Pipe Dream Spring 2013 Issue 6

Cross your T's and dot your I's Our copy desk shares some basic advice to improve your writing See page 11

Pipe Dream and the student body shares their love with ehart filled valentines. See Page 2

Your LinkedIn Tips

The CDC gives some tips on professionally using social media, See page 2

PIPE DREAM Friday, February 15, 2013 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXIII, Issue 6

A love story for the history books “Modern American Civilization,” a class co-taught

by Binghamton’s historic pair of Leigh Ann Wheeler and Donald Nieman, has become a family affair at Binghamton University.

Wheeler, a history professor, and Nieman, provost and vice president for academic affairs, have been married since 2001, but have known each other since Wheeler was a freshman in Nieman’s U.S. history class at Kansas State University in 1986.

Wheeler said Nieman was oblivious to her infatuation with him at the time.

“When I was an undergraduate, I did have a huge crush on him, and he had no clue,” she said. “In fact, one time we were talking about it, during my first year of teaching, and I asked Don, ‘So what do you do when a

student has a crush on you?’ because I had a student who had a crush on me and I was trying to figure out how to deal with that, and he said, ‘I don’t think anyone’s ever had a crush on me.’ I mean, he’s kind of clueless about these things so he had no clue.”

Nieman and Wheeler approach co-teaching their class as a team effort, in which both take equal responsibility in planning and lecturing.

“The night before class, we prepare together, and we create the whole lesson for the next day,” Nieman said. “We come up with the PowerPoint slides, the images, the script, and then decide who’s going to do what.”

While the prospect of Photos Provided working professionally with a Leigh Ann Wheeler and Donald Nieman, who have been married since 2001, co-teach a history class. significant other may sound like a recipe for disaster, Nieman and Wheeler say that “We will modify what each represent for the students the just as the historians who they use the opportunity to other says, and some things fact that history as a discipline turn their differences into we disagree on,” Wheeler said. is full of interpretation, and teaching opportunities.

“One thing we try to do is we interpret things differently,

The Chipotle Mexican Grill in University Plaza has been temporarily shuttered, pending repairs, to the disappointment of many Binghamton University students.

Joe, a representative for Chipotle, confirmed the closure in a Facebook post in response to an inquiry from Pipe Dream.

“There was a water main break [Wednesday]. We’ve shut down until it gets fixed, which we hope will not take very long,” he posted.

Calls to the Vestal, N.Y. eatery were routed to a non-configured voicemail system and the location has been removed from Chipotle’s website.

Chipotle headquarters did not respond to additional Facebook messages, phone calls nor emails.

“Chipotle is … delicious. I love eating there like once a week,” said Chris Ertel, a junior majoring in English. “I’m devastated that the premier restaurant in University Plaza is closed.”

CDC reveals the love behind a cover letter UMass Lowell’s athletic teams will make the leap to NCAA Division I and join the America East Conference, effective July 1, 2013, the school and league announced Thursday morning. The River Hawks were unanimously accepted by the conference after a vote by the America East Board of Presidents.

With Boston University leaving for the Patriot League in the summer, Lowell’s arrival will keep the America East at nine schools.

“We’re excited to have a new member institution in UMass Lowell,” Binghamton athletics director Patrick Elliott said. “I think they’re going to be a great addition to the conference, and they’re similar to a lot of the institutions in the America East. They’re a state school with a very

good academic profile, and they’re really looking to have a … quality growth plan in both academic enrollment as well as athletics, so it’s going to be a great thing.”

With the exception of its Division I men’s ice hockey team, Lowell has been a member of Division II since 1975. The River Hawks will be departing from the Northeast-10 Conference, where they’ve been a member since 2000.

“I am thrilled to welcome UMass Lowell as the newest member of America East,” conference commissioner

Amy Huchthausen said, according to bubearcats.com. “All throughout the membership evaluation process, our conference’s leadership has stressed the importance of finding peer institutions with similar profiles and an infrastructure of strong academics, competitive athletics programs and outstanding facilities.

UMass Lowell has those assets and will strengthen America East in all facets.”

Lowell has 17 athletic teams and will add men’s and women’s lacrosse for the 2014-15 season.

While the River Hawks will begin competing at the Division I level in 14 sports in the 2013-14 academic year, they will not be eligible for postseason play until the school completes the fouryear NCAA reclassification period. They will become full Division I members of

Students celebrate love around the world

Tyler Constance/Staff Photographer

Students had the option of creating and sending candy grams at an event hosted by International Connection in honor of Valentine's Day.

Students at Binghamton University had the opportunity to learn about how different cultures celebrate love’s biggest day abroad this Valentine’s Day, at an International Connection meeting on Thursday.

Members of International Connection invited students from different backgrounds to share their country’s Valentine’s Day experiences and meet new people.

International Connection vice president Munira Pulodi said traditions vary greatly from country to country.

“How they celebrate it in other countries, it’s completely different from what we expect,” said Pulodi, a junior majoring in human development. “We have different tales about Valentine’s Day. In some countries they have a different date, or for example in Korea the girls do the gifts for

Keeping with the spirit of Valentine’s Day, students learned how to write a kind of love letter on Thursday, one that will hopefully lead to a serious commitment — to an employer.

The Career Development Center (CDC) hosted an event titled “Cover Letters Are Like Love Letters,” which discussed how to impress potential employers with a personalized résumé introduction.

“When there is not an opportunity to talk with the person that you are giving your résumé to, the cover letter fills up that gap,” said Wren Fritsky, a career counselor from the CDC who hosted the workshop.

“So, it always accompanies the résumé and is important in talking about why you are interested in the position, why the employer is interested in you, and how you getting the job would be mutually beneficial to you and the employer.”

Fritsky said that an important part of writing a

Fritsky said. “No love letter to a specific person starts with ‘To Whom It May Concern.’

That’s why I really want you to remember: that a cover letter is a love letter, and that there is no such thing as a generic love letter.”

A fundamental role of a cover letter, Fritsky said, is to grab the reader’s attention by giving them reasons to be interested in you.

“You want to focus on how the employer will benefit from reading the cover letter,” Fritsky said. “You need to show them with proof through examples that are relevant. You want to show how you added value in the past to a project or internship or previous job, etc.”

Fritsky also explained that just as rejection is natural when seeking a relationship, it also can happen when searching for a job, and it is important to deal with it in a productive way.

“When you are rejected it is important to remain cool and not go on a crazy rampage and Daniel O'Connor/Staff Photographer

Wren Fritsky, a career counselor at the CDC, discusses how adding a quality cover letter to an application can add considerable clout to a résumé.

trash the other person,” Fritsky said. “You do not know the reason of the rejection and so cover letter, just like when you want to stay professional writing a love letter, is to and respectful, because you personalize its contents. never know, they may come “You are writing the cover letter for a specific person,”

Job seekers should get "LinkedIn" Given the growing importance of social media reputations for college graduates, the Center for Career Development held a workshop Tuesday to teach students the essentials to building a successful profile on the professional networking website, LinkedIn. LinkedIn allows users to build a profile that resembles a résumé, listing their educational background and work and internship experience. Unlike a paper résumé, which is normally kept to one page and mandates that work experience be written concisely, LinkedIn users are able and encouraged to expand on the details they provide.

“The role of a [paper] résumé is really to target your employers, so it has to be very tailored to the type of work you’re going to be doing,” said Danielle Dottolo, the CDC counselor who hosted Tuesday’s workshop. “On the résumé, you put a couple of bullet points; on LinkedIn, you can put 10.”

The website, which is used by more than 175 million people in more than 200 countries — including 2 million companies and executives from all Fortune 500 companies — lists jobs and internships users can apply for and allows employers to view the applicant’s profile after he or she has applied.

During the workshop, Dottolo

For the first time at Binghamton University, students united for One Billion Rising, an international movement against women’s violence that uses Feb. 14, or “V-Day,” to increase awareness.

Eve Ensler, founder of the organization and author of “The Vagina Monologues,” named the movement using the fact that one in three women are abused in their lifetime, adding up to 1 billion women worldwide.

— Rachel Sonners President, Peace OUTside Campus

Thirty men and women crowded into the Uppergrounds in the New University Union Thursday evening, talking among themselves and decorating Valentines for women in shelters.

PEACE OUTside Campus, a

Alex Trager/ Contributing Photographer

Danielle Dottolo, a counselor at the CDC, underlines the importance of completing a professional profile on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a website designed to increase visibility and attractiveness of potential job candidates.

asked students to create an account on LinkedIn. From there, attendees were instructed to fill in the required information in an eye-catching manner. This means knowing how to be keyword-savvy.

One piece of advice Dottolo gave is to search what phrases are used in a job listing and to use those phrases on your profile.

The sections that make up a profile include a photo, the “headline” that should state who the user is in a sentence, a photo, experience in any type of work, education background, and skills and expertise. Users are encouraged to elaborate on the details of their work.

Dottolo stressed the

student group that promotes nonviolence, and Lamda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. Epsilon Omicron Chapter, organized the event, which featured a screening of “The Vagina Monologues,” with help from the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Program.

Sofia Sainz, chair of public relations and community and service at Lamda Theta Alpha, said she was pleased that BU was taking part in the movement.

“There were a lot of options — other schools do dances, walks, or have concerts — so it’s a small event in comparison, but we’re still getting involved,” said Sainz, a senior majoring in environmental studies.

The event started with a short film from One Billion Rising, showing the faces of women from around the world who were beaten and raped. Smiles broke out among attendees as the women in the video stood up against their oppressors.

There was an uneasy laughter as the main film began, both from the actors and the viewers.

After speaking with more than 200 women, the narrator of “The Vagina Monologues” relayed stories about their experiences with this taboo body part.

Shane Tracy, a freshman majoring in engineering, said the event wasn’t what he expected.

“I thought it was good, just

importance of professionalism and customization on LinkedIn. Although the website resembles other social media websites in certain respects, such as the option to write or “update your status,” it is a strictly professional network. Photos should be kept formal and professional, Dottolo said, and status updates should state something useful, such as “I just learned how to write functions at work” rather than “I had a good day at work.”

