Pipe Dream Fall 2013 Issue 7

Husband hunting?

This may not be the place

Opinion columnists Macon Fessenden and Molly McGrath respond to a column from Tuesday's issue See page 13

Grand Theft Auto V — our writers weigh in Does the new GTA deserve the hype it's getting?

Gaming specialists decide, see page 7

PIPE DREAM Friday, September 27, 2013 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXIV, Issue 7

Stenger appoints faculty liaison

J. Cole sells out Events Center See Release's coverage on Page 7

Mischen facilitates communication with president Geoffrey Wilson Assistant News Editor

President Harvey Stenger appointed Pamela Mischen, associate professor and director of the center for applied community research and development, to the newly founded position of faculty adviser to the president in an attempt to improve communication.

According to Stenger, the faculty adviser to the president provides advice and assistance in a number of areas, Kendall Loh/Photo Editor

See LIAISON Page 6

A whole world of opportunities BU falls in national rankings University drops from 89th to 97th place

Study abroad fair presents global view to students

Joseph Hawthorne and Madeline Gottlieb Pipe Dream News

Jeremy Bernstein and Brendan Zarkower Pipe Dream News Binghamton University, along with some other SUNY schools, showcased the world of options available to students desiring to study abroad.

The event on Wednesday was meant to show students the reasons to consider studying abroad.

“Study abroad is something that should really be taken advantage of,” said Kerry Cook, assistant director for study abroad in the Office of International Programs. “There are over 900 SUNY programs

Franz Lino/Staff Photographer

Michael Spano, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, speaks to Jordanna Zetter and Hannah Lew, both junior political science majors, about studying abroad in the United Kingdom.

that Binghamton students can access. The point of this fair is to bring our partners and other SUNY schools here so it’s a onestop shop for all information on SUNY study abroad.”

Representatives from different schools touted their programs’ unique benefits. Krista Paszkowsky of the University at Buffalo

emphasized the university’s six-credit engineering program.

“It’s called Engineering In Troyes, [France],” Paszkowsky said.

“The language of instruction is English. The program has brought almost half and half Binghamton and

See ABROAD Page 4

This year’s US News & World Report’s National University rankings for 2014 set Binghamton University eight places lower than last year, dropping its rank from No. 89 best to No. 97.

While the University published a press release celebrating its ranking as a Top-100 University, Ryan Yarosh, director of media and public relations, shrugged off the effectiveness and real value of the rankings system.

“They changed their ranking system this year,” Yarosh said. “Besides posting online, we really don’t place ads or publicize these facts much.”

This year, US News put a

larger focus on SAT and ACT scores instead of class standing, and an increase in the weight of graduation rates. Although US News changes its rankings system often, including in 2011, without having as large an effect on Binghamton, Provost Donald Nieman claimed that a possibility for the drop was because nearly one-quarter of the rankings were based on reputation ratings from outside sources.

“One area where I think we have had challenges in the ranking, and it’s a big portion of the US News & Report ranking system, is through the reputational survey of the University. About two-thirds of the figure is from university provosts and presidents, and one-third from high school guidance counselors,” Yarosh said.

Started at EY. Went everywhere.

Nieman argued that it is difficult for school administrators to judge many schools that they may not know enough about.

“Who’s completing the survey that year will determine the index. There is some fluctuation in that. Had I gotten a survey and was faced with ranking two hundred and eighty-something national universities — what do I know about the quality of the undergraduate program at the University of Albany? I don’t,” Nieman said.

However, many other factors made up the total rankings, according to Bob Morse, director of data at US News.

“We mainly look at graduation rates, retention rates, academic reputation.

“I may have started small.

But the future’s looking big.” © 2013 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved. ED None.

Learn more at exceptionalEY.com.

See RANK Page 5

www.bupipedream.com | September 27, 2013

NEWS

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Panelists speak on social uprisings, Gezi Park protest in Turkey Scholars share firsthand accounts of experience during political turmoil, civil rights abuses Davina Bhandari Assistant News Editor

Following a tumultuous year of protest and political upheaval, five scholars gathered Thursday night to discuss and analyze the implications of popular uprising in Turkey.

Each panelist touched upon a particular political issue in Turkey, gathering before a crowd of about 60 in Science 1.

After being introduced by Ekrem Karakoc, an assistant professor of political science at Binghamton University, Sedat Bozkurt was first to speak on media and power relations in Turkey.

Bozkurt, a political journalist for the past 26 years who is currently a FOX-TV Ankara representative as a TV and newspaper correspondent, editor and manager, offered his opinions in Turkish. Translating for him was Dogan Eskinat, a political adviser at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, who admitted that he was “not a professional” and parts of what Bozkurt said would be slightly lost in translation.

Political control over the media, something that is not a new phenomenon according to

Bozkurt, is a situation in Turkey that creates tension between the general public and media outlets.

“People tend to have low expectation from the media in terms of solving their problems, and for this reason they direct harsh criticism towards the media outlets,” Bozkurt said.

Bozkurt went on to explain that news in media is often skewed, partially because of the type of capital that is behind the publishing operation.

“In the past, there was reaction and fury. Today, we have entered the stage of conversation” — Mucahit Bilici panelist

“For instance, if your boss is running an energy business in addition to the media outlet, you would not reflect the ministry of energy in a bad way,” Bozkurt

said.

Bozkurt broke down the unrealistic circulation of newspapers in Turkey.

“The total circulation of newspapers is 5-6 million. Out of this 5 or 6 millions, about 1.5 [million] issues are subscription services, another half million are just given away for free, another 1 million are sports papers, and another 1 million are tabloids, so you could say that real newspapers have a circulation of about 1 million,” Bozkurt said.

Bozkurt touched upon the current social uprising and Gezi Park protests in Turkey, as did Eskinat.

Formerly, Eskinat was a researcher at “The Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research” (SETA), where he was part of a team that went to several protest sites throughout Turkey. During their project they conducted over 60 interviews with the protest participants.

“Our research questions fundamentally focused on the social and economic profile of participants because the main debate in media outlets in Turkey was how we would characterize the event,” Eskinat said.

According to Eskinat, the results of their sample showed

Kendall Loh/Photo Editor

Mucahit Bilici, assistant professor of sociology at John Jay College, speaks about the plight of the Kurds in Turkey.

that the majority of protesters were between ages 20 and 24.

Additionally, 17.8 percent were between 25 and 29 years old, and 11 percent between 15 to 19 years old.

“Most of these kids have never been in a street demonstration before,” Eskinat said.

Kent Schull, an associate professor of history, spoke from an “insider-outsider” perspective.

Schull lived with his family

in Turkey for two years, his youngest child being born there. His anecdotes came from witnessing protests first hand.

The progress that Kurds in Turkey are making in facing denial of equal recognition can be broken into three stages according to Mucahit Bilici, assistant professor of sociology at John Jay College, CUNY and columnist for the Turkish Daily, Taraf.

“In the past, there was reaction and fury,” Bilici said, marked by the unheard voices of the people.

“Today, we have entered the stage of conversation. They are learning ways to articulate their differences …the third stage, this transition will take maybe five, ten years … is when the Kurds have gained equality by challenging the public spirit in presence of reason.”

ITC building receives platinum certification from LEED Engineering and Science Building incorporates passive solar energy to receive green rating

How did ITC win the LEED award?

File Photo

The Engineering and Science Building in the Innovative Science Complex now has a LEED platinum certification, the highest possible ranking given by the U.S Green Building Council’s (USBGC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building certification program.

Dhruv Sehgal News Intern The Engineering and Science Building in the Innovative Science Complex now has a LEED Platinum certification, the highest possible ranking given by the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USBGC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building certification program.

According to the Binghamton University website, the $66 million, 125,000-square-foot building is the latest addition to Binghamton University’s Innovative Technologies Complex and is home to the department of mechanical engineering, department of electrical and computer engineering, the dean’s office, as well as research centers, flexible student and laboratory spaces and suites for business start-ups and offices.

The building was specially designed by architect William H. Hall and members of his

physical facilities design team to incorporate passive solar energy, wherein the windows, walls and floors are able to collect solar energy and then redistribute it in an efficient manner, and geothermal technology for heating and cooling, as well as the latest technology for heat recovery and humidity control.

Karen Fennie, communications specialist for the physical facilities department, said she believes the ranking is important in showing Binghamton’s continued commitment to energy efficiency and the environment.

“It is not an easy ranking to achieve,” Fennie wrote in an e-mail. “ … It demonstrates the University’s serious commitment to sustainability and enhances the reputation we already have for green practices whether it be in building design, our recycling/ composting programs the energy management system which helps us run equipment

efficiently.”

