Pipe Dream Fall 2013 Issue 15

LETS DO SOMETHING KICK ASS Pipe Dream previews Binghamton's mayoral election

Our Design Manager gives some tips on designing posters and flyers for your student group, see page 12 see page 4

PIPE DREAM Tuesday, October 29, 2013 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXIV, Issue 15

DEMETRI MARTIN

Over 2,000 people attend Family Weekend comedy show See page 14

Tycho McManus/Staff Photographer

Students and community members responded to a call to action Saturday afternoon at the Peacemaker’s Stage in Downtown Binghamton. The rally drew over 120 to protest hydraulic fracturing.

VPAA looks for grading changes Joseph Hawthorne News Intern Following complaints from students about how grades from repeated classes are handled, members of the Student Association Office of Academic Affairs are looking to change and standardize the system.

“A student who had been on probation and had reenrolled contacted the office to see how he could raise his grades. He wanted to know what classes he could retake to get credits and raise his GPA,” said Bryan Delacruz, assistant to the vice president of academic affairs and a senior majoring in political science. “So we looked into Binghamton’s grading policy and we found a lot of differences in these policies for different schools.”

As members of the office investigated further, they found that Harpur College, the School of Management, the Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, the College of Community and Public Affairs and the Decker School of Nursing each had their own standards for incorporating retaken classes into grade point average.

The Decker School of Nursing and SOM average the old and new grades together, but Watson, Harpur and CCPA only average courses where the student had originally failed. If the student does poorly in the class but doesn’t fail, and retakes it in order to be eligible for more advanced classes, only the initial low grade is incorporated into the GPA. “The way it is now certain schools give students incentive to fail rather than pass with a low grade,” said Delacruz. “What

we want is for all the schools to have the same grading policy when it comes to retaking classes.

We feel it is only fair to have the same policy across all the schools.

A large amount of students may take classes across different schools, and this makes it a lot easier.”

Maria Alonso, a Spanish professor, agreed with Delacruz’s assessment that a single system across all schools would be beneficial.

“I think that each case is different. But there is a need to standardize in way that it is just for every body,” Alonso wrote in an email. “Therefore, I think it would be good if a student not being able to pass the class with a decent grade, borderline or falling, is able to retake the class and his grade could be averaged … Always it is expected the student to do his or her best and to be academically committed.”

However, some students don’t want a single policy across all schools.

“Besides the fact that I think that changing the grading system would be unfair to all current students, it’s important to keep in mind that the grading systems and relative workloads are not the same across all schools,” said Itai Ferber, a sophomore majoring in computer science. “As someone in Watson, I don’t think changing the balance between our school and, say, Harpur would be fair at all.”

When members of the office compared Binghamton University to other schools, they found schools like Harpur are stricter

The way it is now certain schools give students incentive to fail rather than pass with a low grade — Connor McCormack Undeclared sophomore

See GRADE Page 4

Student Congress restructured Friends, family Legislative branch reorganizes, strengthens committees “Student congress this year is positioned to be a much more valuable resource to the students it represents” — Eric Larson SA president

Jeremy Bernstein News Intern Formerly referred to as the Student Assembly, the Student Congress (SC) has undergone more than a name change for the 2013-2014 academic year.

The SC, the legislative branch of the Student Association (SA), has been completely restructured in order to foster more group participation.

The Student Outreach Committee, Rules Committee and Elections Committee will be replaced by a Student Life and Academic Affairs Committee, a General Affairs Committee and a Planning, Research and Elections Committee.

According to James Grippe, the speaker of the Student

Congress, the structural changes will enable better discourse within the SC. “The shift from being a Congress-central structure to a committee-central structure makes it so that the committees do a lot more on their own,” said Grippe, a senior majoring in computer science. “Each committee member is now contributing a lot more instead of two or three people leading the whole Congress. In the past you would have a couple reps who basically led every issue, and the committees didn’t do anything.”

The restructuring plan was voted on and approved in the spring semester.

According to Grippe, the Student Life and Academic Affairs Committee will tackle a range of

issues, from trying to improve campus life to dealing with academic issues.

The Planning, Research and Elections Committee is currently working on creating more vegan options and getting more “allergy-aware” food in the dining halls.

The committees met for the first time on Oct. 7 and have only met once since then, but SA President Eric Larson says he is very optimistic about the restructuring.

“The creation of the new SLA committee will hopefully ensure that the student congress keeps its focus on current and relevant issues that face the student body,” Larson, a senior majoring in

See SC Page 4

honor Gazanfer BU student remembered for smile, love of music Matthew Bruinooge Contributing Writer Gokay Gazanfer, a junior from the information systems engineering program, passed away on Oct. 17 in Istanbul, Turkey. As a member of the dual diploma program, he studied at both Binghamton University and Istanbul Technical University.

Gazanfer died after falling down the stairs of his apartment.

He was a native of Turkey and widely traveled.

Valentina Codrington remembered Gazanfer’s strong passion for

music and said he was starting to perform as a DJ. According to Codrington, Gazanfer’s interest in travel and his good nature were readily apparent.

“He wasn’t quiet. He was extremely outgoing and curious with a contagious laugh,” said Codrington, a graduate student studying sociology and business administration. “While he was in the U.S. he took advantage and traveled.”

Gazanfer was known as “Goran” by some of his friends,

See OBIT Page 4

NEWS

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Souvik Chatterjee Contributing Writer The Indian Graduate Student Organization (IGSO) lit up the Mandela Room with a celebration of Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, Sunday night. With lights, dancing and South Asian cuisine, over 250 people congregated in the Mandela Room to celebrate the holiday.

“A lot of planning went into this, people practiced a lot to set up a good performance,” said Shyam Bhojwani, the event coordinator of the IGSO and a graduate student studying computer science.

Musicians performed a range of styles, from pop, including an Adele cover, to classical Indian music, with some singing solos accompanied by guitar.

Several performances revved up the crowd, as the audience sang along to songs like “Jai Ho,” the theme song of the film “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Along with the evening’s singers, groups performed synchronized dances, with some featuring as many as 10 people.

Another performance featured suit-clad men with their female partners, and another just one woman dancing gracefully to slow and romantic music.

Nihit Sharma, a host of the event and a graduate student in electrical engineering, said that

“A lot of planning went into this, people practiced a lot to set up a good performance” — Shyam Bhojwani Event Coordinator of ISGO

the celebration brought people together.

“Diwali is one of the most beautiful festivals in the world,” Sharma said.

Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger attended the event, along with Krishnaswami Srihari, dean of the Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Upinder Dhillon, dean of the School of Management, as well as undergraduates and graduate students.

“We love sponsoring events like this because it’s not just for one culture,” said Mengchen Huang, the program coordinator at the Multicultural Resource Center.

Both performers and audience members wore authentic Indian clothing like saris. There was a best-dressed contest where six audience members — three men and

three women — who wore traditional Indian apparel briefly went on stage to collect a small prize.

The Mandela Room was decorated with lights surrounding all four walls and large round tables near the stage reserved for notable guests. Each table was labeled as a different city in India, including New Delhi and Kolkata.

There were various types of food as well. Naan, a common Indian bread, was served, as well as samosas, baked pastries with various fillings. There were also cooked vegetables, rice and chutney. For dessert there was rasgulla, a cheesebased sweet dish in ball form, doused in syrup.

The night culminated with performers and audience members, including some children in the crowd, rushing onto the stage and jumping around in celebration.

The final performance surprised the crowd and had many people laughing as 10 Indian men, some members of the IGSO E-Board, took the stage with a synchronized dance.

“I was very happy to see the special guests who came and saw the show,” said Priyanka Soni, a graduate student studying industrial and systems engineering.

www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

Ryan Gyanchand/ Contributing Photographer

The Indian Graduate Student Organization (IGSO) hosted Diwali night Sunday night in the Mandela Room. Diwali, a festival of lights, is a five-day Hindu festival.

PAGE III Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Pipe Line

In the presence of stars

State Universities Two hospitalized in NY after pepper spray at party Police say two people have been hospitalized after a partygoer blasted pepper spray during a Halloween bash at a Syracuse University fraternity. The Syracuse Post-Standard reports that police are investigating the incident at Tau Kappa Epsilon. The party was shut down after the spraying.

University Public Safety Chief Anthony Callisto says the two hospitalized people were released, but it’s not clear how many others were hit with the pepper spray. It’s also unclear how many people were at the party. Castillo tells the newspaper that the fraternity has been referred to the Student Codes office. He says the investigation is ongoing.

State News Upstate NY real estate agent charged with murder A 62-year-old real estate agent from upstate New York is facing murder charges in the stabbing death of his longtime housemate. The Tioga County Sheriff’s office has charged Douglas Every with second-degree murder of 39-year-old Milton Jump. Sheriff Gary Howard told the Press & SunBulletin that investigators believe there was an altercation between the two men that turned physical. Every allegedly stabbed Jump with a kitchen knife Wednesday night inside the rural home along New York’s Southern Tier they had shared for nearly 15 years. Every was arraigned in town court and sent to Tioga County jail without bail. He’s due back in court Nov. 13. The court did not list an attorney for Every.

The sheriff’s office was awaiting results of an autopsy.

Police: Human remains found in upstate NY park Authorities say they’re investigating the discovery of human remains in a state park in the Finger Lakes region.

State police tell local media outlets that the remains were found Wednesday in a wooded area in Taughannock Falls State Park in the Tompkins County town of Ulysses, 43 miles southwest of Syracuse. State police and state park police are working with Binghamton University’s anthropology department in an effort to identify the remains. The park, located in rugged terrain on Cayuga Lake’s southwestern shore, 10 miles north of Ithaca, features the 215-foot Taughannock Falls.

Ellis Island museum reopens after Sandy’s floods The island that ushered millions of immigrants into the United States received visitors Monday for the first time since Superstorm Sandy. The halls and buildings of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum reopened to the public nearly one year after the storm. Sandy swamped boilers and electrical systems and left the 27.5-acre island without power for months. More than one million photographs and other Ellis Island artifacts remain in storage while buildings are fixed and upgraded. Liberty Island reopened on July 4 but was closed again during the partial federal government shutdown. The storm flooded the Ellis museum up to the basement ceiling and knocked out electricity, phone service and the heating and air conditioning systems. It did not imperil exhibits upstairs, but they were moved because they could have deteriorated without climate control. David Luchsinger, the superintendent of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, estimated the repairs would take 18 months and $21 million in all.

Xindi Tian/Contributing Photographer

Omega Phi Beta sorority and the Thurgood Marshall Pre-Law Society host “Sexual Harassment in the Workplace” Tuesday night. The workshop was aimed at empowering women.