“It’s not like updating Facebook,” Dottolo said.

Instead of a “friends list,” LinkedIn users have people that they have “connected” with; these people can range from friends,

past and present coworkers and bosses or supervisors. Users can have someone with whom they have connected write them a public recommendation that can be viewed by employers, and to pick and choose what they want stressed in a recommendation, such as specific strengths and abilities.

Dottolo said that people who rely solely on paper résumés are put at a disadvantage.

“A very high number of recruiters were discouraged by lack of online content of a candidate, and in the opposite direction, they were encouraged by someone who does have online content,” Dottolo said.

around in the end.”

Fritsky concluded the event by listing the three things she said employers want to know.

“There are only three things employers really want to know,” Fritsky said. “Number one: competence. Can you do the job? Number two: will you do the job to the best of your ability? Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you want to do it. And number three: do you fit in the organization?

Its not just the skill level they are looking for since that can always be taught — what they really look for is passion and desire.”

Zeynep Ozturk, a senior in the School of Management, said that the theme of the event helped her understand how to better write a cover letter.

“I learned about how you have to write a cover letter based on the company and their interests, not your interests, just like when you have to write a love letter,” Ozturk said. “You are basically proposing to a company to work with them, and if you get hired, then you will be in a relationship with them.”

Ray Kim, a senior majoring in economics, said he saw the similarities between a cover letter and a love letter as an informative way to learn a new skill.

Never start a cover letter with "To whom it may concern" Prove your worth through relevant examples The letter should appeal to the companies interests, not your own Talk about how you are able to complete the task Personalize the content of the letter. Generic is no good The CDC holds walk-in hours everyday, and is available to help with all your cover letter needs.

“You write love letters to attract people, just like you write cover letters to attract employers,” Kim said. “This was my first time trying to write a cover letter, so I got the basic information for what I should type in and the theme really helped me in understanding her points.”

Tyler Constance/Staff Photographer

Students decorate valentines for women in shelters.

very different,” Tracy said. “But the women showed they have power and seemed proud.”

Rachel Sommers, president of PEACE OUTside Campus, said she hoped the event got the message across, even if on a small scale.

“We want to bring awareness about women’s violence to students … and spread peace around campus,” said Sommers, a junior majoring in psychology.

But Sommers said she was disappointed the group had to hold the event on such short

notice.

Interpersonal Violence Prevention Coordinator Jessica Krohn said she will help students to build on the event in the coming years.

Krohn encouraged students to get involved in any way they

can to support next year’s One Billion Rising.

“We would love to bust out a huge dance next year, it’ll just take some more advanced planning,” Krohn said.

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS WANTED

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I need a dollar, dollar

Osterhout Concert Theater to host “I Sing Beijing” The Confucius Institute for Chinese Opera is presenting “I Sing Beijing,” a free gala concert, at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in the Osterhout Concert Theater at the Anderson Center.

The members of “I Sing Beijing” are young professional opera singers selected from different countries who received a month-long special training in voice performance and Chinese language pronunciation in Beijing. They will sing Western arias as well as songs from modern Chinese operas.

Local

N.Y. town faces lawsuit because of ban on “fracking” discussion Two environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday against an Broome County town, claiming it violated residents’ right to free speech by banning discussion of natural gas drilling at town board meetings. The town board in Sanford, about 100 miles southwest of Albany, passed a resolution in September saying there had already been hours of public comment for and against gas drilling and that no further discussion would be allowed during board meetings, although residents could still submit comments in writing.

Natural gas development using high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a major political issue in the state, with Gov. Andrew Cuomo expected to decide soon whether to lift a four-and-a half-year-old moratorium on it. Residents for and against development have packed town board meetings for months, with opponents succeeding in persuading boards in dozens of towns to enact bans or moratoriums.

NYC police to stop arrests on low-level marijuana possession New York City plans to stop booking and arraigning individuals arrested for low-level marijuana-possession charges. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that the change will take place next month. People who get picked up on charges of having a small amount of marijuana will be released with desk appearance tickets if they have ID and no open warrants. According to Bloomberg, it will let police use their resources in other areas where they are more needed.

The tens of thousands of low-level marijuana arrests citywide each year have generated controversy. It’s been about 35 years since state lawmakers raised the bar for booking people instead of ticketing them on marijuana-possession charges, but those arrests have soared in the last 10 years.

Grad student sues professor over low grade Graduate student Megan Thode is suing her professor and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, claiming monetary damages and seeking a grade change after she received a C-plus for one class. According to Thode, the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist — and, as a result, cost her $1.3 million in lost earnings. A judge is hearing testimony in the case this week in Northampton County Court. Lehigh and the professor contend her lawsuit is without merit. Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano declined to dismiss the suit Wednesday, ruling that there was enough evidence for the suit to proceed. The instructor, Amanda Eckhardt, testified this week that she stood by the grade, saying Thode failed to behave professionally and thus earned zero out of 25 points in class participation, bumping her down a full letter grade.

Marci Green/ Contributing

No Strings Attached performs to a packed audience at the Spring 2013 Dollar Show in Lecture Hall 1 on Saturday night. The bi-annual show featured a cappella and other performing groups, with $1 admission.

Police Watch Effed up bumper WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6, 11:00 a.m.— A 21-year-old female student reported to University police that her car’s bumper had been damaged, said Investigator Patrick Reilly of Binghamton’s New York State University Police. The victim said she had parked her vehicle in Parking Lot F at 9:30 a.m., and when she returned she noticed a small scratch on the rear bumper, probably from another vehicle.

The officers informed the victim that the damage was not enough to warrant an accident report, but they would file a police report for insurance purposes. The other vehicle was not in the area, and there were no suspects or witnesses.

App-etizing reward FRIDAY, FEB. 8, 2:02 p.m. — A 21-year-old male student reported to University police that he lost his cell phone on an OCCT bus traveling from Hillside Community to Academic Building A, Reilly said. The student got off the bus without his phone, and when he realized it was gone he used a missing phone app to determine that the phone was in University Plaza. However, the app was not precise enough to determine whether the phone was in the plaza or the apartments. The victim’s information was taken and he chose to seek criminal prosecution if somebody else was found with the phone. He also sent a text to the phone offering a reward for its return, but the phone had been turned off.

Something old, something Newing FRIDAY, FEB. 8, 2:25 p.m. — Officers on patrol were called to Newing College, where a cab driver was having a dispute with a 38-year-old female, Reilly said. The driver had been driving the suspect home through

campus when she noticed that the suspect had a bottle of beer in the back seat. The driver told the suspect she could not open the beer in the car, but the suspect did it anyway. The driver pulled over in the Newing College cutout and called University police. Officers spoke to the suspect, who had been out the night before and apparently was still intoxicated. The officers called another cab to take the suspect home, and no charges were filed.

ZZ top speed FRIDAY, FEB. 8, 9:50 p.m.. — Officers on patrol were called to Parking Lot ZZ North where an accident had occurred, Reilly said.

The driver of the vehicle, a 21-year-old male student, had been driving at an unsafe speed in the lot when he hit a snow bank and drove into Hillside Community’s Fillmore Hall. The student’s car was totaled, but there appeared to be no damage done to the building and the occupants of the car were not injured. The driver was given a sobriety test, but was not found to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Just don't do it again, mmkay?

FRIDAY, FEB. 8, 11:52 p.m. —Officers on patrol were called to Mountainview College’s Cascade Hall after reports of a party with underage drinking in the building, Reilly said. The officers responded to the room and found the door to be partially open. They identified themselves at the door, and the residents allowed them in. There were empty liquor bottles and beer cans on the floor, along with a full bottle of blue liqueur. The residents were warned that they could be charged with underage consumption of alcohol and to listen to their resident assistants in the future.

Did you know...

Today is...

Following Canada's gained independence from France as a result of the French-Indian wars, Canada was established as a self-governing federation within the British Empire.

This led to Canada's need for a new flag design.

Susan B. Anthony Day!

Cheryl Spiese, retired BU librarian, dies at 65

Susan B. Anthony Day is a commemorative holiday to celebrate the birth of Susan B. Anthony and the Women's suffrage in the United States. The day is on February 15. It has been historically celebrated since 1920[citation needed], after 31 of 48 states had ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, giving women the right to vote when fully ratified later that year.

Cheryl Spiese, a former librarian at Binghamton University, died Tuesday, Feb. 12. She was 65. Spiese was hired in 1979 as an assistant librarian.

She was eventually promoted to the position of librarian. She retired in 2010. Spiese returned as an adjunct lecturer until earlier this year. Funeral details were unavailable as of Thursday evening.

Award-winning and nationally recognized architect Jonathan Massey addressed the impact of social media and technology at a lecture on campus Wednesday, dissecting how it has affected contemporary social movements like Occupy Wall Street.

Massey’s presentation was part of the Harpur College Dean’s Speaker Series in Visual Culture.

It focused on how mapping software, mobile phones and social media have made it easier to analyze the spatial patterning and organizing strategies of social movements, focusing on the Occupy Wall Street movement centered in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan in 2011.

Professor Massey, an associate professor for the School of Architecture at Syracuse University, is a co-founder of the Transdisciplinary Media Studio and Aggregative Architectural History Collaboration, architectural projects that use digital mapping to simulate significant old physical structures important to history, art and culture. He also authored the recent paper “Occupying Wall Street: Places and Spaces of Political Action,” which focuses on the origin and impact of the spatial distribution of groups in Zuccotti Park during the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests.

“We wanted to better understand how the large public events of old social movements were recorded and studied,

mainly through periodicals before digitization, and how we could better understand contemporary ones using new technology,” Massey said.

Massey and his peers used tracking software to construct digital models of the activists’ spatial distributions in Zuccotti Park to measure its physical activity and digital footprint.

“We used traditional media sources, newspapers and magazines, along with social media like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, in order to understand the seemingly paradoxical symmetry of the protesters’ activism as they crossed between urban spaces and online places,” Massey said.

