced by these conditions that lead his family to leave behind all it had, and to start a new life in this country. Yet, rather than wallow in victimization, allow themselves to be exploited by unscrupulous leaders, or become consumed by hatred and revenge, they established new lives, grateful to their adopted lands for making it possible. At the end of 2007, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) counted 11.4 million refugees in its jurisdiction; the largest populations were from Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, Sudan, and Somalia. Over five decades, UNHCR estimates that it has assisted 50 million refugees “to help restart their lives.” Refugees are defined as those with “a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion…” And yet, of all the world’s refugees, one group, the Palestinians, are treated entirely differently from all others. Indeed, the 1951 Refugee Convention explicitly
states that it does not apply to Palestinians. This group falls within the purview of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). There is no equivalent UN body for any other refugee group in the world. The definition of a refugee under the UNRWA mandate is also unique. It covers all descendants, without generational limitation, of those deemed refugees in 1948. This helps explain why its caseload has nearly quintupled since 1950. Unlike UNHCR, UNRWA does not seek to resettle Palestinian refugees, but rather provides social services while, in effect, keeping them in perpetual limbo. And despite the crocodile tears shed by Arab countries, many of which today are loaded with oil money, about the plight of their Palestinian brethren, September 2009
they have been among the most miserly donors to UNRWA. They cold heartedly assert that it is not their responsibility to care for refugees created by the decisions of others. Historically, the top donors to UNRWA have been the US and European governments, with miniscule amounts donated by a few Arab nations and nothing by the rest. It gets worse. Only those Palestinians who are seen as victims of the Arab-Israeli conflict are given this special treatment. In 1991, when Kuwait summarily threw out an estimated 400,000 Palestinians for their alleged support of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein during the first Gulf War, there was not a peep from the international community. Arab violations of their neighbors’ human rights are viewed differently, if noticed at all. And in countries like Lebanon, with a large www.binghamtonreview.com
Palestinian refugee population under UNRWA auspices, the government has long imposed restrictions on the Palestinian right to work in many professions and trades, but there has never been an outcry. Palestinians are not the world’s first refugee population, but they may be the first to lament their perpetual refugee status while resisting any effort to resolve it. Think about it. In 1947, the UN offered a two-state solution to address two competing national claims. The Jews accepted it; the Arabs rejected it. Or in UN jargon, the “proposed Arab State failed to materialize.” Had it been otherwise, two states might have emerged, and with any luck, they may have learned to live side-by-side. To this day, that two-state concept remains the most feasible outcome of IsraeliArab tensions. Instead, the Arab side went to war with Israel.
And refugees, of course, came out of it. Has there been any war that didn’t produce refugees? Yet the Arab world blames Israel for the refugees from a war it started. Meanwhile, that same Arab-Israeli conflict produced a greater number of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, who resettled elsewhere with little fanfare. By design, these Palestinian refugees were kept in camps, as wards of the international community. They served as permanent reminders of the impermanence of their situation, and were taught to focus their hatred on Israel, rather than to hold their own leaders accountable for using them as pawns. They have been denied opportunities for new lives. Even now, four years after Israel totally withdrew from Gaza, nearly 500,000 Palestinians continue to live in UNRWA refugee camps there. Why? While the Palestinians are among the world’s largest per capita aid recipients, as British official Kim Howells has noted, much of that aid has been siphoned off to line the pockets of corrupt Palestinian officials – who then turn around and seek more aid for their allegedly neglected people. It’s the same absurd logic that Hamas uses when it complains about energy shortages while shelling the Israeli power plants that provide electricity to Gaza. The corrupt process is aided by an elaborate and well-funded UN apparatus, encompassing more than just UNRWA, created by the majority of member states to support the Palestinian cause. It goes without saying that Darfuris, Kurds, Tibetans, and others who believe they have suffered from injustice and occupation have no comparable UN bodies to advance their cause. This is not to say that Palestinians have had easy lives. They haven’t. However, their leaders, with the assistance of many in the international community, have pulled off one of the most successful spin jobs in history. As opposed to letting the refugees settle and resume their lives, like untold other countries have, they have shamelessly exploited them for their own purposes. As students here on campus, the next time we encounter claims regarding the mistreatment and neglected status of the Palestinians, let’s make sure we have our facts together. And when the 64th UN General Assembly reconvenes this September, let’s call for the end to this special treatment. ◄ Aaron is a senior at Binghamton University. 21
SOTOMAYOR
Jason Birriel
Right and Wrong Justice Sonia Sotomayor
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upreme Court Justice David Souter announced earlier this year his intentions to retire from the Supreme Court. To fill the vacancy, President Barack Obama nominated United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Second Circuit Sonia Sotomayor. The Right attacked her as a judicial activist and as an individual who allows her personal experiences to influence her judicial opinions. They drew this conclusion from a speech she made at The University of California at Berkley in which she stated that a “wise Latina woman” can come to a better judgment in her rulings than a white male. On the other side of the political spectrum, the left championed her as an advocate of social justice and the first nominee to stop the Court’ s recent shift to the right. The problem with Sotomayor’ s nomination hearings is that they were too much of the same political rhetoric. Conservatives attack any justice who is pro-choice or who finds the Federal Marriage Amendment unconstitutional. Liberals attack qualified justices (e.g. John Roberts) because they might oppose social issues like abortion or affirmative action. Lost in all of these arguments are a vast array of subjects that the media has fallen short in covering and properly analyzing. Among all of the issues the two that are disregarded the most are her opinions on eminent domain and executive power. Eminent domain is a legal power granted to local, state and federal governments intended to allow for the seizure of private property only to benefit the public good, for instance, to facilitate the building of highways, airports, and waste management facilities. While in some instances, eminent domain is necessary, too often the government uses it to seize properties unconstitutionally. In large metropolitan areas, local governments often use it to “alleviate blight” and assist in redeveloping depressed neighborhoods. It is important to understand that Sotomayor’ s judicial opinions on property rights are pretty abysmal and indicate strong support for 22
