Spring2015 Issue1

Have you herd?

IT’S ALL ABOUT THAT GPA Student-athletes excel academically behind support from the Student-Athlete Success Center see Page 8

Two Binghamton professors have their very own alpaca farm, see page 4

PIPE DREAM Monday, January 26, 2015 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXVII, Issue 1

Stenger names first Pharmacy School Dean

The BU Foundation has $116 million $1.47 million raised in donations this year alone

6.6%

of BU alumni donate to the BU Foundation

85%

of the yearly $5-6M donated is designated for a specific cause

only

16%

of BU’s funding comes from the government

See FUND Page 2

See DEAN Page 2

Corporation elicits donations for campus infrastructure, scholarships for improvement by raising funds to finance the school’s various programs, research and scholarships. The milestone Binghamton University Foundation in donations will enable the University to reached $116 million this past year, which allocate large sums of money to bigger administrators celebrated as a marker of projects, including classroom renovation its improved fundraising abilities. and grants for current or incoming BU Foundation is a corporation that students. helps the University meet ongoing needs Sheila Doyle, executive director of

BU Foundation, said raising over $110 million is noteworthy as it puts the University on the same monetary level as other large colleges that have been around for much longer and have larger alumni bodies.

“In the world of higher education, getting above the $100 million mark is significant because you start to ‘play

Staff Writer

with the big boys,’” Doyle wrote in an email.

According to Binghamton University’s website, the Foundation had reached $103.7 million this past June, but gained an additional $12.3 million from the sale of University Plaza Apartments in August

BU's endowment reaches record size Staff Writer

Gabriella Weick After an extensive selection process, Gloria Meredith has been chosen as the founding dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Binghamton University.

Chosen from over 20 candidates, Meredith’s appointment was announced

by President Harvey Stenger on Jan. 5.

Meredith is currently the dean of the College of Pharmacy and a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in Chicago, where she has been a researcher since 2002. She has been an active neuroscience researcher specializing in Parkinson’s disease and addiction throughout her career and has been the recipient of funding by the National Institutes of Health since 2001.

Donald Nieman, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at BU, said Meredith’s experience set her apart from other candidates.

Corey Futterman/Design Assistant

Chloe Rehfield

Gloria Meredith selected from more than 20 candidates

Harpur Dean remembered Sodexo's reach extends far past BU From prisons to military bases, company operates in 80 countries for research, leadership Florenge Margai, professor at BU for over 20 years, passes away at 52 Pelle Waldron

Pipe Dream News Florence Margai, an associate dean of Harpur College of Arts and Sciences and a professor in the geography department, died on Jan. 8 of natural causes. She was 52 years old.

Shortly after New Years, Margai went to a local hospital with flu-like symptoms. She was then transferred to the hospital at the University of Rochester, where she passed away from heart complications.

Margai moved to the United States from Sierra Leone in the 1980s and earned her master’s degree and doctorate in geography from Kent State University. She began her research on race and ethnicity at Hunter College before coming to Binghamton University in 1994, where she began as an assistant professor in the geography department. She climbed the ranks over her 20 years at BU, spending time as the dean of the Graduate School and ultimately as associate dean of Harpur College.

According to her husband, William Margai, her far-reaching work took her around the world. However, it was her students who were her inspiration and motivation for success.

“As an individual, she basically did everything,” he said. “She traveled all over the world on behalf of Binghamton University, and in

the midst of everything she did, she really believed that her relations with students continued to enhance her as an individual.”

Margai’s work stretched throughout the Binghamton community as well, where she collaborated with local organizations to improve availability of healthy food for children and to raise awareness about the effects of food on health in the area.

“I think our community has lost an

See F.M. Page 2

Zachary Wingate Staff Writer`

As Binghamton University students sit down for breakfast, lunch and dinner served by Sodexo, many are unaware of the magnitude of the presence that the company has on campus and around the world.

Jim Ruoff, the general manager of Binghamton Dining Services by Sodexo, is responsible for all dining hall services provided at the University. According to Ruoff, Sodexo typically serves 20,000 meals per day on campus and provides services such as catering, retail operations and nutritional counseling.

“Our contract encompasses the operation of all the dining service

See FOOD Page 2

Klara Rusinko/Assistant Photo Editor

Pictured: College-in-the-Woods. Binghamton University students have been provided multiple services under the University’s catering service Sodexo, which also provides services to 75 million people per day in 80 countries.

University finds its new Ombudsman

Bathabile Mthombeni takes over position as of Spring 2015 Alexandra Mackof Assistant News Editor

Photo Provided

Pictured: Florence Margai, the former associate dean of Harpur College of Arts and Sciences. Margai passed away on Jan. 8.

As students and faculty return to Binghamton for the spring semester, they join one of Binghamton University’s newest hires, who is working to reconcile their problems.

Bathabile Mthombeni, the new Binghamton University ombudsman, started working on Jan. 15. The Ombudsman’s office acts as a resource

for all those facing challenges within the University, providing conflict resolution assistance and a forum for complaints to be voiced and recognized.

In order to be as helpful as possible to her new community, Mthombeni said she needed to gather as much knowledge about the University as possible.

“I have thrown myself into reading every policy that I can get my hands on and meeting with leaders and members of the various constituencies that make up

BU’s community,” she said.

According to Mthombeni, the position of ombudsman can be demanding and is a serious commitment.

“The ombudsman’s role is challenging by definition,” Mthombeni said. “It requires constant vigilance regarding the standards of practice and the code of conduct for the profession.”

Mthombeni received her bachelor’s

See OMBUD Page 2

2

NEWS

www.bupipedream.com | January 26, 2015

Employing 419K, Sodexo serves 75M daily FOOD continued from Page 1

8,500 employed in New York State

operations on campus,” Ruoff said. “It is my responsibility to make sure that Binghamton University is receiving a quality-driven dining program that supports the students’ academic success.”

The food supplied by Sodexo at BU comes from a variety of sources, many of them located in New York state. According to Enrico Dinges, senior manager of media relations at Sodexo, all milk is purchased from Byrne Dairy in Syracuse. Additionally, the primary BU supplier, which typically provides everything from dry and frozen goods to tabletop supplies, is Maines Paper & Food Service, Inc., located in Broome County.

“We use a combination of small local partners, regional vendors and big distributors,” Dinges said. “We source from a wide variety of local, sustainable and diverse suppliers that also meet the Supplier Code of Conduct and food safety requirement.”

Looking beyond the scope of campus and the Southern Tier, many students are unaware of the global presence of Sodexo.

The Sodexo Group was founded in 1966 by Pierre Bellon in Marseilles, France.

Respectively, Sodexo, Inc. is the North American subsidiary of the French parent corporation.

According to Sodexo’s

133,000 employed in North America

419,000 employed globally

DEAN continued from Page 1

38% of profits came from North America in 2013

62% from the rest of the world

20% of total revenue from schools and universities

Emma C Siegel/Design Manager

2013 fiscal report, the North American branch of the company only made up 38 percent of its parent company’s total revenues. That same report also stated that Sodexo Group is the 18th largest employer worldwide, employing 419,000 worldwide and 8,500 in New York state.

Sodexo, Inc. is split up into North American subsections, Sodexo USA and Sodexo Canada.

Sodexo USA is headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD. According to Dinges, Sodexo serves about 850 campuses in the U.S. But the global Sodexo Group contracts out to a huge variety of organizations, from private corporations and government agencies to

military bases and hospitals.

Altogether, the company provides services to 75 million people per day in 80 countries.

Sodexo also offers “Quality of Life Services,” which are customized to fit the needs of each customer site.

In hospitals, these services include retail management, concierge services and even biomedical cleaning. Sodexo also works for correctional facilities by designing security systems for high-security prisons and training for staff.