Massey said that mapping out the shifting concentrations of the protesters’ gathering areas and media hubs allows academics, journalists and citizens to better understand the evolving nature of the movement.

“One example of the way geospatial tracking technology has allowed us to better understand movements was the way we saw Occupy gradually shift its media hub and general assembly area away from Liberty Street towards Broadway,” Massey said.

One faculty member asked Massey how he was able to build accurate digital models based on the online activity of the protesters.

“Communication technology has advanced to the point where everyone is now essentially a data source,” Massey said. “When we buy a cell phone we are essentially buying a tracker, which marketers

Ashley Barnhi/ Contributing Photographer

Jonathan Massey spoke to students and faculty about the impact of social media and technology at a lecture on campus Wednesday.

have used, and academics now can use, to monitor the geographic origin of online activity through a method known as geotargeting.”

When a student raised concerns about corporations and governments violating people’s privacy with this technology, Massey responded saying that just as the physical distribution of the movement changed over time, so too did its online activity.

“Activists have often taken to

open-source tech and media to avoid tracking and surveillance from the media companies that provide social media tools organizers use,” Massey said.

Massey attributed this kind of technical savvy to the increasingly complex nature of contemporary social movements and how they have become more sophisticated in organizing, protesting and marketing their message to the general population.

“My inspiration for this project came from seeing where old has combined with and shaped the new,” Massey said. “Social networks are now forming in real life and through social media, which has revolutionized the way we see immobile places and mobile people.”

Concluding his presentation, Massey said that he saw promise in the Occupy Wall Street movement and linked it to the

grassroots movements across the Arabian Peninsula in the Arab Spring.

“I would like to think of modern social movements ideally as organs without bodies of limitations that shape and shift based on the people they are made up of,” Massey said.

Massey’s presentation was hosted by the art history department in collaboration with the Harpur College Dean’s Office.

Love still fresh for co-teaching couple we assign interpret things differently.”

Nieman agreed that working together as husband and wife gives them the opportunity to enrich the classroom environment with different opinions.

“If we have something to say…” Nieman began. “ — we’ll interject, interrupt, contradict and correct each other,” Wheeler added, interrupting him.

Teaching is truly a family affair on days when school is cancelled for Wheeler and Nieman’s 9-year-old son, as the two will often bring him to class at BU. “Actually, on days when he’s out of school for whatever reason, weather or holidays, his preference is to come to campus with us,” Wheeler said. “He likes to hang out in the office, he likes to come to class. For class on Monday, he’s going to do the reading and participate, he wants to take the quiz.”

According to Nieman, their son loves eating lunch at Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center Dining Hall,

but will no longer be seen around campus in a bow tie to match his father’s.

— Leigh Ann Wheeler BU professor

“It’s interesting, three years ago, he loved to do that,” Nieman said. “Now he doesn’t particularly love to wear a tie and a jacket.”

“He prefers to pair his blazers with a t-shirt,” Wheeler added.

Wheeler and Nieman both came to BU from Bowling Green State University in Kentucky, where they had been teaching for eight years total.

“In 2007, Leigh Ann was contacted by the history department, because she’d

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been nominated for a position that the history department was looking for, and she wrote back and said, ‘I’d be really interested in applying for the job, but I’m not very mobile right now, my husband’s a dean,’” Nieman said. “And the chair of the search committee … wrote back to Leigh Ann and said ‘We have a dean’s position open, why don’t you have him apply? So Leigh Ann applied for the history position, and I applied for the dean of Harpur College, and she actually came for her interview before I interviewed for the dean’s position, and she was actually offered a job before I was, which meant that when I came here to interview, it was a very high-stakes interview.”

As far as advice for college couples looking to balance their romance and studies this Valentine’s Day, both Nieman and Wheeler stressed mutual appreciation between partners.

“People have to respect one another, and what their partner is doing, and be able to make sacrifices — its a twoway street,” Nieman said.

Wheeler cautioned young women against diving into a long-term relationship without

discussing career ambitions first.

“I think that a lot of people plunge into marriage with the big romantic wedding, they don’t think about the reality of are you choosing someone who is going to support your ambitions and do their half of all of the work that it takes to keep a family alive so that you can do your work too,” Wheeler said. “I couldn’t do what I do if he weren’t a full partner, he does all the stuff that people think ‘Oh, he’s provost,” but no, he does laundry, he cooks, he does grocery shopping, he does child care, he sets up play dates — often, he does more of that stuff than I do.”

After 12 years of marriage and nine years of parenthood, mutual respect seems to be working well for the WheelerNieman household.

“Leigh Ann is still my Valentine,” Nieman said. “And she is the smartest, funniest, most caring and most beautiful person I know.”

“And Don is a fantastic partner,” Wheeler added. “And if all of my female friends could have a partner as supportive and wonderful as he is, they’d be much more happy.”

Boston leaves for Patriot League the America East prior to the 2017-18 academic year.

Lowell, which has an enrollment of 16,300, will be the conference’s first expansion team since the 2002 season, when UMBC joined the conference. Binghamton, Albany and Stony Brook were

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged Thursday with the murder of his girlfriend who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his hightech artificial legs.

Reeva Steenkamp, a model who spoke out on Twitter against rape and abuse of women, was shot four times in the predawn hours in the house, in a gated community in the capital, Pretoria, police said.

Hours later after undergoing police questioning, Pistorius left a police station accompanied by officers. He looked down as photographers snapped pictures, the hood on his gray workout jacket pulled up, covering most of his face. His court hearing was originally scheduled for Thursday afternoon but has been postponed until Friday to give forensic investigators time to carry out their work, said Medupe Simasiku, a spokesman for the prosecution.

South Africans were shocked at the killing. But while Pistorius captured the nation’s attention with his Olympic quest, police said there was a recent history of problems involving him.

Police spokeswoman Brigadier Denise Beukes said the incidents included “allegations of a domestic nature.”

“I’m not going to elaborate on it but there have been incidents (at Pistorius’ home),” Beukes said. Police in South Africa do not name suspects in crimes until they have appeared in court but Beukes said that the 26-yearold Pistorius was at his home at the time of the death of Steenkamp and “there is no other suspect involved.”

Pistorius’ father, Henke, declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press, only saying “we all pray for guidance and strength for Oscar and the lady’s parents.”

Neither Pistorius’ agent Peet van Zyl nor coach Ampie Louw could be reached while Pistorius’ own cellphone went straight to voicemail.

Pistorius’ former coach, Andrea Giannini, said he hopes it was “just a tragic accident.” Giannini said he believed that Pistorius had been dating Steenkamp for “a few months.”

Pistorius had troubles in his personal life. In February 2009, he crashed a speed boat he was piloting on South

all elected to membership in 2001.

The Bearcats and River Hawks will be rehashing an old rivalry. From 1998 to 2000, the two schools competed against one another as members of the Division II New England Collegiate Conference. Both Binghamton and Lowell are four-year research universities

that are ranked inside the top 100 public universities in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report.

“I think it’s great to have another institution that in many ways has some similarities to us,” Elliott said.

“They’re on a growth trajectory with enrollment … They also have research initiatives that

[are] impacting the city itself and the local area, again similar to us … When you’re recruiting student-athletes and you’re in a conference with other schools it’s important that your values are the same, so I think for us, to bring in a member that has similar values is really important.”

the men, not the other way around.”

Reba Francis, a freshman majoring in political science, opened for the event by explaining Valentine’s Day traditions in the United States.

— Reba Francis Freshman majoring in political science

Anja Niedringhaus/AP Photo

In this Aug. 5, 2012 file photo, South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius starts in the men’s 400-meter semifinal during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Paralympic superstar Oscar Pistorius was charged Thursday with the murder of his girlfriend, who was shot inside his home in South Africa, a stunning development in the life of a national hero known as the Blade Runner for his high-tech artificial legs.

Africa’s Vaal River. Witnesses said he had been drinking before the crash and officers found alcoholic beverages in the wreckage, though they acknowledged at the time they hadn’t conducted a blood test on the athlete. Pistorius broke his nose, jaw and several ribs in the crash, as well as damaged his eye socket and required some 180 stitches to his face.

In November, Pistorius also found himself in an altercation with a local coal mining millionaire over a woman, South African media reported.

Eventually, the two men involved the South African Police Service’s elite Hawks investigative unit before settling the matter.

Pistorius owned firearms and posted a photograph of himself at a shooting range in November 2011 to the social media website Twitter, bragging about his score.

“Had a 96% headshot over 300m from 50shots! Bam!” he tweeted.

Police said that earlier reports that Steenkamp may have been mistaken for a burglar by Pistorius did not come from the police. Several local media outlets initially reported that the shooting may have been accidental.

Capacity Relations, a talent management firm, earlier named model Steenkamp as the victim of the shooting.

Police spokeswoman Lt. Col. Katlego Mogale told the AP that officers received a call around 3 a.m. after the shooting.

A 9 mm pistol was recovered and a murder case opened against Pistorius.

Pistorius enjoyed target shooting with his pistol and an online advertisement featuring him for Nike read: “I am a bullet in the chamber.”

An article in January 2012

in The New York Times Magazine described him talking about how he pulled a pistol to search his home when his alarm went off the night before an interview. At Pistorius’ suggestion, he and the journalist went to a nearby target range where they fired at targets with a 9 mm pistol.

At one point, Pistorius told the writer: “If you practiced, I think you could be pretty deadly.”

Asked how often he went target shooting, Pistorius replied: “Just sometimes when I can’t sleep.”

Police have still not released the name of the woman, but the publicist for Steenkamp confirmed in a statement that the model was dead.

“We can confirm that Reeva Steenkamp has passed away,” Steenkamp’s publicist Sarit Tomlinson said. “Our thoughts and prayers go to the Steenkamp family, who have asked to have their privacy respected during this difficult time, everyone is simply devastated. She was the kindest, sweetest human being; an angel on earth and will be sorely missed.”