Jonathan Donovan, a junior majoring in electrical engineering, said he was impressed with the building and its efficiency rating.

“It demonstrates the University's serious committment to sustainability” — Karen Fennie Communication specialist

“My friends and I usually go there for their academic advising, and it is always an impressive sight,” Donovan said. “I know the building was built pretty recently, and it

is great that to hear that it is being awarded for its energy efficiency since it shows that Binghamton University is constantly trying to be the best and focus on quality over quantity. “ From the outset, there are photovoltaic panels, which convert solar radiation into direct current electricity that can be then redistributed for more efficient use, covering the outside wall of the building and inside, the interior halls are decorated by energy-efficient skylights that allow for the maximum use of incoming sun rays as well.

Fennie said all new construction and major renovations at BU will be designed to LEED standards, citing the East Campus Housing Project as an example of the University’s commitment to LEED certification standards.

“Bingham Hall in Newing College and the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center have attained LEED Silver, and Broome and Delaware halls

» Geothermal heating / cooling in Rotunda area » High-efficiency data center cooling using water-cooled server racks for “targeted heat removal.” » Double heat recovery wheels in every air handling unit » Free cooling in winter for data center. »Waste heat removed from data center is used to preheat the outside air before entering the building. » Roof top and south wall solar panels (two different Photovoltaic technologies) to generate up to 20 percent of total electricity used in the building. » Low flow water fixtures — air dryers instead of paper towels in all restrooms. » Open space, minimum light pollution, public transportation, etc. » Increased ventilation, low emitting materials (paint, adhesives, coating, etc.)

in Newing College have been certified LEED Gold,” Fennie said. “The University Downtown Center is LEED silver and Windham and Cascade Halls are LEED certified. The energy management system, which allows us to remotely control building systems, will continue to be expanded and refined so building operations can be managed as efficiently as possible. ” Rafi Schulman, a sophomore double majoring in neuroscience and evolutionary studies, said the building was a good idea.

“The building looks like something a little out of the ordinary, but in a good and unique way,” Schulman said. “I’m really glad to see Binghamton going out on a limb and taking a chance by doing something that is non-conventional yet energy efficient and helpful for the environment.”

Unveiled in a ceremony Tuesday, Sept. 24, the building was awarded a platinum plaque in recognition of the new status.

Pipe Line

Plants for humanity

Local Lawsuit in Binghamton shooting rampage dismissed A federal judge has dismissed a $3.75 million lawsuit filed against sporting goods retailer Gander Mountain by the husband of a woman killed in a shooting rampage at a Binghamton civic organization four years ago. Samir Muhammad Al-Salihi’s lawsuit filed in April 2011 alleged that the St. Paul, Minn.-based company’s employees were negligent in selling Jiverly Wong semi-automatic pistols and ammunition. Al-Salihi’s wife was among the 13 people who Wong killed at the American Civic Association in April 2009 before committing suicide. The lawsuit alleged that Wong exhibited signs of being mentally unstable while purchasing the firearms, and that Gander Mountain should have been on notice that he was likely to use the guns to harm himself or others. U.S. District Judge Norman Mordue dismissed the complaint in a 30-page decision issued Friday, according to the Press & Sun-Bulletin of Binghamton. The judge wrote that there was not sufficient evidence demonstrating that Gander Mountain knew that Wong posed a risk to himself or others.

National Universities Cornell reveals details of hazing by lacrosse team Cornell University officials say the hazing that resulted in the cancellation of the men’s lacrosse team’s fall season included underclassmen being made to chug beer to the point where some of them vomited. The college announced last week that the team’s fall games were canceled after an investigation determined upperclassmen had hazed freshmen players. According to a report posted on Cornell’s hazing website, freshmen were expected to perform menial tasks and other duties for upperclassmen. The report says the team held a party featuring a “key race,” during which freshmen were challenged to drink large amounts of beer in a competition against other team members. College officials say the freshmen were made to stand in a circle and drink beer to the point where “multiple members vomited.”

Cornell went 14-4 last spring and lost to eventual national champion Duke in the NCAA semifinals.

Troy fraternity on probation after hazing claims A Troy University fraternity is on probation following allegations that a half-dozen members hazed a new recruit.

University spokesman Clif Lusk said Wednesday the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity will have to complete a plan for corrective action as part of its probationary status. He says the fraternity expelled three members and suspended three more in connection with the claims. The six will appear later before a university board. University police say a freshman recruit was allegedly taken into woods and tied to a tree before members threw things at him including eggs. The pledge eventually freed himself, and a Troy police officer saw him walking back to town on U.S. 29. The new member wasn’t injured, and he declined to press criminal charges.

UA task force to review diversity on campus University of Alabama faculty members are forming a task force on diversity following allegations of racism within the school’s Greek-letter social organizations. The Faculty Senate voted to create the group during a meeting Tuesday. The task force will be made up of five faculty members, three students and two administrators. It will make recommendations on ways to improve campus diversity. Faculty Senate President Steve Miller says he’s unsure what changes might occur because of reports generated by the group. He calls creation of the task force “uncharted territory” for the Faculty Senate.

The decision follows media reports and confirmation from the university’s president that at least some white sororities made membership decisions based on race. A few black members have since accepted invitations to join traditionally white sororities.

State Man who aided dad's NY beach drown scam in custody A man who admitted helping fake his father's drowning at a New York beach in an insurance scam has been captured.

An arrest warrant had been issued for Jonathan Roth after he failed to appear at his scheduled sentencing Sept. 20.The Nassau County district attorney's office says Roth was captured Thursday night by a bail bondsman and is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.Roth pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy. Court documents show he has several warrants pending for unrelated harassment charges involving a girlfriend.His father, Raymond Roth, has admitted faking his death off Jones Beach. He was expected to get a 90-day jail sentence but later was arrested on attempted kidnapping charges. A call to Jonathan Roth's attorney hasn't been returned.

Photo Provided

BU Habitat for Humanity held its annual Orchid & Cacti Sale outside of the University Union on Wednesday afternoon. Prices were as low as $2 for some of the plants.

Police Watch When you say “field tested”…

MONDAY, SEPT. 23, 9:55 p.m. — A large group of students were found in possession of marijuana in the Nature Preserve, said Investigator Patrick Reilly of Binghamton’s New York State University Police. Officers on patrol in the area reportedly spotted an unusually large gathering of students. When the officers approached the group, they found that members of the group of seven students were smoking what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette. Officers asked for identification from the students, and they all cooperated. Later, the officers field tested the cigarettes and found that they were indeed filled with marijuana. The case was sent to the Office of Student Conduct iCaught WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25, 7:54 p.m. — Officers found the suspect of a larceny case at Mohawk Hall, Reilly said. A prior larceny case filed for a stolen iPad, among other items. After investigation, officers tracked the stolen goods to a 26-year-old male student. When they approached the suspect, officers saw the iPad, along with the other items, which included an iPod and an external hard drive, in plain view. The suspect was brought back to the police police station and was charged with criminal possession of stolen property.

Dumb and dumber WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25, 11:55 p.m. — An officer on bike patrol discovered two students in possession of marijuana at Newing College’s Endicott Hall, Reilly said. The officer saw an 18-year-old male and a 19-year-old male standing by the side of the building and attempting to light a long marijuana cigarette. The officer apprehended the two and found one in possession of green leafy material which turned out to be marijuana and a blunt which the other threw on the ground.

The suspects were arrested and charged with unlawful possession of marijuana.

8th time's the charm WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25, 2:17 a.m. — Officers pulled over a vehicle on West Drive and found that the 25-year-old male driver had a suspended license, Reilly said. Officers on patrol observed a vehicle fail to yield the right of way to another vehicle at a traffic circle. The officers then pulled over the car and found that the suspect had a driver’s license with seven suspensions on it, six of which were due to the suspect refusing to show up in court. The officers called for another driver to operate the vehicle for the suspect and gave the suspect tickets for failure to yield right of way and aggravated unlicensed operation.

—Aaron Berkowitz Contributing Writer

In other words “Redneck rule number one — most things can be fixed with duct tape and extension cords.”

— Texas Sen. Ted Cruz quoting TV show “Duck Dynasty” during his 21-hour speech on ObamaCare Wednesday

This Day in History September 27, 1939

Poland surrenders to invading forces from Nazi Germany after resisting for 26 days. stabilizing: drunk jews

us not being at jcole :destabilizing

www.bupipedream.com | September 27, 2013

NEWS

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Students explore over 900 programs at study abroad fair ABROAD continued from Page 1 UB students.”

Some students are finding ways to connect their majors to their study abroad programs.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Europe, CERN especially,” said Matthew Petryk, a sophomore majoring in physics.