As for students at BU, the relationship with Sodexo ranges from eating the food served to working with the company.

“Well I know they’re on many college campuses and

hire student staff and work with student groups to find areas of improvement,” said Karen Walker, a junior majoring in management. “CIW area-wide government works closely with Sodexo to address some of these issues, there are actually Sodexo representatives who keep everyone updated.”

Jared Frazer, a senior majoring in English, said he was shocked at the actual size of the company.

“It’s definitely surprising,” Frazer said. “I didn’t know they served so many different facilities. It’s weird you could be eating the same food as your grandparents eat in a senior home.”

Incoming ombud ready for first semester OMBUD continued from Page 1 degree from Princeton University and later attended Columbia Law School. She has acted as associate university ombudsman for Columbia University, and she has founded her own private conflict management firm and the online mediation radio station SANGOMA. Additionally, she has taught courses at Columbia University and John Jay College.

Pharm school dean preps for Aug. 2017

According to BU President Harvey Stenger, Mthombeni’s background and qualifications make her an asset to the University in her role as mediator.

“The importance of the ombudsman to the University community cannot be overstated,” Stenger said.

Mthombeni works directly with Stenger and does not engage with any departments of the University outside of her role as ombudsman.

According to her, the most challenging aspect of the position is remaining conscious of all angles of a situation when finding a solution. But, Mthombeni said, it is also the most rewarding part of her job.

“My role demands that I be always mindful of the needs and interests of everyone involved, even if they are not physically in the room,” she said. “My ultimate goal is to find ways to harmonize all of those needs and interests.”

Mthombeni said she is also excited to attend sporting events and root for the Bearcats, and that she is ready to begin engaging with the community and be a valuable source of support and guidance.

“I look forward to being a truly useful resource of substance,” Mthombeni said. “Someone who knows how the institution functions so that visitors to my office get the very best assistance that an ombudsman can give.”

“She has an outstanding record in research, a deep understanding of trends in pharmacy education, and success as a founding dean of a pharmacy school,” Nieman wrote in an email. “She has been successful in starting a school, so she knows what we need to do and when we need to do it to be ready for our first class of students in August 2017.”

Stenger added that Meredith’s research experience also made her stand out.

“Gloria will bring great experience, high energy and a national and international vision for the new school,” Stenger wrote in an email. “She was a perfect fit and a unanimous choice of the search committee.”

Meredith graduated from Southern Methodist University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology and from Georgetown University School of Medicine with a doctorate in neuroscience. She has also worked at four medical universities in the United States and Europe.

English professor Susan Strehle chaired the search committee composed of BU faculty, students and alumni. She said that from this April until the school’s opening, Meredith will help design the building and hire faculty.

“She is a capable, wise, and effective leader,” Strehle wrote in an email. “She will make good decisions about what faculty to recruit to come to Binghamton, and she will inspire them to be both creative and careful.”

Meredith said she will work with staff to create a top-rate curriculum and establish the school as an acclaimed researchintensive center.

“I plan to establish a strong research focus in the new school primarily in the areas of drug development,

pharmacogenomics and pharmacology,” Meredith wrote in an email. “These research areas will enable pharmacy faculty to collaborate with a wide variety of Binghamton’s existing faculty who are already carrying out top quality science.”

These plans include conducting pharmaceutical research and working with other departments such as nursing, engineering and the College of Community and Public Affairs.

When the school opens, Meredith said that she plans to be highly involved not only with faculty and students, but also with the community, coordinating internships and creating research opportunities beyond campus.

“I see the Dean as a facilitator who leads the school towards a level of excellence in all that it does,” Meredith wrote. “I also plan to become active in the community, meeting with administrators of health systems, community pharmacies, pharmaceutical industry, nursing homes, etc.”

Despite the amount of work ahead, Meredith said she is looking forward to her new home at the University.

“I want to build a school that students and faculty alike are proud of,” she wrote.

Photo Provided

Pictured: Gloria Meredith, the new founding dean of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

After an extensive selection process, she was chosen from a pool of more than 20 candidates.

BU endowment grows to $116M Margai remembered for service to BU FUND continued from Page 1 to reach $116 million.

BU Foundation was formed in 1957, but according to Doyle a more robust fundraising program was started in the mid-1990s when the foundation began two gift-giving campaigns.

Since then, the University has been raising money through donations from alumni, parents, friends and reinvestment of existing funds.

According to Doyle, of the average of five to six million dollars donated to the Foundation every year, about 85 percent of those donations are designated for specific use in accordance with the donor’s wishes, while the remaining contributions are given to the deans to spend on other initiatives.

In order to more precisely decide how much money is going to which cause, the BU Foundation maintains a smaller subsection called the Binghamton Fund that helps organize the allocation of donations to various projects.

The Fund is made up of 15 different accounts that cover various areas of campus, comprising of an account for each school, the athletics department, libraries and the Anderson Center. As an annual and unrestricted giving program, donations in each of the 15 accounts are run by an account custodian who can spend the money on any project they choose within that section. Donors can give real estate as well.

“Deans of each of the schools can choose when and where to spend the Binghamton fund dollars,” Caitlyn Carlson, director of the Binghamton Fund, wrote in an email. “Meeting the critical needs specific to their schools in a timely way.”

According to Carlson, the Fund raised $1.47 million this past fiscal year through donations alone, covering almost 30 percent of BU Foundation’s total raised donations from the past year.

Binghamton Fund dollars that are already being spent this year are going toward the

renovation of five new classrooms on the first floor of the Science Library, according to President Harvey Stenger’s Quarterly Report. New paint, furniture and high-tech glass boards were also added to the classrooms through Binghamton Fund’s University Libraries account.

The greater BU Foundation plans to support job placement assistance, graduate-level travel programs and faculty hiring.

Given that BU’s incoming freshmen boast the highest SAT scores compared to other schools in the SUNY system, according to the Foundation’s website, meritbased scholarships will also become a greater priority.

Doyle said the Foundation is planning on raising more money and will reach greater milestones in the future by continuing to seek annual donations and reinvesting available capital.

“We have a fundraising program that will continue to raise funds in support of the University,” Doyle wrote. “We’re just getting started.”

F.M. continued from Page 1 advocate,” said Lea Webb, the diversity specialist in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Binghamton University as well as a Binghamton City Council representative who worked closely with Margai.

“A champion that didn’t have a public persona necessarily in terms of being on the news, but a big supporter of this community and it translated to other communities as well that she worked in.”

In addition to her research,

She was only 52, but based on what she did, the amount of people she touched, it feels like she must've lived 'til 85 — William Margai Husband

Margai worked to prevent the spread of malaria in Sierra Leone and taught courses focused on environmental issues and health disparities.

According to BU President Harvey Stenger, Margai’s drive to work hard and help others succeed was what stood out about her.

“Florence impressed me with her positive and thoughtful approach,” Stenger said.

“Advancing through the ranks of faculty positions and then taking leadership positions in the University requires one to have the perspective of helping others.”

Susan Strehle, a professor in the English department, took over Margai’s previous job as the dean of the Graduate School.

She said she admired Margai’s ability to combine teaching with her leadership qualities.

“She was really a leader for the values that go with the University,” Strehle said. “She was also a really good teacher, very much liked, respected and treasured by students. It’s not

that common that a strong academic person can also be a great leader of university functions like graduate school.”

Norah Henry, a colleague of Margai’s and the chair of the geography department, said that losing Margai is sad for everyone.

“Her passing will be a tremendous loss not only to the department but to the college and to the larger campus,” Henry said. “She was loved, she was very gracious, always had a smile, people who knew her really became attached to her.”

Her husband said that while this is a very hard time for the family, he is thankful to the University and all of the opportunities she was presented with throughout her life.

