Issue 10

FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY

SEE B SECTION

HOMECOMING 2012 See Schedule on Page 12

PIPE DREAM Friday, October 12, 2012 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXII, Issue 10

Stenger paves Road to the Community

Daniel O'Connor/Staff Photographer

Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger and Victor Yang, a member of the University’s Veteran Affairs department, discuss community engagement at a forum on Thursday. The forum was the second of three forums outlining Stenger’s Road Map to Success.

On Thursday evening, Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger held the second of three forums outlining his Road Map to Success, this time focusing on his Community Engagement team — one of nine teams that compose the Road Map. According to Stenger’s Road Map manual, the Community Engagement team will define “community” and “engagement” more specifically while brainstorming ways to increase Binghamton University involvement in the community as the team defines it.

“The team will outline positioning and action steps the University could undertake to establish new relationships or build on existing operations, programs

or connections in the community,” the manual says.

Stenger kicked off the forum, telling attendees the goal was to come up with ideas to help Binghamton University play a bigger role in the community.

“We’re looking for ideas, we’re looking for thoughts, we’re looking for answers to how we can do things better,” Stenger said. “Why don’t we, as a university, decide for ourselves what the premier public university should be in the 21st century?

Let’s define that, and let’s find a way to get from here to there.”

Following the opening comments, attendees sat at tables in groups of five to discuss their ideas for increasing community engagement. Each table was supplied with a large pad of poster paper

Young activist engages the student vote involvement, we did even better this year,” Kornblum said.

Connor Daniel, president The Binghamton University of the Binghamton University chapter of student political chapter of NYPIRG, said he was activism group New York shocked by how many students Public Interest Research Group registered.

(NYPIRG) rocked the vote “This is not just us pulling Wednesday night with a voter people over to register; students registration concert featuring are genuinely interested,” said anti-fracking rock band Daniel, a sophomore majoring Thousands of One. in environmental studies.

Robert Kornblum, project coordinator for NYPIRG on campus and the NYPIRG Southern Tier hydrofracking coordinator, said they hosted the concert as a last-ditch effort to encourage students to register.

“The event is a last chance for students to register to vote two days before the deadline,” Kornblum said.

— Rebecca Webber So far this year, 1,550 people Executed Director of NYPIRG have registered at the NYPIRG voter registration drives, significantly more than the 1,327 who registered in 2008.

The concert concluded “Despite what you heard NYPIRG’s general interest about 2008’s record-setting meeting, held in the Mandela

In an ongoing effort by the Career Development Center to teach students to get a leg up in today’s job market by using social media, they held a workshop Wednesday about how people can use Twitter to attract potential employers. “[T]he CDC is focusing more efforts on educating students on how to effectively utilize social media for the purpose of finding a job, internship, and career development,” said Francis A. Borrego, a career counselor at the CDC, in an email. “At this point we are focused on the educational stage on why/how students should

use social media for this purpose.

We are hopeful that this message will resonate with students and as a result students will actively manage their social media profiles with an emphasis on career development.”

Danielle Dottolo, the career counselor who led the workshop, presented tips on Twitter job searching, including what to tweet, what to hash tag, what to search and what kinds of pictures to use on your profile.

According to Borrego and Dottolo, over one million new jobs are listed on Twitter per month, and it serves as the second-best social networking site for finding

Room. The meeting also featured keynote speaker Rebecca Webber, executive director of NYPIRG. Webber said students have the power to influence the upcoming elections.

“There are too many of you, you can swing elections,” she said.

According to Webber, students need to rally together to tackle certain issues.

“The problem is it’s not so safe,” she exclaimed. “It’s not an easy fight. It’s student power versus industry.”

Daniel wanted the meeting to inspire students to take action.

“I want students to see that they can make a difference,” Daniel said. “NYPIRG is a big organization; the ball is rolling.”

Kornblum said he wanted student involvement to reach the point it was at during the 60s and 70s.

“We want to put the fun back into student activism,” he said.

Gina Taravella, a senior

majoring in environmental studies who registered to vote through NYPIRG, said she found the general interest meeting helpful.

“I thought the GIM was very informative,” Taravella said.

Jessica Russo, a junior double-majoring in English and Italian, said she enjoyed the meeting as well as Webber’s talk.

“I got into it, and it made me want to be more active,” Russo said.

She said she enjoyed the concert as well.

“There wasn’t a humongous showing, but I did like the band’s soul/reggae style,” Russo wrote in an email. “I definitely felt the rhythm there.”

She added that she supports Thousand of One’s efforts to promote the anti-fracking movement. “[I]t’s great that they use their talent to publicly take a stance against fracking, which is such an important justice issue,” Russo wrote.

Twitter Tidbits of employers use social media to find potential job candidates

new jobs are listed on Twitter per month

check Twitter specifically

— According to the Career Development Center

Jonathan Heisler/Photo Editor

Alexander Heffner speaks on Wednesday about voter ID laws and the importance of student engagement in presidential elections. The event was the first of three lectures planned for this month by the Harpur dean’s office and the political science department.

Alexander Heffner, a journalist, political commentator and student engagement activist, spoke Monday night at the first of three lectures to be held this October by the Harpur Dean’s office and political science department.

Heffner addressed the lack of student involvement he perceives in the upcoming presidential election as compared with the 2008 elections. He cited a Sept.

9 poll in the Charlotte Observer that found young voters to be less excited than any other age group.

“Young people tweet, but they still don’t vote,” Heffner said, asking the audience to consider how social media can be turned into something that will get students involved in politics and social justice movements. “I think there’s a case to be made for a conversation about electronic voting.”

Heffner also discussed the laws enacted in some states that require voters to show photo identification at the polls.

According to Heffner, these laws could hinder voting for students going to school away from home.

“It’s not easy to get all your credentials together,” Heffner said. “What this is doing to young

voters is putting a secondary onus on them.”

Peter Kenigsberg, a junior double-majoring in English and philosophy, politics and law, said he believes the voter identification laws are necessary.

“All U.S. citizens should have a form of identification on them,” Kenigsberg said. “If you are of legal voting age and do not have proper identification on you, you are not doing your job as a U.S. citizen. If you cannot do something as simple as that, chances are slim that you are an informed voter.”

Other students commented during the question-and-answer session following Heffner’s talk, debating the fairness of the identification laws. One student referred to the laws as a “slap in the face to constitutional rights.”

Heffner currently works on a freelancing project for PBS called “Need to Know.” He founded and edited SCOOP08 and SCOOP44, the first online national student newspapers covering the 2008 presidential election and the Obama administration.

About 40 students attended Monday’s talk, entitled “Youth, Political Engagement and the 2012 Elections.”

Jonathan Krasno, an associate

UrCrowd.com makes all your memes come true their own as well so that they can add extra interesting information to their teaching,” Shirreffs said.

Varanda said that the program benefits BU Science, a unique student group Binghamton University students as much that puts Binghamton University as the community. students into local elementary school “There are also few clubs that you classrooms, has been helping children can really have a good impact on local learn the fundamentals of science for community, while still looking good on nine years now. your résumé,” Varanda said. “Outreaching BU Science is a student-run, volunteer- beyond the school, crossing that bubble based program at Binghamton University and going out in the community and which travels locally to deliver hands- actually helping, people from outside on science presentations to elementary really appreciate it.” students ranging from kindergartners through third graders.

BU Science started as a small program by the University’s bioengineering department to get students excited about science at a young age and to prepare them for more advanced classes in high school.

Today, BU Science has grown into an organization of 57 University students that teach approximately 260 local students from Charles F. Johnson and George F. Johnson elementary schools.

BU Science has developed 80 customized lesson plans with 300 lessons now being taught a year, according to Brenno Varanda, president of BU Science and a — Kristie Shirreffs doctoral candidate studying mechanical BU Science student ambassador engineering.

Kristie Shirreffs, the program’s graduate adviser and a doctoral candidate Ryan Hand, a senior majoring in the department of organizational in biology, has worked with local behavior and leadership in the School of kindergartners, first graders and second Management, said some student teachers graders during his two years in the go above and beyond expectations. program.

“Many of our students are so “I really didn’t think I’d enjoy it as passionate that they do research on much as I have,” Hand said. “Most people

in the program really enjoy doing it, even if they don’t want to be to a teacher. You get to interact with kids and see that science can be a lot of fun.”

Alison Gang, the student ambassador for BU Science, said the students being taught also enjoy the experience.

“They like the one-on-one attention and getting to answer questions and telling us stories about the lesson,” said Gang, a senior in majoring in mechanical engineering. “They love the hands-on experiments as well.”

Binghamton University students generate lesson plans on their own, but they must get approval from the teachers before they apply them in classrooms.

Shirreffs said that last year BU Science reformatted its lesson plans to accommodate kindergarten through third grade curriculum in the hopes of widening the program.

“We now have the ability to reach more elementary school students and as more elementary school teachers learn of the program, I am sure that they will be interested and we will expand,” Shirreffs said.

Most student teachers are undergraduates, according to Varanda.

Prospective student teachers must undergo an online application process to join the program. Once accepted, they receive training to work in a classroom environment. “[The program] is open for everyone,” Varanda said. “The majority of students are educational, science and bio majors.

But we’ve found out it’s really just students who want to do something for the local community on their own time.”

conversation where a thread of edited images can be viewed.

John Koulouroudis, an undeclared junior, said the Binghamton Community page on UrCrowd is funny and relevant.

“It always makes me laugh,” Koulouroudis said. “You can get a laugh whenever you want.

When your bored, with your friends, you can even get a good laugh when your girlfriend drags you to go shoe shopping. It has a broad range of subjects, within Binghamton like State Street, Greek Life, Campus, etc. And you can post anything you want, it will not get censored.”

However, Andrew Loso, a sophomore double-majoring in history and Spanish, said he believes the page is not specific enough to Binghamton.

“The website is entertaining, although some of the memes are more about college in general and less about Binghamton,” Loso said. “I’d like to see more ‘inside jokes’ that only true Binghamton students would understand.”

Kevin Revier, a graduate student studying sociology, said he liked the Binghamton memes, but said he believes the website could do more.

“I like how UrCrowd is tailored specifically for BU students,” Revier said. “I think they provide quick humor. But I also believe that they could rally support for a particular idea or create social change in a humorous way that is still political; memes are kind of a way to introduce an idea.

I think it’s interesting how an organization can use them to reach the public or present an idea.”

Professor Guy Risko, a doctoral candidate in the literature department, said he agrees with the notion that memes can be more and do more than one would expect.

“In the context of these small Internet memes, it’s an emerging form of communication, a cultural text that people share,” Risko said.

With the creation of the Binghamton Memes Facebook page and the Binghamton University Subreddit, memes relating specifically to Binghamton University have become increasingly popular.

Binghamton can now add another to its list of memerelated sites, a website called UrCrowd.

Dedicated entirely to memes and image sharing, UrCrowd.com has specific pages for different universities like Binghamton, NYU and University of Central Florida.

Alexander Weinberg, a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, created and moderates the Binghamton community page.

“I just stumbled across the site one day while surfing and thought it was hilarious,” Weinberg wrote in an email. “I saw that there was an option to create a community. I got in touch with the site’s administrators and we set up a Binghamton Community page at Urcrowd.com.”

According to Weinberg, the purpose of UrCrowd is for people to share relevant and funny images related to Binghamton whenever they want.

“Since the Binghamton Memes page on Facebook seems to disappear and reappear at random I figured it would be nice to have a place where we, Bing students, could always post and access,” Weinberg said.

