Spring 2015 Issue 16

I AM NOT MY...

More than 70 students take part in Steve Rosenfield’s “What I Be Project.” For coverage and a story of firsthand experience, see page 4

The Free Word on Campus Since 1946

Friday, March 20, 2015 | Vol. LXXXVII, Issue 16 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com

Registration gets revamp for Fall 2015

Service spices up studying with Chipotle

College Scheduler gives students consolidated alternative to BU Brain

Burritos2Bartle brings off-campus chow to students in the stacks

Stacey Schimmel Contributing Writer

Brendan Zarkower Staff Writer

A new student-run service is looking to bring Chipotle burritos to those who are wrapped up in their studies.

Burritos2Bartle was founded last month by Patrick Diederich, a senior majoring in industrial and systems engineering. His company accepts online orders via credit card or Bitcoin every weekday. The order must be placed on its website, Burritos2Bartle.com, before 4 p.m. and the organizers deliver the orders to the Glenn G. Bartle lobby to be picked up between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Diederich’s team consists of Luke Gorman, a sophomore majoring in finance; Reginald Carrion, a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering; and Jen Howard, a freshman majoring in psychology. They met through the ski club, and when Diederich pitched his idea to others in the club they were quick to join in.

He said the project developed quickly, going from a discussion three weeks ago

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moments.

She recited four of her poems, including well-known pieces such as “Tennessee by Birth” and “In The Spirit of Martin,” which discussed slavery, black civil rights and her experiences of being born in Tennessee during segregation and

Instead of having to plan out their future schedules manually, Binghamton University students will be offered a digital approach to laying out their classes for next fall.

Starting Friday, when the schedule of classes opens, all undergraduate students can use College Scheduler for the first time.

When students log into BU Brain and click “Schedule Planner New,” they will be redirected to the Scheduler to choose a semester, subject and course. Once they select courses, the Scheduler will list all possible combinations that can be made.

When students design a final schedule, they head to the registration page. Then, those users can sign up for all their classes at once during their registration slot.

Amber Stallman, associate director for Student Records, said that students should keep an eye on their new schedules as they get closer to their time of registration to ensure seats are

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Franz Lino/Photo Editor Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, writer and activist, speaks in the Mandela Room as the keynote speaker for BSU’s Women’s History Month. On Thursday evening, BSU hosted Giovanni, who spoke about her career in creative writing and teaching, gun control, college sports and civil rights.

Nikki Giovanni gives voice to her poetry Nationally-acclaimed author reflects on career, civil rights Gabriella Weick

Student Union (BSU) hosted nationally acclaimed poet Nikki Giovanni as its Women’s History Month keynote speaker “And we sang a precious song. And we in the Mandela Room. found a way not to survive. Anything can Giovanni shared her thoughts on survive. But to thrive. And believe. And serious topics such as her career in creative hope. I’m a native Tennessean. I was born writing and teaching, gun control, college there.” sports and civil rights, while also getting On Thursday evening, the Black the audience to laugh during light-hearted

News Intern

With ePortfolio, resumes and classwork go digital In lieu of traditional assignments, professors look to online option Michelle Kraidman Staff Writer

Binghamton University is moving further into the digital age by having Richard Kiely, the director of Engaged Learning + Research at Cornell University, teach faculty members about electronic portfolios.

Faculty members gathered in Library North on Wednesday to watch Kiely’s John Babich/Pipe Dream Photographer

Pictured: A car drives past a pothole by Lot M on campus. Potholes, a problem all over campus and in Downtown Binghamton, occur when water seeps through cracks in pavement and freezes, causing it to expand and the pavement to break up.

After brutal winter, drivers await end to bumpy ride around Brain As Spring approaches, Physical Facilities looks to patch potholes and craters with hot asphalt to fix roads Gabriella Weick News Intern

As one of the worst winters in recent history winds down, drivers at Binghamton University and the local area no longer need to worry about snowy nights and icy roads. The problem now is the number of potholes winter left behind.