Tomlinson said Steenkamp, known simply as Reeva, was one of FHM’s (formerly For Him Magazine) 100 Sexiest Women in the World for two years running, appeared in countless international and national advertisements and was one of the celebrity contestants on the reality show “Tropika Island of Treasure,” filmed in Jamaica.

She tweeted messages urging women to stand up against rape as well as her excitement about Valentine’s Day. “What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow?” she tweeted. “It should be a day of love for everyone.”

Pistorius made history

in London last year when he became the first doubleamputee track athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, propelling him to the status of an athletics superstar.

Having had both his legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday because of a congenital condition, he campaigned for years to be allowed to compete against able-bodied athletes.

Having initially been banned because of his carbon fiber blades — which critics said gave him an unfair advantage — he was cleared by sport’s highest court in 2008 and allowed to run at the top events.

He competed in the 400 meters and on South Africa’s 4x400 relay team at the London Games, making history when his selection for South Africa’s team was confirmed at the very last minute. He also retained his Paralympic title in the 400 meters in London.

South Africa’s Sports Confederation and Olympic committee released a statement on Thursday saying they had been “inundated” with requests for comment but were not in a position to give out any details of the shooting. The International Paralympic Committee also said it wouldn’t comment in detail apart from offering its condolences to the victim’s family.

South Africa has some of the world’s highest murder rates, with nearly 50 people killed each day in the nation of 50 million. It also has high rates of rape, other assaults, robbery and carjackings.

U.N. statistics show South Africa has the second highest rate of shooting deaths in the world, second only to Colombia.

“We celebrate it and nobody really knows why,” she said.

“People celebrate it usually through giving cards, candy, night at a hotel. It started off in Europe and was associated with romantic love in the Middle Ages, but it goes back even farther to pagan rituals.

The most common Valentine’s Day symbol is a heart and cupid who carries a bow and arrow where he shoots people and they fall in love. That’s what’s associated with Valentine’s Day in America, even though it’s

really a European event.”

Over the next 20 minutes, presenters talked about Korean, Israeli and Persian traditions.

Sahar Khamsehi, a first-year graduate student studying industrial systems engineering, expounded on the traditions of the ancient Persian holiday, Sepandarmazgan.

“I want to introduce you to our love day in my country, Iran, Persia,” Khamsehi said.

“It is actually three days after Valentine’s Day, we have this celebration that is so old it is before the birth of Christ.

Our festival, it was kind of religious, but it’s very ancient.

It was always for women, not for men, so don’t try getting gifts for men!”

The event featured a speeddating game between students, though finding a date wasn’t the goal.

“We want people to make friends, not meet someone romantically,” Pulodi said. “If that happens it’s really nice, but it’s more about Valentine’s in different country. It doesn’t have to be in their same culture, but there’s always someone they can relate to.”

After several ice breaker games and speed dating, the remaining students split up to talk, take pictures and exchange numbers.

While many attendees were excited at the new friends they had made, some, such as Caroline Guo, a junior majoring in economics, came for different reasons.

“We don’t have any dates,” she said.

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, April 1, 2009

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

ACROSS 1 Impetuous fervor 5 Cong. work period 9 Not on the up and up 14 Tibetan holy man 15 Dark purple 16 “Flip This House” airer 17 Some dadaist art 18 Bone-dry 19 Hardly sensitive 20 2003 Katie Holmes film 23 Leftovers covering 24 “Bus Stop” playwright 25 Robin Hood’s wood 28 Everlasting 31 Carol starter 33 Cheery 36 Is situated 37 1965 film based on a Katherine Anne Porter novel 40 Genesis twin 42 “The Girl From Ipanema” singer Gilberto 43 Composer Andrew Lloyd __ 45 Clytemnestra’s son 50 Prefix with skeleton 51 Himalayan legend 54 Gear parts 55 1962 WWII film 59 Escargot 61 Outfield border 62 5-point K, e.g.

63 Scout rank 64 Grandson of Adam 65 San __ Obispo, Calif.

66 Butler of fiction 67 First name in country 68 Give off DOWN 1 Go by, as time 2 Dogie catcher 3 Current unit

4 Pocono 500 group 5 Relaxing retreats 6 Pisa dough?

7 Imaginative genre 8 Sable or Impala 9 Like some cows 10 Spydom name 11 In-depth examination 12 Oral surgeon’s deg.

13 “Amen!”

21 Listless feeling 22 Links org. sponsoring the FedEx Cup 26 Summer on the Seine 27 Jazz guitarist Montgomery 29 Clothing 30 Wall St. deals 32 Extension forming a right angle 34 Young salamander 35 Hendrix haircut 37 Enemy agent’s strategy

38 Center of activity 39 “Golden Boy” dramatist 40 Meadow mom 41 Census datum 44 Place for a lace 46 Agree out of court 47 Monotony 48 And others, in bibliographies

49 Most bashful 52 Quasimodo’s hangout 53 Vacuous 56 To the __: fully 57 Handful of mud, say 58 Designer Schiaparelli 59 Talk about sin, e.g.: Abbr.

60 “Uh-uh”

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

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

04/01/09

04/01/09

Dragon Night Ignites the Union Gabriella Ginsberg | Release Last Saturday evening, hundreds of students filled the Mandela Room in the Old University Union in celebration of Chinese New Year. Feb. 9 marked the last day of the Dragon Year and provided the perfect setting for Chinascope’s biggest show of the semester.

Chinascope, a student organization dedicated to intercultural communication and understanding, deserves every compliment. The event started off without a hitch as students had their hands stamped at the door, then had the choice to grab a seat at a table or immediately file into lines for the Chinese food dinner. The food was catered

by Buffet Star in Vestal and included staple dishes such as pepper steak, Kung Po chicken, Ma Po bean curd and vegetable fried rice. Dessert, served

during intermission, was a choice between glutinous rice balls with peanut filling and small strawberry cakes. Once everyone was settled in, the lights went down and the show began.

In matching “I Heart Chinascope” sweatshirts, the Chinascope E-Board performed a choreographed dance, pumping up the crowd. The dance number was followed by an E-Board video set to “Call Me Maybe,” which involved synchronized swimming, rolling chairs and hilarious lip-synching. Post-video, the emcees appeared for the first time, and they certainly added a humorous flavor to the show throughout the night.

Throughout the program were several videos written and recorded by Chinascope. The first video involved a business meeting with “translation gone wrong,” in which two businessmen communicated through a translator. After several funny language errors, the translator held up a DVD to the camera and suggested, “Don’t get a translator like me — get Rosetta Rock.” Another video, titled “BU Problems,” featured a Chinascope E-Board member rapping about stuff that irks Binghamton students.

There were complaints such as “Fine Arts, where yo bathrooms?” and “Construction everywhere — they lied to me at orientation.” My personal favorite was a shot of the student peering dejectedly at the College-in-the-Woods

cutlery and lamenting, “I need plastic forks, not these metal spoons.” A greater truth has never been spoken.

From Cornell University came the impressive Wushu Martial Arts Team. A few main performers wore silky outfits in red, white or blue, and, along with a chorus of other students, the team put on a routine that was a mix of intense dancing and traditional Kung Fu moves.

“I like martial arts in general,” said Aimee Manimtim, a sophomore majoring in accounting. “Their performance was intense and elegant at the same time, and they really made the art form pop.”

Dragon Night boasted a fine balance of singing, instruments and dancing. While every act was excellent in its own right, there were certainly a few standouts. A violin battle featuring “Toxic,” by Britney Spears, was undeniably impressive, as the players switched off on the melody and displayed some fancy finger work. Perhaps it was meant to be a battle, but the violinists were in perfect synchronization at any given time and appeared to be playing with, not against, each other. Later, a stellar performance by the female BU dance group, Fuschia, lit up the place. Underneath the heavy beats, skintight clothing and furious hair-flipping, the Fuschia girls exhibited some truly excellent dance moves.

On a no-less-energetic plane, the Bhangra dance group

Michael Contegni/Contributing Photographer

clapped, jumped and stomped to upbeat music that had audience members bouncing in their seats. Bhangra is a cultural dance from Punjab, the Northwestern region of Inida, and the students wore traditional loose tunics and pants embellished with peacock designs. Living up to their reputation, the Bhangra group danced with perfect rhythm and enormous smiles; the room was alive with energy.

“I really like that Chinascope connected with other cultures by inviting groups like Bhangra,” said Munira Pulodi, a junior majoring in human development. “It made it more interesting.”

The final number, “Girls’ Dance,” was performed by Chinascope members. Like many of the other acts, the dance included a mix of popular songs. The girls closed the show

in matching black sneakers and neon pink shirts that glowed under black light, bearing “#SWAG” in black letters. The black-light effect was a nice touch when it came to ending

Dragon Night was a fantastic way to kick off this semester.

It’s events like these that remind us why we’re at college — not just to educate our minds, but to connect with others through creative media such as music, performing arts and, of course, food. In a crowd of hundreds that night, it was easy to feel part of something.

As students, we should share a common goal — to be accepted and to accept others — for we are not so different from each other when it comes down to it.

“Watching all of the performances made me proud of my heritage and culture,” said Connie Chan, a freshman such a dynamic evening. majoring in biology. “I’m very “I love how they incorporated glad I went.” modern music — music that Hats off to Chinascope for everyone knows,” Manimtim providing us with an excuse to said. “It made it easy for people exercise our vitality. who may not be Chinese to identify with the culture.”

Congratulations: you got Valentines Eve Simmonds | Release

Photo Provided NBC

Gabriella Ginsberg | Release After nearly nine months off the air, “Community” returned with the premiere of its fourth season on Feb. 7. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, all you need to know is that it’s an über-meta comedy that follows the triumphs and shenanigans of a group of community college students. They attend classes such as “Advanced Breath Holding” and “Baby Talk,” build college-wide pillow forts and embark upon crazy (sometimes claymation) adventures. “Community” is also known for its theme episodes, including the famous Modern Warfare/ paintball ones. Characters are not afraid to break the fourth wall, reference a trope while engaging in said trope and occasionally express with selfawareness that they are attending a two-year school for a fourth year.

