Natalie Elisha: alumna, attorney and author at 28, See page 4
The Free Word on Campus Since 1946
Tuesday, September 5, 2017 | Vol. XCII, Issue 4 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
Students assaulted DT in separate acts Orla McCaffrey News Editor
Two Binghamton University students were assaulted in Downtown Binghamton this past week. The suspect charged with assault in the stabbing of a BU student was a fellow student, identified by WBNG as Steven Mangra, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law. The incident occurred at The Rathskeller Pub in Downtown Binghamton at approximately 3 a.m. Saturday morning, according to a B-Line news addition sent by the University on Saturday night. The victim, who works at the bar, was taken to the hospital but was later released with injuries that were not life-threatening, the addition said. The news addition said the Binghamton Police Department (BPD) had provided details on the incident. In May 2008, BU student Bryan
Steinhauer, ’08, was assaulted by three men, including former Binghamton basketball player Miladin “Minja” Kovacevic, inside The Rathskeller. Steinhauer was repeatedly kicked by the men and left in critical condition. He spent months in a medically induced coma. Late last Monday night, a 21-year-old female student was assaulted and her cellphone was stolen outside of the Twin River Commons housing complex on Washington Street. In that incident, the victim was approached by five females, who assaulted her on the sidewalk outside the student apartment complex before taking her phone and fleeing. Chris Valentine, a senior majoring in political science, said he encountered the victim following the attack outside the nearby University Downtown Center (UDC) on Washington Street Monday
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7.8% SOM :
CCPA : 3.2% Decker : 1.8%
%
14.9 : n tso Wa
40%
Applicants: 33,406
Acceptance
Enrolled students: 2,666
Mean High School GPA
94.6
Class of 2021
Harpur College : 72% Cory Bremer/Design Manager
Class of 2021 sets records Acceptance falls to 40 percent in competitive application cycle Orla McCaffrey News Editor
Orlaith McCaffrey/News Editor Binghamton University student Steven Mangra, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, stabbed another student at the The Rathskeller Pub in Downtown Binghamton early Saturday morning. He was charged with assault the following afternoon.
If you think the freshman sitting next to you in class is smarter than you, they probably are or at least they got higher grades in high school. According to Pipe Dream’s analysis of admissions statistics for the classes of 2021, 2020, 2015 and 2010, the average high school GPA of enrolled students has increased almost two full percentage points since 2006, when the class of 2010 began at Binghamton University. The average freshman in the class of 2021 also likely hails from Long Island or New York City, is enrolled in the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences and is white. Admission to BU continues to be competitive; of the four SUNY university centers (BU, University at Albany, University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University), only Stony Brook University (40.7 percent in 2016) rivals BU in
selectiveness. “The caliber of this incoming class is a testament to the University’s distinction as a top-tier institution, and we are honored to welcome such an impressive crop of students,” said Provost Donald Nieman. The racial composition of BU hasn’t changed much since the class of 2010 was admitted, when 6 percent of students identified as black or African American. In this year’s class, just 4 percent of freshmen identify as black. Among all SUNY institutions, the percent of students who identify as black is 10.8 percent. Eleven percent of students identify as Hispanic or Latino in this year’s freshman class, the same percent as the classes of 2015 and 2020. The number of out-of-state students at BU has decreased as the number of downstate students has picked up; fiftythree percent of the class of 2021 hails from New York City or Long Island, an
increase from 49 percent in the class of 2010, 48 percent in the class of 2015 and 51 percent in the class of 2020. Just 6 percent of this year’s freshmen come from states other than New York, down from 9 percent of the class of 2010 and a high of 18 percent in the class of 2015. International students make up 5 percent of the class of 2021, down from 7 percent in last year’s freshman class and 8 percent in the class of 2010. International BU undergraduates are mostly likely to be from China, the Republic of Korea, Turkey, India and Japan. The majority of first-year students — 72 percent in the class of 2021 — are enrolled in the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences. The Watson School of Engineering has the second-largest enrollment, followed by the School of Management, College of Community and Public Affairs and Decker School of Nursing.