Police Watch A lighter take on campus crime Your Fault WEDNESDAY, OCT. 23, 3:00 p.m. — A 19-year-old male had his wallet allegedly stolen in Glenn G. Bartle Library, said Investigator Patrick Reilly of Binghamton’s New York State University Police. The victim was in the Pods area of the library late Tuesday night and left without realizing he had left his wallet on the desk where he was sitting. He returned the next day to look for his wallet, but he could not find it. The wallet was not turned in at the circulation desk. The case is under investigation.

Towel and lock that door, bro WEDNESDAY, OCT. 23, 3:20 p.m. — Officers were called to Endicott Hall by resident assistant staff for a marijuana complaint, Reilly said. Officers were able to find an 18-yearold male suspect and question him about the marijuana smell emanating from his room. The suspect initially denied these claims but eventually admitted to having smoked marijuana earlier. The suspect then gave the officers a metal grinder and a Ziploc bag containing both burned and unburned green leafy substances, which both tested positive as marijuana. The suspect was referred to the Office of Student Conduct for his cooperation.

This Day in History Corrections Pipe Dream strives for accuracy in all we publish.

We recognize that mistakes will sometimes occur, but we treat errors very seriously.

If you see a mistake in the paper, please contact Editorin-Chief Christina Pullano at editor@bupipedream.com. stabilizing: halloween costumes

Oct. 29, 1929 Investors trade 16,410,030 shares in a single day on the New York Stock Exchange, resulting in Black Tuesday.

Stock prices collapsed completely, marking the start of the Great Depression.

A 4.0 that won’t make your parents proud FRIDAY, OCT. 25, 3:24 p.m. — Officers were called to O’Connor Hall for a drug complaint, Reilly said. Officers approached the door of the room about which the complaint was made, where a male and a female answered. The 19-year-old male allegedly looked under the influence of drugs, as he had bloodshot eyes. The suspect admitted to smoking marijuana but stated that there was no more in the room.

Another 19-year-old male came into the room and admitted that it was his marijuana and handed the officers 4.0 grams of marijuana.

Both suspects were given tickets to appear in Vestal Town Court.

Technical Foul SATURDAY, OCT. 26, 11:41 a.m. — Patrols were dispatched to the East Gym fields due to a disorderly conduct complaint, Reilly said. A 21-year-old male flag football player was screaming at referees about what he believed to be a bad call. Referees were becoming uncomfortable with all of the screaming.

Officers told the student to take up his complaint with Campus Recreation, and it would be handled by them.

“I’ve always believed that there’s an amazing number of things you can do through a rock ‘n’ roll song, and that you can do serious writing in a rock song if you can somehow do it without losing the beat.”

Lou Reed singer, songwriter and guitarist (March 2, 1942 – Oct. 27, 2013)

opportunistic incompetence :destabilizing

Mayoral Race 2013

www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

NEWS

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Democrat: Teri Rennia Rennia looks to improve government efficnency, city infrastructure

Photo Provided

Nicolas Vega Assistant News Editor Teri Rennia is a small business owner, homeowner and mother, and come Nov. 5, she may be Binghamton’s next mayor.

Rennia, the Democratic candidate, was born in Binghamton, and has lived in several communities in New York state and northern California before moving back to Binghamton with her husband, according to her campaign website. She served on the City Council for more than seven years.

She said that she moved to Binghamton because of the architecture, community and public school system.

Rennia, along with her husband, is the owner of three small businesses in Downtown Binghamton and has employed dozens in high-tech jobs over

the past 15 years. Though she says that she loves Binghamton, she is quick to admit that there are many improvements that must be made.

“We need to have a city with safe, clean, neighborhoods while at the same time keeping taxes at a reasonable level and creating jobs,” she wrote in an email. “As I have met with residents of the city people are mostly concerned with four main topics: economy/jobs, taxes, public safety, and infrastructure.”

Rennia wants the city to maintain strong police, fire and emergency services divisions. However, she does not believe that adding police officers will help Binghamton become a better city.

She says that if crime is to be properly handled, it must be fought at the source.

“We need to address the societal and institutional causes of crime if we are to achieve long term and sustainable reductions in crime,” Rennia wrote.

“Simply adding police officers without a plan to pay for them or address the way that we police will not produce the changes that we need.”

In addition to addressing crime, Rennia said she would like to see Binghamton’s infrastructure receive an upgrade.

“We have a number of infrastructure challenges.

Among the most obvious are our roads.

We must no longer address our infrastructure with short term piece by piece measures. We must also focus on flood mitigation and of course the joint sewage treatment plant,” she wrote.

She said that the election is not only important to residents of the city of Binghamton, but also to Binghamton University

students because of the large role they play in the community.

“Through organizations such as VINES and the West Side Neighborhood Project I have personally seen the value of students in our community and want to encourage students to further get involved in the community,” Rennia wrote.

Ultimately, Rennia would like to see Binghamton become a city where students will want to live when they have finished college.

“I will seek out ways to ensure that we are always seeking opportunities for students to become part of our community,” she wrote, “a community that I hope many will choose to call home after graduation.”

Rennia said that her history of owning a small business has made her acutely aware of the city’s needs.

“As a small business owner I have first-hand experienced the difficulties facing businesses in Binghamton and will work hard to encourage development and create jobs,” she wrote.

She stressed that Binghamton needs to keep a close eye on its finances.

“City hall needs to control costs and keep taxes stable by ensuring that city government works effectively and efficiently,” Rennia wrote.

Republican: Rich David

David aims to connect with BU, increase police force, transparency Geoffrey Wilson Assistant News Editor Running on a platform of transparency, improved public safety and a break from the status quo, Rich David is up for election to the position of Binghamton mayor on Nov. 5.

David, the Republican mayoral candidate, received the nomination after winning 61 percent of the vote during the primary election.

David remains neutral on hydraulic fracturing, a highly contentious natural gas drilling process, saying that his opinion relies on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s findings in the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement.

“If the state comes back and says there are health and environmental concerns, then I don’t know how we could support it,” David said. “We don’t want to compromise public safety for money.”

However, he said the process has “enormous potential” if it is proven safe.

“It would create significant economic development opportunities in the area with regards to jobs and the influx of money into the area,” he said.

As one of his primary platforms, David aims to gradually

increase the number of police by 20, returning numbers to its highest since 2005.

“I know from talking with students and talking with administration that safety is a primary concern right now for students,” he said. “There’s been a variety of assaults on students on the West side of the city as they walk to and from Downtown at various hours, and I’ve made fighting crime the cornerstone of my campaign.”

The Binghamton Police Benevolent Association has endorsed Rich David for his stance on crime.

In order to increase funding, David proposed City of Binghamton personnel cuts that would save $700,000. The cuts, which David claims could be “absorbed by the respective department without impacting services,” include communications director, deputy comptroller and assistant police chief.

David also plans to cancel a $1.2 million roundabout project scheduled to be built and Court and Exchange Streets, claiming it is “unsightly and unnecessary.”

Discussing the city’s relationship with Binghamton University, David praised the Southern Tier High Technology Incubator.

“The research they’re doing today will result in the jobs of tomorrow right here in Binghamton, and I am committed t o

working with President Stenger on that and other opportunities.” David said.

“I know there’s talks of a pharmacy school, I’d love to see a law school. Whatever we can do to expand [Binghamton University’s] presence is something I would be supportive of.”

In 2000, Mayor Richard Bucci invited David to join his administration as director of community relations, where he handled media and communication operations. He was promoted to deputy mayor, which involved supervising dayto-day operations, working with City Council and developing the city budget.

“Who better to be in the mayor’s office than someone who’s been doing it themselves, or has done it themselves?” David asked.

David joined SUNY Broome Community College as the public affairs officer after leaving City Hall. In 2006, he founded Confluence Enterprises Inc. to invest money into Binghamton, spending more than $800,000 so far. Investments have included the renovation of 45 Court St. and two businesses on State Street, Terra Cotta Catering and Flashbacks/ Paradigm.

“As a private sector small business owner, I am very familiar with the challenges businesses face,” David said. “I speak the language, so to speak, and I am someone who is investing in the community. I know how to work with other entrepreneurs.”

According to David, Binghamton City Hall is not very businessfriendly, which he says is negatively affecting the area.

“I can tell you from conversations with fellow small business owners, developers

Photo Provided

and investors, and in order to move our economy forward, we need to create and sustain an environment which will attract business and attract jobs,” David said.

He promoted making City Hall more “user-friendly,” in regards to permit approval, zoning and planning.

David received his bachelor’s degree in communications and political science in 1998 from St. John Fisher College before becoming a broadcast journalist at WBNG channel 12. A 2002 Binghamton University alumnus, he got his master’s degree in public administration while working in the mayor’s office.

As a former journalist, David promises increased transparency, inviting reporters to speak with him and his administration directly.

“I think the media should be able to come in freely and talk to the mayor or department heads on any issues they want on any point in time,” he said.

www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

NEWS

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Dining halls' arrangement impacts choices Cornell researcher examines psychological, environmental influence on healthy eating Eurih Lee News Intern

Binghamton University students were given some food for thought Saturday afternoon.

Following the release of details about the upcoming University Union Food Court, the Eating Awareness Committee hosted an interactive presentation called “The Food Environment” at the Old Union Hall.

“You can eat a carrot or celery; either way you are going to eat a vegetable” — Kathryn Hoy Cornell researcher

The program, which was part of the Healthy Campus Initiative and was co-sponsored by the Eating Awareness Committee, Sodexo and Campus Recreation, featured guest speaker Kathryn Hoy, a Cornell Food and Brand Lab researcher and manager of the Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (BEN).

Hoy addressed “drive behaviors” and cues that might play a role in influencing dietary choice, and discussed how psychology and the environment impact eating behavior.

She said that everything — from what and how much we eat, to whether or not we enjoy it — is affected by cues all around us. These include choice architecture, behavior economics and portion control.

“As we age, we tend to develop certain consumption patterns, and we’re not really comfortable veering from that,” Hoy said. “We tend to rebel against threats on our freedom — if we’re not given a choice.”

She explained how implementing “choice architecture” might help

Franz Lino/Staff Photographer

Kathryn Hoy, Cornell University Food and Brand Lab researcher and manager of its Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (BEN), speaks during her presentation “The Food Environment” on Saturday afternoon in the University Union. Co-sponsored by the Eating Awareness Committee, Sodexo and Campus Recreation, Hoy’s talk centered around how psychology and the environment impact eating behavior.

combat stubborn attitudes toward new dietary options.

Choice architecture describes giving the illusion of choice, while actually choosing between equally valued items.

“You can eat a carrot or celery; either way you’re going to eat a vegetable,” Hoy said.

Sarah Thompson, a faculty member of health and wellness studies and chair of the Eating

Awareness Committee, said she hopes that future outreach programs such as “The Food Environment” will heighten awareness about ways to be healthy on campus.

Alexa Schmidt, a dietician for Sodexo, said she wanted to dispel negative stigmas on Sodexo’s limited healthy options, especially claims that Sodexo doesn’t offer sufficient

vegan and vegetarian options.