“We passionately miss her,” he said. “She was only 52, but based on what she did, the amount of people she touched, it feels like she must’ve lived 'til 85.”

Margai is survived by her husband and their two daughters, Luba and Konya.

PAGE III Monday, January 26, 2015

Address: University Union WB03 4400 Vestal Parkway E. Binghamton, N.Y. 13902 Phone: 607-777-2515

Goodbye, Bank Balance

FAx: 607-777-2600 Web: www.bupipedream.com

Spring 2015 editor-in-ChieF* Rachel Bluth editor@bupipedream.com MAnAging editor* Tycho A. McManus manager@bupipedream.com

neWs editor* Nichkolás Vega news@bupipedream.com Asst. neWs editors Joseph Hawthorne Carla Sinclair Alexandra Mackof oPinion editor* Molly McGrath opinion@bupipedream.com releAse editor* Jacob Shamsian release@bupipedream.com Asst. releAse editor Odeya Pinkus sPorts editor* Ashley Purdy sports@bupipedream.com Asst. sPorts editors Jeff Twitty E.Jay Zarett Fun PAge editor* Ben Moosher fun@bupipedream.com

design MAnAger* Emma C Siegel design@bupipedream.com

Franz Lino/Photo Editor

Groups of students are assisted by the staff of the Binghamton University Bookstore in the New Union. Students waited in line to pick up their books Sunday afternoon in anticipation of the first week of classes.

design Assts.

Corey Futterman John Linitz Photo editor* Franz Lino photo@bupipedream.com Asst. Photo editor Klara Rusinko

Corrections Pipe Dream strives for accuracy in all we publish.

We recognize that mistakes will sometimes occur, but we treat errors very seriously.

If you see a mistake in the paper, please contact Editorin-Chief Rachel Bluth at editor@bupipedream.com.

This Day in History January 26, 1998 On American television, U.S. President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

“RIP SkyMall.

Pouring one out of my beer holder/massage helmet/garden gnome/ tomato plant fertilizer for you” —Twitter user @Smethanie on SkyMall’s bankruptcy filing.

Pipe Line LOCAL NEWS

STATE NEWS

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY NEWS

Gov. Cuomo proposes $1.5B upstate NY economic competition It’s the economic Hunger Games, upstate edition: seven upstate New York regions will compete against each other to win $1.5 billion in economic development money in a contest proposed Thursday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The contest, which must be approved by state lawmakers, is Cuomo’s latest bid to reverse decades of decline and population loss and is modeled after his previous “Buffalo Billion” initiative for the state’s second-largest city. The seven regions would each have until July 1 to submit a proposal for using the money. Three winners picked this fall would get $500 million apiece. The funds would come from a $5 billion windfall from recent settlements with financial institutions. Cuomo announced the plan Thursday in Rochester in front of a gathering of upstate leaders, telling them “Change starts with the person in the mirror. … It’s up to you.” The seven eligible regions are the Finger lakes, the Southern Tier, central New York, the Mohawk Valley, the Capital Region, the Mid-Hudson Valley and the North Country. Western New York isn’t eligible because of “Buffalo Billion.” The Southern Tier has “the need, the team and the projects” to win the competition, said Binghamton Mayor Richard David. The region faces some of the state’s biggest economic challenges, and many in the region were upset last month by Cuomo’s decision not to allow hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.

Teen flashed fake ID at bar claiming to be a cop, police say Police say a teenager hanging out at a suburban New York bar used an unusual form of fake identification — a phony police ID. The Nassau County Police Department says the 16-yearold claimed to be a police officer while chatting up a Rockville Center bar manager Friday evening. Police say the teen pulled out a bogus New York Police Department identification card, complete with a shield number. The manager was dubious and called local police after the youth left. Police found him nearby on Park Avenue, and they say he told them he was an officer, too. Nassau County police say the Schnecksville, Pennsylvania teen was also carrying fake New York and Colorado driver’s licenses and two forged credit cards. He was arrested on false personation and other charges.

Duke suspends fraternity after sex assault allegation Duke University says it has suspended a fraternity while police investigate allegations a woman was sexually assaulted at an off-campus party. A statement from the university says Alpha Delta Phi has been suspended while Durham police investigate what happened at an off-campus house leased by fraternity members. Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez told WRAL-TV that his department is seeking information from anyone at the Jan. 8 party. No charges had been filed as of Tuesday afternoon. Local media outlets obtained a search warrant that says the woman told police she had drinks at the party before waking up the next day in only a T-shirt.

The warrant says the last thing she remembers was dancing with friends. The warrant says investigators took a mattress, comforter and condom from the house.

stabilizing:lock picking

Man who impregnated 11-year-old gets 15 years in prison A convicted sex offender was sentenced to 15 years in prison for fathering a child with an 11-year-old girl in western New York. Jacky Berry of Niagara Falls had pleaded guilty on charges of having a sexual relationship with the girl in 2010.

The girl, now 16, gave birth to a son in 2011. Authorities say DNA testing confirmed Berry, 53, was the father. Berry also was convicted in 1990 for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl and served eight years in prison. The Buffalo News reported that Berry offered an apology in court Friday but refused to be interviewed by a probation officer. Judge Sara Sheldon also imposed 20 years of post-release supervision for Berry, saying, “This is in essence a life sentence.”

editoriAl Artists Miriam Geiger Paige Gittelman CoPy desk ChieF* Emily Howard copy@bupipedream.com Asst. CoPy desk ChieF Paul Palumbo leAd Web develoPer* William Sanders developer@bupipedream.com neWsrooM teChnology* William Sanders tech@bupipedream.com

business MAnAger* Erin Stolz business@bupipedream.com

Pipe Dream is published by the Pipe Dream Executive Board, which has sole and final discretion over the newspaper’s content and personnel. *Positions seated on the Executive Board are denoted by an asterisk.

Pipe Dream is published Tuesdays and Fridays while classes are in session during the fall and spring semesters, except during finals weeks and vacations.

Pipe Dream accepts stimulating, original guest columns from undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty. Submissions should be 400 to 500 words in length and be thus far unpublished.

Submissions must include the writer’s name and phone number, and year of graduation or expected year of graduation. Graduate students and faculty members should indicate their standing as such, as well as departmmental affiliation.

Organizational (i.e. student group) affiliations are to be disclosed and may be noted at Pipe Dream’s discretion. Anonymous submissions are not accepted.

Any facts referenced must be properly cited from credible news sources. Pipe Dream reserves the right to edit submissions, and does not guarantee publication. All submissions become property of Pipe Dream. Submissions may be e-mailed to the Opinion Editor at opinion@ bupipedream.com.

hope and hangovers:destabilizing

RELEASE Arts & Culture

Two professors, one alpaca farm Neil Seejoor/Contributing Photographer

How genetic research led the Merriwethers to taking care of a herd of fluffy mammals Paige Gittelman | Contributing Writer Even if you haven’t been in one of their classes, you might have heard about the Merriwethers, the husbandand-wife professors in Binghamton who work with a herd of funny looking farm animals. Aside from teaching college students, the Merriwethers also raise alpacas.

To learn about the Merriwether lifestyle, I visited Dr. David A. Merriwether in his lab in the Science III building. Yes, the lab looked like something out of CSI. Yes, it was cool. No, I didn’t touch anything.

The Merriwethers call their grand alpaca estate Nyala Farm.

“We used to say it was a Native American word for ‘old broken down barn,’” Merriwether said. But the name of the farm actually stands for New York (ny) and Alabama (ala), after the respective places his grandparents are from, who christened their own Nyala farm back in the day.

Okay, makes sense. But why, of all creatures, alpacas?