BU goes tobacco-free Mountainview redefines RA role Allison Detzel Pipe Dream News
Students returning to campus this semester may have noticed fewer clouds of smoke on Binghamton University’s campus. BU’s new tobacco-free policy, implemented Aug. 1, forbids the use of any tobacco product, including cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, hookah and chewing tobacco on any property owned or operated by the University. The “Tobacco-Free Campus Management Procedure,” the policy issued by BU’s Office of the Vice President of Operations as well as the Environmental Health and Safety Office, places the responsibility to uphold the ban on the entire campus community, including students, visitors, employees and Binghamton’s New York State University Police. According to JoAnn Navarro, vice president for operations at BU, the procedure treats violations as disciplinary issues rather than criminal ones, referring employees and students who violate it to Human Resources and the Dean of Students Office, respectively. “When we are made aware [of violations], we are working on a case-bycase basis to help educate people about the policy and what it means,” Navarro said. “So far, we are extremely pleased with the cooperation across campus in abiding by the policy.” The switch has been met with mixed reactions from students. Jessica Alfaro, a senior double-majoring
in history and sociology, said although she is not a smoker, she thinks a campus-wide ban is not realistic. “I have noticed fewer people smoking [on campus], outside the library especially, since I’ve been back this semester,” Alfaro said. “But in the long run, I don’t think a ban is sustainable. A tobacco-free campus doesn’t encourage people to quit — it only makes them want to hide it.” In an effort to help ease the University into the new policy, the Healthy Practices Clinic was launched last spring. The clinic is staffed by nurse practitioners and undergraduate nursing students from the Decker School of Nursing and is associated with their Interdisciplinary Tobacco Use Research Program. When a patient first arrives at the clinic, their health history is taken by the staff, followed by an evaluation of their general health. After a consultation, the staff recommends personalized nicotine replacement therapy, consisting of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved tobacco nicotine replacement products like gum, patches and lozenges, followed by cessation counseling, which treats tobacco use as an addiction and attempts to educate patients on its dangers. Colin Talvi, a junior majoring in psychology, said he made the switch from cigarettes to a nicotine vaporizer. Vaporizers are classified as an electronic nicotine delivery system, which is labeled by the FDA as a tobacco product and prohibited under the ban. Talvi said he is adhering to the new policy, but hasn’t
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ARTS & CULTURE
Jillian Forstadt Assistant News Editor
Resident assistants (RAs) are a thing of the past in the Mountainview College living community. This year, RAs, who used to number two a floor in each of four buildings, have been replaced by one senior resident per floor. According to the Binghamton University Office of Residential Life, the senior resident role places more of a focus on community development than on issues such as discipline. Each building will now also be staffed by student managers from 8 p.m. to midnight a role formerly played by RAs. BU’s administration points toward the pilot program as one of its steps toward creating a holistic on-campus living experience. Students in BU’s youngest living community will have access to original programs meant to promote “high-impact learning experiences.” This philosophy comes directly from BU President Harvey Stenger’s Road Map to Premier initiative, a strategic plan meant to uplift the University’s reputation as a premier public university. The second goal listed in Stenger’s 2013 strategic plan states these experiences, which include undergraduate research, internships, service-learning and study abroad experiences, will “allow our students to become global citizens, successful professionals and lifelong learners.” According to Dean of Students April Thompson, this goal inspired Mountainview College’s pilot program. “These are the learning experiences
Jonathan Flores/Pipe Dream Photographer This year, Mounatainview College resident assistants, who used to number two a floor in each of four buildings, have been replaced by one senior resident per floor. According to the Office of Residential Life, the senior resident role places more of a focus on community development than on issues such as discipline.
that have an impact on whether or not you graduate, and being successful here, and how well you do and how engaged you are,” Thompson said. The pilot program, first developed in the winter of 2016, explores how residential experiences can contribute to students’ success. The University administration worked with Mountainview College staff, including the community’s collegiate professor Kevin Wright, to develop a curriculum that would encourage academic success within the “home” environment. Working toward its stated goal of better accommodating the community’s
OPINIONS
students, the administration restructured the Mountainview College staff at the program’s start in the spring 2017 semester. When dealing with discipline, staff members now take more of a case management approach. Two roles have been added to facilitate this: a case management graduate student and an academic support graduate student. Wesley Dyer, a first-year graduate student studying social work, is the case management graduate student for Mountainview College and deals
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SPORTS
Pick up the pace with tips from Confluence Running,
New pizza joint opens near State Street,
Read a response to Gunnar Jurgensen’s 8/28 piece on his changed view of Trump,
Volleyball takes two of three games at the Marist Tournament,
Women’s soccer splits a pair of weekend matches,
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