“There are wellness options at each of the food stations,” Schmidt said. “For example, the grill — people always say there are no healthy options, but if you actually go to the grill and take a look, there are regular omelets, there are egg white omelets, there’s turkey burgers and grilled portobello mushrooms.”

Thompson believes that Binghamton University is overall a health-conscious campus, but students could be more aware of how to navigate through the dining halls’ displays and find the healthy options.

“In terms of behavior economics, [the dining halls] are definitely designed to sell,” Thompson said.

Hoy talked about how important it is to create a dining environment that will encourage healthier eating options.

“We need to make food and environments much more cool for those consumption patterns to be much more interactive,” Hoy said.

Case of tuberculosis confirmed off campus Investigation underway about potential spread of rare, active strain of disease Jeremy Bernstein News Intern

On Wednesday, Binghamton University sent out an email confirming that a BU community member had been diagnosed with tuberculosis.

The email also said that the community member lives off campus and will remain off campus until he or she is no longer contagious.

According to Dr. Michael Leonard, medical director of the Decker Student Health Services Center, the patient was diagnosed with active tuberculosis.

“Active tuberculosis is the term that we use for people who have TB in the lung that can be contagious,” Leonard

said. “That’s the one that we are the most concerned about for obvious reasons. That is not very common in the United States at all. Our particular campus and all of the university centers are averaging one every year, or every other year.”

Latent tuberculosis, in which someone tests positive for tuberculosis bacterium but does not have an active disease process in his or her body, is much more common, according to Leonard.

“The treatment for active tuberculosis is usually a number of medications. It could be three or four medications at the same time. They usually use that many until they get the final culture report. They still send these things in for culture because when they

isolate the bacteria, they can then test it for sensitivities to the different antibiotics that they have,” Leonard said.

When someone in the Binghamton community is diagnosed with active tuberculosis, the Broome County Health Department is alerted immediately, and the patient is isolated. The patient will often start therapy before conclusive tests come back, according to Leonard.

“Once they get a confirmation, they look at the situation and determine whether or not an investigation should take place,” Leonard said. “An investigation like the one we are talking about here represents immediate people who are living with the same person. These people were

identified and have already been contacted by the Health Department and are already being tested to see if they have any evidence of having picked up the bacteria.”

The Health Department may decide to extend the investigation if the tests on the roommates come back positive.

But according to Leonard, the Health Department has hopes that they won’t find any more TB there.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website, tuberculosis is an airborne disease brought on by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

“The TB bacteria are put into the air when a person with TB disease of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, speaks,

or sings. People nearby may breathe in these bacteria and become infected,” states the Center For Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

TB cannot, however, be spread by shaking hands, sharing food or drink or even kissing, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Ben Moosher, an undeclared sophomore, said he did not see the email but heard about the TB case through word-ofmouth.

“I’m not worried about it as long as everyone stays cautious of their surroundings,” Moosher said.

“Frankly, because of how uncommon tuberculosis is nowadays, it doesn’t seem like too much of a threat to the student body as a whole.”

Signs and symptoms of active TB include: Cough Unintentional weight loss Fatigue Fever Night sweats Chills Loss of appetite Signs and symptoms of TB of the lungs include: Coughing that lasts three or more weeks Coughing up blood or sputum Chest pain, or pain with breathing or coughing —From the Mayo Clinic

www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

NEWS

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Students haunt preserve WHRW revives sci-fi play Scholars raise $700, double goal Victoria Azcuy and Margaret-Rose Roazzi Contributing Writers Something scarier than snakes and overly confident deer lurked through the Nature Preserve this weekend. Ghosts, ghouls and goblins shadowed unsuspecting Binghamton University students during the First Annual Haunted Nature Walk.

Accompanied by an actor dressed in a costume, participants found themselves being followed by ghouls, clowns and even President Barack Obama as they traversed the Nature Preserve’s Pipeline Trail behind Newing College.

Led by a spooky tour guide, walkers encountered scares along the trail and caught glimpses of figures walking through the woods alongside them.

“It was fun and scary,” said Vivian Wang, a freshman majoring in biology. “[The attractions] just popped out at you. Then they followed you and tried to scare you.”

Some students even got to revisit their childhood nightmares.

“It was very scary. I had fun saying ‘hi’ to that guy from ‘Scream.’ I think the last time I saw him was 1996,” said Jordan Pomerantz, an undeclared freshman.

The freshman class of PricewaterhouseCoopers

Scholars in the School of Management organized the fundraiser for the refurbishment of a baseball field in Binghamton’s Recreation Park, marking the first time that the freshmen PwC Scholars have been able to organize and execute a fundraiser on their own. This is also the first year that the Friends of the Nature Preserve allowed a walk in the preserve

$250, had a larger-thanexpected turnout and raised a total of $700.

“Our first goal is of course to raise enough money, but we really just wanted people to have fun and be scared because we’re hoping to make this a more sustainable and scary event,” said Sarah Safeer, cochair of freshman fundraising for the PwC Scholars and a freshman majoring in business.

James Kuo, co-chair of freshman fundraising for the PwC Scholars, said he and Safeer wrote up a proposal to use the trail, which they took to the Friends of the Nature Preserve.

“President David Schwartz of the Scholars Fundraising helped on our behalf,” said Kuo, a freshman majoring in business administration.

Safeer and Kuo are looking to improve the Haunted Walk for next year.

“This was our first event in all aspects,” Kuo said. “As sophomores next year, we hope to be more experienced in running the event and fixing technical problems. The — Jennifer Stoever-Ackerman Haunted Trail was a big event BU professor to run in regards to the other events the scholars program runs … It was challenging as our first event, so now any itself. other event we’ll be ready for. ” Charging a $5 admission fee, the event planners, who had originally aimed to raise

“I am really interested in the cultural and social experience of liveness: its powers, its pitfalls and its potentials to shift social consciousness”

Deans disagree on GPA policy CLASS continued from Page 1 than other colleges in terms of how grades from repeated courses are treated, either averaged in or even used to replace failing ones.

“We consider Binghamton the Ivy League of public schools so we took a look at Ivy schools, in particular Cornell. We found that schools like Cornell and Yale average the grades of retaken classes,” Delacruz said. “We also looked at all the SUNYs, and we found Binghamton to be the strictest.”

This year Derrick Conyers, SA vice president of academic affairs, decided to focus on standardizing the policy of retaking courses across all the schools.

“As a baseline we want to average all the courses. Preferably a model of replacement with the higher grade like Geneseo or Buffalo, but that’s more of a stretch. Averaging the grades seems a reasonable policy that will keep students accountable,” Delacruz said.

While Delacruz said that he, Conyers and other members of the office had met with representatives from nearly every school and received positive responses, deans from other schools did not commit to the proposals. Changes within the School of Management may even have the opposite of the desired effect.

“The ideas that Derrick explored with me were the policy of averaging or accepting the better grade when a student repeats a course. SOM currently is the only school that allows averaging. To be consistent with other Schools

at Binghamton we are proposing a change that will eliminate averaging since it contributes to grade inflation,” Dhillon wrote in an email.

Anne McCall, dean of Harpur, also said there were reservations from Harpur administration.

“When colleges and universities make policies in this area, they should be balancing competing values, among them standards for academic performance, accountability of students for their work, fairness relative to other students who can’t afford numerous repeats of courses, and a desire to encourage students to pursue efforts in a given area,” she wrote in an email. “I look forward to a discussion that helps us verify the fit between our identity here and our policy.”

Many students who had retaken courses, though, supported the changes.

“It’s only fair to people who didn’t fail and wanted to retake a class,” said Shriman Balasubramanian, a sophomore double-majoring in biology and management.

Christopher Tufo, a sophomore double-majoring in art history and dance, said he thought the current policy was the only way to hold students accountable for their actions.

“As someone from Harpur College, where GPA is very important in applying to grad school, I think that there should be ramifications for doing poorly.

You can standardize the system and average the grades, but I don’t think a good grade should replace a bad one,” Tufo said.

H.G. Wells dramatization returns to airwaves Jacob Shamsian Assistant Release Editor On Oct. 30, 1938, radio audiences around America listened to, and panicked over, a CBS report about an alien invasion.

Listeners tuned in to a dramatization of “The War of the Worlds,” a novel by H.G. Wells, adapted by Orson Welles for the radio. An hour long, the play had no regular commercial breaks, leading listeners to believe aliens were actually invading America and only CBS was covering it.

Now 75 years later to the day, WHRW 90.5 FM will broadcast Welles’ radio play. Its event, “From Mercury to Mars: Welles and War of the Worlds at 75,” will celebrate the power of radio as well as Welles’ career as an artist. The original broadcast was an episode of “The Mercury Theatre on the Air,” a series of classic literary works adapted for radio by Welles’ Mercury Theatre company.

The three-hour listening party will be held at 7 p.m. in Appalachian Dining Hall’s common room in Mountainview College and broadcast live on WHRW 90.5 FM. The first hour of the program will be a new audio-based documentary edited

by Binghamton University alum Aaron Trammell ‘12, a doctoral candidate at Rutgers University.

The documentary is coproduced by Jennifer StoeverAckerman, the program’s host and an assistant professor in the English department who focuses on African-American

“I had fun saying 'hi' to that guy from 'Scream.' I think the last time I saw him was 1996” — Jordan Pomerantz Undeclared freshman

literature and sound studies. “[The documentary] features a dozen of the top media scholars in the country sharing their perspectives on radio in the 1930s, Orson Welles as an artist and radio man and on the alleged ‘panic’ the broadcast set off in 1938,” Stoever-Ackerman wrote in an email.

For the second hour, WHRW will rebroadcast Welles’ “The War of the Worlds.”

Listening parties throughout North America and Europe will be united through the Twitter hashtag #WOTW75.

Stoever-Ackerman said she is interested in understanding the difference between live events in the 1930s and in 2013, and observing how social media influences how people listen and experience being together “in the moment.”

“I am really interested in the cultural and social experience of liveness: its powers, its pitfalls and its potentials to shift social consciousness,” she wrote.

The final hour will include

three panel discussions, a performance from local band Short Waves and sounds by students in Cinema 352: Performance Process. The class created a new soundscape for the final segment of the play, “after the invasion,” which originally used few sound effects. They used a combination of digital techniques along with older methods of sound recording that would have been used in the original “The War of the Worlds” broadcast. Some of the sounds were made by manipulating marbles by a microphone and by hacking into a coconut.

The first panel will be led

by Stoever-Ackerman and will feature radio scholars Damien Keane, an assistant English professor at the University at Buffalo, Tom McEnaney, a comparative literature professor at Cornell University and Shawn VanCour, a professor of media, culture and communication at New York University. The second panel will consist of students at the listening party, and the third of the students in the Performance Process class.