The memes can be created by anyone that has an account on UrCrowd. What sets UrCrowd apart, according to Weinberg, is that you can edit other posts on the site along with liking, commenting and following other UrCrowd user’s profiles.

“Essentially if you post something, I can take the original image/gif/etc and turn it into something else,” Weinberg said.

Anyone with an account can edit another user’s meme.

— Susan Lamb contributed to UrCrowd calls this “tweaking” this report and it engages users in a visual

File Photo

Fraternities and sororities battle for the top spot during Binghamton’s 2009 Homecoming Weekend Step Show. This year’s homecoming step show, Watch the Throne, will benefit the Broome County Urban League.

NPHC groups step up to the "Throne"

This Saturday, the Binghamton University National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) will be stepping into its role as host for its second homecoming step show, Watch the Throne, at the Forum Theatre.

Students from universities around the nation will compete, representing their respective fraternities and sororities at the show.

Lyanne Silfa, president of BU’s NPHC, said the purpose of the step show is to bring awareness to fraternities and sororities that have been suffering after the graduation of prominent undergraduate members.

“We thought is was really important to have this event this year because Greek life has been dying off,” Silfa said. “A lot of organizations have died off, as their undergraduate members have graduated, so they longer have any representation on campus. This is a forum for those organizations who are not on campus to showcase, for undergraduates to learn.”

Amber Avery, the public relations coordinator for BU’s NPHC, said stepping is a type of dance originating in Africa

and was co-opted by African American fraternities and sororities and added to throughout the years. Stepping is typically done without music, relying on the performers to improvise and produce their own chants and sounds.

“It is a form of line dancing incorporating hand signs that particular fraternities and sororities have [and] step signature moves, but done in synchronizations,” Avery said. “It’s like a dance performance, but it incorporates stepping, which is rhythm created with your own body.”

Nine judges will decide the winners of Watch the Throne: seven from organizations in NPHC, undergraduate step team captain Joelle Cange and BU professor Marcel March.

According to Silfa, the first-place winners, one fraternity and one sorority, will each win a prize of $1,000, while second-place winners will win $500.

First, second and third-place teams will all win trophies. The prize money came from the fundraising efforts of BU’s NPHC. Avery said the NPHC decided to hold Watch the Throne Downtown this year for the benefit of the off-campus community and alumni visiting for homecoming weekend, as well as to provide an

interesting venue for the event.

“Usually it’s on campus, but this year we’re having it Downtown to cater to the off-campus community and for people who are coming to homecoming,” Avery said.

Attendees can expect a fun competition with polished performers and a wellknown master of ceremonies, Mr. G.Q., an emcee known for hosting Greek Life functions.

The NPHC organized a step show in 2009, but 2011 was the beginning of Watch the Throne, the annual homecoming step show. The NPHC intends to continue this new tradition in the future.

Jose Perpignan, a BU alumnus, is performing for Omega Psi Phi’s team, OWT Nation, on Saturday night.

Perpignan has been stepping since fall 2009.

“Our expectations are to win first place, we’ve been practicing hard,” Perpignan said. “One of our fraternity brothers passed away a year ago. OWT Nation is from him, we’re going to carry his name.”

Tickets can be bought online or at the door. Twenty percent of the proceeds will be given to the Broome County Urban League.

and a variety of colored markers to record their ideas.

Pam Mischen, director for the Center for Applied Community Research and Development, stressed the importance of community involvement.

“If we are going to become a premier public university, community engagement is one of the ways we’re going to get there,” Mischen said.

The topics of conversation ranged from students’ perceived lack of things to do in the city to the difficulty of getting from place to place without a car. Both students and administrators discussed their opinions on the issues.

“It’s so easy to live in a bubble,” said Carrie Burke, resident director of Seneca Hall in College-in-the-Woods. “You live on campus, have your room, go to the bookstore if you need to buy something, and go to the dining hall if you’re hungry. It’s easy to get caught up in that and not go out into the community.”

Many students pointed out that there are a lot of opportunities to get involved in the community but that students miss out because they are not aware of them.

Others cited transportation as a factor keeping them from doing everything they want.

“I think transportation is a challenge for students, especially in terms of getting outside of the immediate areas that the blue buses take students to,” said Alison Handy, a graduate student in the public administration department.

Henry Aery, a sophomore majoring in accounting, said engaging BU and the community is important in retaining quality faculty members.

“What really stood out to me was the need for faculty retention,” Aery wrote in an email. “The faculty are a key component to Binghamton’s academic success, so it is important to have a vibrant city to attract the best faculty members and to provide them a place to raise a family and work for the University long term.”

Aery said the mix of students, faculty and staff made the forum successful.

“The diversity among those in the discussion certainly provided unique perspectives,” Aery said. “Whether the speaker was a student, professor, ResLife representative, CCE worker or the President himself, ideas were brought to the table that challenged others to think critically about the impact, plausibility and effectiveness of that idea.”

Pipe Line

Cute Bra

University Art Museum to feature new exhibitions A fall reception for the new exhibitions at the University Art Museum will be held from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, in the Fine Arts Building. Two exhibits, “Plantation Places: Cotton, Sugar, Coffee and the Making of Nineteenth-Century Slaveries,” guest-curated by Professor Dale Tomich, and “Chinese Snuff Bottles From a Private Collection,” will remain on display through Dec. 15. “A Way with Words: Chinese Calligraphy” by Harrison Xinshi Tu will remain on display through Oct. 27.

Green Ride sets up carpooling Green Ride is a local matching service designed to connect people with others to ride share or carpool, allowing participants to save gas and repair money, help the environment and get convenient transportation. The Internet-based service is free to use with a registered account. University employees and students can go online to www.broometioga.greenride.com to sign up.

Restaurant Week raised over $7,000 for CHOW Binghamton’s Restaurant Week served over 16,000 meals and donated over $7,000 to CHOW to fight hunger in the Southern Tier, according to a report in the Press & SunBulletin. The 20 participating restaurants each donated a portion of their proceeds from the week, which took place from Sept. 18-27. Since its inception in 2010, participating restaurants donated over $24,000 to charity. The next Restaurant Week will be held from March 12-21.

Names added to Police Memorial Wall New York City has unveiled 15 new names at the Police Memorial Wall in Battery Park. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly presided over the ceremony Thursday for officers who died in the line of duty last year. Thirteen of the officers got sick after the 9/11 rescue and recovery effort. Two others died after violent encounters in Brooklyn.

Poll TUESDAY'S POLL

Do you think fracking should be allowed in the Southern Tier?

Yes: 23% 4% ea what f g is: d n i i k r c a o I have n

Jonathan Heisler/Photo Editor

Anna Szilagyi places a dollar bill into Simeon Beal’s bra in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Colleges Against Cancer tabled and fundraised in the Old University Union to show their support and spread awareness about breast cancer.

Letter to the Editor To the editor: I will begin by thanking your editorial board for its article, “Don’t be MIA, SA,” in the Friday, Oct. 5 issue of Pipe Dream. The Student Association exists at a fundamental level to provide services, involvement opportunities and entertainment to our members; however, as it was skillfully pointed out, if students do not know what we are doing, all of our achievements are diminished.

I empathize with anyone who thinks the SA is distant from his or her campus experience. I will be the first person to admit that members of the SA Executive Board are often so wrapped up working on our projects and carrying out our commitments that we forget to actually communicate our accomplishments with our constituents. But let me be clear: there have been accomplishments.

Over the summer, Vice President for Finance Eric Larson and I moved the SA Incorporation project forward and are currently sorting out the details that will ensure the legal protection of every student leader on campus. Mr. Larson also completely overhauled our financial system, instituting new procedures and practices that will dramatically improve the efficiency of student group finances.

Vice President for Programming Brianna Friia spent months creating an unprecedented entertainment calendar for this semester, starting with Lewis Black on Oct. 27. Vice President for Multicultural Affairs Daniel

Adeyanju has been working with the dozens of student groups within the SA to establish an event calendar that will highlight the amazing programs offered by our multicultural groups.

Executive Vice President Derek Gumb has spent the past weeks working with the nearly 50 groups that were chartered last semester, guiding them through the process. Meanwhile, Vice President for Academic Affairs Aaron Ricks, after struggling for weeks, has finally secured funding to resume The New York Times program, which restarted on Monday, Oct. 8, while Assembly Speaker Nick Fondacaro shepherded the community governments through the elections of hall governments and Assembly Representatives.

In my own office, I have founded the SA Student Group-Alumni Relations Committee, tasked with connecting student groups with their alumni. This committee will hopefully foster dialogue and networking between past and present student group members, strengthening the all-important bond between students and alumni.

Additionally, I have placed almost two dozen students on campus committees through the Faculty Senate and Auxiliary Services, established an amazing Freshman Class Council executive board and created a committee of community presidents to work on crosscommunity programming and cooperation. I recently opened applications for the Judicial Board, which can be picked up in the SA office.

If this letter is good for anything, I hope that it shows that your Student Association hears you, and that we will redouble our efforts to reach out to the student body. If you want to hear more about what we have done for you, we are more than happy to oblige (just don’t accuse us of immodesty).

Additionally, I want to empower everyone to take advantage of the avenues already available that are used to disseminate SA information.

Check out our bi-weekly SA-Line emails, which contain job openings, involvement opportunities, concert and programming information and general news. Read your B-Line every day for SA updates, located at the bottom of the list. Follow us on Twitter (@ SABinghamton) and Facebook for daily updates and opportunities.

Finally, you know how to get in contact with the Executive Board. You elected us, me specifically, to be your representation on campus. Come and talk to me about your concerns in the SA office in the New University Union past M&T Bank. My office hours are 12-3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 12-1 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday. Call or email me any time at (607) 777-6646 and president@ binghamtonsa.org. Do whatever it takes to get your voice heard by us, and I’ll do whatever it takes to connect with you.

Mark Soriano President, Student Association

No: 73%

Police Watch TODAY'S POLL

How often will you read the New York Times now that it's back on campus?

A) Every day B) Once a week C) Once a month D) Never

VOTE ONLINE AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ BUPIPEDREAM

Rellection protection MONDAY, OCT. 8, 10:30 a.m. — An 18-year-old male reported to Binghamton’s New York State University Police that his car had been damaged after being parked in Lot M-2 for two days, Investigator Patrick Reilly said. The victim, who was visiting Binghamton University, found that his car’s passenger side mirror had been broken off when he was about to leave the campus. Officers on patrol had noticed the damage earlier, but had been unable to contact the victim because he was a visiting student. The case is still under investigation.

Time for an e-reader MONDAY, OCT. 8, 8:22 p.m. — A 19-year-old male student said that two textbooks had been stolen from his room in Hinman College’s Smith Hall, Reilly said. The student had been out of his room all day and came back to find the books gone. All of the victim’s suitemates have been interviewed, but they did not know anything about it. The case is still under investigation.

Baby blues TUESDAY, OCT. 9, 4:37 p.m. — Officers on patrol in Lot J were informed that someone had left a 3-year-old child in their car, Reilly said. The officers found the vehicle in question and observed no one outside the car supervising. Later a man came to the vehicle and the officers questioned him. The suspect said that he had only been gone for 10-15 minutes and did not want to wake up his sleeping son. The officers said they would contact the New York State Office of Child and Family Services, as they are legally obligated to do. Their representative said they would follow up on the case.