Noelle Komatz, a sophomore majoring in English, also wanted to keep her focus when she studies abroad.

“I’m really looking into all the UK programs,” Komatz said. “I learned that they are really good for English. A lot of people say they’re the best ones to go on because of the historical background in London, Lancaster and Nottingham. Even Edinburgh in Scotland is really good for English.”

According to Cook, 18 percent of Binghamton students study abroad, well above the national average of 1 percent. Cook also said that the most popular time to study abroad is junior year.

Gaetana Di Roberto, a junior double-majoring in Arabic and French, said that going abroad seems like an easy decision.

“For me there are no cons to studying abroad,” Di Roberto said. “I guess the number one reason people wouldn’t would be the price. But as far as everything else, cultural immersion, language learning, there really is no downside.”

The actual cost of study abroad can vary greatly depending on the location and the duration of the trip, once housing costs are factored in.

Franz Lino/Staff Photographer

Students talk to representatives from different SUNY schools about the over 900 SUNY study abroad programs available to them.

According to the Office of International Programs’ website, participants of BU programs pay the University for their regular SUNY tuition, plus any applicable program fee.

Many students at the fair did not think cost would be a major

FIND OUT.

inhibitor. semester or next semester “The financial aid I’m would be applied to that getting from Binghamton program.”

University is also available for However, Geiger said his the study abroad programs,” financial aid would not pay said Matt Geiger, a graduate for a program that takes place JOB 9-019 student studying business during the winter or summer 11.25 X 10.5 administration. “All the tuition sessions.

REFUEL this - BINGHAMTON that I pay for Binghamton Geiger said it is difficult

for graduate students studying business to go abroad because many of the information sessions conflict with classes, which are often at night. But he still thinks studying abroad is a worthwhile investment.

“My undergraduate was in international business

and I would like to get some more cultural experience and research experience in business oversea,” Geiger said. “It looks good on a resume and I really haven’t had much experience other than vacations and traveling.”

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www.bupipedream.com | September 27, 2013

5

Sodexo offers healthy options

BU drops, still in top 100

Students given increased nutritional information

RANK continued from Page 1

Ashley Zachariah and Victoria Azcuy Pipe Dream News In an effort to improve its culinary offerings, Sodexo introduced the mindful eating menu to appease its healthconscious customers.

“The mindful approach is filled with choices, satisfying flavors, full plates and healthy indulgence,” said Casey Slocum, a member of the Sodexo marketing team.

All of the dining halls on campus along with the Chenango Room now have stations offering healthier food choices, accompanied by nutritional information such as calories and grams of fat.

In addition, each dining hall includes a Nourish U Station where students can pick up brochures on ways to stay healthy, including tips for trimming fat and steps to reduce sugar intake.

Suggestions on ways to stay in shape throughout the semester include taking hikes in the Nature Preserve and picking your own apples and pumpkins.

Sodexo’s “Mindful Eating” website features wellness tools,

such as a BMI calculator and a immune function and mood tool to create a walking route while decreasing risk for chronic for campus. diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

Sodexo’s Mindful program is based on the latest science and recommendations from leading health organizations.”

Although this program is relatively new and students are not fully aware of its benefits, Slocum said they are gaining traction.

“Some students liked the mindful meals offered at each dining center,” Slocum said, “while other students mentioned how much they like the Mindful Moments [eating tips], as they can easily apply them to their daily routine.”

— Casey Slocum The initiative encompasses Sodexo marketing breakfast, lunch and dinner and extends into Night Owl. Every Night Owl introduced more health-conscious choices as Alexa Schmidt, a registered alternatives to fried foods from dietitian with Sodexo Campus the grill.

Services, described the Sodexo employee Walter advantages of the recently Springer talked about these introduced program. different options.

“Mindful eating has many “Students can order benefits,” she said. “Filling sandwiches with whole wheat your plate with healthy food bread. I can cook up some eggs. choices is sure to increase We also have grilled chicken and energy, concentration, focus, salads,” he said.

“The mindful approach is filled with choices, satisfying flavors, full plates and healthy indulgence”

Academic reputation involves surveying presidents, provosts and other administrators about colleges across the country.

But we look at a variety of things,” Morse said.

Nieman admitted the reputation weight has not changed in the past year, and that most factors of the rankings have remained relatively the same.

“We’re looking at this, and I have not been able to determine how the change in the formula has affected us.

The reputational survey counts for about 22.5 percent, so it’s very, very high. I think it’s about the same that it’s been,” Nieman said.

He pointed out other rankings like Fiske’s Guide and Kiplinger, which he argued gave better reviews.

“They look at the value proposition that the university offers,” Nieman said. “The less sophisticated consumers of education will look at US News.

More sophisticated consumers will look at other places.”

Susannah Snider, a staff writer for Kiplinger’s college rankings, explained some of the differences of its rating system, which rated Binghamton as No. 12 for best values in public colleges in 2013.

“We judge primarily on value, which is determined in large part by affordability and academic quality. This includes admittance rate, graduate rate and financial aid and test scores,” Snider said. “We also don’t have a lot of subjective tools like reputation or student experience.”

“I would like to see regain the position we had, I'd like to see us improve, but again, I know that the fallibility of these [rankings]” — Donald Nieman Provost

Helen Frazer, an undeclared freshman, was disappointed with the drop in rank.

“I’m just disappointed in the rating because other people will look down upon this school even though the

academic rigor is about the same as schools with higher rankings,” Frazer said.

For some students, the changes in rankings made little difference in their everyday lives applying to, and attending Binghamton.

“They didn’t make a huge deal in deciding where to go. I chose Binghamton over Cornell because it’s still a good school, but it’s a lot cheaper,” said Chris Beard, a sophomore majoring in computer science.

“It’s still a top school.”

Arianna Gorkowitz, an undeclared sophomore, was still encouraged by the rank.

“I looked at rankings, but I didn’t realize Bing was in the top 100. That’s awesome,” Gorkowitz said.

Nieman said that the best way of dealing with the drop was to move past it.

“I would like to see us regain the position we had, I’d like to see us improve, but again, I know the fallibility of these. It’s nice to have good publicity points to talk about, or to receive a lot of attention, but it’s important not to put too much stock in them. My primary goal is to make sure that we are offering the highest quality education for our students that we possibly can,” Nieman said.

Ryan Gyanchand/Contributing Photographer

Sodexo recently introduced the mindful eating menu to appease its health-conscious customers. Sodexo also added “Mindful Eating” features to their website, including a BMI calculator.

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NEWS

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Mischen named faculty adviser to president stenger LIAISON continued from Page 1

Photo Provided

specifically on faculty and community-related issues.

Before the creation of the faculty adviser to the president, a faculty member served as deputy to the president and acted as a liaison between administration and faculty. The deputy position was split up, with many of the duties being reassigned to Terrence Kane, chief of staff and assistant vice president for government relations, and Mischen assumed all community issues.

The faculty adviser position entails working approximately one day per week, compared to the full-time deputy position.

As faculty adviser to the president, Mischen represents

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Stenger on a number of committees.

According to Mischen, she sits on the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Bylaws Review Committee, both of which are committees of the Faculty Senate and the Campus Climate Committee.

“In all of these roles I come into contact with faculty from throughout the University,” she wrote in an email. “When I hear of an issue that needs to be brought to the President’s attention, I am able to do that.”

However Howard Brown, faculty senate executive committee chair, said Mischen doesn’t represent the faculty senate.

“The Faculty Senate plays no role in choosing the Faculty

Advisor to the President; therefore, the faculty member who serves in that role does not serve as a representative of the Faculty Senate,” Brown wrote in an email.

Stenger also insisted that the faculty adviser to the president has no role with Faculty Senate, and the two are mutually exclusive.

Mischen said her main advantage in the position is her background in public administration.

“One of my goals this year is to conduct a community impact assessment that quantifies the many ways that Binghamton University and its students, faculty, and staff contribute to the quality of life of the region,” she wrote.

Stenger said Mischen will serve as another line of communication for anyone who wants to bring an issue to him.

“I am personally able to take most communications directly, but if I am out of town, or working on other issues, Pam can be a liaison for me to help people more quickly,” he wrote in an email.

Despite her new position, Mischen said that Stenger faculty should feel comfortable going directly to the president.

“I am not a gatekeeper to the President,” Mischen wrote.

“The President tries hard to be accessible and I know that he will continue to do so.”

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RELEASE Arts & Entertainment

Grand Theft Auto: The Grand Debate Worth The Hype Geoffrey Wilson | Assistant News Editor Rockstar Games has unleashed “Grand Theft Auto V” to nearly universal acclaim, and with over $1 billion in sales in three days, “GTA V” is the biggest media launch in history.