Season 4’s opening episode involved

a few ambitious moments — it included a fantasy sequence with Abed, a movie parody (“The Hunger Deans!”), animation and Dean Pelton in a sequined dress, and established Troy and Britta’s relationship, to name a few. While the episode was entertaining overall, the Troy-Britta storyline was awkward at best; it was sort of a freestanding scene that felt artificial. On the positive side, the episode managed to juggle five plots rather well. While “Community” creator Dan Harmon is no longer a part of the show, it’s safe to say that the season is off to a hopeful start. As the season unfolds, it will be interesting to see how the show is affected by the lack of Harmon’s influence.

“Community,” which airs Thursdays on NBC at 8 p.m., is not for television amateurs. The pop culture references are frequent, especially when Abed is around, and the themed episodes

are certainly more enjoyable if one is familiar with the movie or concept that’s being parodied. That being said, “Community’s” (beyond sarcastic) humor may not be for everyone. But it is certainly a unique show, and the writing is some of the most clever stuff out there. It’s not surprising to see that the fan base is growing, along with the ratings.

So check out this quirky little show while it’s still cool. Watch it with friends and laugh at the crazy situations, but don’t be shocked to find yourself identifying with the very real characters. This show has a multitalented cast, including actor/writer/ rapper Donald Glover, and just about everyone is attractive (Hi there, Joel McHale.). Bottom line: Community is worth your time … if you think you can handle it, that is.

The time to enroll is now.

So, Valentine’s Day has passed and you’re flooded with gifts given to you by your many suitors. In fact, your gifts are so numerous that you don’t know what to do with them — here are some tips.

Flowers Enjoy them until they dry out, unless you’re allergic to flowers. If you’re allergic, you should probably consider if the person who gave them to you is really a valentine or an enemy trying to get at you. Either way, dry or allergy-inducing, throw them out. Or be creepy and hang up the dried flowers.

Cheap Stuffed Animals with a Heart Motif Mentally punch the person who gave this to you. Mostly because they probably got it out of a claw machine last minute. Also because what are you supposed to do with stuffed animals after you’re five? Basically, set the gift giver in their place and save it for a younger family member’s birthday, or toss it.

Chocolate You eat it.

Those Valentines That Literally Cost $1 for a Pack of 50

There are two basic routes you can go for this gift. Option one is to collage the crap out of them. Grab some poster board, or even some regular printer paper and start gluing and cutting them together until you create something that’s quite touching and reminds you of how much your friends and significant other loves you.

I just got cavities from writing that.

Anyway, there is a meaner, second option.

WARNING: This option requires patience and commitment. What you need to do first is wait for next Valentine’s Day. Next, target your single friend who has the most angst about being single. Then, on the faithful day, grab coffee with them and give them all of your old valentine cards while saying something like, “I know you don’t have anyone special today, so I thought I would pass the love to you, since I’m such a good friend!” Ideally, do this as innocently and with the best valley girl accent you can, and make sure that in the “from” and “to” spots you’ve used white out to write over the old names. Then sit back and enjoy your friend’s face as they glare at you … you should probably also be ready to lose a friend if you go this route.

Alex Trager/ Contributing Photographer

Women in Television Tiffany Moustakas | Release Prior to “30 Rock,” having a woman be both the star and writer of a major television show was a rare occurrence. It’s safe to say that the game has completely changed.

Creator, writer and star Tina Fey has successfully exited prime time television not only having influenced others to follow in her footsteps of doing it all, but also helping the industry redefine female roles.

Liz Lemon, Fey’s character on “30 Rock,” stands out from the standard protagonist by proudly possessing multiple quirks that range from overindulging in food to coining memorable catch phrases such as, “I want to go to there” and “Blergh.”

Despite the fact that she has the desire to have both a successful career and family, Liz is an encouraging reminder to women that they are allowed to be silly and that they can have a distinct personality.

Similarly, Leslie Knope of “Parks and Recreation” has distinguishing qualities that include political ambitions, an over-the-top but loving

commitment to her friends and family and an eternal love for waffles and other breakfast foods. Characters such as Leslie are refreshing, unlike typical Mary Sue characters, because of their strong advocacy for girl power, something that seems to have disappeared from television in 2013.

Female creators and stars of recently developed shows such as “Girls” and “The Mindy Project” have taken these current ideas and gender roles into account and gone a step further by actively promoting physical self-acceptance. At first glance, Lena Dunham’s “Girls” character, Hannah Horvath, is not the ideal weight for Hollywood standards. Hannah is not the perfect, twentysomething, size-two woman — she is not the false impression many shows have led us to believe is the norm. Hannah is not afraid to admit that she is not conventionally skinny and does not have a problem showing off her body, conveying a message to other young women that their body type is acceptable in spite of what society might say. Although she does have a momentary

complaint that she is “11 pounds overweight,” the only things you will see Hannah obsessing over on this show are her questionable experiences and career ambitions.

Comparable to Liz Lemon and Leslie Knope, Mindy Lahiri of “The Mindy Project” is another female character who defies the common female archetypes.

Although she is evidently “girly” with her pop culture and fashion obsessions, Mindy has no problem voicing her own opinions and disregarding what others might think. Like Hannah Horvath, she does not meet the conventional weight standards but does not let her weight define her, even when a colleague of hers remarks that she should lose 15 pounds.

Unfortunately, the misconceptions surrounding female characters on television have not been magically solved just yet. Hold on to your stereotypical jokes about a woman’s place in the kitchen though, because these shows are just what we need to keep moving in the right direction.

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Rebecca Porath| Release Every year, Feb. 14 rolls around, bringing with it love, joy and pure magic.

The sky looks bluer and the sun shines a little bit brighter. Significant others will shower their loves with gifts and affection, go on romantic dates and embrace each other extratight. On a college campus, you’ll witness countless amounts of PDA, beautiful and unexpected glimpses of exquisiteness that revitalize our day. Love is truly in the air for all to soak in.

But for those of us who have not yet fallen for that special someone, Valentine’s can look a little more like this: 24 hours spent crying while eating chocolate, crying while passing couples, crying while seeing the colors red and pink, crying in the shower while singing Adele, crying when you see a preview on ABC Family for “The Notebook,” crying with your single friends and cursing the day(s) you didn’t feel like going to the gym.

So for those lonely hearts out there who recently suffered from a painful, tear-filled day of Valentines, here is a list of tips so that next year you won’t be as inclined to send yourself a dozen roses from a “secret admirer.”

1.

Leave your room.

Sometimes it’s fun to stay home and watch an entire season of “American Horror Story” in one day. “Hey,” you say, “It’s only 12 episodes.”

No. This is not a good idea.

Six months go by and you realize that the last time you left your room was when you

heard the word “Chipotle.”

Instead of the crazy cat lady, you’re just crazy. No one wants his or her Valentine to be crazy. Unless you’re Lindsay Lohan’s boyfriend, for obvious reasons.

2.

Wear deodorant. I know some people go for the au natural thing. I mean, the cavemen seemed to have a good thing going, right?

Wrong. As much as people say that sweat is a turn-on, they mean the look of sweat, not the smell. Unless you are planning on emptying out a good number of crowded rooms for fun — who hasn’t? — try to slap on that magic gel sometimes.

“All I want is someone who loves me, and has a sense of humor, and smells like feet,” said no one ever.

3.

Don’t go Downtown expecting to find true love. It’s just like every romantic comedy.

One minute you’re dancing and the next minute you fall in love with the drunken person standing beside you. You think to yourself, I can get past the traces of vomit on his collar, and the two of you spend the night together, just cuddling. He remembers your name, and the next day he calls you for breakfast. Soon, you’ll be dating. False. This is not real life. Instead, aim to meet people in a more sober setting. Meeting people out is fun, but I doubt a longterm relationship can begin on the foundation of, “So, do you come here often?”

4.

Talk to people.

Hey, I support the day of silence as much as anyone else.

And sometimes, talking to people can get extremely annoying. But

listen, think of all of the amazing things that talking has helped people achieve.

George W. Bush was able to add new words to the human vernacular, the movie “Gigli” was made and Jimmy McMillan (of the Rent is Too Damn High Party) is allowed to speak. In your case, though, sad, single person, talking can potentially lead to something like a conversation. And hey, having a conversation with someone new may lead to something extremely interesting, like realizing you don’t like them.

5.

Smile (and have a good one). Smiling: 60 percent of the time, it works every time.

6.

Sometimes look nice. Wearing pajamas to class is the best, without question. We all wanted to do it in high school, but realized that we actually knew the people in our classes. Here, girls and boys alike realize that people in their classes don’t care what they look like and that it’s below freezing temperatures.

Thus, everyone is perfectly comfortable confining their wardrobes to a simple pairing of sweatshirts, sweatpants and Uggs.

We even tend to judge those who try. But maybe they’re on to something.

Maybe, just maybe, people are inclined to be more attracted to other people when they don’t look like a walking sack of lumpy mashed potatoes.

7.

Have a positive outlook. Maybe wait until it gets warmer for that one, because Binghamton weather in the winter

makes that pretty much impossible. Still, not being depressed all the time is pretty much a good thing.

You’ll start looking at the world in a better way, and even start feeling better about yourself. In turn, this new outlook of yours could lead to the creation of longlasting relationships. Or because you feel so good about yourself, a one-night stand that you’ll forever regret. It’ll probably be the second one, though.

8.

Try to tone down the awkward. So you’ve got a bad case of awkwarditis. You’re the only one laughing at your jokes, you don’t understand when people want you to leave a room and that noise that you keep making, you swear that it’s the chair.

Nonetheless, you have two options. Find another awkward soul with whom you can make unbearably uncomfortable memories.

You go for a hug, they go for the handshake, you wave at someone behind them — oh how fun. Or, you can have a normal life. The first step to curing awkwarditis is admitting there is a problem. From there, become confident, learn how to talk to people, learn how to walk like a person and don’t be so lanky.