Potholes occur when water seeps through cracks in pavement and freezes, causing it to expand and the pavement to break up. After the water melts and cars apply continuous pressure on the asphalt, potholes form.

Now, students, faculty and visitors to campus are looking for reassurance that the roads will be repaired soon.

According to Karen Fennie, the communications specialist in physical facilities, the department has been cold patching holes all winter, but because of continued snow and freezing temperatures the patches are not lasting long. Cold patching uses room temperature asphalt to fill holes, but according to her, the only truly effective way to fix the problem is with hot asphalt.

“We can take temporary measures, cold patching, but really it depends on when the asphalt plants open up and weather that is above freezing and relatively dry,” Fennie wrote in an email.

Fennie said the physical facilities grounds crew hopes to begin the correction measures soon.

“We have contacted all black top plants within a 60 mile radius but none are opening until April,” Fennie wrote.

“Next week we hope to use a piece of equipment from the City of Binghamton that will allow us to fill holes with hot material/asphalt that is more effective.”

In the meantime, drivers are hoping that the University can take other steps to keep them safe. Therese Cingranelli, a political science professor at BU, said that it would be helpful if some areas with significant damage were roped off or rerouted.

“I understand they can’t do anything until the weather is nice, but maybe some areas could have warnings, or some dangerous areas could be cautioned off,” Cingranelli said.

Cingranelli added that without such precautions, the risk is more than just damaging to the cars. The University is risking on-campus collisions as well.

“What ends up happening is that people are trying to avoid potholes, so they’re going in to the other lane, and that could be dangerous, too,” Cingranelli said.

After Harrison Teich, a sophomore majoring in English, was the passenger in a vehicle that had a tire ruined by a pothole on campus, he said he fears for the safety of his own car.

“The roads are so narrow, I have to wait for oncoming traffic to pass so I can swerve around them,” Teich said. “I notice they’re really big and very deep,

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The complexity of learning and the complexity of how one learns in any educational environment is difficult to represent —Richard Kiely Visiting Speaker

presentation entitled, “How to Measure Learning.” The presentation, which was organized by the Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT), was through video conference, and the 15 BU faculty members who attended could ask him questions live.

According to organizers, more professors watched from their own offices and messaged in questions.

Kiely described electronic portfolios, or ePortfolios, as “an alternate grading strategy.” EPortfolios allow students to create an interactive portfolio resembling a website dedicated to a certain topic. Kiely said that these can be used for assignments because students can better convey what they have learned to their professor.

“The complexity of learning and the complexity of how one learns in any educational environment is difficult to represent,” Kiely said. “Electronic portfolios by their very nature take learning experiences and allow the person to use the portfolio to reflect on those experiences.”

According to Kiely, unlike a paper, the ePortfolio can have different tabs that allow a student to collect and organize data in one place. The reader can search for and click on what they would like to read digitally, instead of sifting through a pile of papers.

Kiely explained that this can also be useful for interactive résumés that students can digitally send out to prospective employers.

“They conceptualize the integration of their representation of learning,” Kiely said. “So they’re already setting themselves up for thinking about their professional career. Students don’t often get an opportunity to do this.”

Kiely taught the faculty members different ways that students can go about making ePortfolios. He explained that they can use portfolio-specific software or Google Sites to set up an ePortfolio, which he said were both easy to use. He also said that they could use a slightly more complex platform called Adobe Dreamweaver CC, but according to Kiely, all of these options are relatively low-cost.

Myra Sabir, an assistant professor of human development, is currently using ePortfolios with her senior class students.

She said that she intended for them to leave the University with a clear path in front of them, and creating an ePortfolio about their skills and knowledge can help with that goal.