“We wanted to raise something that we didn’t have to kill to utilize,” Merriwether explained. Because of their

soft, bountiful fleece, they are worth more alive than dead.

The Merriwethers moved to Binghamton from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 2003, bringing eight alpacas with them. Today, they have 80.

“We make and sell things from their fleece, from their wool,” Merriwether said. “We show the alpacas in shows and we sell them.”

While Merriwether is an anthropologist, he and alpacas actually go way back. The South American camelids were always in his peripheral vision, even during his dissertation on genetic variation in South American Indians, during which he spent time in Chile and Peru, the alpaca motherland.

He got better acquainted with them later on.

“I was at the University of Michigan and I had one of the few ancient DNA labs in the world,” Merriwether said.

“So people would come to train with me. I had students come from Chile who wanted to learn how to work with ancient DNA, and one of them … wanted to work on camelids. So he brought all these bones from guanacos and vicuñas and alpacas and llamas, and I taught him how to extract DNA from them, how to

work with ancient DNA.” Merriwether got acquainted with alpacas in the flesh, and not just the DNA, while in Michigan during a parade.

“There were some local clubs, 4H [youth development] groups that had alpacas and llamas and they were walking them in a parade, and [my wife and I] said, ‘Those are cool, what are they?

They’re really funny looking Dr. Seusslooking things.’” So the Merriwethers did research and learned that they could make money breeding, selling and shearing them. They also thought these profitable Dr. Seuss-looking things could provide a wholesome family activity for them and their two daughters. They bought three females and two males. So began the legacy.

The Merriwethers also use their alpacas for genetic research. Juan Carlos Morin, who is now a professor in Argentina working on camelid genetics, inspired Merriwether to start thinking about alpacas in a different way while he was a student in his DNA lab. Instead of studying alpacas just to glean their benefits to humans, he began to study them on their own terms. He noticed that in the wild, alpacas don’t have very much fleece, yet humans have turned them into cuddly animals that produce

20 pounds of fleece a year.

“I became very interested in how things became domesticated at that point,” Merriwether said. “So I study the origins of domestication of anything that makes clothing.”

The DNA analysis skills Merriwether used to study humans were still useful when studying animals.

“I learned all my skills from studying humans, but DNA is DNA,” he said.

“So the skills I learned have made me uniquely positioned to study some of these species that not many people were looking at.”

So it seemed inevitable that within the first couple years of owning alpacas, Merriwether started collecting samples from his herd. By 2003 he set up a gene bank for camelids. He’s contributed to the alpaca genome project, where the entire genome of a single alpaca was sequenced. It was one from his herd.

Merriwether’s study of alpacas still pertains to humans, though. He’s studying choanal atresia, a defect that “means you don’t have an opening in your cheekbones that lets you breath from your nose to your lungs,” Merriwether said. “Humans get it too, but it’s much rarer for us than for alpacas.” According to Merriwether, drug

companies contribute few resources to the defect because there’s little promise of financial gain.

“They call them ‘orphan drugs,’” Merriwether said about these rare human afflictions. Today he is working to help these people whose suffering is otherwise overlooked by large medical industries.

“Maybe what causes it in alpacas is what causes some of those in humans,” he said. “So alpacas may be the best animal model for choanal atresia in humans.”

Because their daughters are going away to school, the Merriwethers are downsizing their farm.

“I’m losing my labor force, so we’re gonna probably downsize the herd quite a bit, get it down to something like 30 animals. We’ve been selling them,” Merriwether said.

But their daughters aren’t the only people who can help on the farm.

Binghamton vet students come to Nyala farm every month to help with alpaca health and vaccinations for veterinary experience. Merriwether also has a few students who come and help do chores on the farm “because they’re nice.” They might also do it because alpacas are fun to look at.

Larry Wilmore brings a new voice to late night television Comedy Central's new star has the will to do more with the hackneyed talk show genre Jacob Shamsian | Release Editor The late night talk show genre is pretty saturated. To start with, you’ve got your Jon Stewart and your John Oliver, your Jimmys Kimmel and Fallon. And those are just a few.

And now there’s a new option. To fill the 11:30 p.m. time slot vacated by Stephen Colbert, who will be taking over David Letterman’s spot at CBS at the end of the year, Comedy Central has produced something new. Following Jon Stewart is now “The Nightly Show” hosted by Larry Wilmore.

Wilmore, a former “black correspondent” for “The Daily Show,” is a different sort of host than the others.

Instead of enjoying a perch of authority from which he can mock celebrities and pundits, he seems a little less sure of himself. His voice is a little squeaky, and he’s more affable than acerbic. Maybe it’s just first-week jitters, but he seems a little more willing to let his guests explain themselves than argue with them. Oh, and he’s black.

Look around at other late night talk show hosts. They’re almost all white dudes. Michele Ganeless, Comedy Central’s president, told The New York Times that one of her plans for “The Nightly Show” is “to have different

people from the comedy community come on and have a platform to give their point of view.” In the early phases of “The Nightly Show,” it was named “The Minority Report.”

In its current form, “The Nightly Show” doesn’t have many YouTube-ready segments like some other talk shows do.

Fallon’s wacky stunts are engineered for maximum virality. Kimmel has done well online with “Mean Tweets” and “Lie Witness News.” Oliver’s long, funny explainers of serious subjects have racked up millions of views. And no one matches Stewart when it comes to catching someone at their most hypocritical and spinning the situation into hilarity.

Wilmore does none of that. Each episode of his show revolves around a specific, timely topic — Cuba, Bill Cosby, the State of the Union address — and each segment approaches the topic in a different way. In the first segment, Wilmore performs a stand-up routine riffing on the subject. In the second, he introduces four guests — instead of one guest who’s on the show to promote something, as most talk shows do — where they all discuss the episode’s topic. Some of the guests are Wilmore’s comedian friends and writers on the show, but he also mixes in people with a little more intellectual heft, like New Jersey senator Cory Booker, and New

Yorker editor David Remnick. The third segment is devoted to “Keep it 100,” a game in which each guest is asked a tough question and their answer needs to be “100 percent real.” The show closes with Wilmore answering a question from Twitter, like “Do you think someone else would have made a better first black president?”

After a few years of watching “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart’s outrage

becomes predictable, if in a comforting, view-affirming sort of way. Wilmore, on the other hand, has been unexpected in the first few episodes. He doesn’t opt for easy points on racial justice, and he cheerfully announced that he doesn’t care about David Oyelowo’s Oscar snub for “Selma” because he’s “a British brother.”

Because each episode revolves around a single topic instead of covering several

news pieces, like Stewart’s show does and Colbert’s show did, some of the discussion on the show is inevitably dated. Much of the discussion in the episode surrounding Obama’s State of the Union address slipped into talk of the 2008 presidential election, and what it was like to vote — or not vote — for the first black president. But even though the topic is dated, the voices sound fresh, because we haven’t heard them before.

Photo Provided by Comedy Central

Fun Page PSA

5

FUN

January 26, 2015 | www.bupipedream.com

Team Fun Page

#JeSuisFunP

ge

think you're funny?