Another pot report TUESDAY, OCT. 9, 6:21 p.m. — Officers responded to Newing College’s Bingham Hall after a complaint of the smell of marijuana in the building, Reilly said. The officers identified the room the smell was coming from and knocked on the door. They thought they heard students behind the door, but no one came to answer the door. The officers waited for 15 minutes and left after that. Residential Life will follow up on the case.

Experts bring to light mining corruption

Nicole Kupfer/Contributing Photographer

Alexander Early, a coordinator for the U.S.-Salvador Sister Cities Network, talks about gold mining in El Salvador.

The Sister Cities project engages in raising awareness, strengthening community relationships and advocating for human rights and environmental regulations.

On Thursday, Alexander Early, a coordinator for the U.S.-Salvador Sister Cities Network, and Zulma Hernandez, an organizer for the Association for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES), visited Binghamton University during their U.S. tour to build awareness of gold mining in El Salvador.

Dan Driscoll, a member of the local Binghamton Sister City Project, said gold mining in El Salvador exposes corruption in their government. “What is happening in El Salvador is interesting because you see the influence that wealth has in politics, how power is still oppressive in these countries, and how if the government doesn’t get their

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way, they will use military action,�

Driscoll said.

The U.S.-El Salvador Sister City Project began in 1986 as a grassroots response to violence against Salvadoran communities by the U.S.-supported Salvadoran military during the country’s 12-year civil war.

Today, the project is a grassroots organization of U.S. citizens and residents who have ongoing partnerships with small rural communities in El Salvador. The Sister Cities Project engages in education and raising awareness, strengthening community relationships, human rights and environmental advocacy.

Pete Knuepfer, director of environmental studies at BU, said the event made public the actions of certain mining companies.

“We sponsored this event to basically get people aware of what’s going on — that multi-national mining companies are running ragged with indigenous communities,� Knuepfer said.

There are 23 active mining exploration concessions for gold and silver in El Salvador and 73 pending applications for future mining projects, according to the presenters.

In the region of CabaĂąas, there have been four anti-mining activists killed.

According to Early, it is widely believed that this violence is linked to the Pacific Rim Mining Corporation, whose mining site is located in that area.

Suzanne Geoghegan, member of the local Binghamton Sister City Project, compared the mining problem to hydraulic fracturing in Binghamton. “The issue of mineral extraction raises the same issues that fracking does, and it is interesting for students to hear how other countries are dealing with corporate interests,� Geoghegan said.

The environmental impacts of gold mining are irreversible damage to the environment due to the use of cyanide, mercury, heavy metals, and the excessive use of water, according to Early. In one hour, a mining company consumes the amount of water that five families use in 20 years.

Due to the health, social and environmental risks that mining causes, the Salvadoran government has stopped issuing permits for mining. In response, North American companies like Pacific Rim Mining Corporation and Commerce Group Incorporated are demanding that the Salvadoran government pay them millions of dollars for refusing them mining permits.

The Midwest Coalition Against Lethal Mining (MCALM) has presented a law to ban mining in El Salvador, and hope that a ban will put an end to the lawsuits.

If El Salvador passes a law banning mining, it would be the first country in the world to ban metallic mineral mining.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Fierce and focused, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Paul Ryan gave voters the kind of substantive showdown that was everything the presidential debate was not.

"Not a single thing he said is accurate," Biden shot back when Ryan leveled a charge that President Barack Obama was projecting U.S. weakness.

So it went from Biden all night, from taxes to Iran, where he suggested Republicans wanted a war. He looked directly at the camera to implore seniors like him not to trust Ryan on his Medicare plan: "Folks, follow your instincts on this one."

By going all in, Biden aggressively tried to score on two critical fronts: relating Obama's message in more heartfelt terms and blistering Ryan on multiple fronts so that the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, would lose his recent surge.

Yet Biden also opened himself to interpretation, coming across to some as strong and to others as cocky and condescending. In the split-screen view, Biden was often rolling his eyes and smiling or laughing, as if Ryan's responses were beyond belief.

The youthful-looking Republican clearly held his own on the grand stage. The lawmaker from Wisconsin was more at ease on his familiar domestic turf and a little more rehearsed on foreign policy. Staying calm where Biden was incredulous, Ryan still poked.

"I know you're under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground," Ryan chided his opponent at one point, "but I think people would be better served if we don't keep interrupting each other."

History shows debates between the running mates have little influence on voters, but this one stood out because it now drives the narrative for at least five days, when Romney and Obama take the stage again.

Sharply run by ABC News moderator Martha Raddatz, the debate gave people what they wanted to see. Even with all the practice by both candidates, there was spirit and spontaneity.

Biden set the tone by taking a question on the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya and turning it into a defense of Obama's entire national security agenda. He reminded viewers that Obama was willing to chase the Sept. 11 terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden to the end of the earth, and he quoted Romney as essentially saying he wouldn't have done the same.

In one of the most memorable moments of the night, he brought up that Romney was videotaped saying that 47 percent of the American people see themselves as government-needy victims.

"These people are my mom and dad," Biden said.

In a ready response, Ryan did more than repeat the line from Romney that he actually cares about 100 percent of Americans.

He turned Biden on Biden by telling the

Heffner talks ID laws, local votes

Eric Gay/AP Photo

Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin, right, listens as Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the vice presidential debate at Centre College, Thursday, in Danville, KY.

gaffe-prone vice president: "I think the vice president very well knows that sometimes the words don't come out of your mouth the right way."

Obama had failed at his central mission of drawing distinctions with Romney in a crisp way that connected with people. The merits of competing tax plans or health care visions do not matter much if a debater meanders into the policy weeds or, even worse, fails to deliver a passionate fight. The president ended up doing both.

Nationally, Romney got a clear national bump from his debate performance. But in

the election-deciding battleground states that matter, most polls suggest the first presidential debate has not had a significant impact. Obama still holds an edge in Ohio, considered by both sides to be the keystone to the whole election.

Just as the Obama-Romney debate in Denver a week ago influenced what happened Thursday at Centre College in Danville, Ky., now the cycle spins ahead.

Romney and Obama will meet in New York on Tuesday in the midst of an election that is remarkably tight and, more than ever, a fight.

Increasingly, employers tweet job opportunities a job, next to LinkedIn. Dottolo noted how simple it is to search for employment opportunities through social media.

“You won’t have to muddle through a whole bunch of information; either they’re posting a job, or they’re not,” she said.

Dottolo stressed the importance of keeping your personal account separate

from your professional one and reminded attendees to to use the professional one only for tweeting and following careerrelevant information, not tweeting friends.

“If you’re not using it correctly, it could be a detriment,” Dottolo said. “Bad photos and language is going to hurt you rather than help.”

However, Dottolo encouraged students not just to think of social networking sites as something that can hurt your

job prospects, but rather as a valuable tool in the job and internship search. She highlighted the benefits of using Twitter to find job recruiters, get career development advice and improve your online brand.

She said that over 90 percent of employers use social media to find potential job candidates, and 53 percent check Twitter specifically.

“If you’re not on board, you’re missing out,” Dottolo said.

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Lotfi Zekraoui, a doctoral student in translation studies, said he would give Twitter a try in his future job searches after attending the workshop.

The CDC has already held several of these workshops, including “Using Social Media for an Effective Job Search” and “Creating a LinkedIn Profile.” There will be another workshop entitled “Connecting with Alumni and Professionals via LinkedIn” on Nov. 1.

professor in the political science department, helped to organize the event and introduced Heffner.

“The purpose is to try [to] increase interest in and knowledge of the political process with a variety of perspectives on the upcoming election,” Krasno said in an email.

Krasno said he has actually seen an increase in political action on campus this year, despite the national media coverage suggesting that interest among young voters is down from the previous presidential election.

“I’m a little heartened to see more politics on campus this year than in 2008 (believe it or not) or 2004,” he wrote in an email. “NYS has suffered for its strong allegiance to the Dems (like Texas has for its allegiance to the GOP) in that candidates are free to ignore us.”

Krasno pointed to several initiatives on campus, including a voter registration contest between residential communities and Off Campus College (OCC) to increase the number of Binghamton University students registered to vote locally.

“I would be surprised and disappointed if BU turnout was not up from 2008, no matter what happens elsewhere,” Krasno said.

Zombies have come to Binghamton, and they’re not the blood-thirsty, braincraving shambling horde we’ve come to expect. They’re smart, organized and they wear neon-green headbands.

Every semester, the Zombie Student Association hosts a week-long game of “Humans vs. Zombies.” Essentially, it is a game of tag where the zombies are “it” and the humans defend themselves with socks, marshmallows and Nerf guns. The zombies’ goal is to convert the humans to the undead side. The humans need to survive the week and finish all the necessary missions in order to win.

Humans are safe indoors, but outdoors they’re fair game. Running to classes, intense paranoia and action-heavy night missions are just normal activities. To help you survive your next encounter with the undead apocalypse at Binghamton, here are a few choice tips: 1) Avoid the Spine — This might seem obvious, but the Spine is a deathtrap.

With that many students packed into such a tiny space, nothing good can happen.

You could be snuck up on without even a sound. You could be ambushed from Lecture Hall, Glenn G. Bartle Library, Fine Arts Building or the University Union. There are trees for zombies to hide behind, low walls to duck under and sharp corners that are perfect for traps.

Plus, zombies love to patrol the walkway, looking for humans who are low on time and desperate to get to class. Unless being ambushed and chased across campus by a mass of undead students sounds like fun, avoid the Spine.

2) Know the campus and its buildings — Building-hopping is essential during the day. Learning which buildings are close to each other is extremely helpful as it keeps your time outdoors (and in danger) limited. An experienced survivor knows that you can scale the Union, Fine Arts, Academic A, Student Wing and Lecture Hall with only a few meters of outdoor exposure if you move circularly.

Also, be aware of the most populated paths on campus. If you have to be outdoors, it’s best to stay away from the more populated walkways. The more people there are, the more likely there will be a zombie in the crowd. In addition, know the entrances and exits in the buildings you’re going to be using. Keeping away from the main doors and using side entrances and exits are great ways to avoid crowds. Just be careful: some doors may be exits, but not entrances. It may make your commute a little longer but it beats having to sprint across campus with the horde on your heels.

3) Find the right play style for you — During the day, you’re going to be limited to throwing socks and marshmallows to stun your zombie foes, and moving as quickly as you can to avoid them. But

after 7 p.m., you’ll be open to many more possibilities. A popular choice is to use Nerf blasters and stick to large groups.

The blasters are cheap, fairly reliable and can pack a lot of ammo. Other players like to get a little more creative. A blowgun made out of some PVC pipe can shoot much farther than your average Nerf gun.

Dressing head-to-toe in black and using stealth keep you from having to deal with too many zombies at once.

4) Find a group that will stay together - As the week goes by, more and more humans will be infected and become your undead foe. With fewer humans and more zombies, the night missions become increasingly difficult as the human count dies out. During particularly intense missions when casualties are high and ammo is low, someone or some group is inevitably going to panic and desert.

The more humans that desert the group, the more likely it is for the whole group to be overtaken. That’s why it is vitally important to find a group of humans who you know have your back, even if you’re staring down the entirety of the zombie horde.

Surviving the zombie apocalypse isn’t easy. In fact, at Binghamton, no human has ever survived to win a week-long game. It’s tiring. It’s nerve-racking. It just might be the most fun you’ll have all semester. So good luck, and remember to watch your back.

Jonathan Heisler/Photo Editor

Fall is a magical time of year. It’s the time when you try to convince yourself that you’re going to actually do all those adorable fall activities you’ve planned on. But let’s be real — you won’t. These are the activities you’ve told yourself you’re going to do this fall, and what you’ll actually end up doing instead.