Combining the traditional open world gameplay with a complex, well-developed narrative, “GTA V” has earned the hype.

“GTA V” takes huge steps with its narrative, abandoning the trite rags-to-riches tale in favor of a more complex, characterdriven story. The game features three protagonists: Michael, a retired bank robber, Franklin, an unsuccessful gang-banger and Trevor, a psychotic drug dealer, each with their own motivations and abilities. The interactions between them serve as the heart of the story, with the plot itself acting as a vehicle for their character development. The heroes of “GTA V” are far from heroic. While the series has been known for its anti-heroes, the protagonists of “GTA V,” particularly Trevor and Michael, are downright villainous. The characters can be unlikeable, but the story is the best the series has produced so far.

The core ingredients of “GTA” have always been equal parts violence and satire. “GTA V” keeps with these traditions, picking apart American culture dealing with everything from social media to torture. While

there is a good deal of childish humor, the game handles its heavier subjects with surgical precision. “GTA V” doesn’t answer any mind-blowing questions, but presents them to the players, inviting them to make their own decisions.

Furthermore, the game’s humor adds to the darker parts of the story, taking the grim moments and making them more unsettling with how casually characters treat them.

“GTA V” remains an open world, third person shooter game, but the gameplay has been improved overall.

Shooting feels much more fluid, and the abundance of new and customizable weapons makes rampaging through Los Santos even more fun. Whether it’s by land, sea or air, there are a multitude of ways to travel the expansive cityscape and desert of San Andreas. There is plenty to do in “GTA V,” with a 40-hour story mode and a variety of side missions to keep players busy.

While “GTA V’s” story does not always mesh with the gameplay, this does not take away from the narrative itself.

Story in video games works best when in tandem with the gameplay, both accenting each other and creating a unified experience. However, to achieve this with “GTA V,” one of two things would have to happen: either Rockstar would need to remove the open world aspects of the game, or they would

need to limit the story to one centered around deranged mass murderers. By giving the player agency, game developers sacrifice a certain amount of control. By removing the open world aspects of “GTA V,” the narrative would be stronger, but at the cost of the game’s signature style of play. “Grand Theft Auto” without freedom simply isn’t “GTA.” On the other hand, sacrificing the narrative to account for the possibility of players not acting a specific way would be a crime. “GTA III” featured a silent protagonist who simply took orders and killed people. Its gameplay and story were much more in sync, but the narrative is underwhelming compared to “GTA V.” Neither of these options are viable and would only ruin the balance between gameplay and story that Rockstar has achieved.

While “GTA V” is not the ultimate example, it is undeniable that video games, as a medium, are art. The ability to mix player control into the narrative provides possibilities that no other form of media can replicate. It is unfair to make comparisons with film or literature — the “Citizen Kane of gaming” is a fallacy that hinders the progression of the medium. “GTA V” is a damn fine game with an incredible story and amazing gameplay, and the fact that it pulled off everything without betraying its roots makes it all the better.

Not Quite Cameron Wade | Release “Grand Theft Auto” is fun. With their well-realized characters and staggeringly huge and detailed openworlds, it’s almost impossible not to be entertained by at least some portion of the “GTA” games. But to hear the way people talk about the series (“GTA V” is tied with “GTA IV” as the highest rated game of all time on Metacritic) and to see the most recent installment’s sales numbers ($1 billion in only three days), you’d be forgiven for thinking that video games have found their defining franchise; the game as a series to show to the rest of the world that gaming has grown up and is a legitimate art form. “Grand Theft Auto” is not that series. “Grand Theft Auto” is not gaming’s “Citizen Kane.”

It’s not even gaming’s “Goodfellas.”

It’s less “Godfather” and more Michael Bay. “Grand Theft Auto IV” and “Grand Theft Auto V” have found themselves in an incredibly rare (and profitable) niche in the world of video games.

The games give the player a living world to explore and the tools to interact with it — like cars, boats, submarines, helicopters, planes and an arsenal of weaponry. For most players, this combination usually results in car chases, shootouts, explosions and all manner of other insanity and chaos. This is the side of “GTA” that basically appeals to everybody looking for mindless fun, gamer and non-gamer alike. But both “GTA IV” and “GTA V” also attempt to tell serious stories about the dark, unglamorous side of crime, American culture and the people who inhabit

those worlds. With a massive script, quality voice acting, well-directed cutscenes and something to say about the world we live in, “GTA” is often pointed at as a standard of video game storytelling. This attempt at mature storytelling appeals to a different set of gamers: those interested in video game narratives. Combining mature storytelling and stupid, fun gameplay, Rockstar has created a series that can just about appeal to everyone.

It’s a perfect storm of hype, making each successive “Grand Theft Auto” game more money and more critical acclaim.

The problem is that while “Grand Theft Auto” excels with being stupid fun, it doesn’t do so well with its storytelling. The major issue lies in the conflict between its story and its gameplay. The games’ stories show crime and violence to be horrendous acts, ruining people’s lives and corrupting who they are. The gameplay, on the other hand, is overthe-top and goofy, making violence entertaining and thus the goal for the player. The violent fun had in the gameplay is the exact antithesis to what the games’ narratives tell you.

This is called ludonarrative dissonance.

It’s the disconnect between what a game’s story and gameplay are telling the player. “GTA IV’s” Niko Bellic opines during one cutscene of the atrocities he saw committed at war, yet the player can then proceed to have Bellic hijack a police car, drive it down the oncoming lane with Stevie Nicks blasting from the radio, crash headfirst into another car and go spinning through the air into a crowded sidewalk. The game makes

violence fun, yet tells the player that violence is bad. That’s ludonarrative dissonance. “GTA V” partially solves this issue by allowing the player to control Trevor, a deranged violent man who would enjoy the type of chaos that “GTA’s” mechanics encourage, but the problem still persists elsewhere in the game.

While admirable in an industry where the best-selling game series of the last four years has a story that amounts to “America is rad. Let’s shoot foreigners,” the series’ lampooning of American culture mostly just resorts to unsubtle, uncreative satire and crude penis jokes. In “GTA V,” there’s a company called Fruit that makes sleek white computers and smart phones, its slogan being, “Think Simple. Think Minimalism. Think Overpriced.” The company’s logo is a silhouette of a bowl of fruit. Two round fruit are sitting side-by-side in the bowl and a banana is sticking up vertically between them. This is what most of the humor in “Grand Theft Auto” devolves into: thinly-veiled, easy jabs at well-known punching bags and penis jokes.

“Grand Theft Auto” is fun.

Rockstar’s success with the series has allowed them to make each game bigger, more detailed and more technically impressive than the one before. But “Grand Theft Auto” isn’t the be-all and end-all of video games.

“Grand Theft Auto” has hours of polished content, it puts effort into its narrative and it at least tries to have a message, but in the end it’s just a stupid, fun blockbuster that’s too often confused for art.

While "The Lowland" comes up short, it's still worth the read Jacob Shamsian | Assistant Release Fiction largely exists today in two forms: the novel and the short story. Each form has its own masters, and a few writers — like Salinger, Joyce and Tolstoy — have managed to master both. Jhumpa Lahiri’s first book and short story collection “Interpreter of Maladies” won great acclaim and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2000.

With her new book, “The Lowland,” she shoots for the great novelist title.

Lahiri’s short stories are small slices of immigrant life, but “The Lowland” is a big postcolonial story, trumpeted by the publisher’s marketing department as “a tale of two brothers bound by tragedy, a fiercely brilliant woman haunted by her past, a country torn by revolution, and a love that lasts long past death.” All of that is certainly true, but Lahiri’s stark prose is only partly on display here — much of the novel’s 300plus pages are taken up by frustrating exposition that diminishes the novel’s otherwise epic scale.

The book starts with two brothers, Subhash

and Udayan, in 1960s Calcutta. Both intelligent, they get out of their small village by getting into big-city universities but nonetheless have very different destinies. Udayan, the younger brother, gets involved in the Naxalite Maoist political movement while Subhash goes off to a university in Rhode Island to study oceanography in a doctorate program. The Naxalites back in India become increasingly violent and rebellious, leaving Udayan dead and his pregnant widow, Gauri, stranded. Subhash’s parents shun Gauri because of her low caste status so Subhash, out of decency, marries her and takes her back to Rhode Island with him. That’s just the first quarter of the book.

From that part of the story (The New Yorker published an abridged version in their summer fiction issue), the book slows down to a portrait of a loveless, struggling marriage and a halffunctional family. When Gauri gives birth to her daughter, the book mostly settles into domesticity.

A comment one of Gauri’s professors gave upon her daughter’s birth applies here: “With children

the clock is reset. We forget what came before.”