“I wanted to inform the Binghamton University community, the Broome County area and, via WHRW’s online simulcast, global listeners about the history of radio in the 1930s, Orson Welles’ radio history and the history of the 1938 ‘The War of the Worlds’ broadcast, sharing the cutting edge of current radio and media scholarship with a wide and diverse audience,” StoeverAckerman wrote.

SC adds three committees SC continued from Page 1 financial economics, wrote in an email.

“Restructuring the other committees has re-balanced the responsibilities to more effectively address the day to day requirements of internal business.”

According to Grippe, last year’s Student Outreach Committee had a poor reputation.

“It ended up being named the Hot Chocolate Committee because they would basically have two hot chocolate events during the winter and you wouldn’t get anything else from them,” Grippe said.

But Grippe and other SA leaders are confident in the new structure.

“Initially I had doubts about the biweekly Congress meetings and the new focus on committee work, but Congress members seem to be working together and sharing ideas more productively than ever,” said Samson Widerman, vice president of the SA and a senior majoring

in philosophy, politics and law. “This will generate stronger legislation that will bring more attention to issues on campus and the ability students have to address them. I’m really hopeful that the new Congress will generate very active and impactful leaders for our campus.”

According to Larson, the restructured committees are a big step forward.

“Between the increased ability to address procedural issues and a renewed effort to make meaningful improvements on campus, the Student Congress this year is positioned to be a much more valuable resource to the students it represents,” Larson said.

Adam Lipke, a freshman majoring in human development, said the SC’s visibility on campus is thus far lacking.

“Student Congress never emails us and I barely know who they are. I think they should play a bigger role at this college. I hope this restructuring makes them more involved,” Lipke said.

“I think [SC] should play a bigger role at this college.

I hope this restructuring makes them more involved ” — Adam Lipke BU freshman

BU, ITU student passes away OBIT continued from Page 1 one of whom described him as having a warm personality.

“A couple of resident assistants and I spent several hours with Goran learning Turkish phrases. Although I don’t remember much of those lessons, I do remember having a great time with Goran,” wrote Jessica Gonzalez ‘12, who received a degree in economics from BU. Brooke Miller ‘12, who received a master’s degree in business administration, mentioned how involved he was in the Binghamton community.

“He was always social and friendly,

even his first year here. He was one of the first people to get involved in events and participate in finding ways to meet new people,” she said.

Melina Melendez ‘12, who received a degree in biology and Spanish from BU, recalled one such instance of his welcoming personality.

“I remember one time he invited us to his room to check out his sound system. He had strobe lights too, so it looked like a rave,” she said. “He was fun to be around.”

His parents remember his selflessness and positivity.

“I can tell you that he was the sweetest thing in our life. We do not

remember a time he did not smile,” wrote Sureyya and Nazan Gazanfer from a joint email account. “As far as we know he never said no to anybody who needed help from him.”

Gazanfer’s friends and family are planning a memorial service on Nov. 13, the details of which have yet to be disclosed. Any student in need of support regarding the death of Gazanfer is advised to reach out to the University Counseling Center.

Editor’s Note: The quotes from Ganzafer’s parents, Sureyya and Nazan, have been translated from their original Turkish.

NEWS

www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

7

Students unite to discuss divided Jerusalem J Street U members debate two-state solution, wall Joseph Hawthorne News Intern

In the face of continued talks of peace in the region, students came together Wednesday to discuss the potential of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Members of J Street U, an Israel-focused political student group, considered ways in which Israel and Palestine could present a two-state solution.

“In the context of what’s going on in Israel with John Kerry and others pushing peace negotiations, the issue could not be more important,” said Ilan Benattar, the president of the Binghamton University chapter of J Street U. “No question is out of bounds. If you want to bring a comment or disagreement, that’s what we want to hear.”

The event consisted of a video presentation and multiple discussions, where participants had the opportunity to present their ideas on how a diplomatic agreement between Israel and Palestine could be reached.

The video was divided into four

segments with questions for the audience after each part.

“Do you think Jerusalem needs to be shared in a two-state solution?” asked Benattar, a senior double-majoring in Arabic studies and history. “I know from my perspective that Israelis would not accept a state without Israel, and I can only assume Palestinians might feel the same way.”

Responses to each question prompted a variety of discussions, especially when the proposal to build a border through the city was raised. A majority did feel uneasy about dividing such a holy city.

“I don’t know what it is. It’s not about the aesthetics, but something worries me about building an actual wall through the social lines that might exist,” said Ashley Mashall, vice president of J Street at BU and a sophomore majoring in psychology.

Other students disagreed.

“There kind of is already a wall up,” said Hannah Robins, a freshman majoring in psychology. “When I was with Israelis in Jerusalem they said ‘Arabs live there. Don’t go there.’”

The video ended with the same question it opened with.

“Can Jerusalem be the capital for both

Israel and Palestine?” asked the narrator.

“We believe it can.”

After the video, students stood up and walked to different sides of the room to show what their stance was on questions relating to Israel.

“In order for Israel to keep on existing, it needs to change the way it educates people about solutions,” Mashall said. “It’s important to acknowledge something has changed and people have to make tough choices.”

The event was attended by 10 other members, but organizers said the discussion was still helpful.

“I’m glad we had a broad range of questions and people expressed their feelings about what are some very hard issues,” Benattar said.

Andrew Gordon-Kirsch, an organizer from J Street U’s office in New York City, also attended the event.

“I don’t normally come out to events like this, but I really thought it was interesting,” Gordon-Kirsch said. “We had some great discussions, and I hope more people can join this in the future.”

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October 29, 2013 | www.bupipedream.com

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RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis ACROSS 1 Problem for Pauline 6 Ambassador’s asset 10 Multimeter measurement 14 Picasso’s pal 15 Native Nebraskan 16 In a glass by itself 17 Massachusetts music festival 19 Where to hear a lot of grunts?

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22 Shade of blue or gray 23 Bard’s honor 27 Place at a race 30 Made in China, say 31 Become one on the run 32 Put out 34 Nutritional figs.

37 Shade source 38 Creators, and hint to the first three letters of 17-, 23-, 50- and 61-across 41 San Diego-toVegas dir.

42 Poker holding 44 It can follow eleven 45 Ham it up 47 Spicy cuisine 49 Put away 50 Budget flight accommodation 54 Half of the “Monday, Monday” singers 55 Summer mo.

56 King of the road 60 “Yeah, right!”

61 Doofus 64 Word spoken with amore 65 Bad nasal news 66 Champagne grape 67 Cheese chunk 68 Not half-baked?

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2 Online read, for short 3 Best man’s charge 4 Punk rock pioneer 5 Chat room “That’s a riot!”

6 Namely 7 Lagoon border 8 Whisper sweet nothings 9 Rose Kennedy’s youngest 10 Running wild 11 Right this second 12 “The Verdict” screenwriter 13 Newspaper section 18 Squeezed (out) 22 Hindu honorific 24 Fit for drafting 25 Composer Copland 26 Mouse mover 27 Leak slowly 28 Former Connecticut governor Grasso 29 “The Barber of Seville,” e.g.

32 Hard-hearted 33 Sound of surprise

35 Get in on the deal 36 Finch food 39 Coined word?

40 Stage scenery 43 Got credit at the bar 46 Slam-dancing arena 48 “__ Boys”: “Little Men” sequel 49 Palm starch 50 Big pictures

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Mohawk Hall turns haunted for Halloween Katie Kravat | Staff Writer This year, Halloween terror began at College-in-theWoods’ Mohawk Hall. More than 300 students attended the dorm’s first-ever haunted house and left with slight heart palpitations.

Perhaps one of the biggest resident assistant events this campus has ever seen, the Mohawk haunted house took students for a spooky adventure filled with cobwebs, eerie music and, oh yeah, zombies too.

In groups of three to five, students timidly entered. First,

they were greeted by two bloodcovered Dr. Frankenstein characters ready to put their next victim on the slab. Quickly making an escape and running at the sound of evil laughs, they entered a dark, smoky space with an extravagant coffin.

But don’t get too close — the corpse jolts to life.

Live actors from the Dickinson Community Players brought back the undead, dressing up as a man in a shredded suit with a flower sticking out of his mouth and a girl in a white gown and ghostly face makeup. At first they were

unassuming, but once they got up and started following you, things got scary. When you’re being chased by zombies in the dark and the low static buzz of televisions fills your ears, the only thing you want to do is run.

Under the leadership of Mohawk RAs Gabriel Valencia, Lisa Knoph and Traci Rubin, this was one of BU’s most popular Halloween events.

Valencia, a sophomore double-majoring in French and biology, was ecstatic over the turnout.

“I just wanted to have a

big event for Halloween, but I knew I couldn’t do it by myself, so I asked other RAs from Mohawk and CIW. We couldn’t have done this without their help. We had over 300 people,” Valencia said. “It was a really cool collaboration and everyone came — people are in the Halloween spirit!”

Eyliza Morciglio, a junior majoring in neuroscience, was blown away by the Mohawk RAs’ hard work.

“I think this is the most creative and awesome RA event we’ve had, and I’m so glad they’ve utilized the holiday,

which I love. It’s the best idea and it was so well-executed,” Morciglio said. “It had me really scared! But, I’m a coward though.”

Morciglio went in with her group of friends, including Brittnay Crocco, a senior majoring in mathematics.

Crocco agreed that the haunted house definitely delivered the scares.

“All the time and effort that was put into this paid off,” Crocco said. “It was amazing to go in with a group of people because everyone was so excited and scared to see

When you’re being chased by zombies in the dark and the low static buzz of televisions fills your ears, the only thing you want to do is run what it would be like. One of my friends squeezed my hand and held me for dear life! It was really great.”

If you were one of the many who survived Mohawk’s haunted house, you are lucky.

Now, however, you must prepare for the weekend, where you’ll likely see drunk Mileys and Sandra Bullocks in spacesuits everywhere you turn. What could possibly be scarier? Happy Halloween!

The monsters you'll meet Downtown this Halloweekend Beware of the vampires, werewolfs and ghosts taking over. They might be your friends.

Rebecca Porath | Staff Writer Maybe it’s the costumes or maybe it’s the dangerous blend of sugar high and alcohol-fueled low standards, but somehow, college students transform on Halloween. Not simply into drunken messes, but into different creatures altogether. Whether it’s at a pre-game, a house party or the bathroom of JT’s, you’re sure to run into one of these monsters.

Vampire These monsters are one of the hardest to spot, often lurking in a dark corner of the party, searching for their prey. Once vampires spot a subject caught up in shaking her ass and watching herself, they’ll emerge and join her, only to leave unsightly markings on her neck and face. The embarrassing evidence of the skin-sucking will leave clear signs of the attack to the rest of the world for days to come.

To ward them away, rub garlic on your body like a frat boy rubbing his junk up on a freshman. Drink of choice: Bloody Mary.