The Plan: Going to the local orchard to pick apples You and your closest friends bundle up in your light jackets and scarves and head up to Apple Hills. It’s an adorable, quirky afternoon filled with autumn spirit. You take candid photos, admire nature and wander rows of trees, just thinking about a simpler time when colonial families picked apples to survive. Then, you and your friends return to campus and bake apple pie!

Reality: Going to Wegmans Why tire yourself out picking apples from trees when you can pick them at Wegmans? Sure it’s not the same as exploring nature and smelling the fresh Vestal air, but you had to walk all the way to the bus stop and get on the bus. If that’s not enough fresh air, what is?

The Plan: Walking in the Nature Preserve You finally finish studying for your midterms and you decide to reward yourself by becoming one with nature.

You admire all those picturesque views that belong on postcards and skip rocks along the lake. Just look at those leaves turn. It’s an introspective, peaceful experience. You think to yourself, this is what the world was like before humans ruined it.

Reality: Looking at pictures of

the Nature Preserve on Facebook Why hike all the way to the Nature Preserve when you can experience it from the comfort of your twin xl bed?

You decide to live vicariously through your friends and look at the photos they took when they actually made the trip. They even Instagramed the photos tastefully. Valencia: great filter.

And honestly, your room is the only place where you can eat Easy Mac and 10 packages of fruit gummy snacks with no judgment. Why enjoy the scenery of the Nature Preserve when you can see the Dickinson Community construction from your window?

The Plan: Sitting in a local coffee shop and studying You “Yelp” Binghamton coffee shops and find this adorable little place Downtown. As you walk in, you’re overwhelmed by the aroma of local blends and the allure of contemporary decor. You sip your medium fair trade roast as you read a novel, looking out the window at the falling leaves. You begin to wonder why more people don’t appreciate life.

Reality: Going to Jazzman’s Jazzman’s has a local cafe atmosphere with on-campus convenience! Einstein’s is too busy anyway. And blackberry lemonade?

What is that? The blackberry-tolemonade ratio is completely off.

It’s all blackberry. Also, if you go into Einstein’s, you’re just going to complain about how their order-taking system doesn’t work and how you miss the Union Food Court. So, you’re left with Jazzman’s. Sure, it’s still Sodexo, and yeah, the barista gives you the wrong order, but what are you going to do? Say something? Probably not.

You’ve already flaked on all your other fall plans. You suck.

Contrary to the stereotype, longboarding isn’t just for Brooklyn hipsters and displaced California kids. Several students here at Binghamton University have brought their boards to campus not just as a means of getting to class on time, but to spread their love of skating and reduce some of the heavy stress of college.

Once considered a cult sport, longboarding has become increasingly popular in the past decade, with independent boardmaking shops and new riding disciplines popping up all over the world.

Cruising is the most basic and most popular longboarding discipline.

Cruiser boards make for fast, smooth transportation and are generally mediumlength with soft bushings for easy carving. These boards are best for getting from C4 to Science 2 in record time, the carvefactor being especially useful for steering around disgruntled students who are stuck speed walking to a lecture that starts in two minutes.

Free-riding is a discipline that blends cruising with the kinds of flip-tricks you typical see done on skateboards. Free-

ride boards are shortboard hybrids designed with special kicktails for easy ollies and shove-its. Freeriding also incorporates the tactical power slide, perfect for cutting close corners down Mountainview College path.

Dancing is perhaps the most unique discipline, tracing its origins to Hawaiian surfers. Dancer boards are generally 45+ inches long and 12+ inches wide, making them the longest of all longboards.

Dancers combine elements of free-riding, board walking, cross-stepping and twirling to form a distinctly creative, showy riding style. Many of Binghamton’s longboard dancers congregate in the courtyard between Glenn G. Bartle Library and the Engineering Building, the flat ground making it easier to get a smooth ride in for cross-stepping.

Binghamton’s hilly campus is ideal for those who crave speed, but sometimes it’s not always the best or most friendly place for skaters.

“It’s difficult to find some good spots on campus to skate,” said Andrea Wolf, a junior majoring in biology. “I used to skate the path from Hillside down to Science 4, but the University police would always stop me and scold me that I can’t skate there anymore. Now I just stick

Nicole Kupfer/Contributing Photographer

to riding around inside the Brain, and the pathway in Newing that leads from Broome to Endicott, because I’m away from the road and less likely to be stopped.”

The frequent rain isn’t a plus, either. Not only does rain make it hazardous to ride; water will also rust out a board’s bearings, making it unusable until the rider invests in a new $20 set. Still, Binghamton’s longboarders can always be

seen taking advantage of a sunny day.

Longboarding at Binghamton isn’t constrained by gender or skill level, and students turn to longboarding to reduce stress.

“Whenever I’m skating, I feel free,” said Mike Fortuna, a sophomore majoring in biology. “It really clears your head and energizes you.”

On Sept. 26, South Korean artist PSY made history by reaching the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Top 100 list.

He is the first South Korean artist to reach a spot in the top 10 and only the second South Korean artist to ever appear on the list. His hit single, “Gangnam Style,” was declared the

“most ‘liked’ video in YouTube history”

by Guinness World Records on Sept.

20, 2012. “Gangnam Style” may be the first true crossover K-pop song, but it is far from the first instance of South Korean entertainment crossing the threshold into Western culture.

The so-called “Korean Wave,” which refers to both the enhanced visibility and popularity of South Korean culture, can be traced back to the ‘90s.

In 1995, the first K-pop record label, S.M. Entertainment, was founded.

Slowly, the genre began to define itself as it grew in popularity. The fledgling K-pop scene looked to Western and, more specifically, American popular music for inspiration, but added new cultural elements. Now, in 2012, some aspects of American culture can be identified within K-pop, but the genre has begun to take on a life on its own.

Korean popular music has broken down American popular music into its parts and Western artists can rethink their use of tropes and clichés when it’s presented to them from an outside perspective.

Nicki Minaj, for example, can serve as the figurehead in the recent prominence of Korean culture in America (referred to in Korea as “hallyu”). Her overtly exotic outfit in the video for “Your Love” and the flashy hairstyles and outfits in the video for “Super Bass” both point to K-pop, as does the complex choreography in the latter. Her video for “Check It Out” is set on a Korean TV soundstage and the lyrics are crudely translated on the side. Lady Gaga is another artist who draws heavily from Korean culture in her exuberant costumes and on-stage

antics. Alternative music is also in the clutches of K-pop, with artists such as Grimes using K-pop-influenced costumes and makeup in her video for “Vanessa.” Besides the obvious attempt to capitalize on the “exotic” and “mysterious” elements of Asian culture, they all point towards another issue that has arisen alongside K-pop.

Korean groups such as Girls’ Generation and 2NE1 have been attempting to break into the American market since 2008, through endeavors such as English language singles and tours. But neither group utilized social media in the way that PSY did in order to make “Gangnam Style” the hit that it is today. PSY could not copyright his music and gave full control to his record label for distribution of his songs. Korean artists should not have to feel obligated to try and appeal to a Western market at the expense of their own creative control. The relationship between Korean and American music is almost paradoxical. Korean popular music first started by borrowing heavily from American music, the same market that it is now trying to sell its music to. The American market reacts by borrowing from a culture that borrowed from them.

This dilution of ideas in order to cater to certain markets isn’t strengthening either country’s music, instead devaluing both.

K-pop and American pop music are becoming more and more intertwined and if “Gangnam Style” is any indication, then this is only the beginning of a much bigger trend.

Lee Jin-Man/AP Photo

Chili is a food with a rich past. That backyard-and-tailgate-tested ambrosia of meat and spices has a history that’s degrees more humble than one would expect of a food that is commonly smothered over stuff just for the sake of smothering — often in some sort of strange notion of “man-food” over “man-food.”

Yet it’s wrong to call chili “man-food,” and in fact it’s wrong to call any food “man-food” or, for that sake, “woman-food.” The thing about chili is that it arose out of necessity and only after some decades of world economic success did a sizable amount of certainly passionate people in this country begin to boast that their meat-lined, blackened pot of spicy ooze was better than the next (guy’s).

The geographical origins of chili and “the best bowl of chili” are the constant topics that arise in what may be called the “chili debate,” the kind of thing you’d see on the Food Network. However, these two points obfuscate the real reason the food is important. When people are hungry, they don’t eat or make food because they believe it to be the proper, original or best recipe, nor do they pugnaciously defend their state’s claim of being the originator of the dish — they make food because they need to eat. Chili has survived because it tastes good (enough) and its recipe is this: chopped-up meat, chilis, onions, garlic and other stuff. Basically, the meat was protein, which diminishes hunger, the onions provided a little sugar and flavor when rendered and the garlic and spicy chilis provided flavor to enhance the meat. By enhance, this sometimes meant covering up for the fact that the meat was spoiled … or was actually armadillo, rattlesnake or some other beast from the southwest — which is, by the way, the place where chili originated. Where actually? Who cares? Don’t get distracted.

These ingredients were available pretty much everywhere. As far as the other stuff, like beans and tomatoes? They came into the

equation sometime. Why? Because you can eat them, they can taste fine and additional ingredients mean that more people can eat.

So like a rancher in Texas, for example, a college student can get a lot from a bowl of chili. The most common primary ingredients are still cheap and available everywhere.

Other “additional” ingredients and changes to the “recipe” are welcome because that’s what chili is. And its tradition isn’t so much to be something particular, but, more gracefully, to feed.

Look for recipes, experiment with what you like. Common recipes are quite balanced nutritionally, especially when they include beans and tomatoes or other vegetables.

Take ingredients that will ward off the chills of autumn, like cumin and Cajun spices. There’s simply no debate worth the time, just heed chef/writer/TV host/human Anthony Bourdain’s reflective musing: “For me, if there’s a perfect meal in this life and in this world, chances are it’s just a bowl of something good.” Eat something good, a bowl of it.

- (2-3) onions, chopped - (4) cloves garlic, minced - 2/3 lb ground beef - 1 1/3 lbs beef sirloin (regular, top or bottom cut), cubed - (1) can of peeled tomatoes – diced, whole (squeeze them out), etc.

- (12 oz) Dark beer – [I used Guinness, any stout would work. Some stouts are flavored with things like cocoa and cayenne, I would recommend using something like that if you have it] - (1) cup, (that’s 8oz) of Coffee. Dark too, I used Café Bustello.

- (2) 6 oz cans of tomato paste - 14 oz beef broth - (1/2) cup brown sugar [I used pourable light brown sugar. It’s really useful and doesn’t

Brad Blansky/Contributing Photographer

clump over time] - 3 ½ tbsps chili powder - 1 1/2 tbsp cumin powder or less of cumin seeds - 2 tsp dried oregano - 1 ½ tsp celery seed - 1 tbsp Cajun mix (cayenne pepper would work too) - Couple long squirts of Sriracha chili sauce (the green-topped bottle with the rooster on the bottle) or some other hot sauce. [This is a sub for salt on one hand and just more good spice flavor on the other] - (4) 15 oz kidney beans [or other beans, who cares] - (4) fresh hot chili peppers. Seeded for less hot, chopped [I used two jalapenos and some other little red peppers I got from the farmer’s market, this mix didn’t make it that hot. For

Place cubed beef, ground beef and onions and garlic in the pot over medium heat. Cook until the meat is brown, about 10 minutes. Add can of tomatoes, tomato paste, beef broth, beer and coffee as well as the dried spices, hot chiles and two of the cans of beans. Stir together and let it simmer for 1 ½ hours. Add the remaining beans, then cook for another 30 minutes. Serve on its own or with simple boiled potatoes and attempt to eat more than a bowl and a half. Save and reheat, it tastes even better days after.