SUBMIT TO FUN PAGE

For more info contact:

fun@bupipedream.com

RELEASE DATE– Monday, March 23, 2009

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

ACROSS 1 Belgrade native 5 Unmarried woman’s title 9 Try out 13 Crime scene find 14 Pleasant scent 16 Suffix with switch 17 2000s sitcom starring a country singer 18 Ignited again 19 Auth. unknown 20 All-in-one home entertainment gadget 23 Photo shoot bathing suit 24 Coin of the __: legal currency 25 Mt. Rushmore’s state 27 Intelligence, slangily 31 In the past 34 Colorful quartz 37 Durable wood 38 Pact between two countries 42 “__ Almighty”: 2007 Steve Carell film 43 Where sailors go 44 Director Spike or Ang 45 Blue __: Duke University team 48 Part of A.D. 50 Frames of mind 53 Pound’s 16 57 Geometric solid with five faces, ironically 61 Puniest pup 62 Swarming pests 63 Opposed to 64 Advantage 65 Busybody 66 Exam for future Drs. 67 Bird feeder food 68 Netherworld river 69 Combustible funeral heap DOWN 1 Clean using elbow grease 2 1985 Malkovich film 3 See 10-Down

51 Saharan hills 36 “Born Free” 4 “__ and 52 Viewpoint lioness Butt-head”: MTV 54 Home of the 39 Like many cartoon NFL’s Bengals, Disney films 5 Ceremony at an casually 40 Bill Clinton’s altar 55 To be, in Tijuana instrument 6 Angers 56 Clobber, in the 41 Incurred, as 7 Alternative Bible debts energy type 46 Wolf Man player 57 Uno plus dos 8 Show one’s 58 Discourteous Chaney pearly whites 59 “Picnic” Pulitzer 47 Waterlogged 9 Fellow Dodger, winner 49 Freeway e.g.

60 ABA member entrance 10 With 3-Down, inventor of a ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: puzzling cube 11 Chimney buildup 12 Muscle quality 15 Gillette razors 21 Be on the air until 22 Nightmare street of film 26 Go-__: small racer 28 Genuine 29 Westminster art gallery 30 Terrier named for a Scottish isle 31 Still in the sack 32 Donate 33 Patron saint of Norway 35 Chinese “way” 03/23/09 xwordeditor@aol.com

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

03/23/09

Classifieds DOWNTOWN AND WESTSIDE. APARTMENTS, Safe Affordable Quality Smart As always LOFTS AND HOUSES. LOTS OF OFF-STREET 1 bedroom apts up to 5 bedrooms student housing.

PARKING. FREE WASHERS/DRYERS. CLOSE TO A BU alumni family BUS LINES, DOWNTOWN RESTAURANTS AND Call or email Chad 19178818319 NIGHTLIFE. CALL JOSH SOON!!! 607-316-3411 Chadfaro@yahoo.com

OPINION Monday, January 26, 2015

A new hope for the Southern Tier

A

s 2014 came to a close, the Southern Tier suffered two major blows to its economic prospects.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a state-wide ban on hydraulic fracturing, a technology many hoped would revitalize the area’s manufacturing sector. Days later, a state panel denied the region’s casino bid. To many of us, even if we didn’t support either of these endeavors, it was a let down. It felt like those were the only two prospects for economic growth on the horizon for the Southern Tier.

But the future of Binghamton’s economy doesn’t belong to natural gases and blackjack. Those two projects appeared to provide short-term boons to the floundering economy. However, we must be careful to support projects that ensure the region’s long-term success.

Neither casinos nor fracking meet this requirement. In a previous editorial, we argued against a regional casino.

Many casinos further disenfranchise economically destitute locals with no benefit. Cuomo banned fracking on the

grounds that the technology is potentially dangerous to public health. We cannot afford to put the health of area residents at risk for the sake of temporary economic benefit.

In the past few years, the state has poured millions of dollars into more sustainable regional development projects.

While it may be the end of the line for fracking and casinos, there is still hope for the Southern Tier.

The Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council, co-chaired by University President Harvey Stenger, is working to secure investments in renewable technologies and create a business-friendly environment.

The council’s Strategic Economic Development Plan targets potential areas for growth, including clean energy, health care and agricultural development. Since the plan’s implementation in 2011, the Council reports positive growth as the result of

its publicly funded initiatives, with the creation of 1,511 new jobs, the retention of 6,885 jobs, and the foundation for 1,259 additional jobs.

It can feel like we’re being neglected by Albany sometimes. And certainly what we need is more attention and more capital coming from the Capitol. Earlier this month, Cuomo announced the start of a competition for $1.5 billion in funding for regional economic development projects.

Based on the Council’s previous work, the Southern Tier remains a major contender in this competition. A large infusion into the economy will help the work already begun by the Council and local businesses.

Losing the casino bid and the prospect of fracking was a let down. But there is still a future for Broome County and for the Southern Tier. Good things are on the horizon.

Views expressed in the opinion pages represent the opinions of the columnists.

The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial, above. The Editorial Board is composed of the Editor-in-Chief, News Editor, Opinion Editor, Sports Editor, and Release Editor.

Support nontraditional families Familial and community assistance is essential Skylin Baestlein

Contributing Columnist

Family composition shapes a child’s identity as well as his perception of the world around him. In the United States, the traditional nuclear family with two opposite-gendered parents remains the cultural norm. Many of the controversies surrounding the definition of family has lead to custody battles, financial burdens and extra pressure placed upon parents in unique situations. Rather than condemn nontraditional families, we must work to provide them with the necessary support to raise their children in happy, healthy living situations.

Parenting is already a challenge. Families that don’t fit into the particular mold expected by society face unique challenges when it comes to raising children. These families are burdened by same-sex marriage bans, child-rearing laws, adoption requirements and pressures for women and men to fulfill certain gender roles. Proponents of traditional family values often attribute the difficulty of nontraditional parenting to the lack of a certain gender’s influence. This argument merely reinforces the marginalization of nontraditional families. Issues stem from minimal institutional support for single and samesex parents. Praising “family values” while ignoring the needs of nontraditional families is entirely unhelpful.

Parents can easily become overpowered when they have no one supporting them. It’s unhealthy for both the parent and the child. In mid-January a single mother from North Carolina went “on strike” from parenting her children, claiming that her children refused to listen to her or appreciate what she did for them. She stated, “This world has a greater hold on my children than I do.” This mother picketed outside her own home, holding a sign reading “Mom on Strike.” The children’s aunt stepped in to diffuse the situation.

She encouraged them to respect, appreciate and

apologize to their mother. When parents are offered support it can ease the stress of raising a family seemingly “alone.”

The case in point is a testament to importance of familial and community support. Children are not merely a product of their parents; rather, as we grow and learn we absorb all of the environment we are surrounded by.

About one-quarter of the population of children in the United States resides with only one parent. The majority of these children live with mothers. Twenty-seven percent of single mothers in the United States live below the poverty line. For these women, raising children alone is not the first or most desirable option. Parents need support systems.

“Families” can be built by various roles working together to offer support regarding childcare. Nuclear families are not superior to families composed of single mothers supported by extended family members.

However, both provide children with a better environment than a single mother with no outside support.

There is no one way to raise a child, but it is our responsibility to work together as a community and to offer support to those who need it without judgment.

— Skylin Baestlein is a senior majoring in environmental studies

Parents can easily become overpowered when they have no one supporting them. It’s unhealthy for both the parent and the child.

Plan to fund community college fails to attack root causes Money alone will not fix poor graduation rates among two-year college students Esmeralda Murray Contributing Columnist

At the State of the Union Address, President Obama outlined a plan to invest in this country’s students. Dubbed by the media as “America’s College Promise” and a “ticket to the middle class,” the president’s proposal intends to lessen the struggle of obtaining a degree by offering a two-year, tuition-free education to qualifying American students.

The proposal is based on the Tennessee Promise, a state-led

initiative that will function as both a scholarship and mentoring program to high school graduates willing to obtain a degree at a community college or technical school in Tennessee. Described as a “last-dollar scholarship,” the Promise pledges to cover expenses not paid for by federal aid or outside endowments.

Tennessee’s high school seniors are clamoring to put it to use — 58,000 students have applied for the program, amounting to nearly 90 percent of seniors in the state.

This early success has given many — specifically, the president and his administration — hope that a similar program can be applied on a national scale.