Frankenstein Frankenstein monsters are past their substance limit and, for the better part of the night, will be weaving their way down Court Street in an almost impressively balletic manner. Except one more

sip of Four Loko and Svedka might tip them past the point of no return, literally. They will be disoriented and are capable of mood swings, from irrationally angry to sad that their parents don’t like them. Drink of choice: none, you’ve had enough.

Werewolf During the daytime, these students seem normal, pleasant and easygoing. But when the moon comes out, they transform. This once-kind individual is now the most obnoxious person you’ll wish you never met. The telltale signs of these monsters are fist-bumping homeless people, jestfully shouting P!nk lyrics but getting way too into it (why do you know all the words to “Raise Your Glass”?), starting fights with strangers and initiating a post-game with themselves when they get home. They’re probably also disturbingly patriotic. Drink of choice: anything.

Mummy On Halloween, everyone puts on a costume and pretends to be something they’re not. Some people’s costume is “happy.” These are the mummies. After one too many Jolly Rancher shots, these monsters will begin to unravel, revealing way too much about their personal lives that they keep pent up by the light of day. Topics range from that weird summer at their family lake house to declaring the

majority of Downtown, Boscov’s mannequins included, as their “best friends.” Drink of choice: Scorpion Bowl.

Ghost Friends become separated during Halloweekend parties.

The ghost is that one friend with

whom you made plans, pregamed and took a cab — only to have him vanish upon arrival at a party, not to be seen until the next morning. When you do reunite, he will have the craziest stories he won’t want you to know about.

Just like you, with that summer at

your lakehouse. Drink of choice: Absinthe.

Zombie After three wild, hilarious and slightly depressing nights of getting decked out to do the same thing you’ve been doing every weekend since freshman year, we will all

inevitably transform into a single archetype of monster: the zombie.

Symptoms of this transformation include sluggishness, paleness and an inability to communicate coherently. Drink of choice: Sodexo coffee.

October 29, 2013 | www.bupipedream.com

RELEASE

13

Boooooooooooooooooooze Get wasted with these themed holiday drinks Rachel Powers | Release Kids are not the only ones who should get treats during Halloween, which is why there are hundreds of Halloweenthemed drinks created for adults to celebrate the holiday too. Whether you’re looking for a spooky shot, creepy cocktail or phantom punch, there’s a Halloween drink for everyone this season.

Vegan Vampire Martini Ingredients: 1/4 cup fresh tomato juice, 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce, 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt, 1/8 teaspoon chili powder, 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (optional), 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional), 1/2 cup regular or jalapeño-flavored vodka, ice, olives (for garnish) Spice up your Halloween festivities with a Vampire Martini that delivers a surprising bite. Pour tomato juice, hot sauce, seasoned salt, chili powder, pepper and garlic powder into a pitcher and stir.

Combine the mixture with vodka in a cocktail shaker, and strain into a martini or other festive glass. You can add olives for a garnish and even clip a pair of vampire fangs to the rim for an added touch.

Though vampires certainly like their rare meat, this tasty drink is completely veganfriendly.

Bloody Brain Shooter Ingredients: 1 1/4 oz. strawberry vodka, 1/8 oz. lime juice, 3/4 oz. Bailey’s Irish Cream, splash of grenadine It wouldn’t be Halloween without blood and brains. The delicious Bloody Brain Shooter

is the perfect Halloween pregame specialty.

Combine chilled vodka and lime juice in a cocktail shaker, and strain into a shot glass. To put Bailey’s into the shot, submerge the straw in the Bailey’s, put your finger on the top and dip the straw into the vodka. Slowly release your finger from the straw and watch the Bailey’s slightly curdle in reaction to the lime juice, making strands that appear brain-like. Repeat this until you have a complete brain floating at the top of the shot glass. Add a splash of grenadine to sweeten this creepy concoction.

Candy Corn Jell-O Shots Ingredients: small package of orange Jell-O (any flavor works), small package of yellow Jell-O (also, any flavor works), can of condensed milk, eight packets of Knox Gelatine, vodka, peach schnapps, water Candy Corn Jell-O shots are a Halloween classic, imitating the colors of the Wunderle Candy Company’s famous candy corn treats. Variations involve coconut, vanilla, pineapple, butterscotch and more, but this is the traditional vodka and peach schnapps recipe. Boil one cup of water in a saucepan, adding two packages of Knox Gelatine in, whisking it until it dissolves.

Taking the pan off the heat, add the yellow Jell-O and one cup of vodka, whisking these together until it’s all dissolved.

Pour the Jell-O/vodka mixture into Dixie cups (1/4 inch in each). Refrigerate and let them sit for 30-60 minutes. For the second layer, follow the same recipe, except add half a cup of peach schnapps and half a

cup of vodka instead of a full cup of vodka. For the third step, boil a cup of water into a saucepan and remove from heat, whisking in two packages of Knox Gelatine. Once the gelatin is dissolved, add and whisk in the condensed milk.

If desired, you may add half a cup of vanilla-flavored liquor during this step. Pour this mixture onto the first layers in Dixie cups, and once again refrigerate and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour. This recipe certainly takes a little longer to make, but the result is worth the wait.

Screaming Witch’s Brew (Beer Punch) Ingredients: 16 cups cinnamon liqueur, 1-3/8 cups pumpkin-flavored beer (or other basic lager of choice), 1 cup orange-flavored whiskey or liqueur (such as Cointreau), 3/4 cup orange juice, 1-1/4 cups dry champagne, 3/4 cup lemon-lime soda, 1 tablespoon apple juice, one 12 oz. can root beer, fresh lemon juice, 1/4 cup grenadine, fresh orange juice (frozen into ice cubes), candy of choice (for garnish), lemon and lime slices (for garnish) Gathering the ingredients is the hardest part of this phantom punch, which makes up to 20 servings. Simply add them all together in a punch bowl, but hold back the the orange juice ice cubes and garnishes until right before your guests arrive.

Do not let Halloween pass without trying one of these devilishly delectable drinks; everyone deserves a treat for the holidays.

Candied Acorns Sweeten your spirits by preparing this wholesome 18-hour snack Dorothy Farrell | Staff Writer Feeling squirrely? If what they say is true, and you are what you eat, then you must be nuts! Acorns are the heart of a delicious, wholesome snack this season.

The distasteful consumer will immediately start munching his or her acorn harvest without further preparation.

To protect themselves, acorns are filled with a bitter chemical called tannin that prevents animals from eating the embryo.

Squirrels will actually eat around the embryo, where there are fewer tannins.

Being human, however, you may want to perform a more

sophisticated operation.

The Native Americans rinsed out tannins by gathering the acorns in baskets, anchoring those in streams and allowing the water to flow through the nuts for a few days. Today, you can shorten this process, but it’ll still take a whopping 18 hours! You may not be able to weave a basket, but God help you if you cannot fill a pot of water and turn the stove on.

Place the acorns in simmering water. After a few hours, the water will turn brown to indicate that some tannins leached out. Change the water. Repeat. Carry out this process until the water remains clear. It’s an all-day affair, but this novelty snack

is worth the commitment.

After boiling the acorns, the shells and caps can be peeled off as easily as slugs on logs. Finally, the acorns will be ready to undergo their holiday seasoning. In a saucepan, melt butter with brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Maple syrup makes an excellent sweet substitute.

In a large bowl, mix the glaze and acorns. Place the mix on a greased pan, and roast in the oven on 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-30 minutes.

Place the acorns on a bed of ferns. Enjoy with good company and a mug of hot, spiced wine!

3 worn out costume ideas

A guide to winning Halloween

You're not as clever as you think you are

How to have the best night of your life

Anna Szilagyi | Contributing Writer As Halloween creeps closer, some of us run straight to the costume store to pick up some fake gore, fangs or an uncomfortably grown-up version of our favorite childhood Disney princess. But what about us broke college kids who can’t afford overpriced apparel from Spirit Halloween?

While it’s cool to get creative through unconventional materials, pop culture references or puns, beware: many “clever” or “quirky” DIY costumes aren’t worth the time to make or to explain why they’re witty. Costumes in these three categories walk a thin line between clever and cringeworthy.

1. The “Punny” Costumes Having a built-in joke for a costume seems like a great idea, right? Instant conversation starter. But let’s be serious: You’re overestimating your sense of humor and your friends’ affinity for wordplay. Pasting boxes of cereal to your torso and holding a fake knife will probably get more glares and raised eyebrows than laughs. And having to say “Get it? I’m a cereal killer!” is going to get old. Then there’s the “One-Night Stand” — not the post-party activity, the costume: a nightstand crafted out of cardboard with some pictures on top for extra oomph, and maybe a lampshade for a hat to top it all off. People will eventually figure

out what you’re going for, but by then, your costume may be so un-funny that bystanders wish the blood was real. And yours.

2. The ABC Party Costumes Using eccentric supplies to make your costume, or wearing “Anything But Clothes,” should be applauded when executed successfully. But these costumes are also easy to take too far. Candy is obviously easy to acquire during Halloween season, and some even choose to use it as part of their costumes.

Don some all black clothes, slap a few Starbursts and Hershey bars all over you and voilà!

You’re the floor of a movie theater.

Your costume will need so many explanations that, by the end of the night, your friends will strip you of your coveted candy and your confidence.

Another candy-centered costume, the “Candy Rapper,” is a blend of the punny and the unconventional materials costumes. A combination of Skittle-studded sunglasses, a snapback and a candy necklace chain completes this costume.

There are few redeemable qualities to this one besides the fact that you’ll always have a snack on you. Competing with the already-overdone “Eminems”

is also an issue.

3. The Pop Culture Costumes If you’re really desperate for an idea, you might personify everyone’s favorite social media outlet: Facebook. All you need are blue clothes and a Sharpie to write “Book” on your face. This might have been clever in 2005, but at this point, we’ve all seen it on someone, had that “Ha, I see what you did there” moment and moved on.

Another cheap pop culture costume is “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

It doesn’t involve any handcuffs, leather or whips (unless you’re into that sort of thing). All it takes is painting yourself with every gray paint shade Walmart has. People might understand the concept, but let’s put the series to rest, at least before the impending movie. Also, please, don’t be Miley Cyrus. You can stop.

As tempting as it is to resort to tired costumes because of their low price, many of the common ones have been done in years past. The key with DIY is originality. By all means, use bizarre materials, pop culture references and maybe even a pun. But come on, try harder.

Costumes in these three categories walk a thin line between clever and cringe-worthy

Liam O’Malley and Mike Amory | Contributing Writers

pursuit as it is. You spend hours going from house to house, searching for your favorite treats, only to get It’s time to face the facts: things like bags of pretzels.