It’s out with the old and in with the new when it comes to Saturday Night Live’s 38th season. Last season, we waved farewell to cast members Andy Samberg, Abby Elliot and crowd favorite Kristen Wiig. In natural SNL style, however, this year brings three fresh faces to SNL’s legacy of top-quality humor.

In 2005, the world was introduced to two of this generation’s greatest comedians: Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig.

As such, their exits were not taken lightly. Samberg will always be remembered for his uncanny Nicolas Cage impersonation and The Lonely Island. The satirical tunes topped iTunes charts.

Who could forget “Lazy Sunday” as Samberg and Chris Parnell delivered their infamous rap? This was followed up by even greater sensations, including “Dick in a Box” and “Mother Lovers” with Justin Timberlake, and Grammynominated “I’m on a Boat” with rapper T-Pain. While Samberg has already graced the big screen in popular films, he will be severely missed on Saturday nights.

Samberg was not the only one who supplied the laughs.

Kristen Wiig, too, emerged as a comedy superhero. She has become a hallmark for fans with

her famous characters such as small-armed Judice and Kat in the dynamic singing duo “Garth and Kat.” Equally popular were her spot-on impressions of Nancy Pelosi and Michele Bachmann.

With such a profound impact on the show, it was only natural that she had one of the most emotional departures in history.

Like Samberg, however, she will continue to go on to do big things — she’s already received an Oscar nomination for the hit “Bridesmaids.”

Still, both stars will do just fine, judging by the track record of previous SNL greats like Steve Martin, Will Ferrell, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. SNL simply has the “gift for reinvention.” The loss of these two comes at a poignant time and it is now up to the new players to reinvent the show and emerge as stars themselves.

This season, not only were Jay Pharoah, Taran Killam and Vanessa Bayer promoted to full cast member status, but SNL also added three new featured cast members. The show is ushering in a new group of young comedians, filled with the promise of a great new dynamic on the show.

The two breakout stars this season are Pharoah and Killam.

While both have already displayed their talent in past seasons, the departure of SNL staples has given the pair an opportunity to shine. Pharoah debuted

his Obama impersonation to mixed reviews, but nonetheless remains a force to be reckoned with after appearing in the first three opening skits this season.

Killam has already gained a cult following on SNL. His reoccurring character Jonathan Cavanaugh-san in “J-Pop America Fun Time Now” is a fan favorite.

He joins Pharoah and a long line of SNL veterans in the field of political impersonations with his impersonation of Paul Ryan.

Featured on the show are Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Tim Robinson and Cecily Strong. McKinnon debuted on the show last season, and has already displayed memorable performances as Bravo stars Tabatha Coffey and Penelope Cruz. Strong has also proven herself, being featured in two Weekend Update skits including the “Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party.” Bryant and Robinson have not yet had a real chance to shine, but it is clear that SNL is ready to begin a new era in the show’s history.

As usual, SNL is here to document a fascinating period in history. The upcoming presidential election provides endless opportunities for parodies and impressions. Most people are familiar with Tina Fey’s ridiculously accurate Sarah Palin impression. Amy Poehler’s Hillary Clinton and Jason Sudeikis’ Mitt

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently announced that “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane will host the 85th Academy Awards. Upon hearing the news, MacFarlane responded with, “One, I will do my utmost to live up to the high standards set forth by my predecessors; and two, I hope they don’t find out I hosted the Charlie Sheen roast.”

In the last couple of years, the Oscars have not lived up to previous standards with their host choices. Two years ago, Anne Hathaway and James Franco famously bombed. While Franco seemed somewhere between

Photo provided by NBC Universal

Romney are also buzzworthy.

Still, SNL isn’t entering the election season with much of a sense of clarity about how it will grapple with the political issues, and it remains to be seen if this season will experience the same popularity as it did four years ago.

SNL still attempts to deliver in the original sketch department.

In the recent “Lids” sketch, sullen mall employees found their lives uplifted when YouTube performer Psy (Bobby Moynihan) and Turbo-PSY (actual Korean rapper PSY) danced among their store’s merchandise. Clearly,

high and comatose, Hathaway had a “trying-too-hard” attitude with a smile slapped on her face from beginning to end, making her seem inauthentic. For the 2012 awards, nine-time host Billy Crystal graced the stage. Yet Crystal and his jokes were safe and dated.

This time around, things will actually be good in the newly renamed Dolby Theatre.

Seth MacFarlane is, for lack of better words, a modern renaissance man in the world of entertainment. He’s an actor, director, writer, animator, producer and he can sing to boot. First, let’s start with the obvious — “Family Guy.” MacFarlane created the hilarious and notorious animated sitcom in 1998, performing the voices

SNL is trying to remain relevant.

However, wedging PSY and his hit song into a sketch about a mall hat store just didn’t work after the initial novelty wore off. While the writers are trying to stay relevant, loyal viewers often agree that sketches are funniest when they are most creative. More hits like “Target Lady,” please!

The 2012-13 season enjoys cast favorites such as Emmynominated Bill Hader. Hader is best known for wearing his pants way too high in his impression of Clint Eastwood, as well as playing the hilarious New York

City correspondent Stefon on “Weekend Update with Seth Meyers.” Christina Applegate is in line to host next, along with musical guest Passion Pit. SNL truly has potential this season, but some question the vitality of Lorne Michael’s creation. As the generational gap widens, affecting both the show’s demographic and the cast itself, the writers behind SNL must work to keep it fresh and interesting. However, the legacy of the show to bring humor to Saturday nights will likely prevail.

for multiple characters including Peter, Quagmire and, of course, Stewie. Since 1998, Family Guy has been consistently popular and, in the last decade, its characters and comic style have become part of pop culture.

In addition to “Family Guy,” MacFarlane can be credited with “American Dad,” “The Cleveland Show” and, most recently, “Ted.” “Ted,” MacFarlane’s directorial debut on the big screen, marked a breakthrough for MacFarlane as he wrote, directed and provided the voice for the star in the film.

“Ted” introduced MacFarlane to Hollywood in a major way, earning over $434 million worldwide. The movie’s success has now made him into one of the most soughtafter talents in the business.

Aside from his credits,

MacFarlane has a real chance to do well on the Oscar stage for the reason that he is simply good on stage. Take a look at his SNL monologue from a few weeks ago.

Not only is he comfortable and easily able to land laughs, but he also showcased his singing — who doesn’t love a good musical number? — and impression abilities — and not just “Family Guy” characters. His ease when performing will hopefully translate to the Academy Awards ceremony in a way that the charisma of past hosts hasn’t.

With all of these skills, it is pretty obvious that MacFarlane has the chops. Now all we can do is hope for a fast-paced good time. Giggity.

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RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Litter box users 5 Corn support 10 Emcee 14 Loads 15 Tennessee footballer 16 “Porgy and Bess” solo, e.g.

17 Expose 18 Leave alone 19 Broker’s order 20 Start of an editor’s quip about verbose writing 23 London lav 24 Singer Brickell who’s married to Paul Simon 25 “How I Met Your Mother” narrator Bob 28 Big galoot 30 “__ Without a Cause” 34 Quip, part 2 36 Supreme council of old Rome 37 Get an __: ace 38 Tweeters’ quarters 40 When repeated, a Latin dance 41 Game show host with five Emmys 44 Quip, part 3 47 Lessens, as pain 48 Take care of the tab 49 __-weensy 50 German battleship Graf __ 52 Guy’s partner 53 End of the quip 60 Sweatshirt feature, at times 61 “__ a break!”

62 Drag racing org.

64 Farm measure 65 Old lab burners 66 Sticky stuff 67 Turner and a general 68 Thaw, as an airplane wing 69 Use FedEx DOWN 1 One in an airport queue 2 Jai __ 3 Ripped

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Horn” channel known as “The 57 Financial svcs.

45 Like Felix Unger Great” giant affiliated 46 Fits in 6 Stadium level with an auto 48 Small, sizewise 7 ABA member company 51 Urged (on) 8 Physical exam 58 “Oops!”

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By Pancho Harrison (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

02/24/09

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Tina Ritter

The arrests, which shined an unflattering spotlight on the program and the University once again, seemed to point to the continuance of an ugly trend. But the Athletic Department’s handling of the news, which couldn’t be further from the practices of the past, is a commendable step in the right direction.

On Monday afternoon, only two days after the arrest of the two players occurred, the Athletic Department released a statement acknowledging both the incident and the fact that the team could not allow the players to participate in team activities for that reason.

This school’s administration is notoriously opaque. President Harvey Stenger has been a welcome change from the norm: Instead of exiling himself to the Couper Administration Building, he ventures out almost every day to symposiums, classrooms and anywhere else he feels he can meet new students. The same can’t be said for most of the other administration members.

The Athletic Department has, in the past, been guilty of the same stonewalling tactics. When a slew of players were suspended in 2009, the department refused to comment on the reasons behind the suspensions. It was only afterward that the gravity

of the scandal surfaced and we discovered they had been arrested for crimes ranging from drug charges to theft.

Even then, the department said the suspensions had been due to the players’ “conduct on and off the court,” a half-hearted acknowledgment of the culture of crime that pervaded the team.

Then, again last year, a player was suspended from the team, and the Athletic Department kept mum. Saying that it was a “coach’s decision,” the department left out the fact that the player had, prior to his suspension, been arrested for criminal possession of stolen property. It was the latest in a string of legal trouble that the player had been involved in, something that was never formally addressed by the program or the department.

But now a new coach heads the team and a firstyear athletic director is finally settling in. No players remain from the corruption riddled 2009 team where it all began.

It seemed, at last, that the program would finally be given the blank slate that players clear of any blame deserve. So when news of last weekend’s arrests surfaced, it was disheartening. But the transparency of the Athletic Department in its handling of the situation thus far has been perhaps

the biggest surprise.

Releasing the statement and the department’s subsequent cooperation may seem like minor actions. And maybe they are. But they hint toward the idea that there finally seems to be sincere acknowledgment within the department that more than the basketball team’s roster has to change before the program’s fortunes will improve. For a department and a team that have struggled to get anything other than bad press in recent years, it is refreshing to see that the department has realized that its culture must change before anything else will — even if it means taking a slight public hit — and that it is taking definite steps in the right direction to bring about that change.

Seeing the department behave ethically is a good sign. That culture of transparency and positive conduct will hopefully translate to players both current and incoming. It would be a tragedy to field a winning team only to see half of them arrested.

Again.

We hope this truly marks a turning point for the department, and not just an anomaly. Only time will tell, but so far, we see good things ahead.

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Zachary Hindin Kimberly Bower

During these four eventful years of undergraduate studies, there is a particular question that should be asked and answered honestly by every student: What is the best way that I can spend my time? There isn’t necessarily a correct answer, but there are implications to papering this question over and pushing it aside without proper reflection.

Erik Erikson, a well-known developmental psychologist, considers the later teenage years to be those where a prominent existential question tends to surface for the individual: “Who am I and what can I be?” It is somewhat easy to spot those who have neither come to any meaningful conclusions about themselves nor asked and contemplated other fundamental questions, as they tend to be the most fearful of life after college.