Stories of the multi-decade, continentspanning type normally comprise novels twice the size of “The Lowland,” but Lahiri’s efficient, suggestive prose keeps it down. She also makes sure no one in a large cast of characters is shortened into a cliché.

But Lahiri apparently doesn’t think a great short novel is enough. Every significant character decision is accompanied by exhaustive explanation, like she’s including marginal annotations of the story into the story itself. Little of the characters’ inner lives are left to the imagination. The reader doesn’t get to breathe within the pages and think about why this character has done that – all the thinking is already done for us. The relentless elucidation makes the novel feel stoic; it flattens and softens the story’s emotional twists and turns with obvious psychological insight. The story and characters don’t get the swiftness and independent lives they deserve. Somewhere in this very good 350-page novel there is a 200-page masterpiece.

8

RELEASE

Septeber 27, 2013 | www.bupipedream.com

September 27, 2013 | www.bupipedream.com

It's a Cole new world

RELEASE

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J. Cole and Flosstradamus took the Events Center stage Thursday night and proved that the fall concert can still be as big as it once was — By Darian Lusk

For the first time in years, the BU fall concert sold out. But students were given more than just a show at the Events Center Thursday; they got a night in Cole World.

Rapper J. Cole headlined with opening EDM group Flosstradamus, and together they brought down the house and brought the BU fall concert back to what it once was.

After a 30-minute warm-up set by DJ Bas, Flosstradamus took the stage at 7:55 p.m. Floss, composed of Chicago-based DJs 2K and Autobot, pledged to “bring hip hop and EDM fans

together.” After an hour long set with trap and electronic remixes to everything from Kanye West’s “New Slaves” to 2 Chainz’s “I’m Different,” it’s safe to say, “mission accomplished.”

“They could’ve brought some newer stuff to the table, but I still loved it,” said Monique Tartt, a freshman majoring in sociology.

Ten minutes after Floss ended their set, the lights blacked out and the Events Center began to rumble to the sound of deep bass. The roar of the crowd grew to a thunderous climax when suddenly in a flash of light, the back curtain covering the stage

fell to the ground. Behind it stood a full band, backup singers, a giant white staircase and J. Cole standing mightily atop.

Wearing all black and rocking a snapback that read “sinner,” the rapper descended from his throne towards the sea of cell phones and screaming fans.

Between swigs of whiskey, J. Cole belted out his biggest hits, from “Work Out” to “Power Trip.” After a few songs, he stopped to promise the crowd more than just a concert. “This shit is a journey,” he assured us. And after 75 minutes of Cole World, he had BU students on

that journey with him.

“The concert was … incredible,” said Kayla Stammer, a junior majoring in neuroscience. “J Cole was on point. I can’t believe this is Binghamton.”

With students dancing across the bleachers and nearly filling the floor, the Events Center came alive in a way it hasn’t for years.

“The stage was incredible.

The Events Center has never looked this good,” said Haley Garofalo, concerts chair for the Student Association. “J Cole’s tour manager was really

impressed that we basically filled the Events Center even though we’re just students.”

While J. Cole brought the heat, students brought the spirit to the show. Most BU students haven’t seen such a high-profile booking on campus, and for seniors, the show evokes memories of Drake four years ago. This concert also marked the most tickets sold since Drake.

“I’m so happy Bing got a big name on campus for the first time in a long time,” said Stephen Bedik, senior majoring in accounting. “He released a

dope album this summer, and tonight he’s on fire.”

For Mariana Moriello, vice president of programming for the SA, J. Cole and Floss are only the beginning.

“This show is the biggest success since Drake,” Moriello said. “We’re super excited to see what the year holds. We have Demetri Martin coming next month, and we definitely have a lot of surprises for BU.” J. Cole said it best: this year is going to be a journey. And based on tonight, we’ve already started with a bang.

Michael Contegni, Franz Lino and Kendall Loh/Staff Photographers

RELEASE

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A new Lorde of pop music emerges Jonathan Finkelstein | Release

catchiness and simple beauty, the track is special because it’s relatable on so many levels.

And as 2013 slips away, fourth quarter album releases should be shaking in their boots— Lorde’s debut “Pure Heroine,” the decade’s first realist pop album, is sneaking in through the back door.

A quick Google search of Lorde yields a limited number of head shots that all display her regal curls and piercing gaze, but never try to shock with outlandish outfits or controversially sexual poses.

She’s presenting herself as a lucky girl whose talent isn’t necessarily extraordinary, but on the same level as millions of others around the world who desire recognition every day.

“I think doing well in this industry is a lot of talent and hard work, but also luck,” O’Connor explained to Alt. 98.7 last month. “Maybe I just had a good mix.” Thus, Lorde is all about the rise of a middle-class girl into the upper echelons of stardom and fame. The only difference between this project’s rags to riches story and so many others is that O’Connor never forgets where she’s from and what she stands for.

On the lean, gorgeous “Royals,” she’s paying homage to just that — a notion that most popular music, be it rap, pop or country, narrates a set of impossible lifestyles. “Jet planes, islands, tigers on a gold leash: we don’t care,” she sings, opting for a life of blissful boredom that’s elaborated

If you need solid proof that there’s no boundary between the mainstream and the alternative, look no further than Lorde. The 16-year-old New Zealander is primed and ready to take over the world with her smart brand of pop, which is just as inspired by Nicki Minaj and Kanye West as it is by Grimes, James Blake and Burial.

"Lorde is all about the rise of a middle-class girl into the upper echelons of stardom and fame" Lorde, a stage name for Ella Yelich-O’Connor, was born in the heyday of Al Gore’s “information superhighway” and shamelessly attached to the Digital Age. Critics seem to perceive the young pop star’s age as a sign of precociousness when she’s merely more adept than her elders at absorbing information and forming an opinion. “Royals,” the internationally acclaimed hit that’s besting Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga on global charts is Lorde’s grand statement. Other than its

Gabriella Ginsberg | Release

on fully throughout “Pure Heroine.” She’s embracing middle-class pride and throwing out the boring trends of opulent radio pop, and in doing so, has instantly become one of our generation’s best realists. The platform she’s been given by Universal has become her arena to address her generation’s cultural problems.

“Royals” is inescapable right now because it represents 99 percent of the world, filling a gap in popular music that relates to socio-economic status and not to body shape, debauchery or apocalyptic, YOLO lifestyles. Furthermore, its minimal approach is unmistakably poignant, showcasing O’Connor’s smoky vocals and magnifying her lyrics instead of pumping the listener’s adrenaline up with

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high BPM. Ultimately, Lorde’s rise this year is a product of an international recession, a rise in collectivity through social media and a universal frustration with the normal characteristics of what is deemed “mainstream.”

It seems perfect and right, then, that a voice of the new generation who’s young and smart should be the one to attack and transform them.

“Royals” and “Pure Heroine” in its entirety are the new standard for pop realism in the present, allowing the stories of the suburbs and the plight of the middle class to deserve just as much air time as all the Grey Goose, Maybachs and gold-leashed tigers.

Veterans of Starbucks are no strangers to the seasonal drinks that the company brings back each year. With autumn comes one of the most popular hot drinks around: the pumpkin spice latte. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the PSL, so it was only fitting that we take to the streets, interviewing fellow students about the fall favorite. As it turns out, people are rather opinionated about the drink. Truly, there is a strong divide between the PSL addicts and the haters.

The color of the drink was usually the first thing mentioned.

“The color of the latte is kinda weird, but pumpkin stuff makes me happy,” said Munira Pulodi, a senior majoring in human development.

She was not the only one to bring up the drink’s alarming shade of orange. Some students are put off by its hue, which deters them from the drink altogether.

“It’s an unnatural shade of orange. It’s almost glowstickesque. A drink at Starbucks is about $4 and I’d rather get something that I know I like,” said Xin Ke, an undecided sophomore.

Other students believe that the orange color just adds to the experience: “Pumpkin is scrumptious, and the orange of pumpkin is very distinct. So that

shade of pumpkin orange in a latte creates a euphoric visual sensation,” said Alex Kleiner, a senior double-majoring in computer science and cinema.

As for the caffeine factor, many agree that the PSL barely tastes like coffee. This is probably due to the “pumpkin preservatives and the crap load of whipped cream on it,” said Connie Chan, a sophomore majoring in biology.

Finally, students weighed in on the flavor itself.

“I like it, because of the pumpkin taste. It’s sweet, strong, refreshing and delicious,” Pulodi said.

This is a popular opinion, as pumpkin items are extremely sought-after this time of year due to a mix of marketing and actual deliciousness factor.

There is something magnetic about the PSL. It’s something that you should try at least once; it’s a part of our culture that can’t be avoided. And who knows? You may love it! Or, you’ll be out $4 and left with a bad taste in your mouth, but hey, you tried.

