NCAA Bound
Volleyball is slated to face off against No. 1 Penn State in the first round of the NCAA tournament this Friday
PIPE DREAM Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXII, Issue 21
The definition of 'Hooking up'
Miriam Geiger/Editorial Artist
See page 2 for further study results
From condom use — or the lack thereof — to the portrayal of sex in media, Binghamton University researchers dissected the ins and outs of sexual hookups among college students in a research article published this fall. The study was co-authored by Sean Massey, an associate professor of women, gender and sexuality studies, Chris Reiber, an associate professor of anthropology and Ann Merriwether, a lecturer in the psychology department. Justin R. Garcia, a research fellow at The Kinsey Institute, was the lead author of the article. Between 60 and 80 percent of college students in North America have been involved in at least one sexual hookup, according to the study, which defines hooking up as “brief uncommitted sexual encounters among individuals who are not romantic partners or dating each other.” Studies showed that students had varied reasons for hooking up. According to Garcia and Reiber, 89 percent of men and women reported that physical gratification was important, but 54 percent reported emotional gratification and 51 percent reported a desire to initiate a
romantic relationship. “[It was interesting] how similar college men and women are in their motivations for hooking up,” Garcia said. Despite the uncommitted nature of hookups, 65 percent of women and 45 percent of men in a study of 500 students hoped their hookup would result in a committed relationship. The study also looked at the negatives of hookups, including the role of drugs and alcohol, “hookup regret” and the lack of condom use. In a study of 270 sexually active collegeaged students, 72 percent said that they regretted at least one instance of sexual activity. Massey said, however, this did not mean hookups themselves were bad. “Of course there are multiple ways that it can be unsafe and harmful such as alcohol, drugs, coercion, low selfesteem, etcetera,” Massey said. “But it may also be a perfectly healthy, safe and fun thing for people to do.” The study found the representation of casual sex in popular culture to be a major factor in the rise of hookup culture. “You can never discount the role of culture in any study,” Merriwether said. “Hookup discourse is present on television, in music. One has to think that that had an impact on emergent adult attitudes about hookups.”
The research for the article looks primarily at young adults, according to Garcia. “Most of the data reviewed in our article focused on college students, who are primarily in the developmental stage of emerging adulthood,” Garcia wrote in an email. Timothy Liberti, a junior majoring in economics, said he agrees that American culture contributes to the prevalence of hookups. “Guys usually just want to hook up because it’s the spectacle of the American way,” Liberti said. “Guys do it to show off to their friends, and girls do it to show off to their friends, too.” He said he believes media plays a role in people’s decisions. “People are just making themselves happier because they want what they see on television and in magazines,” Liberti said. Eryn Tighe, a senior doublemajoring in human development and psychology, said that increased communication through technology has helped foster a hookup culture. “Parents and children today don’t have an open flow of communication anymore,” Tighe said. “Kids don’t rely on their parents as much because they have technology to turn to.” — Therese Dompor contributed to this report.
Serbia releases ex-BU student
The Binghamton University Student Association is laying down the groundwork to give its constitution a makeover this year. The Constitutional Revision Committee, which is mandated to convene every three years, formed last week to begin the process of amending and updating the SA Constitution.
— David Blair Constitutional Revision Committee Chair
The committee, chaired by David Blair, a senior majoring in mathematics, will focus its efforts on increasing student participation by simplifying the language of the constitution.
According to Blair, the committee hopes simpler language will lead to better student understanding of the finer workings of the SA, and will promote a more informed and empowered constituency. “Our goal is to make the SA into a more efficient, more transparent organization,” Blair said. “If it [the constitution] is simpler, then it will encourage more student involvement.” Blair will introduce a first draft of the new constitution to the committee next semester, and until then all ideas put forth by the committee are purely in the brainstorming stage and do not reflect the official positions of the Constitutional Revision Committee or the SA. The committee members centered their preliminary ideas on creating a better balance of power between the judiciary, executive and legislative branches of the SA. Ideas suggested at the committee’s first two meetings included increasing the responsibilities and power of the SA’s judicial board, giving them the authority to review new legislation for constitutional compliance prior to implementation.
Former Binghamton University basketball player Miladin Kovacevic — who was serving a two-year prison sentence in Serbia for the assault of another BU student in 2008 that resulted in lifethreatening injuries to the student — was freed Monday, about two months early. His early release was part of a Serbian government amnesty affecting over 1,000 prisoners with lesser crimes. Kovacevic, a Serb national, was sentenced by a Serb Court for attacking Bryan Steinhauer at the Rathskeller pub, leaving him in a three-month medically induced coma and with a severe brain injury. Kovacevic managed to flee the U.S. in June 2008, thanks to fake Serbian travel documents from Serbian diplomats in New York, after posting $100,000 bail and spending four weeks in jail. Serbia refused to extradite Kovacevic, angering Washington officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former New York Senator Charles Schumer The Serb government eventually paid $900,000
(€694,230) to Steinhauer’s family as part of an agreement that included putting Kovacevic on trial in Belgrade. The Obama administration and Steinhauer’s family both called Kovacevic’s two-year sentence too lenient and New York prosecutors said they are still seeking his extradition. Serbia’s pro-Western opposition, which lost power to nationalists in May, said Kovacevic’s early release sent a bad message to the U.S. and to other Serbian citizens. “Because of his actions, the government had to pay nearly a million dollars instead of giving it to the poor,” said Democratic Party official Jelena Trivan. The brawl in 2008 reportedly began when Steinhauer groped the girlfriend of one of Kovacevic’s friends. Steinhauer weighed about 130 pounds at the time of the attack, while the 20-year-old Kovacevic was a 6-foot-9, 260-pound sophomore. Kovacevic was summarily suspended and banned from BU in connection with the assault. One student witness to the assault remembered that Steinhauer “was out after two hits but they kept hitting and kicking him.”
Darko Vojinovic/AP Photo Miladin Kovacevic
Kovacevic was recruited as a freshman by former head coach Al Walker for the 2006-07 season, in which he averaged 1.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 9.3 minutes per game. Kovacevic did not play during the 2007-08 season because of injury. Kovacevic
was not going to have his scholarship renewed for the 2008-09 basketball season. — Information from the Associated Press was used in this report
Want to know more? Check out Pipe Dream's original coverage back in 2008 at www.bupipedream.com