A good friend of mine, while looking for a suitable city and neighborhood to live in following graduation, decided that he wanted a location with a young crowd. Recent college grads, to be specific, so that it would be “like a continuation of college.” This idea is bothersome. Why would one want to remain in perpetual adolescence? It seems like a stifling mindset; one has just barely crawled out of the nest to first depart to college only to fly to another more communal nest. It is a mindset that fears leaving that safe and familiar setting.

But it is understandable why so many fear life after college. Students joke about this fear, but it is real, and much more substantial than most are willing to admit. Even for students who have a relatively strong grasp on their career prospects succumb to this fear, and many students repress these worries until they are finally staring down the barrel of graduation or senior year. Whatever drenches you in the cold water of reality first.

Students who are intent on transforming a large block of their college time into a blurred stupor composed of fleeting memories and

riddled with time lapses seem to be among those hardest hit with post-college fears. When college is treated like a moral-free zone void of responsibility and rationalized by YOLO and other mantras to justify indulgence and ease personal guilt or integrity dilemmas, it is met with the painfully sharp contrast of the real world.

This behavior certainly is not aided by the media’s depiction of higher education. It is often illustrated as a haven of promiscuity, indulgence and rather flimsy, at times nonexistent, moral boundaries. Almost like nirvana, where rivers run the murky brown of Keystone and sexual standards are minimal.

This is fun and all, but it sets the stage for how many define their requirements for having a fulfilling college experience. In defining and living by these requirements, many may fail to address the much more pertinent and impactful life questions that will build the foundation of the individual.

Students tend to worry about not raging too hard, and that they will come to regret a modest college experience as if they will have missed out on a

crucial component of their young lives.

There may be some truth to this worry, but it seems that a greater potential for regret would stem from an individual failing to dedicate the proper time to discovering himself or herself in a deeper and more profound way.

Imagine being thrust into the modern economy, with all of its expectations and distractions, and having just begun to truly assess what is needed for happiness and the various other questions that are now more difficult to tend to among the noise and responsibility of adulthood.

Live it up while you’re young and utilize the youthful energy that will inevitably falter with age, but do not use all of that energy for indulgence and valueless activities. Students should place great(er) importance on selfdevelopment, intellectual exploration and the creation of meaningful relationships and bonds. These are all elements that form the individual and strengthen one’s grasp of the principles by which one decides to live and grow.

—Mike Marinaccio is majoring in management.

a

senior

Know your rights: room searches It’s a scary moment: a loud, crisp knock. You open the door to see two officers from Binghamton’s New York State University Police towering over you. “Can we come in?” they ask. You hesitate for a second, only to step aside, wondering if you even had a choice.

Believe it or not, you do.

In fact, the senseless raids for pot being conducted all across campus — resulting in harsh disciplinary measures that deter no danger — are entirely avoidable. As students, you have essential rights that, properly exercised, can put an end to the abusive, unnecessary tactics of campus authorities. We have rights for a reason and it’s vital that we understand them.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that, as residents

and students of Binghamton University, you possess the same constitutional rights as any ordinary citizen. Federal courts have ruled countless times that students “do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door.” In particular, several court cases have established that a college dorm is a student’s “home,” and thus subject to the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

What does this mean? In short, University police, as enforcers of state law, cannot enter your room without a warrant or — and this is the one that gets most students in trouble — consent. You are perfectly within your constitutional boundaries to deny an officer’s request to enter your room. Contrary to the beliefs of most students, doing so will not result in harsher punishment or treatment.

You are simply exercising your rights as determined by the Founding Fathers. If the University police then want to obtain a warrant, so be it.

A few weeks ago, The New York Times published “Stuyvesant Students Describe the How and Why of Cheating” regarding the culture of academic dishonesty at Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan and why students of such an elite institution feel the need to cheat.

In order to understand the students’ rationales, a faculty member said, “Suddenly, they’re in an environment where every single kid is really just as smart as they are. How do you distinguish yourself as being a top student, which is where their identity has always been?”

The truth of the teacher’s statement was something I had never considered when I was applying to college. Four years later and partaking in the application process for graduate school, though, those words ring a great and evident truth about the excessive pressure placed on students to achieve academic excellence.

Initially, it’s easy to despise cheating and plagiarism as well as those who do it. Integrity

Now for the caveats. There is a gray area when it comes to resident assistants, resident directors, and other University personnel. Their rights are outlined in the University Housing License, which all oncampus dwellers have agreed to. Under that agreement, residential community staff may “inspect rooms … in the interest of health, safety, cleanliness and property control,” provided they give you 24 hours notice.

Then, of course, comes the biggest question: can an officer enter your room, without a warrant, if they smell marijuana from the hallway? The answer is no, unless there is an exigent (emergency) situation or you give consent. RAs or other staff, on the other hand, may enter your room if they have reason to believe there is a “health, safety, or maintenance issue” that needs to be dealt with (and yes, that includes marijuana).

However, even in this case, University personnel may only “enter” — they cannot search.

As expected, there are countless legal issues

is essential to establish and maintain, and to abandon it for the sake of success suggests moral frailty and poor character. Yet no professors, mentors or parents consider the pressures they place upon students when they set outrageous academic standards. Nor do they realize how brutal the competition for the academic spotlight truly is.

As the article states, the task of identifying star pupils in elementary and middle schools is simple. However, the varying degrees of intelligence among kids become less apparent as students are forced to contend with others who are just as equipped and dedicated as they are in both high school and college. The transition from being the exception to being the norm can be frightening to many students.

The demands from parents and academic institutions for them to continue being ideal students only contribute to that fear.

With such pressures boxing students in, is it truly unexpected that students would sacrifice morals to stand a chance in the world of academia? Cheating shouldn’t be condoned, but before they reprimand, adults should understand the extreme conditions under which students deem it necessary to make those decisions.

They should understand the environments under which students are asked to thrive. At times, the ability to stand out among peers who are of equal or greater intelligence poses a difficult challenge, especially when applying

surrounding this question. But it’s important to keep in mind that you have rights and are under no obligation to allow a search you do not want. As a general rule, if University police or staff do not have a warrant, your consent or an emergency situation to deal with, they may not search your room. Plain and simple.

And remember, these rights are carefully designed.

They are not, as many contend, technicalities that simply have the unintended consequence of protecting drug users. No, our rights are a critical means of keeping law enforcement in check: protecting ordinary individuals against unscrupulous, abusive behavior that serves no public interest. Raiding a room in search of a harmless plant and criminalizing otherwise respectable students fall in that category without question.

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— Jess Coleman is a freshman majoring in human development.

to college or graduate school. Rather than appear dim-witted in comparison to their peers, students cheat to maintain not only their GPAs, but their intellectual image.

Family pressure is also a significant factor that is not given enough consideration.

Parents should learn that the pressures they exert on their children to excel academically can be enough for children to develop a cheating streak, if not an emotional complex.

Rather than placing emphasis on being the best, parents should encourage their children to reach their personal best, so their children don’t feel threatened to succeed or feel that they will be unloved if they don’t meet or surpass certain standards.

The road to success is paved with high expectations, but so is the road of academic dishonesty. In encouraging and wanting students to strive for excellence, mentors, parents and guardians should note that students who wish to excel are already their own biggest critics. Applying excess pressure only compounds an already sensitive situation.

Educators both in and out of the home should teach the value of integrity over the value of a good GPA, before students compromise more than just getting into their dream school.

— Ashley Branch is a junior majoring in English.

2012 Election: Hardly a choice At one point during the presidential debate that took place last Wednesday night, moderator Jim Lehrer had to ask the candidates, “What is the difference?” He asked this twice, in a 15-second span, between President Obama’s inaccurate outline of Gov. Romney’s tax plan and the latter’s fumbled defense of his own economic platform.

Twice the moderator had to ask what it was that distinguished one talking head from the other.

During a time when both parties are desperately trying to convey to the American people what exactly they are running on, it was their collectively blurred ideologies that stole the spotlight.

I wasn’t going to vote for either of these guys before this debate, but now I’m not sure if I will even watch the second one.

Every four years, both the Democrats and the Republicans exalt the significance of the upcoming election. They say it presents an exceedingly rare opportunity to influence the outcome of your nation, and they do this by giving you a choice between right and wrong, good and evil, a new way forward or a return to bedrock principles. But most importantly, they tell you that you have a choice to make, a choice that we all must make, with dire consequences attached to the wrong decision.

If you take a close look at the political parties that have won the presidency in the past couple decades, you will undoubtedly notice stark and decisive differences. Yet it is not the differences that define our broken political system; it is the fundamental similarities that both parties share. In the past eight years, both a Republican president and a Democratic president have trampled over the Constitution by upholding the USA PATRIOT act.

They have both started and escalated foreign military conflicts

(no, they are not wars, Congress hasn’t declared one of those since World War II). They conclusively agree that tobacco kills 450,000 Americans a year and incurs $193 billion in healthrelated costs, yet it is medical marijuana that is destroying our society.

They mutually believe that while Americans of all walks of life are tightening their belts due to lower incomes, higher taxes and fewer jobs, it is acceptable for the federal government to spend billions on schools and roads in Afghanistan that were never built, foreign dictators who hate us, tax breaks for well-connected corporations, an unwinnable war on drugs, subsidies for farmers not to grow food, theft, graph, corruption and fraud through food stamps and Medicaid, and, my personal favorite, an academic study comparing the outcomes of the concurrent and separate use of malt liquor and marijuana.

It seems like these guys can agree on more than just who we shouldn’t allow into the debates.

Considering that America is the

only democracy on earth with just two main political parties, it is no surprise that there is considerable overlap between the candidates.

Yet at the same time, the extent to which any choice is free is undeniably tied to the range of options one has to choose from.

On one hand, you have a guy who, given another four years, will continue to exacerbate our problems. On the other hand, you have a guy who will bring us back the polices that created the mess in the first place. How can we believe we have free choice in this country when the only two candidates with a shot at winning this thing aren’t all that different? If Democrats and Republicans are really just two sides of the same coin, what choice do we have but to flip it?

If we can all agree that the path we are on is unsustainable, then why are we given no choice but to sustain it?

— Zachary Greenberg is a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law

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Friday, October 12, 2012

B1

sex,

discrimination

federal assistance...

—Title IX of the Education Amendments Act June 23, 1972

SEE THE SPECIAL REPORT, PAGES B2 - B3

Men's soccer suffers first AE loss of season The Binghamton University men’s soccer team’s undefeated start to its America East campaign came to an end on Wednesday night as the Bearcats were edged by defending conference champion Stony Brook University, 2-1.

Binghamton head coach Paul Marco said his team entered the match fully prepared, adding that the game plan worked. The Seawolves (8-3-1, 2-1 America East), however, capitalized.

“You can see that we were the better team today,” he said. “Overall, I am proud of the guys’ performance but disappointed in the outcome, and [there is] a really empty feeling inside right now because I thought our guys deserved more than what we got today.”

The Bearcats (6-6, 2-1 America East) started the game as the more dominant team and put the Seawolves’ defense under constant pressure.

In the 10th minute, BU sophomore forward Steven Celeste hit the post with a quick shot from senior midfielder Adam Whitehead’s lob pass. Binghamton took the lead four minutes later as a floating cross from the left flank by junior back Kevin Bunce found junior midfielder Tommy Moon in the middle of the box.

Moon then flicked the ball on with his head, guiding it into the bottom right corner of the goal.

The Bearcats kept up their attacking style of play after the goal. Attempts from senior forward Jake Keegan, sophomore back Derrick Ladeairous and Whitehead were all thwarted by Seawolves senior goalkeeper Stefan Manz.

But the Bearcats didn’t convert, and Stony Brook equalized the score in the 41st minute, when senior forward Raphael

Abreu headed home a freekick delivery from near the left corner flag.