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Orange is the new black coffee The pumpkin spice latte, dividing Starbucks lovers everywhere

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FUN

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Refrigerator Material

Dan Took Acid

Jeremy Kaplowitz

Mike Casanova Manzi

Friday Night Cab

Finding Happiness

Fun Page Staff

Mareva Raclyn

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, July 26, 2007

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis ACROSS 1 Reduction 4 Totals 8 Malign 13 Most fit to serve 15 Cafeteria slider 16 Avignon aunt 17 Bona fide 18 Not to be trusted 20 City known for its prosciutto 22 “The Nutcracker” garb 23 Whatever 24 Routine roundup group 28 Back-to-school mo.

29 “Of course I knew that!”

30 Winter lift 33 José’s health 35 Dictator’s aide 36 Touch 39 __ Peak, Kilimanjaro’s highest point 42 “Do __ others ...”

43 Accumulated 45 Yawners 47 Founder of Thebes, in myth 49 Some directors sit on them: Abbr.

50 London-based record co.

53 Words first used monetarily on the 1795 $5 halfeagle coin 57 Goof 59 Sly look 60 Malfunction 61 Game symbolically represented by 30 puzzle entries 65 __ Linda, California 66 Loan sharking 67 “... feel like __ ...”

68 RussiaManchuria border river 69 Leary of comedy 70 Jazzman Charlie 71 Condition DOWN 1 __ Christi

2 Discomfort 3 Destroy, in a way 4 __ Redman, Gary Sinise’s role in “The Stand” 5 Cafeteria container 6 Damon et al.

7 Milk shake ingredient 8 American patriot Crispus __ 9 “Rats!” relative 10 Detach 11 Wow 12 Evasive 14 Michigan city or college 19 Multi-purpose wheels 21 “Betsy’s Wedding” director 25 USS Excelsior captain in “Star Trek VI” 26 “No way” 27 Shakespeare’s “__ Andronicus” 31 Mich. neighbor 32 Seek the support of 33 Baffle 34 Eschew subtitles

36 Fly trajectory 37 Sheepish comment?

38 Spending less than budget, say 40 Former Virginia senator 41 Pakistani language 44 Wheels holding cables 46 She, to Vespucci 48 Petitions 50 Put in a vault?

51 Brightly colored dress 52 Bestow 54 Treatment center goal 55 Twist onstage 56 Ralph Bunche’s alma mater 57 Barak of Israel 58 Climbed 62 Indian term of respect 63 Prefix with Asian 64 Criterion: Abbr.

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

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By David J. Kahn (c)2007 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

7/26/07

7/26/07

www.bupipedream.com | September 28, 2013

OPINION

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T

Stacking Up

he US News & World Report released its National University Rankings this week, and Binghamton University dropped from No. 89 to No. 97.

Perhaps it’s trivial. Maybe it shouldn’t matter all that much. But for a school that dubs itself “the premier public university in the northeast,” this development comes as a step in the wrong direction.

BU Director of Media and Public Relations Ryan Yarosh and Provost Donald Nieman said they didn’t pay much thought to the drop. Yarosh said that the reputation-based element of the ranking has hampered Binghamton in the past, while Nieman added that people unfamiliar with the University are asked to evaluate its reputation.

Maybe the ranking has its flaws. A foolproof method of determining a school’s worth really isn’t possible, and Nieman poses a fair argument.

But these rankings can’t possibly be as unimportant as their tones suggest. The admissions page on the BU website, meant to attract prospective students, has an entire page dubbed “Accolades,” on which rankings the University has received from a variety of different media outlets are listed. If the ratings systems are so arbitrary that an eight-spot drop isn’t even worth concern from the administration, why bother advertising the ranks at all?

President Harvey Stenger has set lofty goals for the University. Last year, he unveiled

and began to implement the “Road Map for Success,” which details specific policy and infrastructure goals in order to secure Binghamton’s reputation as the “premier public university in the northeast.”

Ultimately, as the word “premier” would suggest, the hope is to top the charts.

And now we’re eight spots further from that goal.

Our thoughts? Pick a stance. Either these ratings systems are trivial and arbitrary, and the students who go here should value the quality of their education regardless of what spot it holds in a magazine, or the high praises Binghamton receives from third parties are a testament to our climbing place in the world. If our philosophy is the latter, we can’t abandon it whenever the numbers don’t go in our favor.

Ultimately, we think you would be hard pressed to find a student on campus who noticed a significant decline in the quality of their education from last year to this year.

But the fact of the matter is, someone did notice. And while there are inherent problems with forcing different schools to compete for top spots on lists, as an up and coming public school, the only direction we should be moving is up.

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Tea Party leaders hinder progress in Congress The fringe right's tactics of fear and conspiracy stall federal budget debate There’s a little more than a week remaining before the government shuts down.

That is, unless Republicans and Democrats are able to come to an agreement over the federal budget.

Ezra Shapiro Columnist

So far, there seems to be an insuperable barrier separating the two sides: Obamacare. Since its passage and more acutely since the Supreme Court ruled the individual mandate, a central component of the law, constitutional last year, Republicans have made repealing Obamacare central to their legislative agenda.

Now, some in the Republican Party are threatening to shut down the government unless the health care law is defunded. The government, the economy and the United States’ standing in the world are, it appears, hostages worth taking for these

Republicans.

It’s important to note that many Republicans oppose taking such an important hostage. John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, is one such Republican, saying a government shutdown would “send the economy into a tailspin.”

Rather, the government’s dissolution will be due to people like Ted Cruz, a Tea Party Republican from Texas. He, along with other members of the far right fringe — Rand Paul, to name another prominent member of that faction — don’t just oppose Obamacare, but anything Obamarelated. They believe Obama should be impeached and pander to conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones. In August of last year, for example, Sen. Paul tweeted about the Weather Service stockpiling ammunition — a bogus story started at Infowars, a notorious conspiracy theorist site, and reprinted by the Drudge Report, a more mainstream conservative website.

What makes the fringe’s vehement opposition to Obama more than just a nuisance is that, instead of opposing the president on his policies’ merits, the fringe weaves a narrative in which

Obama is a wannabe tyrant whose every policy is intended to bring about the end of the republic.

This fringe claims that it is composed of real Americans, while liberals and mainstream Republicans are part of a coalition determined to destroy America. But looking at the way this fringe acts, it’s clear they are the ones doing a far greater disservice to America.

defunding Obamacare?

The government must be shut down until it is defunded.

Most insidious of all, these socalled patriots mirror the positions and ideas of some questionable characters. Infowars, to which the Drudge Report frequently links, takes much of its source material from Russia Today, the Russian government’s media branch. Another main source is Press TV, the Iranian government’s media wing.

Couple this with many far right voters’ fascination with and even admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin and you have a disturbing trend.

It’s a growing mistrust and hostility toward the American government. With militias in the country increasing 400 percent since Obama took office, growing calls for a Second Revolution and claims that the government will one day soon be They undermine its institutions: replaced by a dictatorship, America The Supreme Court, the highest court needs a reality check. in the land, upholds Obamacare? The court must be full of communists, — Ezra Shapiro is a senior doubleidiots or people in on the conspiracy. majoring in political science and A plurality in Congress opposes history.

Instead of opposing the president on his policies’ merits, the fringe weaves a narrative in which Obama is a wannabe tyrant

September 28, 2013 | www.bupipedream.com

OPINION

13

Our Columnists Respond...

Opinion writers address a 9/24 piece by columnist Giovanna Bernardo, titled "College is the place to find a husband"

Don't subscribe to gender roles

Make career goals, not sandwiches

Women and men are equally responsible for the continuation of the human race. Both are essential players in the process of procreation. Both men and women have the capacity for nurturing and raising stable, socially adjusted children. Both men and women excel in the workplace, demonstrate effective management skills and show equal IQ levels. So why in the 21st century, when these similarities are common knowledge, are women relegated to the roles of homemaker or single career woman? Why are men still expected to be breadwinners?

Giovanna Bernardo’s article is fraught with misogyny and gender role-squeezing. Even though I wholeheartedly disagree with her, a certain amount of respect must be paid to tout such an unpopular opinion on the pages of this newspaper. As a male, these gender-related issues don’t directly affect me the way they do females. However, there are a few things that I have to say from a male perspective.

Molly McGrath Columnist

Contrary to Giovanna’s statement in her column, the stigma is not against stay-at-home mothers, it’s against stay-at-home fathers. Even as the stay-at-home dad arrangement becomes more culturally acceptable, negative stereotypes abound. These men are labeled as weak, whipped and incompetent. Only 2.7 percent of married fathers are stay-at-home dads despite the fact that the stay-at-home father arrangement is proven to be far more psychologically beneficial

to young children than the traditional structure advocated by Giovanna.