After taking these tips to heart, you should find yourself on a dream Valentine’s Day date this time next year. Maybe you’ll be on a yacht watching the sunset or at the top of the Eiffel Tower, or maybe some serious soul searching between you, a pint of ice cream and Jack Dawson will occur.

Music's biggest night of the year: the 2013 Grammys Katie Kravat | Release

It was music’s biggest night once again, with awards up for grabs after Adele’s recordbreaking six wins last year.

With new artists and fierce competition, it was an evening of over-the-top performances and stunning effects. Hosted

by LL Cool J, who was a little Twitter-obsessed and even more self-obsessed, the 55th Grammy Awards offered TV audiences a star-studded blowout to sing and dance along to.

The show began with an odd performance by Taylor Swift, who sang her annoyingly catchy tune “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” while accompanied by an ensemble of strange circus acts. Maybe not the biggest crowd-pleaser, but Swift sounded undeniably better than some of her past performances, starting the night off on the right note, so to speak. She was followed by another oddity: the pairing of Sir Elton John and Ed Sheeran singing not one of Elton’s many great hits, but Sheeran’s “The A Team.” Though strange, it was soft and sweet. Shortly after, Adele won yet another Grammy for best pop solo performance.

This year, however, the best new artist award did not go to her, but to the next performers of the night.

Introduced by Neil Patrick Harris, Fun. performed their new anthem, “Carry On.” During the song, the rain came pouring down on the band in perfect synchronization with the lyrics “we are invincible.” And Fun.

was invincible, winning song of the year for “We are Young” and the best new artist award.

Undoubtedly, Fun. is deserving, but up against the wildly popular Frank Ocean, it came as a shock. Upon their acceptance, lead singer Nate Ruess excitedly and nervously said, “I gotta pee,” and thanked his amazing bandmates. Andrew Dost even thanked himself!

Our country appetite was fed by a nice duet by Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley, and a performance by Carrie Underwood. Carrie impressed the audience with her best country solo performancewinning “Blown Away.” The magical designs displayed on her silver gown matched her mighty voice as she sang.

Zac Brown Band won for best country album.

Miguel and Wiz Khalifa gave a stellar performance, drawing attention from fans and stars alike, especially best pop vocal album winner Kelly Clarkson, who said “that was the was the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen!” While some may be upset that she beat Florence and the Machine, Kelly proved her worth with killer renditions of “The Tennessee Waltz” and “You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman,” in honor of Lifetime Achievement Award winners Patty Page and Carole King. Her voice was flawless.

Johnny Depp introduced Mumford & Sons, who sang “I Will Wait For You.” Afterwards, Ellen DeGeneres and Beyonce introduced Justin Timberlake, who gave the crowd a taste of

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his “2020 Experience.” Stealing the show, Justin brought sexy back, his voice angelic and his moves as smooth as his coiffed hair. Rapping with Jay-Z was the cherry on a delicious cake.

Next began the string of wellmatched duets.

First up was Adam Levine, nice and clean-shaven, singing “Daylight,” joined by Alicia Keys singing “Girl on Fire.” Rihanna paired up with Mikky Ekko with their song “Stay.” Finally, in a much-awaited performance, Jack White performed with his all-girl backing band The Peacocks, harmonizing with singer Ruby Amanfu, and then rocked out with his all-male backing band, The Buzzards. It was nothing short of incredible.

The more uplifting and

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collaborative performances of the night were The Lumineers singing their hit “Ho Hey” and tributes to the late Bob Marley and Levon Helm. The Marley tribute featured Bruno Mars singing “Locked Out of Heaven” with Sting singing “Walking on the Moon,” joined by Rihanna, and the Marley sons, Ziggy and Damian, honoring their dad’s “Could You Be Loved.” In the tribute to Helm, Elton John dedicated the performance to the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School and sang “The Weight” with the soulful voices of Zac Brown, Mumford & Sons, T Bone Burnett, Mavis Staples and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes.

Before the concluding awards and performances, a

nice In Memoriam segment reminded us of lost music legends, including Robin Gibb, Marvin Hamlisch and Dick Clark. Following this, Prince presented the record of the year award to Goyte for the unique but overplayed “Somebody That I Used to Know.”

Finally, the moments everyone had been waiting for.

Frank Ocean took the stage, singing “Forrest Gump.” He stood behind the piano as it projected his body, clad in a white suit and sweatband running in front of picturesque mountains and winding roads as he sang. Even with such a terrific performance and the powerhouse album that is “Channel Orange,” it was not enough to beat Mumford &

Son’s “Babel” for album of the year. He did, however, win in the new category best urban contemporary album in addition to rap/sung collaboration for “No Church in the Wild.” While Sons is deserving in its own right, “Orange” drew in such a fan base that it is quite shocking it did not win.

After Cool J closed the show, audiences could dwell upon the night. With such inventive musicians, it can be disappointing to see them lose to predictable winners. But predictable does not necessarily mean undeserving. It is up to the viewer to judge; however, one must admit that all performers were at the top of their game.

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Tina Ritter

America East commissioner Amy Huchthausen and Binghamton athletic director Patrick Eliott lauded the move, emphasizing Lowell’s strong academics — the school was ranked along with Binghamton as one of the top 100 public universities by U.S. News & World Report — as particularly on par with some of the conference’s central values.

But for all its touted academic prestige, the America East is slightly less prestigious in the area it was devised for: athletics.

The league is a small one, comprised of mostly under-the-radar schools with modest athletic achievements, on a national scale.

Though they’ve had their share of conference

successes — the volleyball team was the America East champion this year — Binghamton’s sports programs, most noticeably the basketball ones, regularly find themselves at the bottom of the AE’s standings.

Lowell’s entrance into the American East Conference, then, means both good and bad things for the Bearcats.

On the downside, Lowell will never fill the recognition gap that will remain when Boston University leaves the conference at the end of the year. The name-brand status of Boston brought the America East that much closer to the mainstream of Division I sports; viewing numbers and level of recruits followed

accordingly. Lowell brings virtually nothing to a conference struggling to make a real name for its self, with teams that garner wider media attention and a greater following.

On the other hand, Lowell’s move to Division I means it will likely struggle to be competitive for its first few years. Maybe, then, Binghamton can climb the standings. Though that may be wishful thinking.

In sum, the America East lost a good team and gained a mediocre one. So really, it went nowhere. That said, we wish luck to the River Hawks. Until you play us. When that time comes around, let the stomp-down begin.

Daniel O'Connor dev@bupipedream.com

Derek Parry tech@bupipedream.com

Zachary Kirschner business@bupipedream.com

Zachary Hindin Kimberly Bower

On Tuesday night, President Obama declared that “we have cleared the rubble of crisis,” and “the state of our union is stronger.” He mentioned gun violence, the minimum wage, climate change and even 3D printers in Youngstown, Ohio. He mentioned the tumult in Egypt, the nuclear crisis in Iran and the civil war in Syria.

But when it came to our best friend, Israel — the nation we shower with billions of dollars in aid as it silently occupies the homes of millions of people — the president had little to offer: “And we will stand steadfast with Israel in pursuit of security and a lasting peace.”

“Steadfast” is a good word to describe the attitude U.S. leaders take when talking about Israel. The New Oxford American Dictionary defines it as “resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering.” In other words, Israel can occupy land for an eternity, deny self-determination to millions of innocent people, and we’ll still support them.

As dangerous and shallow as this policy position may seem, it isn’t hard to see how it developed. Organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which claim to represent America’s Jewish population, have made unyielding support of Israel a mainstream policy position.

It makes sense, then, that when Obama nominated someone like Chuck Hagel — a Republican who hinted at the idea that Israel has committed war crimes — there was a national outcry to remove his name from consideration. It also makes sense that when Obama suggested that the

pre-1967 borders should be a baseline for negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, he was immediately labeled anti-Israel.

now has a place to turn. J Street U, a new student organization emerging on campuses all across the country, is committed to pursuing “American leadership in facilitating a negotiated, two-state resolution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.” In the past few weeks, Binghamton University has started a chapter of its own.

Jews are just as politically diverse as any group of Americans and it is not fair or acceptable for radical groups to claim a monopoly on an entire constituency.

Pro-peace Americans devoted to rational, open discussion regarding one the lengthiest conflicts in history deserve more than a narrow discussion that considers any dissenting views to be extreme and unacceptable. It’s time for Congress, and our president, to embrace the candid discussion that Americans demand and deserve.

In reality, American Jews are not in line with Obama’s idea of steadfast support of Israel. Polls show that nearly 70 percent of American Jews support the U.S. engaging with the Palestinian government to achieve a peace agreement with Israel, and 60 percent oppose the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

— Jess Coleman is a freshman Fortunately, this coalition of Jews majoring in human development.

The Republicans newest act is a phony

An open letter from your friendly Pipe Dream Copy Desk:

one Friday night and make it your profile picture on Facebook. You caption the photo, “So-and-so and I at Tom & Marty’s.”

No. The difference between “I” and “me” is that “I” is used when you are the subject of the verb, as in, the performer of the action in your sentence. Use “me” for everything else. Nifty rule of thumb: take out We’re not even gonna bore you the other people in your sentence with yet another iteration of you’re/ and reevaluate. If it sounds wrong, your, there/their/they’re or it’s/its. it is wrong. In the situation above, You are grown-ass men and women. the sentence “I at Tom and Marty’s,” You should know better. With that just sounds wrong. “Me at Tom and said, here at the Copy Desk, we Marty’s,” is significantly less aurally have a few small things that drive offensive. Boom, use “me.” us abso-fucking-lutely bonkers.

Whether you’re a writing an essay for class, crafting a composition for publication, or you know, applying for a job, here are a few tips that will help your reader not want to pull his or her hair out.

1.

Punctuation Think of punctuation as your group of friends. Without them, life is bleak, empty, confusing and sad.

But not all friends are created equal.

Think of your periods and commas.

3.