“Stony Brook is good on set pieces,” Marco said. “But we should have done two things. One, I don’t think we should have fouled the player. His back is to the field and he is facing the corner flag. And then we were not ready to defend the set piece.

And to Stony Brook’s credit, they took us apart. That was the only disappointing moment I [had] in the entire first half.”

The Bearcats came out of the locker room determined to regain control of the game, but a pivotal moment in the 56th minute halted their plans. Whitehead was involved in a controversial incident as he was red carded for kicking out at Stony Brook senior midfielder Berian Gobeil following a challenge from the Stony Brook player that went unpunished.

“If you give the referee [a chance] to call something, he can,” Marco said.

“From what I saw, I saw one of their players come right through our player off the ball. Everybody saw it except for the three guys that had the flag and the whistle. The ref saw it differently. He saw [Whitehead] retaliate while he was on the ground, but there is a reason why [he] was on the ground.”

The Seawolves made full use of their numerical advantage and scored again in the 72nd minute. Some nice play on the right between Stony Brook freshman midfielder Martin Giordano and senior defenseman Antonio Crespi opened up the BU defense and sent Gobeil clear on goal. His shot crept under the body of onrushing freshman goalkeeper Stefano Frantellizzi and found the back of the net.

With two minutes to go, Celeste had the chance to tie the game and push it into overtime. But his shot was saved by Manz, and Stony Brook held on to hand BU its first conference loss of the season.

Kasey Robb/Staff Photographer

Junior midfielder Tommy Moon scored Binghamton’s lone goal to give the Bearcats an early lead, but Stony Brook stormed back to top BU, 2-1.

“After the red card I thought our guys did quite well,” Marco said. “[I’m] very proud of the way they performed. We still kept attacking. We had moments to tie the game, and we even had moments to win the game before we conceded the goal.”

The Bearcats are set to host The University of Vermont in the homecoming game on Saturday. After a 0-0 tie with Boston University on Wednesday, the Catamounts (5-4-3, 2-0 America East) are the conference’s last remaining unbeaten squad.

Marco said he believes it is now all about how his team responds, but he accepts that coming up against an in-form

Vermont team will provide a big challenge.

“I think that we have to come back and regroup tomorrow in the training, get the guys to recover quickly, and prepare for Vermont on Saturday night,” he said.

“Vermont is an experienced team. They bring a lot of juniors and seniors, guys who have been around the league a lot.

I think it is going to be a competitive match. Homecoming is always great. We should have a bunch of our alumni as well, so it should be a great weekend.”

Play against the Catamounts is set to kick off at 7 p.m. on Saturday at the Bearcats Sports Complex.

For preview coverage of this Saturday's women's soccer homecoming game against Boston, visit www.bupipedream.com — Ashley Purdy, Contributing Writer

WHAT IS TITLE IX?

The law calls for equal treatm sexes with regard to three spec athletics: participation opportun scholarships and treatment o athletes.

Harvey Stenger Binghamton University President “Title IX has played a very powerful role in providing opportunities for women athletes and has had a tremendously positive effect on today’s modern universities. I know of many, many students, including my wife and daughters, who have benefited and enhanced their college experiences through athletic competition. It has made our colleges and universities much more equitable and inviting, and has helped women gain skills, confidence and perspectives that are useful long after they play their last collegiate game.”

Patrick Elliott

A devotion to women's sports

Athletic Director “Title IX has had an enormous positive impact on intercollegiate athletics since its inception. It’s provided opportunities and access to a generation of female athletes who have, in turn, demonstrated leadership, character and excellence in all that they do.”

Michelle Burrell Head Coach, Softball “Title IX has had an enormous positive impact on intercollegiate athletics since its inception. It’s provided opportunities and access to a generation of female athletes who have, in turn, demonstrated leadership, character and excellence in all that they do.”

Jamie Holliday Senior forward, Women’s soccer “Title IX has afforded me the opportunities to play soccer. The confidence, self-esteem, values and truths I learned in soccer, thanks to Title IX, are things that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I’m so blessed to be a woman in sport, being an advocate for equality. Sports are not just for the guys; women are competitors too, and I’m thankful that Title IX gives us a chance to prove it.”

When Jessie Godfrey took a job as an athletics administrator at Binghamton University in 1958, she entered a world of college sports completely void of women.

The school was called Harpur College then, the athletics program was Division III and Title IX had not yet surfaced to usher in new opportunities that would forever change the lives of women across the nation.

Godfrey was part of the movement that brought women’s sports to Binghamton University and extended opportunities to female athletes across America. A native of Washington, D.C., Godfrey served as the University’s primary administrator for women’s physical education and athletics for 32 years, watching intercollegiate sports programs for females spring up and thrive under the guidelines of Title IX. Outside of BU, Godfrey served as president of the Eastern Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association. In 1984, she became the first female president of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).

But Godfrey can remember a time when none of it seemed possible — her own distinguished list of accomplishments as unfeasible as the widespread success women’s athletics has since achieved. She can remember back to a time when women simply did not play sports.

“We played ‘games’,” Godfrey said. “We would get together with another college and maybe we’d play a friendly contest … and after the game we’d go into the dance studio and have tea and cookies and that was all we were expected to do by society and by the institution.”

The teams would be composed of volunteer athletes, Godfrey said, who had no other options for participation in the sports they were interested in playing. There

would be “easy, friendly” practices and games would come about by reaching out to another institution to see if they had a group of women interested in competing.

Options for women were limited and lacked any real structure.

“The American culture thought sports was basically for men, and women just kind of played games,” Godfrey said.

In 1958, Godfrey left her job at Brown University to accept a position at Binghamton working in athletics. For the first decade or so, circumstances for women looking to get involved in sports remained largely unchanged and Godfrey described her work as relatively uneventful. But in 1972, that all changed.

“Not too much happened [at first] because everything was just kind of friendly and relaxed,” Godfrey said. “There was … no enormous interest in events … until around 1969 or ’70 when the Title IX thing erupted, and then suddenly it became necessary for Binghamton University … to offer opportunities for women in sports where women were interested.”

The creation of Binghamton’s first intercollegiate women’s sports team, swimming and diving, came about in 1969, prior to Title IX’s passing. Volleyball and women’s tennis joined soon after, and in 1973, women’s basketball became the first addition following the law’s passage.

Godfrey and her co-workers set about leveling the playing field for male and female athletes at BU, developing fuller schedules for women’s teams and providing teams with comparable modes of transportation, food, clothing and housing.

The process was a lengthy one, according to Godfrey — and not without resistance.

“At our institution [the resistance] was relatively discreet,” Godfrey said. “The men faculty didn’t think that the women knew what they were doing, us women getting into this business, we didn’t know anything about sports programs and development

and they were trained from birth practically so they kind of laughed at us. The thing was that we kept going on and being successful without their help, fortunately. Then when they found out that we were becoming successful, then they were concerned about the financial situation because Binghamton, well most of the institutions, had to find out how to separate the money so that the men had to give up something for the women and of course they didn’t like that.”

While figuring out where the money would come from and exactly how to divide it wasn’t always easy, Godfrey did notice that even early on, the budget committee was generally interested in giving more money to women’s teams instead of men’s. “[It] kind of pleased me because I thought, already the young men at the college level have decided that the women are doing something and they’re doing it very well … and they should be given money so they can continue,” Godfrey said.

Today, Binghamton University boasts nine women’s sports programs, which have combined to generate three America East Championships, four America East players of the year and one All-American in the school’s Division I era alone.

Godfrey said the new tradition of success starts at the youth levels that now have countless more opportunities for girls thanks to Title IX. From there, the success seeps into collegiate and even professional athletics. She pointed to women’s basketball in the Olympics as an example.

“They would never have been there before Title IX because they are the product of the development of more opportunity at the elementary on up level for girls, they’re the results of that success,” Godfrey said. “You find American women at the 20-year-old level who are very successful in doing something that, had they been born [several] years before they were, they wouldn’t have even been able to try.”

1946 1969 1971 1972 1973 1977 1979 198 Triple Cities College opens. Men’s cross country, men’s tennis, men’s basketball and men’s track and field are the first intercollegiate sports to be offered.

Baseball, men’s golf, men’s swimming and diving and men’s soccer are added to the list over the next two decades, as the school’s name changes from Harpur College to SUNY at Binghamton.

Swimming and diving becomes the first women’s program at BU to be offered as an intercollegiate sport.

Volleyball becomes an intercollegiate sport at BU, posting a 8-4 record in its inaugural season.

Title IX of the Education Amendments Acts is signed into law

by President Richard Nixon. The law officially goes into effect on July 1.

Women’s tennis becomes an intercollegiate sport at BU and goes 6-1 in dual matches.

Women’s basketball becomes an intercollegiate sport at BU.

Women’s cross country becomes an intercollegiate sport at BU.

Softball and women’s track and field join the list of intercollegiate sports at BU.

Alice Willis and Marilyn Milliga women’s cross team become female athlete Binghamton h to earn All-Am honors. Wome cross country e its first SUNYA championship

ment of both cific aspects of nities, athletic of teams and

Title IX does not set quotas or demand equal funding for different sports or sexes. It only requires that schools provide male and female students with equal opportunities to participate in athletics. Athletic participation among males has continued to increase as well since the law’s passing.

Title IX protects all students — male and female — from discrimination on the basis of sex in schools that receive federal funding.

Number of women in collegiate sports

Average national athletic budget spent on women's sports

40% 2% 1972

1971-72 Fewer than 30,000 women participated in collegiate sports

2012

Scholarships at D-1 Schools awarded to women

48%

2010-11 190,000 female athletes at the college level — about six times as many as immediately prior to the passage of Title IX.

0% 1972

2012

Average Head Coach Salaries at Binghamton University

$64k MEN

50%

82%

Eighty-two percent of female business executives today played sports when they were younger.

High school girls that participate in sports are half as likely as their counterparts to become pregnant during adolescence, and less likely to take drugs or smoke.

$52k WOMEN

•

• •

Girls that play high school sports are more likely to graduate, earn better grades, score higher on standardized tests and attend college

•

Monique Hacker helped put Binghamton University athletics on the map.

A native of St. Andrew, Jamaica, Hacker moved to the United States when she was 17. About six months later, she competed as a member of Binghamton’s track and field team, shattering the school’s previous triple jump record by nearly five feet in just her second day with the program.

She never looked back.

Hacker became the school’s first female athlete to win a national championship in 1996 when she captured the triple jump title in the fall of her freshman year. Winning the same title in the outdoor championships that spring, Hacker would eventually garner five national championships while at Binghamton.

“Because Binghamton wasn’t really known for its athletics, more importantly track and field, I think it was especially important to put Binghamton on the map,” Hacker said of her championships.

But Hacker would not take sole credit for Binghamton’s athletic rise — the program jumped from Division III to Division II her senior year. Instead, she credited other teammates who also competed in other championship events and performed “really well.”

And when you produce on the field — even in a seemingly individual sport like track and field — you win for your school.

“If I won events at a national championship, it’s not Monique Hacker who won,” she said. “It’s ‘Binghamton won’ or ‘Binghamton placed third.’ So even though track and field is an individual sport mostly, you’re still representing your school.”

And while Hacker helped Binghamton,

the opportunity to compete at the college level taught Hacker valuable lessons, which she enacts every day as an associate actuary at New York Life Insurance Company. Playing for a team forces athletes to cooperate and build some sort of chemistry. And if workers in an office cannot cooperate, the company’s production suffers.

