Monday, August 31, 2015 | Vol. LXXXVIII, Issue 1 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
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BEGIN BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY 2015-2016
Franz Lino and Emily Earl/Photography Editors Featured above: New students arrive on campus on August 27, and returning students on August 28. The 22nd Annual University Fest is held on the Peace Quad from 11-4 p.m. on Saturday, August 29. Student clubs and organizations table, welcome potential new members and give away freebies. Local vendors mix with carnival rides and music from local bands, and members of the surrounding community come enjoy the festivities. On Sunday, students head for the Recreation Center at the East Gym for Rec Fest. The new turf field is unveiled, and many climb the rock wall and play disk golf whilst learning about the club sports offered at the University.
For part-time jobs, students turn to campus employers On-campus parking to From Sodexo to Residential Life, hundreds of students take advantage of opportunities to earn cash see color-coded changes Brendan Zarkower Pipe Dream News
Every year, students return to campus with spending money from summer jobs. But, as that money dries out, many look to part-time jobs on campus as their source for cash. The competition for jobs on campus is stiff according to Brandy Smith, an assistant director at the Fleishman Center. Some positions get so many applications that listings get taken down early. But Smith said there are opportunities available in a variety of places, from working as a receptionist to serving up food at on-campus dining facilities. Smith said that improvements were made to the University’s online employment site
hireBING last year, which allows students to find part-time jobs that they can hold while enrolled in the University. “We created a quick link within hireBING that takes students directly to the oncampus employment listings in the system,” Smith explained. However, she stressed that hireBING should not be the only way students look for jobs. “In addition to searching for job postings in hireBING, we regularly suggest students approach offices and departments that are of interest to inquire whether there might be opportunities,” Smith said. “It is important for students to use their network of friends, faculty and staff in their academic departments and other campus departments to find out
about on-campus employment opportunities.” Many of these organizations which offer employment, including Sodexo, have their own application processes. Sodexo employs between 400 and 500 students during the academic year according to Jim Ruoff, the resident district manager at Sodexo. “We usually consider ourselves the biggest employer on campus, but technically if you count all those RAs, student affairs has us beat,” Ruoff said. When free room and board is factored in, the job of resident assistant (RA) is one of the top-paying jobs on campus for undergraduates, and one of the most competitive,
It is important for students to use their network ... to find out about on-campus employment Brandy Smith Assistant Director at Fleischman Center
See JOB Page 4
To make parking easier, Swoosh! app fast-tracks paying for meters in designated commuter lots Zachary Wingate Pipe Dream News
Binghamton University’s parking services plans to simplify on-campus parking by rolling out new parking lot designations and payment methods. According to Susan Crane, the director of parking services, lots will be color coordinated. Lots for residents are now designated in yellow and lots for commuters are marked with green. All residential lots will have a letter ‘R,’ both on the sign and painted on the pavement at the entrance. Since residential students most often park on campus overnight, these yellow residential lots are open 24
hours a day and seven days a week. However, anyone with a parking pass may use these lots and commuters who plan to be on campus overnight should be sure to park in them. “We’re trying to make it simpler for all,” Crane said. “It’s either a green lot or a yellow lot.”” The green commuter parking lots are for all non-residents, including off-campus students, faculty and staff. Residents are not permitted to park in these lots. The green commuter parking lots must be evacuated every night from midnight until 5 a.m. According to Crane, parking
See PARK Page 2
Breaks added to '16-'17 academic calendar LUMA projection arts festival to paint the town Reading period, earlier move-in day implemented to help reduce stress
Alumni turn Downtown architecture into digital canvases on September 4
Gabriella Weick
Alexandra Mackof
Assistant News Editor Next fall’s academic calendar will see the semester start earlier in the year to allow for breaks throughout the semester. A committee consisting of Provost Donald Nieman, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Enrollment Donald Loewen, faculty representatives, graduate and undergraduate student representatives and staff from various departments decided upon changes earlier this summer to be implemented for the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 academic calendars.
The fall and spring semesters will start approximately one week earlier than usual, which will allow for short breaks at the mid-point of each semester. The changes also ensure 14 weeks of instruction with exactly 14 of each instructional day and at least two reading days to help students prepare for finals. In addition, winter session will now consist of one week in December after Christmas and two weeks in January. There were no changes made to summer session. The committee’s goal, Nieman said, was not only to meet federal, state and SUNY requirements for course-meeting time, but also to promote convenience
and student success. “With fall semester ending at least one week before Christmas, the committee hoped to better facilitate holiday travel, campus shutdown, and Winter Session,” he wrote in an email. According to Nieman, the committee also hoped the inclusion of the four-day weekends mid-semester in early October and early March would give students time to relax. “These breaks are designed to reduce the stress that builds over the course of a long semester and help improve academic performance,” Nieman wrote.
See BREAK Page 4
News Editor
After the sun goes down this Friday night, Binghamton University alumni will be illuminating Downtown with a new kind of light. LUMA, Binghamton’s first projection arts festival, will turn Downtown buildings into canvases for a light show from 8 p.m. until midnight. The five featured buildings are all between Lewis Street and Henry Street, a few blocks north of Main Street. Joshua Bernard, who graduated in 2013, and Nick Rubenstein, who graduated in 2015, are the event’s co-founders. The two have worked
closely with Downtown gallery owner John Brunelli, director of economic development Robert Murphy and local photographer Tice Lerner. The display is possible because of a method known as “projection mapping,” which allows the artist to turn a complex or textured 3D surface into a projection display, as opposed to limiting them to a traditional flat surface. Lerner suggested that Bernard look into projection mapping after attending a projection art event at the restaurant Social on State. “The projections will be big, bright motion graphics that take advantage of the architecture of the buildings themselves,”
Rubenstein said. Attendees will see a total of seven original animations, solicited from art firms around the world, beamed from 12 projectors. Local vendors will be selling crafts and food, and the surrounding businesses and restaurants will be open as well. According to Bernard, a main goal of LUMA is to contribute to Binghamton’s up-and-coming cultural scene. He said that the event will be a bright addition to the city and hopefully encourage those outside the city to visit. “Binghamton has a great art scene, a great restaurant scene,”
See LUMA Page 2