Fall 2016 Issue 13

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Tuesday, October 11, 2016 | Vol. XC, Issue 13 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com

Title IX Office issues campus climate poll Survey examines regularity of sexual assaults on campus, students' knowledge of resources Hannah Walter Contributing Writer

On Oct. 6, the Title IX Office at Binghamton University sent out the Sexual Violence Prevention Campus Climate Survey to all students, faculty and staff. The survey was created by the SUNY system administration and was sent to select SUNY schools to find out the regularity of sexual assaults on campus and how familiar students are with resources to help them if an incident were to occur. Title IX is a 1972 federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs and activities. The compliance at BU is led by coordinator Andrew Baker, who oversees gender-based issues that occur on campus, such as sexual assault and interpersonal violence. The survey was sent out via email from Baker’s office to all members of the BU community, as well as to students and faculty at other SUNY institutions by their respective Title IX offices. According to the email sent out with the survey, the results will be used to learn about students’ perceptions of the University’s efforts in combating sexual assault both on and off campus. “Responses will be used to shape future educational and responsive efforts at the University as we work to create a learning and working environment free from all forms of discrimination,” the email said. The questions cover areas like student opinions on the University’s response to sexual assault, student knowledge of

campus resources and student experience firsthand with assault, harassment or violence. The survey allows respondents to remain anonymous in reporting an incident of sexual assault to the University. “It should be used as an open space for anyone that has had an experience,” said Maria Leira, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law. “Hopefully it will help them feel comfortable speaking out about the situation and be aware of the resources that are available to them if they need them.” Gabrielle Aviles, a senior doublemajoring in Spanish and integrative neuroscience, said she believes the University could do a better job of advertising the Title IX Office’s efforts. “I think that there are some resources to help students but I don’t think that they are very well-publicized,” Aviles said. “I know people who have also been [sexually] assaulted that don’t feel comfortable because they don’t feel something is going to be done about it. I think the resources aren’t well-utilized or well-advertised.” Jennifer Calabrase, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, said that she hopes that this survey will also improve the University’s relationship with the Binghamton Police Department when it comes to helping students who experience an assault off campus, because there seems to be a lack of communication between the two establishments on the subject. “I know a few people that have had instances of sexual assault Downtown,”

SEE TITLE IX PAGE 2

Kevin Sussy/Photography Editor Nathaniel Dominy, an anthropology professor at Dartmouth College, speaks to students in Academic Building A about human pygmy phenotypes.

Prof. explores pygmy evolution Dartmouth researcher discusses environmental influences on growth Stacey Blansky Contributing Writer

On Monday afternoon, Nathaniel Dominy spoke to students at Binghamton University about his research on the human pygmy phenotype as part of the evolutionary studies (EvoS) speaker series. Dominy is a professor of anthropology and an adjunct professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College. His talk focused on the foraging behaviors that various hunter-gatherer populations adopted as a result of their premature development. People who express the pygmy phenotype measure at a height no taller than 155 centimeters, or about 5 feet.

Dominy began by comparing the skeletal structure of the average human with that of a small hominid known as Homo floresiensis, or LB1. In his research, he has investigated the skull size of the typical human being with a skeleton belonging to a LB1 hominid. He attempted to decipher the implications that this cranial disparity could have on brain function. “This specimen LB1 has a relatively short forehead, suggesting that the brain size is disproportionately smaller than the body size,” Dominy said. “The brain volume is estimated about one-third the volume you would expect for a hominid about 1 meter tall.”

Dominy said that these findings were surprising to the scientific community because pygmy populations, such as Homo floresiensis, have particular advantages in their environments. He also discussed the active role of growth hormones in the expression of the pygmy phenotype, and how abnormalities in the levels of this hormone directly correlate with stunted growth. “The first line of evidence comes from the hormonal profiles,” Dominy said. “So, all of these pygmy populations — those in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America — are united by having relatively low levels

SEE EVOS PAGE 2

Research tests elasticity of skin Stenger fields questions Guy German, BU professor, looks to apply findings to phone screens from Student Congress Sarah Rahman