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the excessive use of eminent domain legitimized in the legal precedent of Kelo vs. New London. In this case, the Court handed over private property to Pfizer Inc., a major pharmaceutical company. Pfizer claimed it was going to build a manufacturing plant that would benefit the town by providing a new source of property tax revenue. In order for this to work, the revenue produced would have to be greater than the property taxes that were collected from the previous residences. For the record, the Pfizer plant was never built and the property sits vacant in New London, Connecticut. It stands as a proud monument of government ineptitude. One of Sotomayor’ s judicial opinions that has followed from the Kelo case is Didden v. Village of Port Chester. Didden wanted to build a CVS and refused to pay off a politically connected developer who instead wished to build a Walgreen’ s pharmacy, a corporate rival of CVS. Through said political connections, the town of Port Chester used eminent domain to give his property to the developer instead. A panel that Sotomayor sat on found no injustice in this case, making this her Kelo case, and further ignoring the initial purpose of eminent domain. Her support for this precedent is disturbing and represents one of my primary criticisms against her. Regarding executive power, Sotomayor’ s rulings are exemplary and deserve praise. In Doe v. Mukasey, she joined two of her colleagues in striking down provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, specifically related to National Security Letters (NSL). An NSL is a type of subpoena used by the FBI to seize private information, records, or data pertaining to an individual from any private entity such as a business or non-profit organization. It also places the recipient under a “gag order,” which prevents the recipient of the letter from publicly disclosing that they ever received it. The court found that the gag order provisions violated the First Amendment and Sotomayor concurred with that finding. The panel Sotomayor presided on
is quoted as saying that “under no circumstance, should the Judiciary become the handmaiden of the Executive.” This ruling should be supported by both liberals and true conservatives. Another case that is still before the Second Circuit involves a Canadian citizen (Maher Arar) who was sent to Syria under the United States government’ s extraordinary rendition program and subsequently tortured there. During the oral argument last December, Sotomayor questioned the Bush administration’ s attorney sharply and, according to witnesses in the court, she was noticeably perturbed. She is quoted in an article published by the Washington Examiner as saying, “So the minute the executive raises the specter of foreign policy, it is the government’s position that that is a license to torture?” The line of questioning suggests skepticism toward the broad claims of executive power evoked and used during the Bush Administration. The abuses of power represented in this case stand for everything we should fight against as a nation. Her position regarding this program deserves recognition and is testament to her sound judicial philosophy concerning executive power. Sotomayor’ s positions regarding executive power represent a bright spot in her nomination. Hopefully in the long run, she will help shift the courts position on this issue in the correct direction. However, it is also important to understand her flaws. She evidently sees no injustice with excessive government use of eminent domain, and citizens should be wary of similar decisions. Sotomayor is by no means the perfect nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States, but to be fair, can anyone actually be? I cannot answer that question and would be skeptical of anyone who would claim to be able to. That being said, my opinion is that she is qualified to reside on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. ◄ Jason is a senior majoring in Accounting. September 2009
HEALTHCARE
ian swan
Say “No” to ObamaCare The case against socialized medicine
T
he United States healthcare system undoubtedly needs reform. The current plans, however, offered by liberals, are dangerous and simply won’t work. Liberals promote that 47 million people are uninsured. This point is made to justify ObamaCare; yet it is just an egregious exaggeration. The US government states that it is closer to 30 million. If one looks further, the vast majority of these individuals are illegal aliens, youths that feel they don’t need coverage, middle class individuals and families that can afford to buy their own but choose not to, and people who already qualify for exiting programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP but haven’t enrolled. In this country, there is a serious lack of competition of insurance providers. This is currently due to government regulations. The liberal solution to this is to provide individuals with government offers that provide competing plans to privatized insurers. In reality, this won’t increase competition; rather decrease. The government has power and money that private insurers could never dream of having. In effect, it has the ability to perform actions and enact policies that would ordinarily bankrupt the private sector. Simply put, the government will undercut private insurers, always providing a “cheaper” option which employers would dump their employees into the government option. Various liberal congressmen have admitted this. President Obama himself said that he wants a single payer system. While the president promises that it will be debt neutral, various analyses have shown that the cost of ObamaCare is simply enormous. The base cost for the program is currently estimated to be at least $1 trillion over ten years. Proponents have promised that the program will be run responsibly and efficiently. As history has shown, however, entitlement programs like Medicare and Medicaid have spiraled out of control with costs to the point of bankruptcy.
