CIRQUE MUSICA twists and twirls into the holiday season see page 4
Monday, December 10, 2018 | Vol. XCIV, Issue 27 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
The Free Word on Campus Since 1946
FINALS BY THE NUMBERS In the coming days, Binghamton University students will be taking final examinations in many of their classes. Pipe Dream studied up to take a look at finals week by the numbers.
How many final exams are there?
Who gives the most finals?
1,104
Mathematics
How many departments are giving final exams?
80
128
Computer science
61
Nursing
51
Economics
51
Chemistry
47
How many of the finals are on what days? Monday
20
.56%
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
17
20
20
.12%
.92%
Friday
21
.20%
.20%
Professors offer alternative exams BU Faculty Senate passes open access Students see online, takehome tests during finals week Jackie Zou
New policy brings University in line with SUNY stance
contributing writer
As finals week begins, some professors at Binghamton University are ditching the traditional pen-and-paper final exam and are instead administering electronic or take-home tests, marking a growing trend toward alternative examination formats. The push toward untraditional exams is being driven by increasingly complicated finals week schedules for students and convenience in administering and grading tests for professors. Unlike traditional finals, online or take-home tests don’t require professors to proctor examinations or grade handwritten responses, and for students, they provide flexibility in scheduling and a more relaxed finals experience. According to Christine Gelineau,
see finals page 3
Max Samson
contributing writer
rose coschignano staff photographer As students prepare for final examinations, they may be studying for untraditional tests, including online and take-home exams.
In a policy implemented in March, SUNY pledged to make scholarly resources more accessible and affordable for students through open access. This week, Binghamton University’s Faculty Senate joined other SUNY schools in passing a campus-level open access policy. On Tuesday morning, around 40 members of the Faculty Senate gathered in Old Union Hall to vote on the policy, which would make select scholarly literature freely available to the public. According to Elizabeth Brown, director of assessment and scholarly communications for University Libraries, the policy was drafted by University Libraries staff before it was
submitted for review by the Faculty Senate’s executive committee. “First, there were some discussions about it, and then it was sent to the full Faculty Senate for approval on Dec. 4,” Brown said. “It’s the faculty members’ choice to [pass] this, however — the researcher or content creator.” According to Brown, all professors at the University will be expected to follow the policy; however, the choice to submit articles for open access is ultimately voluntary because the policy’s impact depends on the publication a faculty member’s work is included in. Some publications don’t offer open access, while others do. If a professor wanted to opt out of the policy, they could choose to submit their work only to journals without open access. “How open access would become available is if the journal has an open access option,” Brown said. “That’s one
see access page 3
Human rights rally opens discussion on resources, issues Broome Hall RAs hold event with Human Rights Institute Valerie Puma news intern
To celebrate Universal Human Rights Month this December, resident assistants in Newing College held a human rights rally on Thursday in Broome Hall. The RAs, along with representatives from Binghamton University’s Campus Bible Fellowship, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the Human Rights Institute, held the event in hopes of facilitating an open discussion about
human rights. Jillian Nostro, an RA in Broome Hall and a senior double-majoring in biology and Spanish, said she wanted to help plan the discussion to allow students to hear about human rights issues from a variety of perspectives. Nostro also used the event to expose students to new organizations and resources. “Binghamton University is a very diverse campus,” Nostro said. “We’re basically a big melting pot, especially here in Newing where we have break housing, so we have a lot of international students as well as Binghamton Advantage Program students, LGBTQ and Jewish students. We want BU to feel like a home for everyone, but not everyone
ARTS & CULTURE
knows about the organizations and resources available.” Thursday’s rally was a Newing Global Engagement event, organized by RAs to get students more interested in international matters. Activities included a wall poster on which students could write what human rights mean to them and a table where students could write a letter to their representatives to praise or criticize their actions regarding human rights. Ugwuogo Onwuka, a member of BU’s Campus Bible Fellowship and a junior majoring in mathematics, said he attended the rally to discuss human rights from the perspective of a practicing Christian.
“Because we are created in God’s image, human beings have intrinsic values that other creatures do not have,” Onwuka said. “In the Bible, one of the things that is said is that hurting another person is defying the God who created them, as it would go against what they were created for. When God created us as equals, we were created with unalienable rights. There are a lot of Christian organizations that are trying to end sex trafficking, interpersonal violence, slavery and other violations of human rights.” Mahmoud Almady, president of the MSA and a sophomore majoring in biochemistry, said he also attended the rally to spark further conversation of
OPINIONS
religious views on human rights. “[Muslims] believe that all people, regardless of age, sex, religion, etc., were created as the best of all the creatures, and as such we have rights that cannot be taken away such as the right to live,” Almady said. “There is a very important Hadith, which is what we believe the Prophet [Muhammad] said, that the one who kills one person will hold the same weight as if you killed all of humanity. We hold the human life to a very high standard — all people are equal — and the best among us are the ones who stand up against oppression.”
see rally page 3
SPORTS
Channel your inner Grinch with DIY face masks,
Keep your skin glowing with these Grinch-themed face masks,
The fall 2018 report card is in,
Women’s basketball falls short against Rider,
Wrestling taken down by Buffalo at home,
SEE PAGE 4
SEE PAGE 4
SEE PAGE 7
SEE PAGE 10
SEE PAGE 10