Men and women, fathers and mothers, even childless couples, could benefit from an abandonment of the archaic social construct commonly called gender. There is nothing wrong with a young woman envisioning herself as a caregiver. Children raised by caregiving parents reportedly show more empathy than their peers raised in daycare environments. However, a woman should aspire to be a caregiver solely because she is interested in raising children, not because it’s what woman “should do” according to traditional ideals.

Giovanna is only partially correct in stating that her ideas are outdated. The need for intimate connection between child and parent and the desire to find a reliable, loving partner are ideals that persist today. The belief that women belong in the home is a relic of a culture which viewed women as inferior. To associate the Catholic religion with this belief is to label Catholicism equally backward and irrelevant.

College is not the place to find a husband. In fact, only 29 percent of straight men are interested in marriage, a 9 percent drop since 1997. Some posit that men are uninterested in marriage because of the rising rate of divorce, the financial risk and the decline of religious observance. In addition,

the average age men get married is 29. Most college men graduate at age 21. At a socially liberal school such as Binghamton University, the chance of finding a male on the prowl for his wife is slim to none.

If the primary purpose of attending college is to find a husband, I suggest you create an OkCupid profile College is the place to develop the skills necessary to compete in today’s job market. College is a place first and foremost to learn. If the primary purpose of attending college is to find a husband, I suggest you create an OkCupid profile. It’s about 80,000 dollars cheaper and the men on the site are intent on finding a mate, rather than passing Calc III or writing a dissertation.

Binghamton women, there is nothing wrong with fantasizing about a dream wedding, but for now, focus on intellectual growth. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your own time, money and potential.

Macon Fessenden Columnist

The author claims that college is the time to look for a husband. There are many things wrong with that statement, including the money someone is paying for her to find a husband, the potential set-back of years of attempted destruction of such clearly defined gender roles, etc. But as a typical male at Binghamton, we tend to enjoy women whose belief system is

in the same century as ours.

Ambition, confidence and success are sexy. Misogyny, servility and contentment are not. While there are plenty of sandwich and kitchen jokes on this campus, a girl we can respect is more of a turn-on than the one in a miniskirt at the Rat (not that they’re never the same person).

Ambition, confidence and success are sexy.

Misogyny, servility and contentment are not Also, if told me searching college, I

a girl I didn’t know she was actively for a husband in would probably be

a little creeped out. That’s essentially what Giovanna did.

She told the entire campus that she’s in college to find a husband. Can someone say red flag?

While I wouldn’t mind meeting the girl I marry in college, I am here to get an education, make connections and have fun. College is definitely one of the better places to find a spouse, but this isn’t 1930s England; A woman can go to college with more ambition than getting someone on one knee. College isn’t a matchmaker. It’s a place you come to learn skills you can use in the workforce.

If you happen to find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with while here, you are one of the lucky few. But I guarantee you that the harder you look for a husband during your time here, the harder it will be to find one.

— Macon Fessenden is a non-matriculated graduate student. He graduated in Spring 2013 with a degree in environmental science.

— Molly McGrath is a junior double-majoring in political science and history.

Sex ed. needs a facelift "The talk" should be about more than just biology It’s the age-old question: how young is too young? Catch the pun? If so, congratulations, and if not, it’s okay, it’s not an article about puns.

Jake Lewis Sex Columnist

When I talk about age, I’m not just talking about doing the dirty deed. I’m talking about knowing about it and discussing it with others, whether they’re friends, siblings or even parents.

I know plenty of people that say when they have kids they want to be completely open and honest with them. After all, it’s just the human body and they’re going to have to learn about it sometime, right? So why not answer them honestly when they first ask you?

Personally, I don’t know how I feel about that. If you feel that way then more power to you.

I’ll bring the visual aids but I’m not having kids anytime soon, especially in a society where children are constantly oversexualized.

Honestly, “Toddlers and Tiaras” is long overdue for a series finale or cancellation.

Preferably cancellation.

Knowing about sex in a society in which values appear to be constantly deteriorating is extremely detrimental to developing emotional sexual maturity, something that I’m not sure I even have myself.

In this day and age I hear about sixth graders having

pregnancy scares and girls losing their virginities during their tweenage years. From an emotional standpoint, I feel like that’s most likely a mistake.

Speaking from the perspective of someone who grew up in a sheltered home environment in terms of subjects like sex, I understand I’m biased. I recognize that and a lot of other opinions are valuable in this discussion.

I wish I would’ve known more about sex from all sorts of viewpoints before I had it for the first time

— after all, they have to learn about it at some point.

Perhaps effort should be made to teach children about sex’s implications, as opposed to debating about the best age to be learning about it. When I talk about implications I’m not just talking about the STI’s you learn about in high school. I also believe the emotional side of sex should be discussed.

Sex affects so many aspects of a person’s development. A scientific overview isn’t enough anymore. Let’s stop making it all about the birds and the bees and looking at pictures of pink penises in middle school textbooks. Let’s be real, sex isn’t about butterflies and prettiness.

It’s hot and sloppy and you might go home in clothes that are cleaner than you are.

Seriously, I wish I would’ve known more about sex from all sorts of viewpoints before I had it for the first time. It’s great to know where to put it but what implications will that have afterwards? If I knew more, maybe I wouldn’t have had to experiment as much to find out various things that could be detrimental to me in some ways now.

This is one of those issues where everyone has their own opinion and I think that’s OK. While I wouldn’t advocate anyone pushing their children to have sex, we all deserve exposure to different perspectives on this issue, and I have no doubt that we all will continue to have this right.

For example, if we’re speaking in biological terms, sexual maturity (puberty) is when you start being able to reproduce, which is happening at an earlier and earlier age nowadays. In a lot of cultures the prime age to actually procreate is shortly thereafter. If we’re thinking in terms of nature as a whole, then naturally we have the urge to reproduce around when we reach sexual maturity.

I recognize that the mindset I have is shaped by American society, which largely concerns itself with being politically correct. Sex is one of those taboo topics that’s pushed off to the — Jake Lewis is a senior side and highly controversial, majoring in English. which makes teaching children about it all the more difficult

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Guido Barilla, chairman of the Barilla pasta company, in a radio interview with Italian station Radio 24 on Wednesday

’’

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September 27, 2013 | www.bupipedream.com

SPORTS

14

Celeste's goal not enough as Bearcats tie St. Peter's Urbanski Peacocks put one past Frantellizzi in 77th minute to even score, force overtime top pro prospect in PGCBL BU pitcher topped out at 95 mph over summer Ari Kramer Sports Editor

Tycho McManus/Contributing Photographer

Senior forward Marts Reid-Warden tallied an assist on junior forward Steven Celeste’s goal in Binghamton’s 1-1 tie with St. Peter’s. Senior forward Marts Reid-Warden tallied an assist on junior forward Steven Celeste’s goal in Binghamton’s 1-1 tie with St. Peter’s.

Erik Bacharach Assistant Sports Editor In their first-ever matchup, the Binghamton men’s soccer team and St. Peter’s settled for a 1-1 tie after the Peacocks scored the equalizer with 12:25 left in regulation at the Bearcats Sports Complex on Tuesday night.

“I thought it was a very competitive match.

I’m disappointed we didn’t get three points tonight,” Binghamton head coach Paul Marco said. “I thought we played well enough in the first half and well enough in overtime to have three points instead of one.”

Junior forward Steven Celeste put the Bearcats (2-4-2) on the board first in the 47th minute with his second goal of the season.

Junior midfielder Ben Nicholson set up senior forward Marts ReidWarden, who drew the attention of the goalkeeper before dishing it to

a cutting Celeste for an easy finish.

“There was good build-up play,” Celeste said. “Ben played a great pass to Marts. I thought Marts could have scored the goal but I called for it and I knew if he made a decent pass, I’d have a wide-open net and that’s what happened.”

St. Peter’s (1-4-2) retaliated in the 77th minute when junior midfielder Marcel Maddee onetimed a pass from freshman midfielder Luke Fairlamb into the goal.

Binghamton recruited Maddee while he was still in Germany and knew the midfielder had a lethal right leg.

“We know a lot about the kid who scored the goal,” Marco said.

“We knew he was right-footed and we put him on his favorite foot and he punished us for it.”

Senior back Robbie Hughes nearly put in a charging header from six yards in front of the net

with five minutes left to play, but couldn’t convert as the ball sailed just over the goalpost.

Inside the final minute of regulation, sophomore goalkeeper Stefano Frantellizzi, who finished with five saves, dove to stop a shot that was launched at the right side of the net to send the game into overtime.