Every Halloween you’ve had up Nobody wants pretzels. In until now was garbage. It’s not fact, the only people who want your fault, though, you just pretzels are the people who didn’t know how to celebrate give out pretzels, and they the right way. Until now, that aren’t people. They’re the is. Now that you don’t have true monsters of Halloween mommy and daddy to keep you who press on with their vile “safe,” it’s time to finally see crusade. They don’t care if what razor candy is all about. an 8-year-old Power Ranger So to help you reach your full threatens to egg their house. potential, here are some tips on Only through buying your how to have a great Halloween. own candy can you escape that 1. Choose your own candy terror, and the terror of facing Despite what many may say, the fact that you’re old. legally you’re considered an 2. Have an impressive adult. So now that trick-orcostume treating has started to make you Sure, you can dress up as a seem more creepy than cute, cat or a nerd, but life is about it’s important to remember taking chances. You want your that candy is costume to stand something you out and inspire can just buy. Of others.

You might get course, some you are a into a frat party guy,If feel people will free to say that “just for free because cross-dress. You buying it” isn’t the guy at the might get into a in the spirit of frat party for free Halloween, but door is too because the guy those people drunk to know at the door is too don’t have an drunk to know what a woman entire chocolate what a woman is is supposed to bust of Lou Reed. supposed to look Trick-orlike. look like. treating is a A n o t h e r disappointing idea is to take a

traditional concept and put a spin on it. Everyone has dressed up like the Joker, but have you ever seen anyone dress up as little-known Batman villain Crazy Quilt? People will have all sorts of questions for you, and you will be the talk of the party as you stumble around trying to smother any Batmans you see with your crazy quilt.

3. Find the right party Refuse invitations to any party that doesn’t promise to play “Monster Mash.” The family of the guy who wrote “Monster Mash” has to survive on the royalty checks he gets from this song being played a billion times in one day. It will be on your soul if they go hungry because you think you’re too cool for the song.

You are not.

Try to find the party with the coolest decorations. It’s not a real Halloween party unless you’re genuinely worried the person hosting it might be a serial killer. Maybe going to an abandoned house full of bloodstains and a single girl’s shoe seems like a bad idea, but that really adds to the atmosphere of the room.

People will be much more eager to dance with you if they feel like they might actually die.

October 29, 2013 | www.bupipedream.com

RELEASE

14

BU students laugh with mom, dad and Demetri Martin Stand-up comedian and note pad extraordinaire jokes about his cancelled show, doubts bearcats exist Jacob Shamsian | Assistant Release Editor Looking for someone not laughing at Demetri Martin’s Family Weekend show was, like “looking for a snail’s asshole,” hard to find.

Martin’s Saturday night stand-up comedy show comes on the heels of his spring “Point Your Face at This” tour, which promoted his recent picture book of the same name. During Martin’s one-hour set, he showed a few drawings and graphs on his iconic large pad. The illustrations included a proposed new logo for MTV — a steaming turd — and a bar graph with two bars of even height, depicting humans and praying mantises as “things that pray.”

Martin, casually wearing jeans and a black sweatshirt, poked fun at Binghamton University during his set. He pointed out the absence of banners in the Events Center and questioned the veracity of the school mascot.

“I asked one of the ladies who works at your events staff what your mascot is,” Martin said. “She said, ‘It’s a bearcat, they exist.’”

The show sold about 2,000 tickets. Martin said he was surprised that so many family members spent money on a college show.

“Haven’t you guys spent enough already?” he said.

The show began when Martin, from behind the stage, introduced his opening act, Levi MacDougall, who performed for a half hour.

“We just wanted to show you what happens when you’re not raised by a family,” MacDougall said. “You become comics.”

MacDougall, who frequently

Tycho McManus/ Contributing Photographer

joked about his Canadian origins (“I grew up in Celsius air”), wrote for Martin’s former Comedy Central show, “Important Things with Demetri Martin.”

Throughout Martin’s set, he intermittently asked for and answered questions from the crowd. He told an audience member that he wanted “Important Things” to be canceled.

“To be honest, what I want to do is tour around in shitty rental cars and go to different colleges,” Martin said.

Toward the end of the show, Martin brought MacDougall back onstage and performed a bit with him. They had conversations that exemplified potentially useful phrases for conversation, like “a snail’s asshole,” “dusting a bowling ball” (appreciated but unnecessary), “all tweets” (all flash and no substance) and “the cat’s lingerie” (even better than the cat’s pajamas).

Martin mentioned that he was a history major at Yale

University and that Halloween was his favorite holiday.

“You don’t have to celebrate that one with your family,” Martin said.

Mariana Moriello, vice president of programming for the Student Association, brought Martin for Family Weekend because he isn’t as raunchy as other comedians, like Lewis Black, who came for Family Weekend last year.

“I’m glad it was good for all ages,” said Moriello, a senior majoring in psychology.

In addition to his pad, Martin deviated from the traditional monologue style of stand-up by simultaneously playing a harmonica and a guitar. And between harmonica notes, he threw in one-liners about his own life.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m being watched, and then I remember that my show got canceled three years ago,” he said.

4th time's the charm for Arcade Fire on new album 'Reflektor' Montreal-based band satisfies fans and defies the odds on their impressive 4th album Katie Dowd | Contributing Writer In 2011, a Montreal-based band called Arcade Fire sent shockwaves through the music industry when they won the Grammy for album of the year.

Now, with the whole world listening, they make their boldest statement yet. It’s the most anticipated album of the year and maybe the most important. It’s Arcade Fire’s “Reflektor.”

“Reflektor” begins with the instantly classic title track that ignites the album’s explosive first half. From the “Bille Jean”inspired “We Exist” to the Gary Glitter glam of “Joan of Arc,” these are the band’s most straightforward, arena-ready tracks yet. Musically, “Reflektor” is more dance-y, more worldly and more fun than anything they’ve released before.

Each song is more imaginative and lavish than the next. “Normal Person” and the Haitian-themed “Here Comes The Night Time” come back to back and are two of the band’s best songs to date.

This is Arcade Fire’s biggest album at 85+ minutes and it’s also

their biggest thematically, posing pretty deep questions about morality and God. “Reflektor” is not as consistent as “Funeral” and doesn’t reach the towering heights of “Sprawl II” or the title track on “The Suburbs.” The band also tends to lazily repeat the same phrase over and over and call it a chorus. See “Here Comes the Night Time,” “You Already Know” and “Afterlife.” It may be too long, and Side B may be meandering at times, but Arcade Fire doesn’t care and neither do we. It’s that good.

“Reflektor” is one of the best albums of the year, along with “The 20/20 Experience,” “Modern Vampires of the City,” “Random Access Memories” and “Yeezus.”

With all five, you have an already established group reminding us why we listened in the first place.

These are all artists at the top, topping themselves.

In the same way that Kanye answered “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” with “Yeezus,” Arcade Fire’s answer is “Reflektor.” Both albums are polarizing and hard to get through, but neither Kanye nor Win and Chassagne care about

what the fans think as much as making the music they want and need to make. This is an already universally acclaimed band faced with the challenge of staying true to their sound while reinventing it. This is their answer to their towering achievements, and even if “Reflektor” isn’t as good as “The Suburbs,” it’s definitely bigger. Arcade Fire isn’t telling us they’re back and better than ever.

They’re telling us they never left and they’re never going to.

With “Reflektor,” James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is establishing himself as a serious, maybe even Eno-level producer, and these beloved Montreal indie darlings are strongly stating their place as the best rock band of the last decade. These guys have come a long way from “Where the Wild Things Are.” Arcade Fire is our generation’s rock band, not just for vinyl owners and people with beards, but for everyone.

Grade: A Standout Tracks: “Here Comes The Night Time,” “Normal Person,” “Reflektor,” “Awful Sound”

OPINION Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Address: University Union WB03 4400 Vestal Parkway E. Binghamton, N.Y. 13902 Phone: 607-777-2515 Fax: 607-777-2600 Web: www.bupipedream.com

Fall 2013

3rd Term's a Charm

Editor-in-Chief* Christina Pullano editor@bupipedream.com Managing Editor* Paige Nazinitsky manager@bupipedream.com

News Editor* Rachel Bluth news@bupipedream.com Asst. News Editors Davina Bhandari Nicolas Vega Geoff Wilson Opinion Editor* Michael Snow opinion@bupipedream.com Release Editor* Darian Lusk release@bupipedream.com Asst. release editor Jacob Shamsian Sports Editor* Ari Kramer sports@bupipedream.com Asst. Sports Editors Erik Bacharach Ashley Purdy Fun Page Editor* Kris Casey fun@bupipedream.com

W

e wanted to endorse one of the candidates running for Binghamton mayor next week. We couldn’t. Here’s why.

Teri Rennia, the Democratic candidate, is running a high school campaign, without the promises of free soda in the water fountains and field trips every Friday. She includes motherhood as relevant experience, and her platforms for what she’d like to see in Binghamton are non-existent.

Her proposals are padded with vague visions of economic development and cleaner streets with no concrete plans for action. Although she cited the importance of Binghamton University students in the Binghamton community, when Pipe Dream questioned her about whether the election results will impact BU students, particularly those who live off campus, she acknowledged that she was “Not really sure.”

At the same time, we aren’t crazy about Rich David’s campaign. We worry that David will put the wants of business owners over the needs of citizens by putting business owners on committees regarding zoning, potentially giving them undue influence in city government. While we agree that

a grocery store would do much good on the North side of Binghamton, David’s mention of “one stop shopping” conjures images of big chain stores.

The last thing Downtown needs is a Walmart; we need small, locally owned groceries peppered through residential areas that make the city more walkable.

It’s not difficult to find issues over which the candidates’ visions diverge. One issue we’ve focused on in particular is crime. David has proposed gradually increasing the city of Binghamton’s police force by 20 officers. Rennia, in contrast, has raised doubts about the efficacy of hiring additional officers, proposing instead greater collaboration with extant community watch groups.

For students who live Downtown, additional police officers could not come at a better time.

The city has seen a 30 percent increase in crime over the last year, and we would feel safer and more comfortable with more police, not

ambiguous “community groups.”

Uncomfortable endorsing either candidate, we look to current Mayor Matt Ryan’s eight years of leadership. We like Ryan. He is openly antifracking, present in the community and has saved the city millions of dollars by balancing the budget. Some of his critics have argued that Ryan has become complacent in recent months.

Another term would cure this senioritis perfectly.

Binghamton currently has a two-term limit for mayor. But how fixed is that? In October of 2008 Michael Bloomberg persuaded the New York City Council to extend the term limit for the position of New York City mayor. In 2009, Bloomberg took over for his third term.

While we aren’t exactly planning on protesting outside Binghamton Town Hall, we wouldn’t be upset with a third term for Mayor Matt Ryan.

We’re proud of the work he’s done, and proud to call him a fellow Bearcat.

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Views expressed in the opinion pages represent the opinions of the columnists.