“Many students have indicated how

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Professor-turned-activist talks STEM for next generation Calvin Mackie describes transformation from academia to entrepreneurship Alexis Hatcher Staff Writer

From academia to energy to volunteer organizing, Calvin Mackie has recorded a variety of steps in his career. Stopping at Binghamton University Thursday to share his book “A View from the Roof,” he took a break to share his priorities and professional secrets with college students.

Initially, Mackie said, he was turned away from his top choice colleges because of his low SAT scores, but he went on to become one of only 11 African Americans in 1996 to get a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. Mackie went on to become a tenured engineering professor Tulane University, where he taught for 12 years.

After leaving Tulane, Mackie went on to create Golden Leaf Energy Inc., an alternative energy company that produces biofuels from waste streams.

Mackie’s talk in the Innovative Technologies Complex (ITC) began with a video featuring STEM NOLA, the organization he founded with the purpose of inspiring and engaging members of underserved communities in the STEM field. According to Mackie, STEM NOLA

volunteers have engaged over 2,200 kids in hands-on project-based activities.

Mackie emphasized the importance of reaching out to these communities that are not getting as much attention, instead of revisiting the same communities that have already been exposed to the STEM fields.

“The numbers in STEM, especially as they relate to minorities and women, are not changing at all,” Mackie explained. “We think we’re doing outreach not leaving our office.”

Mackie’s talk was sponsored by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). The organization’s alumni adviser, Christina Miller, said she wanted students to know that STEM careers are not limited to a certain group.

“We felt that Dr. Calvin Mackie could help jump start us on the outreach we want to do,” said Miller, a first-year graduate student studying industrial and systems engineering. “STEM really is for everybody.

Really we just have to push ourselves and nothing is unreachable.”

After leaving Tulane due to the elimination of the engineering program,

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his pastor told him that God had given him the ability to pursue what he had been too scared to do, and this is something he said he agrees with.

Klara Rusinko/Assistant Photo Editor

Dr. Calvin Mackie speaks in the Binghamton University Innovative Technologies Complex (ITC) Thursday night. The award-winning mentor and author of the motivational book “A View from the Roof” spoke about his entrepreneurial ventures and his time at Tulane University.

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bupipedream.com | March 20, 2015

ePortfolio to bring grading, resumes to modern platform WEB continued from Page 1 prepared they were for interviews and for writing graduate school essays after completing the ePortfolio, and that the process was an important reason they secured the job or internship or graduate school acceptance,” Sabir said.

Eric Machan Howd, an instructional designer of the CLT, facilitated the event. He said the CLT invited Kiely to speak about ePortfolios because of their spreading popularity across the country.

“Some universities and colleges are going in that direction, and from the business end many employers

love to see electronic portfolios along with a résumé,” Howd said.

“Many students that have submitted them for internships have been successful in gaining them because they used both the ePortfolio and the résumé.”

Rachel Scheckman, an undeclared freshman, said she had never used an ePortfolio but that it seemed like a good change from the standard papers that college students are often assigned.

“I think it’d be cool to have a different way to do assignments that’s more interesting than just writing a paper,” Scheckman said.

“The world is is all online now, and I think students should get to utilize it more in their education.”

Biofuel company founder talks keys to career success Klara Rusinko/Assistant Photo Editor

Patrick Diederich, a senior majoring in industrial and systems engineering, delivers Chipotle burritos to the Glenn G. Bartle lobby between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. The new student-run service called Burritos2Bartle was designed to bring food to those who are wrapped up in their studies.

With Burritos2Bartle, students deliver Chipotle to campus BURRITO continued from Page 1 to a functioning program within a few days.

“We really tried getting the ball rolling as fast as we could,” Gorman said. “Once we knew what we were doing, we just started moving quickly.”

The business model started out on a different track. As part of his senior design project, Diederich piloted Running Wegs. Running Wegs was to be a delivery service for Wegmans that catered mainly to fraternity houses. However, Diederich said he realized Chipotle was where

the demand was.

“We changed it up from a delivery on demand business model to a scheduled [delivery] business model,” Diederich said.