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We currently have trillion dollar budget deficits and are projected to add $9 trillion over the next ten years on top of an already enormous national debt on top of the several tens of trillions in unfinanced future liabilities. There have been two recent attempts to enact similar systems in Massachusetts and Hawaii. Both have been failures. The costs for Massachusetts has already spun out of control and Hawaii abandoned their system after seven months, due to cost. Tied into cost is the effect on our economy. To pay for the government options, liberals want to raise taxes on the rich. Unfortunately, this also includes small businesses – the largest job providers in the country. Increasing taxes on an already high rate will mean fewer jobs. Rationing remains the only option for costs to be controlled. The results are waiting lists, long lines and delayed or denied treatments. Human lives are even given monetary values. If the costs of keeping an individual alive exceed their value, treatments are limited or denied. In the UK, there are routine horror stories about people pulling out their own teeth, others living in pain, poor sanitary conditions, deaths from denied treatments and other medical screw-ups. In Canada, a country with a population just over 30 million, has a million people queued for surgery with another million waiting to get on the waiting lists themselves. Furthermore, in both Canada and the UK, dogs can get MRIs in just one day while people are forced to wait months. Canadians have been lucky so far, as immediate treatment was available across the border in the US. It’s no wonder why Canadian newspapers have recently been publishing stories on how a socialized system in America would kill Canadians. The second, and perhaps most concerning part of rationing, is end-of-life care. Most medical costs are accrued at the end of one’s life. Obama has questioned the sensibility in spending money on people who will likely die in
the near term. In the interest of reducing costs, it would be beneficial if other alternatives were used, rather than the ordinary measures taken to prolong the lives of the terminally ill. This would include the end-of-life counseling, the “death panels,” in which professionals would discuss the “options” that the elderly have. While removed for now, it shouldn’t be surprising if these are snuck in somehow again. This system is currently in place with our veterans. And while euthanasia is not being considered here, we should be on guard for it. In Oregon, where it’s legal, the state has offered to, with request from the terminally ill, aid in assisted suicide as opposed to paying for life extending drugs. Perhaps the most important issue, in conclusion, is to consider ObamaCare’s effect on freedom and privacy. In what is essentially the nationalization of healthcare, the government will directly control one fifth of the US economy. Let’s not forget that they have already expanded its reach into other large economic sectors. This power grab, however, will affect us more than others, as the government will control decisions affecting our health. It’s been said by leftist radicals that implementing government healthcare is the pathway to controlling the lives of individuals and creating their utopia of control. This is the holy grail of the left – a way to finally extend control, enact massive societal change and redistribute wealth. The end game has always been about control, which is the reason why they’ve ignored simple commonsense reforms. For the fiscal security of our country, for the benefit of future generations and for our very freedom, ObamaCare needs to be opposed and defeated. Our country, our lives, and our freedom depend on it. Death is preferable to servitude. ◄ Ian is a senior majoring in Accounting. 23
DANGER!
Conservative OPINION
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READ with extreme CAUTION Contents May Cause RATIONAL THOUGHT Contact the Multicultural Resource Center IMMEDIATELY if any of the Following Symptoms Occur: 1. Sudden onset of love for America and Western culture 2. Loss of white guilt 3. Support for law enforcement 4. Actual appreciation of diverse thought and opinion