Obama’s plan is well intentioned. Possession of a college degree is increasingly important.

Georgetown University’s Recovery 2020 report claims that 30 percent of job openings in the United States will require an associate degree by the next decade. The president’s goal to provide students with the resources necessary to compete in the workforce is a positive one.

Unfortunately, the proposal fails to target the underlying obstacles to student success.

The leading problem lies with the proposal’s demands. Students are expected to maintain a 2.5 GPA and obtain their degree in two years. This requirement is an

attempt to instill a sense of drive and dedication and to ensure that those who obtain degrees are willing to “work for it,” but are such conditions readily and normally achievable?

The simultaneous popularity and failure of the community college system is a blemish on the structure of American higher education. Though most prospective students wish to attend a four-year institution and nab a shiny bachelor’s degree from the get-go, doing so still proves unattainable for many.

Community college students account for 45 percent of all undergraduates in the country.

This trend is likely the result

of the high costs of bachelor’s degree programs and, in some cases, the sheer inability to leave home for the pursuit of education. This number is plagued with startling graduation and retention rates. A quarter of community college students who begin their journey in the fall fail to return the following spring.

A 2009 study reported that only 31 percent of full-time students enrolled in a two-year university obtain degrees within three years.

Two-year universities should be hubs for educational growth, but the numbers show otherwise.

Instead of merely alleviating the cost of community college, steps should be taken to improve

the overall quality and culture of these two-year schools. It is obvious that cost is not the sole cause for concern when the entire system boasts such a lukewarm, fragile success rate. Offering free tuition and the opportunity to attend school to those who are willing to work for it is a terrific offer, but the real solution lies in what happens once students are enrolled. Let’s work to ameliorate the environment of these two-year schools and encourage students to prosper. Access to quality education is the true fulfillment of the “College Promise.”

— Esmeralda Murray is an undeclared sophomore

7

SPORTS

January 26, 2015 | www.bupipedream.com

Faster play leads to improved offense for BU Behind increased production, Bearcats already match conference win total from last season E.Jay Zarett

Assistant Sports Editor

Raquel Panitz/Pipe Dream Photographer

Freshman guard Imani Watkins currently leads the Bearcats in scoring, averaging 15.7 points per game.

The Binghamton women’s basketball team placed dead last in the America East in points scored during 2013-14, averaging a meager 49.6 points per game.

BU (4-15, 2-4 AE) captured just five wins that season, only two of which came against AE opponents.

Simply put, the program needed change.

So far in 2014-15, first-year head coach Linda Cimino has brought just that. At 59.6 points per contest this season, the Bearcats are averaging a whole 10 points more per game. They’re finding points in transition and off fast-break opportunities — an area in which the team has struggled the past few seasons.

“The kids want to score, fans want to see points,” Cimino said.

“If you break down our scoring, a lot of it is coming in transition and that is the up and down pace of the game that has been working for us.”

That faster pace has helped to revitalize a once fledgling program. In recent seasons, BU lacked hustle and discipline.

Since Cimino took the helm,

Binghamton has shown improvement in both of those areas as well as in the win column.

The Bearcats have already matched last season’s conference win total after defeating UMass Lowell, 65-64, and Vermont, 7362.

“All along I’ve been saying my expectations for the team are that we improve every day, that we play hard, our intensity level is high and we communicate,” Cimino said. “I think that the girls have exceeded some of my expectations. They are committed to getting better individually and as a team. I am really happy with where we are at in terms of the effort and the commitment.”

Leading the charge for the Bearcats has been the freshman backcourt of Imani Watkins and Jasmine Sina. Watkins scored a career-high 29 points for BU in a 72-67 victory over Rider and also added 18 points in the win against Vermont. Sina poured in 19 against Lowell and 20 in a 7368 loss to New Hampshire. The two have combined for six AE Rookie of the Week distinctions so far this season.

“Mooch [Sina] and Mani [Watkins] have been tremendous for us,” Cimino said. “Not only

are they really good players and really good scorers, but they are competitors. They are kind of going to be the foundation blocks of this program and building this program going forward.”

Binghamton’s increased point totals have also been aided by improved play from two returning players in senior forward Sherae Swinson and junior guard Kim Albrecht. Albrecht has increased her scoring by 5.2 points per game from a season ago and has become an efficient 3-pointer shooter, hitting 34 percent of her shots from deep. In a 59-44 loss to Hartford, she knocked down three 3-pointers.

“Kim is finding a lot of success because she is playing with a lot of confidence this year,” Cimino said. “She isn’t afraid to shoot the ball.”

Swinson has recorded four double-doubles this season, including scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in BU’s most recent contest, a 70-48 loss to Maine.

“I think that we have really developed Sherae in the post,” Cimino said. “She is posting up a lot bigger and stronger. She has a lot more confidence, too.”

After starting conference play

with victories in two of its first three contests, BU is currently on a three-game losing streak after falling to AE powerhouse Albany, 82-49, prior to losses against New Hampshire and Maine.

Check out bupipedream.com/ sports for a recap of Sunday’s matchup with Stony Brook.

I think the girls have exceeded some of my expectations.

They are committed to getting better individually and as a team — Linda Cimino BU head coach

CHECK BUPIPEDREAM.COM/SPORTS FOR SUNDAY'S WRESTLING AND BASKETBALL RECAPS

Bearcats find success on the road over winter break Despite injury-riddled roster, Binghamton relies on upper-weight classes for success Jeff Twitty

Assistant Sports Editor Binghamton head coach Matt Dernlan has high expectations for his team on the mat, but near the top of the list for his 5-6 squad is the development of a consistent identity. That seemingly innocuous goal has proved hefty for a Bearcat wrestling team hampered by injury.

Despite their setbacks, the Bearcats (5-6, 3-1 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) have managed to post an impressive .750 mark in the EIWA this season. But as its overall record shows, the team is still looking to find — and keep — a steady winning edge.

“Even though we’ve had some good performances, we haven’t necessarily been able to follow up those performances in the following match,” Dernlan said.

“So we’ve really been trying to challenge the guys to develop a level of consistency, no matter what the match, no matter what the environment, no matter what the situation — always find a way to be your best.”

After closing 2014 at the Midlands Championship hosted

by Northwestern, Binghamton kicked off 2015 with a winning start in North Carolina.

Facing Southern Conference opponent Gardner-Webb on Jan. 9, the Bearcats edged the Bulldogs (4-8, 1-2 SoCon), 20-15. Opening up scoring for Binghamton was 125-pound senior David White.

Fresh off a performance that merited an eighth-place finish at Northwestern, White earned a decision victory to put the Bearcats up first, 3-0.

Binghamton split the first six matches before the Bulldogs took the lead, 15-10. 184-pound junior Jack McKeever then put Binghamton back within striking distance, 15-13, with a decision win. And after a pair of wins from 197-pound redshirt senior Caleb Wallace and senior heavyweight Tyler Deuel, BU succeeded in its comeback effort.

On Jan. 11, the Bearcats faced their second SoCon opponent of the weekend in Appalachian State. Against the Mountaineers (5-6, 2-0 SoCon), Binghamton found itself the victim of a slow start and fell, 22-15.

Binghamton then took on its former CAA-rival, Hofstra, on Jan. 16. The Bearcats opened the evening against the Pride (4-7,

2-3 EIWA) with another decision win from White.

“For [White] to place in that tournament and continue to gain momentum this month, he’s really found his stride at 125,” Dernlan said.

Despite falling behind after White’s opening win, BU’s comeback rally was successful this time. 157-pound freshman Vincent DePrez’s 1-0 victory incited a run that saw BU win five of the final six matches. A final decision by Deuel broke the dual’s 16-16 tie, allowing Binghamton to earn its first win over Hofstra in the rivalry’s EIWA era, 19-16.