and the distance between the grips to certain parameters. form measurements. “We could measure without actually “When we did observe fractures in breaking the tissue; we could measure Binghamton University assistant the skin, it correlated very nicely with where it was going to crack first,” professor biomedical engineering Guy the regions of peak strain,” German said. German explains. German tested the physical limits of skin This research led to German’s Results show that cracks tended to in his study regarding skin mechanics. team being able to predict where SEE SKIN PAGE 2 With his research, German said he is cracks will appear accurately, within looking to discover the physical limits of skin and the mechanical properties of it. He is also examining how skin is affected by stress and strain, and how dryness or hydration levels can affect skin structure. Despite conventional assumptions, skin does not have a smooth, even surface. The outermost layer of our skin — the first layer of the epidermis, called the stratum corneum — has a varying surface filled with ridges, curves and bumps. Specifically, the stratum corneum is covered by a series of triangular features which are central to German’s research. One step of the research process involves stretching skin samples, using a mechanical gripping device, and observing where cracks and tears appear and how hydration levels affect these Raquel Panitz/Pipe Dream Photographer cracks. The device used, called a uniaxial Liu, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate studying biomedical engineering, conducts research under Guy German’s tensometer, measures the force exerted Xue guidance in the Innovative Technologies Complex Biotechnology Building. Contributing Writer

President of BU discusses healthy food options on campus, career opportunities for liberal arts majors Gabriella Weick Assistant News Editor

On Monday evening, Binghamton University’s Student Congress met for its second meeting of the year to discuss current updates, elect a vice speaker and welcome BU President Harvey Stenger. Stenger came to the meeting in Old University Union to answer three previously submitted questions from Student Congress members and take any further questions from attendees. The questions ranged in topic from the price of healthy food in the dining halls, to the advancement of BU as a research university and to the search committee selection for the new dean of Harpur College. He addressed the concern that salad bar items and other lower calorie, lower fat foods at resident dining halls can cost more than other items and said that he was working in coordination with BU dietitian Alexa Schmidt to compile a five- to six-day healthy meal budgeting plan to determine cost discrepancies. Stenger’s second question pertained to

the University’s efforts toward becoming a research institution and whether that would negatively affect the social sciences and benefit only science, technology, engineering and math fields. Stenger noted that the 130 faculty hires across each school over the past four years have been balanced, and research is relevant to each discipline. “’Research university’ implies that the research faculty are those people only in science, but a research university really means all faculty are researchers and scholars,” Stenger said. “You want scholars, you want professors to be at the top of their game and the only way to do that is through research.” The final issue Stenger addressed was the Student Association’s (SA) concern about not having a place on the search committee for the new dean of Harpur College. Adam Wilkes, vice president for academic affairs and a junior doublemajoring in sociology and economics, asked Stenger why he couldn’t have acted

SEE SA PAGE 2

With donation from alum, BU opens high-tech learning center

Colaborative room, courtesy of Mark Zurack, '78, features advanced video conferencing systems and innovative learning technology Jillian Forstadt Contributing Writer

Two weeks ago, the Zurack Family HighTechnology Collaboration Center opened in Glenn G. Bartle Library after a donation was made from Binghamton University alum Mark Zurack. Zurack graduated from BU in 1978, and went on to work at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. before leaving the firm to teach at both Columbia Business School and Cornell University as an adjunct professor. Andrew

Tucci, the director of the Educational Communications Center at BU, said that Zurack made the donation to help further learning as well as increase communication between the University and others. “Mark was very interested in developing a space that would be both a space for alumni to reach into the University remotely, as well as a space to help students get to the next level of active learning,” Tucci said. The purpose of the room, according to Tucci, is to provide a space in which any place in the world can be reached through

ARTS & CULTURE

web-conferencing, and to refine and improve active learning in the classroom. The room is equipped with high-level communication technology systems, such as the SX80 system, which allows for multiple people to connect at a very high resolution and has cameras that can find and focus on individuals speaking in the room. “They’re basically the Google of networking infrastructure,” Tucci said, referring to Cisco, the maker of the SX80 system.

Classes from all departments at BU are currently able use the room for innovative, communication-based learning. Professors can schedule classes in the room by giving a pitch to the Center for Learning and Teaching on how they will utilize the space for active learning. It is also equipped with walls that can be written on safely with dryerase markers. The room is not limited to class use and is used for programs around campus, including the “Cool Connections, Hot Alumni” alumni speaker series. Each

OPINIONS

semester, more than 30 alumni talk to students about their careers, although some speakers are limited by distance. The new technology at the center can reach any country in the world. Zurack has donated a significant amount of money to the University in the past, particularly to the School of Management’s finance program. The Zurack Scholars Program and the Zurack Trading Room both bare his name in

SEE ZURACK PAGE 2

SPORTS

The Roberson Museum and Science Center puts a professor’s collection of global art on display,

Through fashion and fun, over $1,000 was raised for breast cancer,

The Editorial Board weighs in on the controversial expansion of student housing into Vestal,

Women’s soccer records first conference victory,

Men’s soccer ties AE rival Hartford,

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