The unfair vilification of These are your close friends. You’re grammar enthusiasts comfortable with each other, you This one has a lot less to do with have an established relationship your horrible and offensive mistakes with these punctuation marks and and more to do with your lack of know where you stand. Then there is compassion as a whole. As grammar the circle of close-ish friends. We’re enthusiasts, we find we are often talkin’ about quotation marks, vilified in our pursuit to make the question marks, exclamation points, world a more coherent, sensible parentheses, etc. These friends are and organized place. When we do cool, but definitely have their place correct your grammar, we do it from in your life. You wouldn’t call your a place of love for language and question mark when you need to communication, and not with the add a citation, in the same way you intention of hurting your feelings. wouldn’t throw in an exclamation We just want to help! Stop calling point if you’re asking for something. us grammar Nazis and stop rolling Finally, you have your distant your eyes when we chastise you for friends. Mostly we’re talking about doing horrible things like splitting the m-dash (the long hypen — ) and infinitives, confusing homophones, the semicolon. These play a super using tired clichés and sounding like important role in your writing, but a pretentious schmuck abusing SAT every time you overuse or misuse vocabulary words. If it really bugs these critical punctuation marks, a you when we correct your mistakes, copy editor cries. Seriously. stop fucking making them.

2.

“Me” and “I” Hugs and kisses, y’all!

This is a particularly egregious The Copy Desk offense in our book. The situation: You’re a sophisticated young buck, — Tina Ritter is a senior you take a picture with a friend majoring in biology.

On Feb. 14, Oscar Pistorius, the exalted South African Olympic track athlete who gained fame for running with blade-like artificial limbs, shot his supermodel girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp dead. The reason for the horrific violence came as a surprise; early reports said Pistorius believed that Steenkamp was an intruder and opened fire instinctually, though police have since called that version of events into question.

Through recent years and the past election cycle, it’s become increasingly clear that the Republican Party is running further and further from the direction of the American electorate. Up until now, this conclusion seemed to be clear to everyone except those actually running the party, but new information suggests that they may finally be getting the message.

concerned.”

Sounds good, but we can’t be naive enough to believe that Republicans moving away from strict conservative morals are doing so because of personal beliefs. The move is strictly strategic.

Interestingly, some top Republican donors are gay or supportive of marriage equality. In 2011, billionaire Paul Singer, whose son is gay, joined forces with hedge fund managers Cliff Asness and Daniel Loeb to influence New York senators’ votes on the marriage measure with $1.25 million in campaign donations. Without these wealthy, gay-supporting Republicans, it’s likely the marriage act would not have been passed.

Recently David Kochel, a Republican strategist and the Romney Iowa Campaign Senior Adviser, made a landmark statement to Iowa news network “The Insider” countering the views of the party.

The veteran Republican was involved with organizing an event for the Iowa Republicans for Freedom, a group whose views differ from those of many other Republicans. The event featured Ken Mehlman, former Republican National Committee Chairman to George W. Bush and a same-sex marriage advocate.

After the 2012 elections, in which no Republican presidential candidate openly supported same-sex marriage, Kochel finally admitted, “The culture wars are over. And the Republicans, largely, lost.” With hopes that his party will accept the changing demographics and changing ideals in this country, he plans to lead Iowa through this shift.

Kochel went on to say, “If we’re the party of freedom and liberty, then we should be for personal freedom and individual liberty. And that extends to, you know, marriage, as far as I’m

Republicans voting for marriage equality? It’s not just shocking; it’s literally against what the party stands for

public.

Recent events have revealed that there is a population of gun owners whose support for the Second Amendment seems based on the notion that arming themselves as heavily as possible is the only way to protect themselves from an unseen criminal mass.

This idea was illustrated vividly recently in Wayne LaPierre’s speech on the National Rifle Association’s proposal to put armed guards in every school.

Such a concept represents a frustratingly delusional point of view — it is not hard to imagine that an escalation of such a thought would lead to a populace surrounded by weapons in every corner of their lives. Recent legislation, such as that passed in Arkansas allowing concealed weapons to be carried into What does this have to do with the houses of worship, is worrisome. current state of affairs in the United The Second Amendment has a place States? More than one might think. in American society and our system of There is a culture brewing in America law, but the idea that it is in the best around the issue of gun control that interest of the general public that more seems to be infected with a strong strain guns in more places equates to more of mistrust and general fear toward the safety requires a fundamental leap of

day, the first bipartisan gun control bill was introduced to the House. The bill would make gun trafficking a federal crime.

As for immigration, a new Washington Post poll found that 60 percent of Republicans support comprehensive immigration reform — unless however, Obama supports it as well. Then their support drops to 39 percent. Possibly torn between which voters to please, Republicans are caught in an awkward place.

Can we also expect a movement of pro-choice Republicans in the future?

Polling from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal found that 70 percent of Americans believe Roe v. Wade should not be overturned and 54 percent say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

This doesn’t bode well for Republicans who ran on the 2012 platform stating “we assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.” It will be interesting to see how the party deals with this evident disagreement between them and everyone else.

It seems that at this point, the party doesn’t collaboratively stand for anything except trying to regenerate public support. Republicans have their backs against a wall. If they don’t adjust their policies to match public opinion then they run the risk of devastation in future elections.

But if they do start to follow the public opinion of the country, there is sure to be major conflict likely to divide the party known for its unyielding unity.

Republicans voting for marriage equality? It’s not just shocking; it’s literally against what the party stands for. The 2012 Republican Platform specifically states: “We reaffirm our support for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

What’s next for Republicans? Is supporting gun control and immigration too much of a leap? Maybe not. Last week the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said he supports — Madison Ball is a sophomore improving the federal background- majoring in political science. check system for gun buyers. The same

logic that is disconnected from reality.

The provision that the “right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” should not be misinterpreted as providing for uninhibited access to weapons. A gun has a one function, and whether it is used to kill an innocent person or to harmless punch holes in a paper target at a firing range, it is performing the same action that it was designed to be used for with drastically different consequences.

"The Second Amendment has a place in American society and our system of law, but more guns doesn't equal more safety"

Currently in Tennessee it is perfectly legal to walk into a bar, drink alcohol and all the while be carrying a firearm. One rationale that has been given for why this is a good idea is that if a mass shooting was to take place in that bar, the armed clientele would be able to stop the killer.

Yet this places a huge expectation upon the average person; that they, if armed, will always be able to act prudently in their usage of their weapon. This is an unreasonable expectation.

In August of 2012, the New York police department injured nine innocent bystanders while they fired at a gunman outside the Empire State Building.

These were people who were trained to use their guns in the “right” way, to protect the general public, but violence was still wrought by them.

The idea of giving everyone in America with a weapon the responsibility to stop an attack is horrifying.

— James Constant is a sophomore majoring in history.

BU's late comeback attempt falls short as SBU narrowly escapes Stony Brook’s lead was just two points.

Daniel O'Connor/Staff Photographer

Junior guard Jasbriell Swain scored five points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds in BU’s three-point loss to Stony Brook.

Commentary

After a shaky first half, the Binghamton women’s basketball team clawed its way back into Wednesday’s game against Stony Brook. But the Seawolves (13-12, 5-7 America East) held on to beat the Bearcats (4-21, 3-9 AE) 60-57 at the Events Center.

It was Binghamton’s second loss to Stony Brook this season.

The Bearcats kept pace with the Seawolves until the 13:28 mark of the first half, when Stony Brook senior forward Jessica Previlon gave her team a 12-10 lead with a layup. The Seawolves widened the gap to as large as 13 points before taking a 36-25 lead into halftime.

Offensive rebounding and turnovers proved to be crucial in Stony Brook’s ability to pull away early. The Seawolves amassed twice as many offensive rebounds as the Bearcats in the first 20 minutes, and Binghamton turned the ball over 14 times while Stony Brook coughed it up just five times.

At halftime, Binghamton head coach Nicole Scholl told her team to focus, according to sophomore forward Sherae Swinson.

“Coach came in and told us that we just needed more effort on the court,” Swinson said. “No more excuses about defensive breakdowns or anything.”

The Bearcats employed a different strategy in the second half, applying more defensive pressure in the paint and creating tougher shots for the Seawolves.

It took some time, but after an and-one by junior guard Vaneeshia Paulk at the 3:49 mark,

of time, as Stony Brook hit 1-of-2 foul shots for the 60-57 win.

“It was disappointing,” Scholl said, according to a press release on bubearcats.com. “We played a lot better in the second half, but didn’t show the defensive intensity in the first half.”

BU junior guard Jasbriell Swain grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds while Paulk, Swinson and senior forward Kara Elofson all reached double figures in scoring.

The Bearcats look to wrap up their three-game homestand on Saturday, when they are set to play Maine. The Black Bears (2-22, 1-10 AE) have lost four consecutive conference games and have surrendered 80 points or more in the past three.

In teams’ last matchup on Jan. 20, a 3-pointer from Binghamton junior guard Stephanie Jensen with 1:16 remaining was the deciding factor in a 67-65 BU win.

The Bearcats overcame a ninepoint halftime deficit to secure the victory.

Binghamton currently sits in eighth place in the conference, while Maine is in last place at ninth.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Events Center.

— Nicole Scholl BU head coach

With 23 seconds left and the teams still separated by two points, an offensive rebound

by SBU senior forward Gerda Gatling allowed the Seawolves to move the ball around and draw a foul. Stony Brook out-rebounded Binghamton 20-7 on the offensive glass, and no board was bigger than Gatling’s. Junior guard Teasha Harris hit both foul shots with 18 seconds left to make it 59-55, favor of Stony Brook.

Freshman guard Kim Albrecht converted a layup with one second left to cut the deficit to two, but the Bearcats had run out

W. Basketball vs. Stony Brook

57

60

By the Numbers The number of runner-up team finishes by men’s track and field at the America East Indoor Championships in the last six years.

It’s hard to be objective in the case of a loved one.

There’s no doubt that Joe Paterno was loved by many during his time at Penn State University.