Facing Columbia on Jan. 18, the Bearcats suffered a close 19-18 loss at home. White, 165-pound redshirt freshman Zack Zupan, McKeever and Deuel posted wins in the close effort.

Dernlan believes that his team is forced to come from behind so often in part due to the number of injuries in the lower-weight classes, forcing the upper-weight wrestlers to trek uphill.

“When you don’t have your main guy, you’re really putting a big burden on the backup guy,” Dernlan said. “The upper weights are going to have to continue to

Klara Rusinko/Assistant Photo Editor

125-pound senior David White went 4-1 over break, posting wins over Drexel, Hofstra, Gardner-Webb and Columbia.

step up for us.”

But the tides turned for BU in Friday’s match against Drexel.

Despite another tough opening against the Dragons (4-7, 1-1 EIWA), a pin by White gave BU the cushion it needed to survive the deficit. Binghamton won its final five matches to take the dual, 22-14. In their respective

classes, White, McKeever and Deuel earned NCAA rankings of 27, 31 and 22, respectively.

The Bearcats finished 3-2 overall in dual meets during the break, standing now at 3-1 in the coveted EIWA. That’s an impressive start for a team that started conference duals 1-3 last season.

“We’re still taking it one match at a time,” Dernlan concluded. “But in the other sense, it’s really good to establish ourselves being new to the conference. It’s good that we’re establishing our presence within the league.”

BEARCAT BRIEFS Zieziula finds early success with men's tennis Behind a 6-1 defeat of Bryant and a 4-3 win over Marist this weekend, Binghamton men’s tennis first-year head coach Nick Zieziula captured his first two victories at the helm of the program.

The Bearcats (2-0) opened their season by dominating Bryant (0-2). BU was victorious in six of its eight matches, including securing five of six contests in the single portion of play.

Binghamton faced a much tougher challenge from Marist (1-1). The Red Foxes

won two of the three doubles matches.

However, BU responded to win four of the six singles matches to secure the victory.

Junior Sid Hazarika secured two singles and one double victory over the two-game span while senior Robin Lesage captured two double victories and one on the singles side.

BU is scheduled to return to action Feb. 6 against Northern Illinois. First serve is set for 2 p.m. at the West Tennis Courts.

Track and field teams break school records at Cornell Upstate Challenge Though Saturday’s Cornell Upstate Challenge was non-scoring, athletes on the Binghamton track and field teams set new school records. With a first-place finisher representing BU on both the men’s and women’s sides, the Bearcats are off to a fast start this spring semester.

On the men’s side, junior Adam McIe took the top prize in the men’s 800. The distance runner posted a time of 1:54.01, which was good

enough to meet Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America standards. In a third-place finish for senior Brandon Bordeau in the shot put event, his mark of 55-3 3/4 was enough to break the school record of 54 3-3/4 set the previous week by Bordeau at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Challenge.

On the women’s side, sophomore Keishorea Armstrong finished in the top spot in the triple jump event,

putting up an Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference qualifying mark of 40-6 1/2. Senior Christy DiMichele set BU’s second record of the day, as she took second in the pole vault event with a height of 12-9 1/2.

The Bearcats are set to travel back to State College, Pennsylvania and Ithaca next weekend for the Penn State National Open on Jan. 30 and the Robert Kane Invitational on Jan. 31.

SPORTS

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

BU finds offensive improvement in AE play see page 7

Monday, January 26, 2015

Taking athletes to school

Student-athletes reap academic success aided by SASC Ashley Purdy Sports Editor

Binghamton may not always finish at the top of the pack athletically, but academically, the Bearcats are the top dog.

At the end of each academic year, the America East Conference compiles the GPAs of all student-athletes enrolled in its nine member universities and honors those who achieved a 3.0 or higher in the spring semester. Last spring, Binghamton University had the largest number of student-athletes earn this distinction, with 142 of them awarded a spot on the AE Honor Roll.

Binghamton also placed 86 students on the AE Commissioner’s Honor Roll, which recognizes those who earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher. As a whole, studentathletes managed a 3.13 GPA for the 2013-14 academic year.

“I think that Binghamton University in general prides itself on its academic reputation,” said Senior Associate Athletic Director Ed Scott, who is in charge of the academic support system for student-athletes. “I think what that shows … is really just that we’re in alignment with the mission of the University. That we’re competing against our peer institutions athletically, but we’re also surpassing them academically.”

That’s not a happy coincidence.

Student-athletes at Binghamton often made the decision to suit up as Bearcats because academics come first. Coaches draw on Binghamton’s academic excellence in their recruiting.

One of the main resources available to student-athletes is the StudentAthlete Success Center (SASC). Through the SASC, each athletic team is assigned an academic adviser who helps with scheduling classes, developing timemanagement skills and keeping on top of coursework. The SASC also employs tutors who work exclusively with student-athletes. Located in the West Gym, the SASC provides a quiet area in which student-athletes may study near their training facilities.

“I think arguably our student-athlete support area and services are almost as comprehensive as anyone in the entire Northeast, even schools that are bigger than us,” Scott said, comparing Binghamton’s support system to Syracuse’s.

Though largely self-sufficient, the athletics department’s academic services are not isolated from the University.

Scott, who joined Binghamton in 2008 and revamped the support system, has worked with other programs and departments on campus to ensure that his system is integrated with and not funneling resources from the University.

“A lot of what I’ve tried to do over the last six years is work with the campus where they have existing resources to make sure that we’re moving in alignment with the rest of the campus,” Scott said. “Our goal, as a success center specifically, is to be a part of the educational opportunities on campus, not apart from them.”

For instance, though the SASC employed 117 tutors last semester, these undergraduate and graduate students were compensated through funds provided by the NCAA’s Student-Athlete Assistance fund. The tutors were paid the same wages as those employed by the University’s other large-scale tutoring providers — Educational Opportunity Program and Center for Learning and Teaching — so that they wouldn’t potentially thin out the number of applicants to those programs.

Scott based his reform on the system he saw at Louisville, where he worked with the men’s basketball program.

And Scott, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in

the College of Community and Public Affairs, seems like a perfect fit for his current role: He is also a product of the SUNY system, having played baseball for Albany in his undergraduate years. All in all, Scott implemented a deal of change to the SASC, and it’s yielding results.

“I would say that I’m most proud of what we built from the ground up,” Scott added. “We had one tutor [in 2008], [now] we have 117. We’ve increased the number of counselors that we have — by one — and then we also hired a learning specialist that works directly with our student-athletes.”

Scheduling woes for the student-athlete The resources provided by the SASC are in high demand for students whose time is scarce. Between the NCAA allowing up to 20 hours of practice per week in-season, needing to meet major and general education requirements and preparing for competitions and exams, time management skills are essential.

For Robin Lesage, a senior majoring in management and a member of the men’s tennis team, it all comes down to strategic scheduling. The most difficult part for Lesage is that during the spring — men’s tennis’ more active season — the team travels every weekend.

“It’s really tough to get work done,” Lesage said. “It’s just impossible to study in the bus and the hotel is just really tough to stay focused especially if you play two matches in the day and you’re just exhausted.”

For that reason, Lesage took five classes in the fall semester. Overloading in the off-season allowed him to craft a more reasonable schedule for the spring.

“I try to manage my semester in terms of difficulty of classes,” he said. “If I’m going to have a tough semester, it’s going to be in the fall for sure.”

Student-athletes have more flexibility in the off-season, in which NCAA policy mandates that coaches require no more than eight hours of practice a week.

But sometimes even taking more demanding courses during the offseason isn’t enough. Scott estimated that over 40 percent of student-athletes take courses during the summer sessions, which allows student-athletes whose in-season period spans both semesters more room to breathe.