The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial, above. The Editorial Board is composed of the Editor-in-Chief, News Editor, Opinion Editor, Sports Editor, and Release Editor.

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Family Weekend brings homemade food and stress Does the University misrepresent itself for visiting parents?

I love you — but I love you more from 200 miles away.

Family Weekend brings with it a mix of emotions Rebecca Klar for students Contributing and families Columnist alike. Although it’s filled with happiness and excitement, an enormous amount of stress tags along.

As a freshman in college, these past two months have brought the most freedom I’ve ever experienced. And I’ve loved every second of it. It’s amazing not being told where to be and when, not reporting who I’m with or when I get there. However, I do miss my family. But is Family Weekend really the best way to go about fixing that?

One weekend where a bulk of students’ parents come to visit. All in one single weekend. And of course, all have the same plan. Target and

Walmart are both overflowing with eager students who now have their parents to pay for their boxes of Cup Noodles and Easy Mac. Every restaurant has an hour-long wait. The typically relatively empty bookstore is jam-packed with families buying Binghamton University merchandise.

All the crowds and chaos make this reunion more stressful than it has to be. Not to mention the fact that it’s in the middle of midterm testing madness, which adds on additional torture.

My typical weekend plan is eat, sleep, repeat.

Instead, over Family Weekend I awoke at the horrifyingly early hour of 9 a.m., which quite frankly should just be illegal on a Saturday.

This was followed by bickering about where to eat and when to go, as well as stressing about parking spots and

directions. Oh, right, and a bit of the usual stress about what courses I’m taking and if I’m on track. And of course, my favorite question: What is it exactly I’m planning to do when I graduate?

When it comes down to it, what really is the purpose of Family Weekend? I don’t believe the intention is to give every student a heart attack from the verbal assault of their parents.

Is it to have parents come up and clear out the snack aisles of Walmart and Target?

To actually encourage a reunion to take place?

Or to advertise all the great activities the University offers?

I personally noticed the University making a particular effort to push activities and show off campus resources this weekend. Even small touches were

When it comes down to it, what really is the purpose of Family Weekend?

made to show off the University in a better light. While giving my mom a mini tour of the College-in-the-Woods Dining Hall, I noticed the dessert table — usually covered in crumbs and a haphazard pile of broken cookies — displayed trays of neatly organized, not broken, assorted baked goods. There was also a jam-packed schedule of different lectures and tours of all the University has to offer. Is the purpose to urge parents to visit for a reunion with their children or rather to put a spotlight on the University for the people who are paying tuition?

Whatever purpose the University has for Family Weekend, the outcome is a stressful weekend for students.

Although I’m grateful and glad my parents made the four-hour trek to see me, I’m exhausted. However, I’m admittedly still counting down the days until Thanksgiving when I see my crazy family again.

— Rebecca Klar is a freshman majoring in English.

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www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

OPINION

16

Redefine success; live a happier life Prioritize personal happiness over wealth and income When I was in preschool and was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was “a butterfly catcher.” Why? Julianne Cuba Simply because Columnist my best friend at the time wanted to be a veterinarian, and I wanted to be independent and choose my own job, but one that still had to do with animals, or at least, insects.

If only choosing a profession was still that easy, and if only a butterfly catcher was a respected and lucrative profession.

Now, as a senior in college, that question haunts me more than anything.

And I am definitely not speaking just for myself on this one.

From the day we enter college, even before, we are put on the path to what we will be doing for the rest of our lives.

Those in the Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science are destined to become engineers, in the School of Management, accountants and in the Decker School of Nursing, nurses.

For the majority of us that are in Harpur College, our career paths are not as clear-cut. People often criticize English majors, history majors and human development majors because their courses are not as rigorous and their professional opportunities are limited.

But why does everything we do have to be for the sake of getting a job?

Can we not learn for the pure love of learning anymore? Have we become so blindsided by corporate America that studying the works of Shakespeare, Hemingway and Twain are no longer important? And have we become so caught up in the need for wealth and empowerment that those who have a passion for history should change their area of study because that track will not land them a job behind a large desk in a private office overlooking Manhattan?

Today, success is consistently defined by money, power and where we stand in the socioeconomic hierarchy that charts America.

But what if we defined success by our happiness? What if instead of basing our human contribution to this world on the number of zeros on our paycheck, we made sure we felt happy, fulfilled and proud at the end of each and every workday?

On June 6, 2013, Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, and Mika Brzezinski, journalist and co-host on MSNBC, hosted a conference called “The Third Metric: Redefining Success Beyond Money and Power.”

At their conference, Huffington and Brzezinski discussed “redefining success to include well-being, wisdom, wonder, compassion and giving” instead of the “current model … which equates

success with burnout, sleep deprivation, and driving ourselves into the ground.”

The two journalists’ conference back in June is now the basis for a new continually published section of The Huffington Post, titled “The Third Metric.” In one of The Third Metric’s pieces from Oct. 24, Jeanette Lewis, the former CEO of a number of multimillion dollar not-for-profit companies, wrote about realizing that her work in the corporate world was not satisfying her anymore. Lewis told The Huffington Post, “I sat in my office one night about eight o’clock and thought about the rest of my life, and I knew there were many things I wanted to do that I couldn’t do if I continued in the corporate world.”

Lewis wanted more than just the title of CEO and the grandiose lifestyle that came with it. She wanted to explore the world and find something for herself that made her truly happy.

As we embark on our first postgraduation jobs, I hope that our generation is able to find success measured not just by money and power, but also by happiness, wisdom, wonder and compassion.

As a senior in college, that question haunts me more than anything

— Julianne Cuba is a senior doublemajoring in history and Chinese.

Beware of ignoble, deceptive charities Kids Wish Network only bestows 3% of donations to kids with cancer This October, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness M ont h, t he NFL has been selling pink m e r c h a n d ise Madison Ball to help fund Columnist breast cancer research.

A noble act, or so the NFL would want us to believe.

Recently there’s been a cloud of suspicion over them, with people questioning just how much of the money raised was actually going to breast cancer research.

Business Insider has reported that a shocking 8.01 percent of pink gear is actually donated to cancer research, with 37.5 percent going to the manufacturer, 3.24 percent going to the administration at the American Cancer Society, 1.25 percent going to the NFL and 50 percent going to the retailer. Sadly, the NFL isn’t nearly the most guilty perpetrator.

The “Think Pink” movement was originally started in a time when many people doubted that breast cancer was even a real disease. Its aims involved generating public awareness and fighting for research, funding and support, until the Susan G. Komen organization realized the pink ribbon brand’s economic potential. Since then it has turned into a mere trendy symbol of support manifested by various companies as a marketing tool for increasing profits. Now groups like Breast Cancer Action are fighting not only for victims of the disease, but also to end the corporate exploitation of those patients. As displayed on Breast Cancer Action’s website, research by Cone Communications, a Boston consulting firm, found that 79 percent of consumers would be likely to switch to a brand that supports a good cause with all other things remaining equal. It’s not surprising, then, that raising prices in the name of cancer would be a rampant and successful plight of corporations.

Ironically and even worse, some of the companies who are allegedly “working for a cure” are actually selling products that contain the chemicals known for increasing the risk of the disease. According to Breast Cancer Action’s site, Procter

& Gamble, Cleaning for a Reason and Walmart are collaborating in the promotion of limited edition pink Swiffer products, which are likely to contain phthalates, synthetic musk and petroleum products, all of which have been linked to cancer. Procter & Gamble is also giving away a free pancake breakfast with any $30-ormore purchase of cleaning products such as Tide, Downy, Gain, Febreze and Cascade. The list of pink-washing corporations using breast cancerlinked chemicals goes on and on, including Ford, Yoplait, KFC and even Susan G. Komen.

This past summer, CNN reported that Kids Wish Network is one of America’s worst charities. Each year, the foundation raises millions in the name of dying children and donates only 3 cents of every dollar to helping kids. Over the past decade, Kids Wish Network funneled $110 million in donations to the foundation’s corporate solicitors, with an additional $4.8 million going to the charity’s founder and his consulting firms. Collectively, America’s worst charities devote less than 4 percent to actual aid and have paid solicitors nearly $1 billion over the past 10 years.

The bottom line is, as consumers and benefactors, we have to do our research. The finding that 79 percent of consumers are likely to switch to a brand that supports a good cause could be used to profit the already rich; this is unfortunate. However, it’s great that in general, Americans are willing to pay a couple extra dollars when they believe those dollars will be used to help someone in need. If we are going to make charitybased decisions, we have to learn how to distinguish between good and bad charities — between charities like Habitat for Humanity or the Boys and Girls Club, which are truly dedicated to helping those in need, and charities like the Kids Wish Network and Susan G. Komen, which exploit both consumers and the needy. S o d o y o u r research or just donate directly, not through the purchase of a can of Coca-Cola, to ensure that your extra couple dollars aren’t going into the already fat wallets of profiteers.

The bottom line is ... we have to do our research

— Madison Ball is a junior majoring in political science.

Time to switch channels: media mayhem divides and misleads us Where you get your news affects how well informed you are and how you view the world Our country’s biggest threat isn’t al-Qaida.

Nor is it political g r i d l o c k , China or the outsourcing of our industrial base to Ryan Tierney the developing Contributing world. America’s Columnist biggest threat comes from within: Look no further than our media. Specifically, the 24-hour cable news channels — MSNBC, Fox News and CNN — but they certainly are not alone. All of the blame can’t simply be placed on the outlets; in capitalism, there is always a consumer along with the producer. And as long as we keep consuming, you can bet they will keep producing.

As Mark Twain put it, “If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed.

If you read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. The lines between opinion and news have become so blurred, you can hardly differentiate between the two anymore. “The Sean Hannity

Show” and “The O’Reilly Factor” have consistently received the highest ratings on Fox, as well as for “news” in general. On MSNBC, the most-watched programs are “Hardball with Chris Matthews” and “The Rachel Maddow Show.” None of these four programs are nightly news — they are talk shows.

And if you take the time to watch any of these programs, you’ll find that the ongoing narrative isn’t as much about their liberal or conservative ideologies, but about their respective parties being right.

Turn on MSNBC any time of day, and I can almost guarantee that someone, whether it’s Al Sharpton or Ed Schultz, will be praising President Barack Obama or Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Turn on Fox News, and you’ll get just the opposite. The media’s job is to question our leaders and challenge them to be better. Our media is failing us. There are no fair evaluations anymore, it seems.

And the numbers don’t lie: A Fairleigh Dickinson University study from 2011 asked viewers of several media outlets basic right or wrong questions about current international

Watch out for

events, such as, “Have the opposition groups protesting in Egypt been successful in bringing down the regime there?” Fox News viewers were the most misinformed, although viewers of MSNBC and CNN didn’t do much better.

Those who watched Sunday morning programming scored significantly better, and NPR listeners did the best.