He personified magnanimity. He was a father not to five, but to thousands over more than half a century spent on the Nittany Lions’ sideline.

the FBI, is that the report failed to interview the main parties in question; namely Joe Paterno, former athletic director Tim Curley and former Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz.

This is not to say that Freeh was not interested in conducting such interviews.

As a matter of fact, it was Paterno who refused to speak with investigators while the report was being conducted. The general argument throughout Thornburgh’s report seems to lack a solid buttress of logic and reality. For instance, the report alludes to Pennsylvania Most of us operate under law several times in an attempt the delusion that our parents to justify Paterno’s actions can do no wrong. Jay Paterno, as satisfactory according Joe’s oldest son, was simply to a strictly interpreted adhering to this psychological jurisprudence as defined by the principle this past week while state of Pennsylvania. making appearances on several prominent television and radio programs to promote the agenda of a 238-page report commissioned by the Paterno family. The report, titled “Critique of the Freeh Report: the Rush to Injustice Regarding Joe Paterno,” vigorously disclaims the veracity of the Freeh Report findings with specific regard to the culpability of Paterno.

Released this past Sunday, the report was compiled by a team under the direction of former United States Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and purports that the Freeh Report, now six months removed from So there it is. release, was “factually wrong, Joe Paterno complied with the speculative, and fundamentally law, albeit in minimal fashion. flawed.”

Satisfied? Ready to resurrect his One of the main criticisms of statue outside Beaver Stadium? the investigation conducted by If you’re wondering how any Louis Freeh, former director of of this exonerates JoePa in the

least, you’re not alone. It doesn’t.

The Paterno family seems to be grasping at straws in an effort that Freeh has dismissed as purely self-serving. Joe Paterno may have followed protocol in 2001 after being informed by assistant coach Mike McQueary of Sandusky’s behavior, but he’s still not off the hook, and his legacy will be forever tarnished by his failure to do more.

The problem is that most men with integrity and a functioning moral compass would not have stopped where Joe Paterno stopped. Few adults with the power and virtue of Joe Paterno would have acted so marginally in preventing a child molester from continuing to infect the public for nearly a decade longer.

In the words of Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Clearly Joe Paterno was a good man. He was a philanthropist. He was a teacher, and a patriarch.

His legacy should still be embraced for all of the good that he accomplished in his life, as well as for the immeasurable impact that he had on the PSU community.

Having said that, there is no undoing JoePa’s lack of action.

The jury has been out on this one for quite some time now.

Jay Paterno was asked in an interview televised on ESPN on Monday when the time would come to move on. He responded, “The time to move on is when we know the truth.”

Unfortunately for Jay Paterno, that time has come and gone.

20

5

The number of offensive rebounds Stony Brook recorded against the women’s basketball team.

29.4 2002 The field-goal percentage posted by the men’s basketball team at Stony Brook.

The last time the women’s track and field team finished as high as third at the America East Indoor Championships.

17

The number of all-conference selections for the men’s

and women’s track and field teams.

Allowing an opponent to carry momentum into halftime has been a frequent occurrence for the Binghamton men’s basketball team in 2012-13, and Tuesday night’s game against Stony Brook served as yet another example.

The Seawolves (18-6, 9-2 America East) used a 9-2 spurt in the final 1:45 of the first half to take a 39-26 lead at the break, and the Bearcats (3-22, 1-11 AE) would not come any closer, falling 73-47 after trailing by as many as 34 points at Pritchard Gymnasium.

“We just took a couple of bad shots during that stretch,” Binghamton head coach Tommy Dempsey said.

“They’re crucial [moments] of the game because instead of going into the second half in a dogfight you’re playing from behind.”

The two teams traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second half before Stony Brook used a 10-2 run to build a 19-12 lead at the 9:23 mark. From there, Binghamton would basically stay even, as two free throws by freshman guard Jordan Reed made it 30-24 with 2:26 left.

But then a turnover by junior forward Brian Freeman sparked the Seawolves’ spurt, which featured points from four different players.

Stony Brook forward and America East Rookie of the Year candidate Jameel Warney converted a layup just 13 seconds into the second half, and the Seawolves embarked on a 20-5 run to build a commanding 59-31 lead at the 11:34 mark. The gap eventually swelled to 71-37 before Binghamton closed the game on a 10-2 run.

For the second time this year, Stony Brook’s defense frustrated Reed, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds but also with five turnovers and a 30 percent mark from the floor.

Stony Brook senior forward Tommy Brenton, reputed as one of the conference’s stingiest defenders, guarded Reed during both contests.

“At times in this league, Jordan can overpower some guys, but Brenton can hold his ground and force him to shoot a lot of jump shots,” Dempsey said. “So I just think they have a nice matchup for him, and that’s just part of Brenton’s value.”

Binghamton senior forward Javon Ralling reached double figures for the second-straight game, scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Senior guard Jimmy Gray also contributed 10 points.

With Maine set to visit the Events Center on Saturday night, the Bearcats have their sights set on a sweep of the Black Bears (10-15, 5-7 AE) — Gray buried a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds

M. Basketball vs. Stony Brook

left to lift Binghamton to a 57-56 win at Maine on Jan. 19.

The Black Bears, who had lost to Hartford and Albany in the two games leading up to the first matchup, beat the Great Danes (18-8, 7-5 AE) and the Hawks (14-11, 7-5 AE) in their last two games.

— Tommy Dempsey BU head coach

“We’re going to get a hungry team coming in here,” Dempsey said. “They had a tough loss to us at their place — they know that’s our only league win — so I’m sure they’re fired up to come in here and get some payback.

We’re just going to have to match their energy.”

The Black Bears boast one of the league’s most imposing frontcourts, composed of junior Alasdair Fraser and senior Mike Allison, as well as the conference’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Justin Edwards.

Though Maine has struggled at times, Dempsey said Edwards and Fraser — two candidates to make the all-conference team — make the Black Bears a dangerous team as the America East tournament approaches.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Daniel O'Connor/Staff Photographer

Despite senior forward Javon Ralling registering double figures in scoring for the second consecutive game, the Bearcats fell to Stony Brook 73-47.

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SPORTS TWO, THREE FINISH

BU falls just short Page 12

Friday, February 15, 2013

Provided

The men finished runner-up in the America East Indoor Track Meet for the fifth time in six years, while the women’s third-place finish was their best at the event since 2002.

Men's track takes second, women third at AE championship

Each competing in a field of eight teams, the Binghamton men’s and women’s track and field teams impressed at the America East Indoor Championship this Monday and Tuesday, placing second and third, respectively, while producing a handful of standout individual performances. It marked the fifth time in the last six years that the men’s team has taken runner-up at the event, and was the women’s best finish at the event since 2002.

“They performed great,” Binghamton head coach Mike Thompson said. “We were hoping for second from both [teams], but we easily could have been fourth on both sides, it was that close, and there just wasn’t anything else we could do. It worked out on the men’s side and just didn’t quite work on the women’s side, but I was very proud of how everybody competed. I thought they stepped up, we did as well as we could possibly do, and it was a great meet.”

Albany swept the event, with both the men and women setting new records for the highest team score in an America East Championship. It was the men’s eighth-straight title and the women’s third in

four years.

For Binghamton, the outing was highlighted by the performances of freshman Temi Bajulaiye and sophomore Christy DiMichele, who has freshman eligibility. The pair swept the Most Outstanding Rookie awards following a firstplace finish by Balujaiye in the men’s 500 and a first-place tie

by DiMichele in the women’s pole vault. Balujaiye recorded a time of 1:05.66 in the 500, while DiMichele notched a 11-9 mark in her event to become the first female athlete from BU to win the award.

“I knew they were both capable of doing as well as they did, but it’s one thing to be capable of doing something and it’s another thing to do it,” Thompson said. “And they pulled it off, so I thought it was fantastic.”

DiMichele tied with junior teammate Camille Ginyard for first place in the pole vault, propelling the women’s squad into first place after the opening day of action. It marked the second-consecutive year Ginyard has taken first in the pole vault at the event.

Ginyard and DiMichele, who were teammates at Vestal High School, qualified for the ECACs with their performances.

Other top performers for the Binghamton women on Day 1 were juniors Jessica Goldberg, who took second

in the pentathlon, and Alexis Mike Jennings, junior Chris Murray, who placed third in the Fernandez and freshman long jump.

Cameron Black rounded out the men’s top finishers for the day with third place finishes in their respective events.

Seniors Jessica Hennig and Ashley AuPont, junior Erika Kisel and Murray all captured second place for the women’s team on the second day of action. Junior Alexx Baum and freshman Kierra Arthur each tacked on a third place finish.

Although both teams slipped in the standings on the second day of competition, Thompson credited the teams’ success in the 4x800 relays — the second to last event at the meet — for the Bearcats’ overall success. The head coach said — Mike Thompson he considered not running the BU head coach men’s 4x800 relay team because the runners were “shot” at that The Binghamton men also point. But had they sat the found themselves atop the event out, he said, the men’s standings at the end of Day team would have finished third.

1. Senior Adam Helman led “We knew that they had to do the group with a runner-up well for us to have any chance performance in the pole vault. of getting second, and both Seniors Vasili Papastrat and relays ran above and beyond Jacob Platel and freshman what I ever would have expected Joe Miceli recorded third from them,” Thompson said. “It place finishes in the 5,000, was great to see them compete the weight throw and the pole as hard as they did and get it vault, respectively. Helman’s done.” and Platel’s marks qualified Binghamton is next them for the IC4As. scheduled to head to Boston Leading the men on Day 2 University for the ECAC/IC4A was Balujaiye and freshman Championships on March 2 Jon King, who grabbed second and 3. place in the high jump. Senior

Women's Results Albany UMBC

233.50 131

Binghamton

124.50

Vermont

91

New Hampshire

76.50

Maine

64.50

Stony Brook

44

Hartford

15

Men's Results Albany Binghamton

231.50 134.50

UMBC

130

Maine

126

New Hampshire

74.50

Vermont

43.50

Stony Brook

33

Hartford

6