“I would definitely say I try to take a couple of harder classes over the summer,” said Marlon Beck II, a sophomore majoring in management and a guard on the men’s basketball team. “You don’t have any outside distractions. There aren’t too many people on campus. It’s basically just me, my teammates and our coaches — like our own little family. So I can really focus on my academics.”

It’s not just choosing when to load up on credits and when to take it easy: Scheduling classes around practices is another point of potential conflict, especially since student-athletes cannot miss class for practice under University policy.

“When we schedule classes, our coaches just say, “Block off three to six — no classes during then,’” said Connie Gormley, a senior majoring in psychology and a defender on the women’s soccer team. “But they’re kind of flexible. If you have a class that might run 10 minutes into it, they’re like, ‘Okay, you can still take it, just come out a little later.’ So it’s within reason.”

Scott mentioned that sometimes coaches will alter the entire team’s practice schedule based on one player’s course schedule, if absolutely necessary and if possible.

That still doesn’t seem to leave time for three- or four-hour courses like seminars and labs. But the NCAA requires that teams take one day off of

practice in-season, and student-athletes like Jesse Garn take advantage of that.

“You have to have one day off a week … so that’s when I usually try to schedule all of my labs and things like that,” said Garn, a senior majoring in biochemistry and a three-season athlete on the track and cross country teams. “Then you don’t have to cut into the running schedule.”

Advising and study hall Another resource available to student-athletes is their team’s adviser.

Many student-athletes attend weekly meetings with their advisers to discuss everything from upcoming assignments to test preparation to course scheduling.

Others just pop in whenever they wish.

How frequently student-athletes meet with their advisers depends on the coach.

For freshmen and transfer students, those weekly meetings are particularly helpful to ensure a smooth transition into life as a student-athlete. Advisers and counselors help the newcomers construct their schedules and figure out what courses to take and when to take them, among other things.

In terms of scheduling, advisers can warn against taking a particularly difficult class during a semester that coincides with a rigorous season, but the decision is ultimately the student’s.

“We provide council, we provide advice, but at the end of the day, it’s totally up to them what they take and what they don’t take,” Scott said.

Additionally, all freshmen and transfer students are required to attend study hall hours. Student-athletes are required to log anywhere between six and 10 hours per week, determined by the head coach in conjunction with the athletics department. The student-athletes’ hours are then monitored through the Artemis Study Hall Tracking System, in which their B-numbers are entered either by one of the SASC’s student assistants or a tutor.

When finished studying, studentathletes have to sign out using the same process. That ensures that they don’t skimp on their hours or just sign in and bail.

“To make sure you can’t cheat the system, like sign in and just leave, if you don’t sign out after three hours, then it just wipes out all your hours,” Garn said.

Constricting as that may sound, that Big Brother-type monitoring is certainly beneficial.

“I know freshman year, if I didn’t have study hall, I probably would not have been as focused,” Beck said. “It makes sure that you always stay focused and on top of your academics.”

If the freshmen earn a GPA higher than the bottom threshold designated by their coach and the department, then study hall hours are not mandated for those individuals in the next academic year. While that minimum GPA varies, most exceed the 2.5 minimum required by the University.

Of course, even if they place out of study hall, that doesn’t mean these overachievers can’t take advantage of all the opportunities the SASC has to offer.

“This semester, I don’t have required study hall hours, but I still go in there daily just because it’s such a good resource,” Garn said. “You have quiet hours, and deeper studying. People get tutoring services down there as well, so you can be tutored in one corner.”

With all the components in place to ensure success from its student-athletes, next up for the SASC are just minor improvements.

“I think in the near future we really need to upgrade aesthetically and physically the Student-Athlete Success Center,” Scott said. “Now that we have the rest of the infrastructure in place, we can spend our time focusing on that in the near future.”

Franz Lino/Photo Editor

Sophomore guard Marlon Beck II is averaging 11.4 points and 2.2 assists per game over his last five contests.

Binghamton moving on without Reed

Former-star declares commitment to TSU, BU finds production elsewhere Ashley Purdy Sports Editor

Former Binghamton men’s basketball star Jordan Reed has transferred to Tennessee State, according to a tweet from ESPN Basketball Insider Jeff Goodman.

In his tweet, posted on Jan. 20, Goodman stated that Reed told ESPN he has committed to Tennessee State.

However, according to an email sent to Pipe Dream on Jan. 23 by Tennessee State’s Assistant Director for Athletic Media Relations, José Garcia, TSU’s athletic department has no confirmation of Jordan Reed’s transfer.

Garcia added that “at last check,” Reed was not enrolled in any courses at TSU. Tennessee State’s spring semester began on Jan. 20.

Reed could not be reached for comment.

But, presuming the bureaucratic processes are just working slowly as they sometimes tend to and Reed really is transferring to TSU and will have 1.5 years of eligibility beginning next spring, the 6-foot-4 athletic guard may be an asset to another struggling basketball program under a new head coach.

Dana Ford, who took the helm of TSU’s men’s basketball team last April, inherited a program similarly situated to the one Binghamton head coach Tommy Dempsey assumed three years ago: The Tigers are 3-17 in 2014-15, and sit in last place in the Ohio Valley East Conference.

Ford will lose his leading scorer in Jay Harris — who has averaged 11.2 points in 27.7 minutes per contest so far this season — to graduation in May. Presumably, Reed will help to fill that vacated role. After all, the facts seem to justify the speculation that Reed only left Binghamton because of his curtailed minutes and hampered stardom. A sputtering program like TSU’s may be the perfect fit for Reed, who averaged just 10.6 minutes over the five games he played for Binghamton his junior season. Following his truncated time on the court, Reed missed a morning shootaround for an away game at Army on Nov. 25 and subsequently asked for his release from the program on Dec. 5.

The Bearcats (2-19, 1-5 America East), on the other hand, are slowly pulling

themselves up by the bootstraps without their former star. They’ve certainly struggled, especially with injuries to their front court and leading scorers in freshman center Dusan Perovic — who underwent ACL surgery on Thursday — and sophomore forward Nick Madray — who is still out with a sprained ankle. But they’ve found production from other areas.

Sophomore guard Marlon Beck II, for one, has been explosive for Binghamton in the last five games. The 5-foot-11 point guard is averaging 11.4 points and 2.2 assists per game over that span. After a bit of a rocky start, Beck looks back in his midseason form. He’s been prolific at setting up big shots for his teammates, and has found space for himself, as well.

Freshman guard Romello Walker also came up big when his team needed it most, averaging 12.8 points per game over the past six contests. The 6-foot-6 forward is especially effective in clutch moments, and has repeatedly supplied an electrifying dunk, layup, steal or block to get his team energized after a lull. Walker surpassed Madray as the third-leading scorer, and is now averaging 8.4 points per game on the season.

Freshman forward Willie Rodriguez has also been productive for BU as the team’s go-to for points in the paint and leading rebounder. Rodriguez is averaging 10.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 29 minutes per contest this season, and has scored a teamhigh 219 points.

Defensively, Binghamton has been consistently staunch all season. Even without Reed and generally without sophomore forward Magnus Richards — who was supposed fill the role of “mad dog” in Dempsey’s press, but who has struggled with injuries through his time in the green and white — the Bearcats have pressed and looked decent doing it. In their 65-46 win over Maine on Jan. 10, the Bearcats forced 17 turnovers and converted that into 19 points. In their close battle with New Hampshire one week later, the Bearcats forced 22 miscues before a very one-sided overtime period saddled them with a 73-66 loss.

That defensive prowess has been the key, it seems. So while Binghamton and Jordan Reed may not have parted amicably, it seems each will do fine without the other.