“If you’re running a relay, you have to know who is strongest for which leg, so you want to make sure you place each person in the role that is most [appropriate] for that person,” Hacker said. “In the work environment as well … you’ll want to place the person that has the strongest skill set in a particular role.”

Hacker went on to say that having teammates taught her how to adapt to different types of personalities and working habits, another valuable trait transferable to the workplace.

So Hacker helped Binghamton, and Binghamton helped Hacker.

But without Title IX, which passed in 1972, the reciprocal relationship might not have been possible. Fewer schools would offer athletic scholarships to women, leaving fewer opportunities for female athletes to compete at the collegiate level. Hacker could have been squeezed out.

If so, she would not have developed as an athlete, and the secondary effects, such as learning to cooperate, would have had to reach her through another medium.

“I think in general having the same opportunities as other athletes is significant if you’re participating in that sport,” Hacker said. “You’re going to get top coaching and financial support if there is any. You’ll eventually or inevitably become a better athlete overall.”

And if Hacker’s case can be a lesson to critics of Title IX, the act’s positive impact reaches more than just the athlete herself.

Title IX does NOT require that the same amount of athletic scholarship money be given to males and females. It only mandates that the scholarships be given in proportion to the number of male and female student athletes.

Though females make up 53 percent of the student body, women’s teams receive only 40 percent of the total money given to athletics at Division I schools.

Boys are still twice as likely as girls to be active, and male participation in sports continues to grow. At the high school level, boys’ participation opportunities grew more than girls’ did in the last decade.

The three-pronged test used to evaluate a school’s compliance with Title IX’s equal participation opportunities requirement is relatively lenient. A school only needs to meet one of the following three requirements to be considered under compliance: — Athletic participation of males and females is proportional to male and female enrollment numbers — Current programs fully and effectively accommodate the underrepresented sex’s interests and abilities — There has been and is currently a practice of program expansion within the school that responds to developing interests and abilities of members of the underrepresented sex

83 1984 1985 1996 2001 2002 2004 2012

d an of the s country the first es in history merica en’s earns AC title.

Alice Willis becomes the first BU track and field All-American.

Women’s soccer becomes an intercollegiate sport at BU.

Monique Hacker of the women’s track and field team wins the first of her school-record five national titles, taking first in the triple jump at the NCAA Division III Championships.

Yun Qu and Hui-Jue Cai become the first women from Binghamton to participate in the Olympics. Cai took home a bronze medal in the 4x10 medley relay.

Tracy Kasmarcik of women’s soccer becomes the first Binghamton athlete to earn All-Region honors during the school’s Division I era.

Binghamton becomes a Division I school.

Women’s lacrosse becomes an intercollegiate sport at BU. Sarah Cartmill of the women’s basketball team is the first BU athlete to be named America East Conference Player of the Year.

Yun Qu of the swimming and diving team becomes the first Binghamton athlete to earn AllAmerica honors during the Division I era.

Women’s soccer becomes the first female team at Binghamton to win an America East championship.

Jessica Hennig of women’s track and field becomes the first female athlete at BU to win three straight America East titles.

Welcome to Week 6! 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. Pushing the lock neutralizes the pick. The other three games are worth one point each — a halfpoint for a push — and there is no penalty for wrong guesses on these. While Guest continues to embarass the sports staff, Erik has been slowly shriking the gap. Ari remains comforably in third with 4.5 points, while Megan again finds herself in the basement. Interested in making an appearance as the guest picker? Submit your picks to sports@bupipedream.com.

Pipe Dream Picks Guest Erik Ari Megan

10-4-2 8-8 5-10-1 5-10-1

13 10 4.5 2.5 SPORTS EDITOR

Megan Brockett’s Picks

LOCK: NY Giants (+5) over SAN FRANCISCO Disclaimer: I have yet to pick my lock correctly.

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Ari Kramer's Picks

LOCK: New England (-3.5) over SEATTLE

This goes against my home dog idea, but the Patriots look great.

Detroit (+4.5) over PHILADELPHIA The Lions are coming off a bye week and need to stop the bleeding. It’s now or never for Detroit.

WASHINGTON (-1) over Minnesota RGIII, fully healthy or not, will beat this overachieving Vikings team at home.

ARIZONA (-4.5) over Buffalo Hard times in Buffalo. Cardinals should breeze by.

NY JETS (-3) over Indianapolis Because the Jets will need a little bit of Luck to win another game.

Luckily, Luck will be in the building.

WASHINGTON (-1) over Minnesota Who am I kidding? It’s MLB postseason time right now. I don’t start watching football until November.

MIAMI (-3.5) over St. Louis Fins are flying under the radar. St. Louis is 0-2 on the road.

LOCK: Detroit (+4.5) over PHILADELPHIA Look for a big Lions upset after the bye week. Trust me. I’m basically a doctor.

LOCK: Cincinnati (-2.5) over CLEVELAND Any team who plays the Browns is money.

Kansas City (+3.5) over TAMPA BAY Brady Quinn is about to take the NFL by storm.

Atlanta (-8.5) over OAKLAND Oakland’s defense is bottom of the barrel. Atlanta’s offense is top tier. Prep the lifeboats for evac. The Raiders are sunk.

Indianapolis (+3) over NY JETS If Andrew Luck can beat Aaron Rodgers, he can beat Mark Sanchez.

Now if Tim Tebow were starting …

Denver (+2) over SAN DIEGO Phillip Rivers screwed my fantasy team last year. Go Peyton.

ATLANTA (-8.5) over Oakland The Raiders got a win out of their system back in Week 3, so they should be set for at least a few more weeks.

Cincinnati (-2.5) over CLEVELAND The Browns suck, Jason. Get used to it.

GUEST

Matt Vasilakos's Picks

ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

Erik Bacharach's Picks

Fantasy Football Corner A little pessimism goes a long way in fantasy football.

Understand the possibility of disappointing production from your early-round investments. Expect a slew of injuries throughout the season. Moreover, prepare for a devastating combination of the two. Just make sure that you don’t become cynical to an inordinate extent.

The fantasy football gods don’t hate you. They hate everybody.

Cedric Benson owners of the fantasy community, this is an appropriate time to commiserate. The Packers’ starting running back will be out for approximately eight weeks with what is listed as a “Lisfranc foot injury.” It will be interesting to see the split in carries between potential replacements Alex Green and James Starks on Sunday night in Houston, though the Texans’ defense has been formidable against the rush so far this season.

Note: Houston will be without Pro-Bowl linebacker Brian Cushing on Sunday, who is sidelined for the remainder of the season with a torn ligament in his left knee. Though the Packers are a pass-heavy team, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to stash either of these backs to fill in a vacant spot or to save for a rainy day, regardless of a potential platoon scenario. Remember,

pessimism…

The Arizona Cardinals have a full-blown epidemic in their backfield. On Sunday, it was announced that running back Ryan Williams will require surgery on his left shoulder and miss the rest of the season.

Williams had been given the reigns at starting running back after Beanie Wells suffered a severe turf toe injury against the Eagles on Sept. 23. In Williams’ absence, the Cardinals are expected to exercise a backfieldby-committee including William Powell, LaRod Stephens-Howling and Alfonso Smith. If you’ve never heard of any of these guys, don’t be embarrassed. Any one of them could be looking for a job at a Home Depot in the Phoenix area six weeks from now.

There have been rumors, however, that the Cardinals may pursue help via free agency. Tim Hightower and Steve Slaton have been mentioned among others as possible saviors, though it probably wouldn’t matter if Arizona signed the second coming of Eric Dickerson to take carries for the remaining 11 games. The Cardinals’ offensive line simply cannot get it done.

The team is ranked 31st in the NFL in rushing yards per carry and has been easier to penetrate

than a wet paper bag through five weeks. In all likelihood, the seemingly passive Buffalo rushing attack is in for a confidence boost this Sunday in Arizona. Avoid the Cardinals’ rushers like the scarlet fever until further notice.

Speed round: Start/Sit Priority Start: Matt Ryan (ATL) — Playing at home against an inept Oakland secondary. Have fun out there, Matty-Ice. Vick Ballard (IND) — Filling in for injured Donald Brown (out 2-3 weeks). The Jets are currently ranked last in the AFC in stopping the run, which provides for a friendly matchup.

With some hesitation: Torrey Smith (BAL) — Averaging 87.3 yards and a touchdown per game since losing his brother just hours before kickoff against the Patriots three weeks ago. But the Ravens will compete against the toughest secondary in the NFL this week, with Dallas visiting Baltimore.

Outlook does not look good: Doug Martin (TB) — May lose goal-line touches to LeGarrette Blount, who is much more suited for short-yardage plays.

Ahmad Bradshaw (NYG) — David Wilson is expected to see an expanded role, but the 49ers defense is enough of a reason to sit.

Why don’t you just start Mark Sanchez?

Steven Jackson (STL) — 3.5 yards/attempt in 2012. This is not a rage-sit. Jackson is in the winter of his career and no longer among the league’s elite.

Denarius Moore (OAK) — The Raiders will look to exploit Atlanta’s poor rush defense with a conservative approach.

Good luck this week, gamers!

The Binghamton University women’s volleyball team dropped a heart-wrenching battle to Cornell University on Wednesday. The Bearcats jumped out to 1-0 and 2-1 leads before conceding the final two sets, falling in a tightly contested five-set match (2516, 18-25, 25-20, 22-25 and 1618). The nonconference match dropped Binghamton (6-15, 3-2 America East) to 1-6 on the season in five-set matches.

“It’s hard to pinpoint,” Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama said when asked about his team’s struggles in five-set matches. “We’re competing hard, we just haven’t executed down the stretch.”

The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead in the first set, after kills from senior middle hitter Alex Roland and freshman hitter Megan Burgess brought the Bearcats’ lead to 6-2. Cornell (511, 1-4 Ivy League) battled back and eventually tied it before the Bearcats went on a 7-3 run late to eventually put away the first set. The teams resembled two heavyweight boxers in the set, consistently trading blows that left one another bruised and bleeding.

Binghamton lost the second set, and was dead even with the Big Red in the third before finishing strong with a late 4-0 run. The squad then dropped a heated fourth set to force a fifth.

The Bearcats had three match points but could not convert, letting victory slip from their grasp. BU committed some untimely mistakes and ended up losing the final stanza, 16-18. “[The differences in the game] were probably unforced errors,” Kiriyama said. “We

needed to control the ball better and cut down on our unforced errors. We committed a few big ones late.”

Cornell posted a .206 kill percentage to Binghamton’s .194 and outhit BU 62 to 58.

The match was the worst hitting performance the Bearcats have had in the past eight matches.

The teams were dead even with defense up front, each recording nine blocks.

Four Bearcats players racked up double-digit kills, and sophomore setter Amanda Dettmann continued her consistent play with a doubledouble. Binghamton recorded a season-high 82 digs, thanks

in large part to junior libero Xiomara Ortiz, who also had a night to remember, totaling a career-high 32 digs.

After such a tough loss, Kiriyama said he remains confident in the team’s mindset as the Bearcats prepare to host Stony Brook University to kick off homecoming weekend.

“The team realizes the importance of this match,” he said. “They’re focused on the upcoming one, they don’t look back. We realize that every conference match is a big one.”

The match with the Seawolves (7-10, 2-2 America East) is set for 6 tonight at the West Gym.

Jonathan Heisler/Photo Editor

Junior libero Xiomara Ortiz posted a career-high 32 digs against Cornell, but the Big Red beat the Bearcats in five sets.