As it stands, the total markup is $2.50, with a $1.70 profit per sale. The remainder covers costs like the large insulated delivery bag where burritos wait for their purchasers to pick them up.

Amelia Tomaras, a service manager at Chipotle, said the idea was beneficial to both the organizers and the Mexican food chain.

“We really appreciate the extra business,” she said. “We always

love getting more business from students.”

The business is still in an experimental phase. Initially, the plan was to deliver at lunchtime, but they discovered that the cutoff time was too early for most people to order, and the cutoff was changed from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and again to 4 p.m, which is the current deadline.

“It makes it a lot easier to order this way,” Howard said. “I would wake up and think ‘I want Chipotle’ but it would already be past 1 p.m.”

In the library’s online list of rules, both full meals and food

deliveries are listed as forbidden activities. However, the lobby is not considered part of the library and organizers say they have not faced any trouble.

Currently, cash payments are not accepted since Diederich said the rules on money changing hands in the library and campus are unclear.

Andrew Koven, a junior majoring in economics, also said he thinks that the campaign is great.

“Students are taking initiative to help out their fellow students, as well as make a profit,” Koven said. “It’s a win-win.”

Nikki Giovanni discusses literature, cultural progress NG continued from Page 1 living through Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.

“It’s not the slavery, it’s the fact that we overcame it,” Giovanni said. “Without the song that black Americans sung, and without black Americans, we wouldn’t have America.”

As a professor of creative writing at Virginia Tech University, Giovanni also expressed her excitement that her former student Kwame Alexander was the recipient of the Newbery Medal for his children’s book, “The Crossover.”

“I’m so thrilled because every writer wants to teach a writer, and he’s only the fifth black American

to win the Newbery,” Giovanni said.

Attendees also had the opportunity to ask Giovanni questions during the night. One audience member asked Giovanni about the current state of the country regarding racism, and whether she believed the country was progressing.

“It’s never gonna be over,” Giovanni said. “Basic racism, basic hatred, basic stupidity, these are things we’re going to live with. We who consider ourselves the good people need to speak up against the foolishness. It’s never going to be well, it’s only going to be controlled.”

When asked about the importance of blacks reading literature by other blacks, Giovanni noted the significance, but also said

that reading by everyone is crucial.

“Reading is important, I don’t see any downside to knowledge,” Giovanni said.

According to Ridwan Olatilewa, vice president of BSU and a senior majoring in computer science, the BSU chose Giovanni due to her status in the world of AfricanAmerican literature.

“The number one reason why we chose Nikki Giovanni to come as our keynote is because she is legendary,” Olatilewa said. “As we tried to think of prominent black history figures that were still alive today, she came up and was the perfect fit.”

After the event, attendees such as Legan Bayombo, a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering, expressed

their enthusiasm for Giovanni’s presence.

“I think that she is such a free person, and I find that amazing,” Bayombo said. “She’s so abstract, she can talk about one thing that relates to another, and then it all zeroes back in to what she was speaking on.”

Lenny Herrera, a junior majoring in Latin American and Caribbean area studies, said he appreciated BU’s ability to bring someone with Giovanni’s merit and experience to campus.

“In her comedic approach she was able to get at important racial, social and political criticisms that were enlightening to listen to,” Herrera said. “Especially from someone who’s older and has more wisdom of the world.”

MACKIE continued from Page 1 “There is no doubt in my mind that this is what I’m supposed to be doing,” Mackie said.

“Entrepreneurship is about mindset.

When you get the right mindset, then you get the right idea.”

Whether a student is majoring in engineering or not, Mackie said that he thought his message of overcoming adversity was one that could be applicable to anybody.

According to Stella Abayev, a junior majoring in accounting, this was true.

“I agreed with everything he had to say,” Abayev said. “If you didn’t have parents that had given you a head start, it’s always harder on you because you have to be the one to build that empire he was talking about. I’m currently building my empire.”