Surprisingly, the runnerup to NPR was “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”

When asked whether the Occupy Wall Street protesters were mostly Democrats or Republicans, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC fared the worst, in that order (the answer was Democrats). I’m not going to tell you what to do, but if you want to be among the most informed Americans, I would suggest tuning in to NPR to keep up with current events or watching a Sunday morning news program. If you want to hear the political party you identify with receive lavish praise, I would suggest sticking

with Fox or MSNBC. Another remarkable aspect of our media, and our political landscape as a whole, is how perfectly divided we are.

Fox News is known as the only cable news provider with a right-wing bias.

When you add the ratings of all those outlets with a left-wing bias, such as MSNBC, CNN, HLN and CNBC, you find their viewership is about the same as Fox’s.

Our politicians want us to be divided, as to keep us distracted from many of the real issues, like our government’s dark secrets. For example, I don’t think most Americans would condone Verizon, Sprint and AT&T donating massive amounts of money to politicians in return for legislation granting legal immunity regarding the National Security Agency and government surveillance.

But apparently this is something Democrats

America's biggest threat comes from within: Look no further than our media

and Republicans can reach a bipartisan agreement on, while we keep having the same debates about gun control.

Though politicians receive more power from enabling such a division, the media is there to profit from it. My advice? Stop buying into their game.

Seek better media sources, and question everything you are told. Recognize that many of the decisions on Capitol Hill are made so congressmen can keep their lifelong jobs, not for the benefit of you or me. It’s not unheard of for politicians to retain their House seat until they are elderly and in a wheelchair. We should work to change what we agree on while continuing to have respectful discourse on what we disagree on. I truly believe there is good in almost all men and women. What brings us together as Americans, and as human beings, will always be more important than what tears us apart. But the old cliché holds true: United we stand, divided we fall.

It seems we’ve been leaning toward the latter lately.

— Ryan Tierney is a senior majoring in accounting.

Coming to a news stand near you Thursday for Halloween

SPORTS

18

www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

Bearcats fall to Vermont, back into AE tourney UMBC defeats New Hampshire to grant Binghamton final postseason berth Erik Bacharach Assistant Sports Editor

It wasn’t pretty, but the Binghamton women’s soccer team clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the regular season.

Despite losing to Vermont, 2-1, in double overtime Sunday afternoon at the Bearcats Sports Complex, Binghamton used a comeback win by UMBC over New Hampshire to snatch the sixth seed and final berth to the America East tournament.

While the Bearcats (8-7-2, 3-41 America East) entered Senior Day needing a win, tie or New Hampshire loss to clinch a playoff spot, the Catamounts (6-8-3, 3-32 AE) couldn’t settle for anything less than a victory to extend their season.

With just 2:35 left in the second overtime, Vermont’s prayers were answered when freshman midfielder Caitie Green launched a shot from outside the box that got past Binghamton senior keeper Stephanie Speirs and bounced toward the far post.

Vermont freshman forward Nikki McFarland got to the deflection first and put the waist-high loose ball into the back of the net to propel the Catamounts into the postseason.

“We knew going into overtime that we had already clinched,” BU head coach Sarah McClellan said.

“Obviously, we’re really excited to be in the playoffs. That’s where we wanted to be. That was the

goal. But I think the whole team is pretty irritated about that last play and having outplayed a team and outshot them. We know we can still do better and, thankfully, we have the playoffs to do that now.”

With their backs against the wall, the Catamounts struck first. In the 14th minute, junior forward Bre Pletnick took a feed into the middle, spun and chipped the ball from 20 yards out, floating it into the top left portion of the goal.

The Bearcats nearly retaliated with 11 minutes left in the first half when junior back Connie Gormley secured a rebound off a corner kick and fired a shot that rang off the crossbar.

But Binghamton wouldn’t head into the locker room empty-handed as a couple of underclassmen paired up just four minutes later to put BU on the board. Sophomore back Genevieve Crescenzo drew two defenders on the right side before dishing the ball to freshman forward Michele Galvin from eight yards out. Galvin found the far corner of the net for her third goal of the season.

Both teams were held scoreless in the second half and first overtime before Vermont delivered the game-winner with fewer than three minutes left in the second overtime.

“We’ve got [Vermont] over there celebrating that they’re in the playoffs, and our players are crying,” McClellan said. “And

we’re in the playoffs, but our team is pretty unhappy about losing. And I think that’s going to provide a lot of motivation and grit to make a statement in playoffs.”

BU doubled up on Vermont in shots, 16-8, and also held an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks.

In net, junior Gaby Gold started and finished the first half.

Senior Carrie Martin played the first 22 minutes of the second half, and Speirs replaced Martin and finished the game.

In their final home game, seniors Liz Cusato, Emma Kurth, Carrie Martin, Kaitlyn Martin, Stephanie Speirs and Sophie Sylla were honored before the opening whistle.

On Thursday, the Bearcats will head to Orono to battle thirdseeded Maine in a quarterfinal matchup.

While a win in their season finale would have given the Bearcats some added confidence heading into the playoffs, a loss, according to McClellan, will light a similar fire.

“I think you’re going to see a lot more urgency from our team,” McClellan said. “We’ve been wanting to be in a playoff game and saving a little bit for playoffs, so I think you’re going to see a lot of work rate out there, a lot of heart. And I feel very good about our team playing any team in the conference headed into playoffs.”

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Franz Lino/Staff Photographer Alumni Field.

Freshman forward Michele Galvin found the back of the net for her third goal of the season in Binghamton’s 2-1 overtime loss to Vermont on Sunday.

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SPORTS

www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

17

'Tradition starts now' for men's soccer players and BU Zoo Bearcats and students meet for first time as relationship evolves into more than fan to player Erik Bacharach and Ashley Purdy Assistant News Editors Whether it was the acoustics of the room or simply the pizzainspired energy, the mix of men’s soccer players and the BU Zoo didn’t share a quiet moment on Monday night.

The meeting marked the first between fans and athletes, but the T-shirts exchanged promised it wouldn’t be the last. “Tradition starts now” served as the night’s motto, and the group followed up with promises of mixers and more pizza.

“This is the first time we met, hopefully the next time will be better,” said Brenda Gorelik, the Zoo secretary and a junior majoring in financial economics. “This is just the beginning.”

The idea for the meeting came together after a season of merged efforts between the Zoo and another student group, the Hooligans. While the Zoo has traditionally stuck to basketball games, the group collaborated with the Hooligans this season to bolster the support and excitement at soccer games.

The Zoo’s establishment at Binghamton University and the Hooligans’ experience in the stands has created a unique relationship. Ben Sachs, Zoo co-president and a sophomore majoring in accounting, can be held responsible for it.

“The Hooligans, through [my suitemate], met with me and we

established a relationship where the Zoo right now has the SA charter and the budget and a lot of recognition with the school … and the Hooligans have all the experience,” he said. “So we figured both were able to help each other in different ways.”

“I see this being something special, with the Zoo and the Hooligans trying to form more than an alliance,” Binghamton men’s soccer head coach Paul Marco said. “We just need one group. And I’d like to see [our student-fan population] get to 800 strong again.”

Despite the meeting being the first of its kind, jersey numbers were connected with faces and names with voices in a seamless manner.

“It’s nice to meet the people that we cheer for,” Gorelik said.

“So now we know next time to look out for them.”

“And we can look out for you!” freshman goalkeeper Robert Moewes added.

It’ll be a change, adding a new connection that transcends simply cheering for names read off the roster.

“One of the things that I wanted to do was be able to have the soccer players, who are athletes and completely lead a different life from the students, meet the students who are cheering for them,” he said. “To establish that relationship where you actually feel that emotional connection for the players that you’re cheering for … Whether it’s on the field or in school,

Franz Lino/Staff Photographer

Players from the Binghamton men’s soccer team met with members of the BU Zoo to thank them for their support this season.

we’re all there to support each other. And that’s what the Zoo’s all about, is unity overall.”

In a season riddled with injuries and hard-fought losses, the team’s spirit has never faltered. According to senior back Robbie Hughes, the 12th man has been as big as anything for the Bearcats in 2013.

“We absolutely love the BU Zoo and the Hooligans, and the

collaboration of both groups has been amazing this year,” Hughes said. “Especially in the overtime fixtures, when they start making a lot of noise, they give you your legs back.”

Both groups were eager to go beyond the formalities of exchanging T-shirts and thankyous, forging relationships deeper than fan and player.

“It’s nice because now they’re

not just our fans in the stands, they’re kind of like our friends and it’s always nice to see a friendly face in the crowd to help your nerves, and it helps you play better,” Hughes said.

And the Zoo and Hooligans derived their own benefit as well, able to engage the players about what works and what doesn’t.

“We were able to ask them which cheers they like the most,

which is good for us for future references,” Gorelik said.

With the meeting wrapping to a close and all the attendees bearing T-shirts as tokens of their night, the Bearcats, both the athletes and the students, looked to the future: Would they eat pizza, Moe’s Southwest Grill or Chipotle during their next meeting?

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SPORTS

www.bupipedream.com | October 29, 2013

19

Holding Their Own UMBC carried a No. 7 ranking into the Bearcats Sports Complex on Saturday. But with a stout defensive effort, the Binghamton men’s soccer team tied the Retrievers (12-1-2, 3-0-2 America East), 0-0, in double overtime to all but guarantee a drop in its foe’s standing in the NSCAA Coaches Poll.

Saturday night marked the fifth game BU has played against a top-10 opponent, but this match was the first in which the Bearcats came away with at least one point. The Bearcats (3-8-5, 1-1-3 AE) put on a stellar display in the process, with sophomore keeper Stefano Frantellizzi and the BU defense flushing out the energetic Retrievers.

“I thought that our entire back four was outstanding tonight,” BU head coach Paul Marco said. “We played against an unbelievable opponent. Everyone could see how fast they were and clever with the ball. I think that there’s two or three attacking players on the UMBC team that are probably top in the country. Petey [Caringi] … he’s unbelievable. I really enjoy watching him play.”

For the full recap of Saturday night’s game, visit bupipedream.com/sports.

BU

against top 10 teams 10/26/13

Binghamton Franz Lino/Staff Photographer

“[Saturday] was a lot of fun. I enjoy the pressure of having to play a top team like UMBC” — Stefano Frantellizzi BU sophomore goalkeeper

No. 7 UMBC

9/10/12 Binghamton No. 7 Ohio St.

0 1

9/30/08 Binghamton No. 4 Maryland

0 1

8/27/06 Binghamton No. 1 Maryland

0 3

11/19/03 Binghamton No. 7 St. Louis

0 1

SPORTS

MEN'S SOCCER

Players meet and greet BU Zoo Page 17

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

FRAN-TASTIC

Behind stout defense and Frantellizzi's sixth shutout, BU ties No. 7 UMBC

See Page 19

Kendall Loh/Photo Editor