Super Bowl Drinking Game
Marketplace Madness
In case you needed an excuse to get drunk on a Sunday, see page 13
With construction complete, what do you think of the finished product? Pipe Dream asked and you answered, see page 2
PIPE DREAM Friday, January 31, 2014 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXX, Issue 2
Stenger to give University address
Friday's speech to cover past year and future enrollment Christina Pullano Rachel Bluth Pipe Dream Editors
Today at 12:30 p.m. Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger will give his State of the University address in the Osterhout Concert Theater in the Anderson Center. The biggest change Stenger is expected to announce is an initiative to increase enrollment to 20,000 — 16,000 undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students — by the year 2020. This means an increase of about 1,000 undergraduates and 3,000 graduates, nearly doubling the Graduate School. Because the planned increase would involve mainly graduate students, Stenger doesn’t see campus overcrowding as a risk of the enrollment bump. “Most graduate students don’t live on campus, they live off campus, so student housing isn’t a problem,” Stenger said. Part of increasing graduate
See SPEECH Page 4
Students serve up criticism Culinary Council meets with administrators, Sodexo representatives Joseph Hawthorne Pipe Dream News Dining halls at Binghamton University have often been a source of discontent among the student body. This semester, Auxiliary Services and Sodexo are responding. “What do we want to change? What can we do together?” asked Jim Ruoff, a representative for Sodexo Dining Services, to a group of students Wednesday night. The Student Culinary Council hosted its first open meeting with dining staff and students to announce the council’s role as sole intermediary between students and dining operations. Peter Napolitano, director of Auxiliary Services, said that from now on all student criticisms and ideas about the dining halls would be directed through the student-run council. Previously, the University ran committees that students could go to with complaints or ideas. This council is now facilitating regular meetings for every dining hall where the Sodexo reps will meet with students. “The job of the Student Culinary Council is to keep your hand on rudder,” Napolitano said. “To row the boat, it’s going to be the student body. They’re going to tell us what to do and where put the power behind it.” Napolitano said he already expects the council to be active, and that Brian Rose, vice president of student affairs, is also interested in coming to meetings. “There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit, things we can change now,” Napolitano said. E-Board members of the newly created council explained
Janine Furtado/Assistant Photo Editor
Mitch LaRosa, a freshman majoring in history, center, responds to questions. E-Board members spoke about ideas they already had, like providing reusable takeout containers, reorganizing the grill at Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center and posting whiteboards for students to propose their own ideas and critiques.
the organization’s structure and encouraged newcomers to join the council in its infancy. “We’re going to have big meetings, like this, every other week and anything you want changed, regardless of where you live, come to this meeting and voice your opinion. If there seems to be a trending issue, we’ll refer to one of our teams,” said Jillian Shotwell, president of the council and a senior double-majoring in environmental
studies and geography. The council was organized into teams focused on retail aspects, environmental and social responsibility, residential concerns and nutrition. E-Board members spoke about ideas they already had, like providing reusable takeout containers, reorganizing the grill at Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center and posting whiteboards for students to propose their own ideas and critiques.
Sodexo staff also suggested ways to improve dining. “Breakfast transactions are virtually nothing. To open up the hotline in the morning and bring in the cooks and turn on the equipment, that can be a costly affair,” said John Enright, director of Resident Dining, about Appalachian Dining Hall. “If we remove
See COUNCIL Page 4
BU ranked 10th best public value Research initiative
to include freshmen
University drops 2 places, administration not Binghamton University's rankings in the past 5 years Key
Contributing Writer
Kiplinger's Best Value in Public Colleges
Assistant News Editor
While Binghamton University remains a great value according to the Princeton Review, the University has dropped in rank for the second year in a row. The Princeton Review ranked BU as the No. 10 best value public college in 2014.
The University has decreased in rank since 2012, dropping from No. 4 to No. 8 in 2013. BU has maintained a spot in the top 10 for six years in a row. University President Harvey Stenger said he doesn’t put too much emphasis on BU’s spot on the list. “I kind of get exhausted by these rankings, but the good news is that we’re always in them,” Stenger said.
The 2014 rankings are based on institutional data and student opinion surveys from fall 2012 through 2013, according to the Princeton Review website. The rankings take into account more than 30 factors related to academics, financial aid and tuition. The Princeton Review decides from 650 schools, based on factors such as high school
in their college years,” said Nancy Stamp, a biology professor who spearheaded the campaign. “By doing that, A new program offered we hope that more students by Binghamton University will have freshmen diving right into research in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. The Freshman Research Immersion (FRI) program allows freshmen to start research in science and engineering at the very beginning of their college career, as opposed to their junior or senior years, giving BU STEM students an early — Donald Nieman advantage in their fields. Provost “We want to provide substantial numbers of undergraduates interested in a career in science and engineering with a highquality, intensive, real research experience early See STEM Page 4
Carla Sinclair
The Princeton Review's Best Value Public Colleges
Geoffrey Wilson
Program allows for early experience in STEM
GPA, graduation rates, SAT and ACT scores and student/ faculty ratios. Of the 650, the Princeton Review selects 75 public and 75 private schools to comprise their “150 Best Value Colleges.” Stenger said the factors used to measure the rankings seem arbitrary and don’t lend to improving schools.
See RANK Page 5
The FRI will allow bright freshmen to work directly with world-class researchers