The society’s president, Donashia Johnson, said Mackie was

an inspiration for those who don’t start out on the right track.

“We know how important STEM is to our community and our world as a whole,” said Johnson, a senior majoring in systems science and industrial engineering. “Dr. Calvin Mackie’s an amazing speaker. He’s accomplished so much within his lifetime. It really gives you hope and inspiration for your future.”

Entrepreneurship is about mindset.

When you get the right mindset, then you get the right idea — Calvin Mackie Visiting Speaker

Come Spring, Physical Facilities to patch up campus potholes ROADS continued from Page 1 so it’s just inconvenient.”

Although Off Campus College Transport (OCCT) has not had any issues or complaints regarding the potholes on campus, they have contacted the city of Binghamton regarding potholes off campus. Some riders said they have noticed the impact.

“It’s annoying to be tossed around when you’re standing on the bus,” said Ryan Cunningham, a sophomore majoring in mathematics. “When you hit a really bad spot, it’s definitely

not fun.”

According to Ryan Fazziola, a sophomore majoring in theater, the potholes can cause expensive damages and the University should be making an effort to repair the problem.

“I hit a really bad bump turning onto Vestal Parkway from the main entrance and punctured my tire pretty badly,” Fazziola said. “I had to get a new tire and it threw my car out of alignment. It’s a burden on drivers and a huge safety issue. It would be nice to see the University and the city take action to fix up their roadways.”

College Scheduler offers one-stop shop for classes

Flipping focus, BU grad lands teaching job

CLASS continued from Page 1

Matt Dolsky '14 goes from English major to science teacher in month

still available.

“Just because it’s in your cart, doesn’t mean you have that seat saved for you; it just means [the schedule] is available at the time you generate it,” Stallman said.

Sean Finnigan, a junior majoring in geology, said that it should speed along the process by saving students time spent searching for classes.

“Registering now is a real inconvenience,” Finnigan said. “If I could do it at a time that suits me best and then already have it set up by the time I register, it would make registering a lot easier for everybody.”

The software was created by a sophomore at Stanford University. While speaking to other universities, Student Records faculty heard good things about the program and told BU’s Orientation Vision Team, a select group of orientation advisers, that they were looking for a way to revamp and relieve the stress of orientation.

Stallman said that Information Technology Services (ITS) tested the program with orientation advisers, discovery assistants, graduate students and students in the advising offices to ensure

it could handle registration traffic. She also said that the old system on BU Brain would remain an option.

Stephanie Gil, a discovery adviser and a senior majoring in accounting, said that Scheduler would especially help when registering for a lecture, discussion and activity at once.

“I know a lot of students have problems entering in both lecture and discussion sections and if they have a lab they have to enter in three different CRNs sometimes,” Gil said. “So if they could register by clicking one button, I think that will help a lot of students.”

Stallman warned that College Scheduler does not enforce course restrictions, so students still need to check BU Brain first for restrictions, descriptions and class sizes.

Matthew Duffy, a discovery adviser and a senior majoring in accounting, said the new system would be more reliable and beneficial for students.

“The new scheduler will stop registration from being like the Hunger Games, hopefully, which will be beneficial for students and advisers,” Duffy said. “Harpur Advising gets really hectic around scheduling even though they hire additional people. And for people having to wait for walk-in appointments, this will be easier for them to do

it from their dorms.”

According to Sean Sherwood, student services coordinator, the students who tested the program had consistently positive feedback.

“It streamlines a lot of the paper process for students,” Sherwood said. “This makes a process that could seem stressful and tedious more interactive, more fun and hopefully it will create a lot less stress in a stressful time of registration.”

Student Records sent out an email on Wednesday with the link to an eight-minute step-bystep video compiled by the CLT, which is also available on the Registrar page.