While the Peacocks controlled the first overtime period with a 3-0 shot advantage, the Bearcats were the aggressors in the final suddendeath period, outshooting their opponents 4-0. Overall, both teams took 12 shots in the contest.

“Maybe on the night, we didn’t focus enough,” Celeste said. “But the opportunities are there and that’s what matters more in the long run. When it comes down to conference play, we just need to put them in.”

BU’s shortcomings in front of the net cost them in the end,

according to Celeste and Marco.

The player and coach said the team has to be more precise in the opponent’s box and capitalize on offensive opportunities.

“I think our last second of concentration in front of the net slipped a little bit tonight,” Celeste said.

“We gave the ball away a little too much at times and I’m really disappointed by our play in front of goal,” Marco said. “I felt like our guys all tried to be heroes today instead of getting the collective goal.”

The Bearcats have two more non-conference matchups before they travel to Vermont on Oct. 5 to kick off their conference season.

BU will try to return to the win column on Friday night when it’s set to host St. Bonaventure at 7 p.m. at the Bearcats Sports Complex.

FINAL SCORE

1

1

BU vs. St. Bonaventure DATE

September 27 LOCATION

Bearcats Sports Complex TIME

7:00 p.m.

Perfect Game named Binghamton junior pitcher Mike Urbanski the top professional prospect in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League.

A prestigious baseball organization known for exposing players to major league clubs, Perfect Game said Urbanski displayed the best velocity, breaking ball and command in the PGCBL and ranked him ahead of three players who had already been selected in a first-year player draft.

In 30 innings of work for the PGCBL’s Amsterdam Mohawks this summer, Urbanski posted a 5-2 record to go with a 2.67 ERA and four saves. He also struck out 40 batters while walking just six, good for a 6.7 K/BB. For perspective, only 10 Division I pitchers posted a better K/BB in the 2013 regular season.

Perfect Game’s scouting report on Urbanski, a 6-foot4 right hander, said the junior attained his numbers with a fastball that sat in the 92-94 mph range and topped out at 95 mph. It also said Urbanski’s slider “became a dominant second pitch.”

Before the summer, Urbanski pitched to a 4.74 ERA in 19 relief innings for the Bearcats.

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September 27, 2013 | www.bupipedream.com

SPORTS

15

Welcome to the third week of Pipe Dream NFL Picks! Every week, Pipe Dream sports editors and one guest will attempt to correctly predict the outcome of four upcoming games of their choice, selecting one prediction as a LOCK. Getting the LOCK correct earns you three points, while getting it wrong costs you one.

The other three games are worth one point each, and there is no penalty for wrong guesses on these. Ties give you a half-point. After the second week, Erik and Ashley sit atop the group with six points each. Ari and the guest stand in a deadlock with identical 3-5 records and four points apiece. If you would like to submit picks, email sports@bupipedream.com.

Pipe Dream Picks Erik Ashley Ari Guest

5-3 5-3 3-5 3-5

6 6 4 4 SPORTS EDITOR

Ari Kramer’s Picks

LOCK: Indianapolis (-8.5) over JACKSONVILLE Because Orlando’s CBS affiliate had to issue an apology to its viewers for airing the Sept. 15 Jaguars’ game.

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Erik Bacharach's Picks

LOCK: Cincinnati (-4.5) over CLEVELAND Cleveland won’t win twice in a row. This isn’t the End of Days.

Indianapolis (-8.5) over JACKSONVILLE I’m honestly surprised the Jaguars haven’t been demoted to the CFL or Arena Football League by now.

NEW ORLEANS (-6.5) over Miami Because the Dolphins’ luck has to run out sooner rather than later.

TENNESSEE (-3.5) over NY Jets The Jets have actually looked … good. The defense has been great and Geno Smith isn’t afraid to launch the ball downfield.

But I’m still not falling for it.

Chicago (+3) over DETROIT Because Nate Burleson valued his pizza over his team.

NY Giants (+4.5) over KANSAS CITY Because the Giants can’t start 0-4. Eli’s not THAT bad, right? Cheers, Christina!

DENVER (-11) over Philadelphia Denver at home is money in the bank.

LOCK: Pittsburgh (-3) over Minnesota Big Ben in London? Sounds like a winning combination. One of these teams is going 0-4 and I’m betting it’ll be the team that let up over 300 passing yards to Brian Hoyer.

LOCK: Pittsburgh (-3) over Minnesota This game is being played across the pond at Wembley Stadium. If the team with Big Ben at quarterback doesn’t win in London, then there is no God.

TAMPA BAY (-2.5) over Arizona After an 0-3 start, you know former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano is screaming in every player’s face and pelting them all with solid objects until he gets a win. I’m thinking that new rookie starter Glennon can’t possibly play worse than Freeman.

DETROIT (-3) over Chicago Chicago’s offense will be more worried about Ndamukong Suh’s elbows than protecting Jay Cutler. Detroit wins this 17-10.

KANSAS CITY (-4.5) over NY Giants The Chiefs: good defense, solid running game, quarterback who doesn’t turn over the ball. The Giants: see “The Chiefs” but put “in dire need of a” in front of everything. Still, Eli showed some improvement last week by not throwing multiple interceptions — he decided to hold onto the ball and get sacked seven times instead.

Washington (-3.5) over OAKLAND Knee brace or not, Robert Lee Griffin III is going to find himself this week in Oakland. Look for Washington to put the Raiders in their place.

NY Giants (+4.5) over KANSAS CITY Eli is going to walk into the locker room and realize that the word “MANNING” is stitched across the back of his jersey and remember that he has two Super Bowl rings back home.

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Nick Vega's Picks

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

ATLANTA (-2) over New England Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are looking at their first loss of the season. It’s almost impossible to out-clutch Matty Ice in the Georgia Dome, never mind with Gronk hurt and Amendola still out.

Ashley Purdy's Picks

Binghamton to face Albany in America East opener Bearcats look to keep Great Danes winless in rematch of last year's championship game Ari Kramer Sports Editor When the Binghamton and Albany volleyball teams last met, the America East’s NCAA tournament bid was on the line. This time around, however, both teams are simply looking to take advantage of the fresh start afforded to them by conference play.

The Bearcats (2-11) lost their first eight games of 2013, setting the mark for the program’s worst-ever start, while the young Great Danes (0-12) have been swept in 11 of their 12 matches.

On the surface, neither team has displayed championship potential. But they each entered conference play in similar states last season before making their respective runs to the title match.

Binghamton carried a 3-12 mark into the America East

slate, while Albany came in with a 4-11 record.

But could that portend a return to glory for Binghamton?

“It’s always hard to say,” BU head coach Glenn Kiriyama said. “Every year’s a little bit different, and it comes down to one game here or there, one point here or there but they know they can turn it around.

They know that they have the capacity to win conference.

They’re still motivated, and hopefully they’ll perform a little bit better here.”

Kiriyama said that preconference play served as a learning period for his team, which returned several important players but also lost key hitters Iva Partaleva and Alex Roland.

“We hope that they’ve learned something,” Kiriyama said. “A lot of it is just learning what they need to work on, and then we just try and keep

getting better working on those small things.”

Kiriyama said Binghamton still needs to work harder on improving its serve-receive, as doing so should help raise the team’s .147 hitting percentage.

That mark ranks No. 278 among the NCAA’s 344 Division I teams.

In fact, the Bearcats currently rank between Nos. 264 and 286 in every major category except aces per set, where they stand at No. 179.

Albany, on the other hand, has posted even worse numbers.

The Great Danes only cracked the top 300 in digs per set (No. 240) and blocks per set (No. 299).

Following Sunday’s match, Binghamton is scheduled for two more away tilts before returning home for six straight.

Play against the Great Danes is set for 5 p.m. Sunday at University Gym in Albany, N.Y.

Tycho McManus/Contributing Photographer

The Bearcats gather during their home-opening win over Siena on Sept. 17. Binghamton carries a 2-11 record into its America East opener against Albany.

Volleyball

By the Numbers

BU kills per set leaders

Stat Aces per set

1 2

Vickers K. Hovie

2.66 2.35

Assts. per set

3

A. Hovie

2.34

Hitting %

Blks per set Digs per set Kills per set

NCAA rank 179 264 277 286 278 271

AE rank 5 4 5 7 5 5

BU @ Albany DATE

September 29 LOCATION

University Gym TIME

5:00 p.m.

SPORTS

VOLLEYBALL

BU set for AE opener Page 15

Friday, September 27, 2013

Cock Blocked

BU scores first, but St. Peter's forces tie with late goal

See Page 14

Tycho McManus/Contributing Photographer