The great space race
Pajama-rama!
The Editorial Board tells MIT to stick it where the sun don't shine
Runners sport their jammies in a race around the Brain
PIPE DREAM Tuesday, December 4, 2012 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXII, Issue 23
ROTC looks to grow along with campus The relatively low-profile Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Binghamton University is trying to expand in size and reputation, alongside a campus trying to accomplish the same thing. Senior military science instructor Adam Ciacelli, who has run the ROTC program since September, said that the growing population at BU is forcing the program to adapt itself to fit the changing needs of the students. “One of the challenges that we’ve found is transitioning to a growing, up-and-coming university, being able to outreach to new programs, to new students that are coming on board and being able to assist them with scholarships and being able to sell our brand as something that’s viable to help them and accomplish their goal,” Ciacelli said. Ciacelli estimated that the ROTC program has grown by three or four students in the past five to 10 years, but according to the Office of Internal Research, the University itself has grown by 1,500 undergraduate students since 2002. “It’s a growing campus, and our program hasn’t grown with the population,” Ciacelli said. Despite this, BU’s program, with 22 enrolled cadets, is the largest out of the Cornell Excelsior group, which also
Jonathan Heisler/Photo Editor
Members of Binghamton ROTC pose with their flag after a mid-day practice. Binghamton ROTC is the largest organization in the Cornell Excelsior group, which also includes Cornell University, Elmira College, Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland.
includes Cornell University, Elmira College, Ithaca College and SUNY Cortland. ROTC at BU offers three to four scholarships per graduating class to students contracting a “one to one” active duty commitment, meaning that a four-year scholarship from ROTC
will equate to a four-year commitment as a full-time officer in the Army, according to Ciacelli. There is nearly an unlimited number of Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty scholarships available to students who opt for a “one to two” commitment, in which a four-
year scholarship is matched by an eight-year commitment to the Reserves, enabling students to use their degrees after college in a civilian job while still working for the army on a part-time basis. There is, however, an option available that will enable more students to become a part of
the program through degreespecific scholarships that are separate from the limited number of general active duty scholarships. “We offer mechanical engineering, engineering,
The national president of Alpha Chi Rho (AXP) fraternity is closing the Binghamton University chapter in response to the hazing allegations made by disaffiliated member Matthew Opramolla. The chapter has 30 days to appeal the decision, during which time they are under summary suspension, according to a press release from AXP headquarters. Former BU AXP president Zach Stein, who stepped down in mid-October after he and Opramolla were arrested during a police raid of the AXP off-campus residence, said his chapter intends to follow through with an appeal. “Our No. 1 focus is appealing and getting our charter back,” Stein said. “We’re just going to highlight all the good things we’re trying to do.” He said he believes the chapter will be successful in its appeal, but only one chapter has successfully appealed a decision in the last 20 years, according to a representative of the AXP
Chabad gives record-breaking a whirl
Sergeant Benjamin Anthony, a reservist in the Israeli Defense Forces, wore a sharp, gray suit when he took the podium Monday, but spoke with the booming and authoritative voice of a soldier as he discussed his experiences on and off the frontline. Anthony, founder of Our Soldiers Speak, made it clear from the start that he was not just a speaker. “I’m here as one soldier speaking of my experiences in uniform,” Anthony said. He told the audience of more than 70 students about a traumatic childhood experience where he and his brothers were attacked for being Jewish. “These thugs left home that day with the intention to remove a Jew from this Earth,” Anthony said. The attack left Anthony and his eldest brother severely injured, and his two youngest brothers traumatized. He related this experience to his belief that Israel is the only place in the world where he
As the semester’s end draws near and life seems to be spinning out of control, Chabad is inviting students to drop their books and attempt to earn a place in the “Guinness Book of World Records.” Chabad will host 700 students at the “Dreidel Spin-Off” on Dec. 10 in the hopes of setting a record for the most dreidels spinning simultaneously. Learning from earlier attempts to set this record that were not properly documented, Chabad organizers researched the exact requirements to break the record, which include having witnesses and
— Gary Wilber Member of CoRE
photographic evidence. “At Chabad, we are always looking for new, innovative and exciting ways to celebrate our holidays and traditions,” said Rabbi Levi Slonim, Chabad’s director of programming. “Students are very enthusiastic about this idea of breaking a world record.” According to Lucy Schwartz, Chabad major programs coordinator, it has been a challenge to recruit 700 people for the Spin-Off. Chabad plans to meet their goal by “reaching out to specific organizations, clubs, sports teams, and Greek Life groups and having them pre-register.” Chabad welcomes anyone to sign up to be a part of the SpinOff, and is offering a poster and a chance to be in the Guinness
Two Binghamton University computer science majors battled Dropbox in real time last night and early this morning, trying to register enough fake Dropbox accounts using BMail addresses to win BU students extra storage space on the online file syncing service. Dropbox — which allows users to store files online and have them readily available on
Book to anyone who signs up and guarantees that five people from their organization will attend.
— Kara Dinowitz BU sophomore
be in the world record book?” said Kara Dinowitz, an event organizer and a sophomore majoring in English. Schwartz agreed and said that student groups will want their names in the Guinness book. “It is really an awesome opportunity to put your organization’s name out there,” said Schwartz, a junior majoring in English. The event will feature free food including latkes, donuts and hot apple cider at the afterparty, as well as a performance by the Binghamton Crosbys. “So many students are working hard to ensure that
“We’re making history, and who wouldn’t want to
every computer they use — is hosting a competition among colleges to see which school can attract the most users. Each student user from the winning university receives 25 extra gigabytes of storage space free for two years. Gary Wilber and Chaoren Lin, roommates living in CoRE, used virtual computers to run a program that automatically registered new accounts and installed the Dropbox software, netting Binghamton points in the contest. They began coding
after they suspected students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology of cheating. By Monday afternoon, BU had triple the points of MIT, who had more registered users than registered students, which indicated that they were likely cheating the system. “It felt awesome [surpassing MIT], we — us on the CoRE floor — counted down as we were exceeding them in points,” Wilber said. “Eventually we got double their points, then triple.”
Other BU Records Although this event will be the first of its kind to go in the Guinness Book, BU is no stranger to breaking records. In 1981, Lisa D’Amato set the world record for the world’s longest shower, lasting from 5:20 p.m. on Thursday, November 5th until 6:21 p.m. on Tuesday November 10th in Hinman College’s Smith Hall. Two math professors set a record by taking the concept of a magic square to the ninth level. In March, Chabad hosted Shabbat 1500, which broke the record for the largest Shabbat dinner in the United States with 1,575 people in attendance.
Although MIT students posted a blog post boasting of cheating, their points remain untouched, but BU’s points were reset around 11:00 p.m. on Monday. Wilber hinted that this may be because the CEOs of Dropbox are MIT graduates. Shortly afterward Wilber restarted the bot, and BU began to creep toward first again. About a half-hour later, Dropbox added CAPTCHAs to the email verification to sort