This makes a process that could seem stressful and tedious more interactive — Sean Sherwood Student Services Coordinator

Zuzu Boomer-Knapp Staff Writer

Barely a month after graduating from Binghamton University with a bachelor’s degree in English, Matthew Dolsky found himself at a job he would have never imagined: science teacher.

Dolsky, who graduated from BU last May, spoke via Skype on Wednesday about his experience with students interested in teaching as a part of the BU Alumni Association’s “Cool Connections, Hot Alumni” series.

The event was organized by the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development, the Binghamton University Alumni Association and the Education Minor Steering Committee, which works to give undergraduate students insight into careers in educational fields.

After interning at a law firm in New York City during the summer of his junior year, Dolsky said he found law was not his passion and decided to pursue a minor in education. He applied to various fellowships to start teaching out of college and landed at Success Academy Charter Schools, a network of public schools in New York City that are run by an independent group.

“It was always something on the back burner of my mind but what really solidified it was doing what you guys are doing right now: the education minor,” Dolsky said. “The education minor is such an awesome way for you guys to get a broad knowledge of what’s happening right now and what the career’s like.”

According to Dolsky, he chose to apply to Success Academy after watching a documentary about the program and what he described as a youthful and passionate environment. After several rounds of interviewing, he was accepted.

The school partnered with Touro College to fund dualmasters programs for every assistant teacher at Success Academy in child education and special education for grades one through six. Dolsky started the past summer by taking four classes as a fulltime grad student, participating in “teacher training” and then starting as an assistant teacher in a kindergarten class in the Bronx.

Dolsky applied for work at a charter school because he said there is not much experience required to begin teaching. This, he said, was beneficial for BU students because the school does

not have an education major. He said charter schools are a way to have graduate school paid for while gaining experience in a supportive environment.

“We don’t just need teachers, we need good teachers and we need teachers who are going to stay,” Dolsky said.

Kristina Bilello, a senior majoring Chinese, said the talk was an enlightening experience.

“You could just see from his expression how much he cared,” Bilello said. “I feel like that resonates so much because people have jobs they’re not happy with. It felt like it was reassuring, because before I came I wasn’t sure, but now I think I know what I want to do.”

According to Francis Borrego, the senior assistant director of marketing and assessment at the Fleishman Center, they chose Dolsky to speak because of his unique story and because of the high demand from students for teaching programs.

“We’re trying to connect students with alumni,” Borrego said. “Alumni have a lot of great experiences to share, so any opportunity we have to connect alumni that we think are going to be good representatives of a particular career path, we’d like to get them in front of students.”

PAGE III Friday, March 20, 2015

Address: University Union WB03 4400 Vestal Parkway E. Binghamton, N.Y. 13902 Phone: 607-777-2515 FAx: 607-777-2600

Pipe Line LOCAL NEWS

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NATIONAL NEWS

releAse editor* Jacob Shamsian release@bupipedream.com Asst. releAse editor Odeya Pinkus sPorts editor* Ashley Purdy sports@bupipedream.com Neil Seejoor/Contributing Photographer

On Tuesday evening, Campus Recreation, with support from the Dean of Students office, Chi Upsilon Sigma and Delta Epsilon Mu, hosted Zumbathon in the Mandela Room. Participants paid a $3 admission fee or donated nonperishable foods or hygiene products to Bear Necessities, the on-campus food pantry.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY NEWS Penn State president: Frat posting of nude pictures very sad A now-suspended Pennsylvania State University fraternity’s Facebook posting of photos of nude and partly nude women, some of them asleep or passed out, is sad and offensive and could lead to some students being expelled, the university’s president said Wednesday. The national leaders of Kappa Delta Rho on Tuesday suspended the Penn State chapter for a year over the photo scandal and said it would be reorganized. Police in State College, home to Penn State’s main campus, are investigating allegations the fraternity operated a private Facebook page on which members shared frat house pictures of the women. According to a warrant, the invitation-only page had 144 active members, including students and alumni. Police said some of the photos they had seen showed women in “sexual or embarrassing positions.” While some of the women photographed appeared to be aware their pictures were being taken, others did not, police said in court documents.

Police have said they have identified at least two photographs that could lead to criminal charges but the investigation is continuing.

Texas could allow concealed guns on college campuses Texas would allow people to carry concealed handguns on college campuses under a measure given preliminary approval by the state Senate, just a day after it passed a proposal allowing open carry of guns almost anywhere in the state. Panned by most student groups and key leaders of Texas’ top colleges — including a retired Navy SEAL who led the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden before becoming the University of Texas’ new chancellor — the “campus carry” bill nonetheless was strongly supported by gun rights groups and the Senate’s Republican majority. It sailed through on a 20-11 party line vote. The bill still needs a final vote — likely Thursday — to send it to the GOP-controlled state House, where it will also enjoy strong support from many quarters, though passage is not a slamdunk. The measure would mandate allowing concealed carry at public universities. Private schools could still ban them. At least 20 states allow some form of campus carry, but only a handful make it a defined right in state law, as the Texas bill would.

Spring 2015 editor-in-ChieF* Rachel Bluth editor@bupipedream.com

Man dies in accident at upstate construction company State police say a 42-year-old man has been killed in a vehicle accident at an upstate New York construction company. Troopers say they were dispatched around 7:10 a.m. Tuesday to FAHS Construction Group in the Broome County town of Binghamton for the report of an industrial accident. When troopers arrived, they found Eric Willes of Nineveh was dead. Police say he was backing an excavator out of a building when the accident happened. Details of what occurred haven’t been released. Troopers say no other vehicles or employees were involved. The body was taken to a hospital for an autopsy later Tuesday. The investigation is continuing. According to its website, FAHS Construction is a 68-year-old commercial paving contractor headquartered in Binghamton, with more than 250 employees throughout the Northeast and Midwest.

2 more aid workers flown back to US for Ebola monitoring Health officials say two more American aid workers arrived in the United States on Wednesday night to be monitored for Ebola. The two bring to 17 the number of Americans flown back from West Africa’s Sierra Leone since Friday for monitoring. None have tested positive.

All are connected to an unidentified American who returned to the United States last week after he came down with Ebola. He is in critical condition at a government hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.

The other aid workers are staying near hospitals with special isolation units in Bethesda, Atlanta, and Omaha, Nebraska, in case they get sick. However, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokeswoman on Wednesday said two are now considered to be at low risk. They will go home for the 21-day monitoring period.

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Police Watch

I think that that's funny

A lighter take on campus crime

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Corey Futterman John Linitz

Aaron Berkowitz | Police Correspondent

This Day in History March 20, 235 Maximinus Thrax is proclaimed emperor. He is the first foreigner to hold the Roman throne.

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 Editor-in-Chief Rachel Bluth at editor@bupipedream.com.

Good Guys Finish Last MONDAY, MARCH 16, 3 p.m. — An unidentified male came to the police station to report an alleged robbery, said Investigator Patrick Reilly of Binghamton’s New York State University Police. The victim, who works for Sodexo, was in the Marketplace when he noticed people going around the building asking for donations for a charity. The victim took his wallet out and gave some money toward the charity. He then put his wallet back in his pocket. When he reached for his wallet a short time after, he noticed that it was missing. The victim believes that he was pickpocketed. The wallet contained the victim’s photo ID as well as a small amount of cash. The case is still under investigation.

Ocean’s 11 TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 12 p.m. — Officers responded to the Tuscarora Office Building in College-in-the-Woods due to reports of a larceny, Reilly said. An unidentified employee said that earlier in the day she left her office and locked the door. When she returned to her office, she unlocked the door and noticed that there was paper over the window on the door to her office and that the blinds in front of her windows were closed, which were open when she left the room. She then noticed that two cables were missing from her office, a computer cable and a FireWire cable. The reported cost of these items comes to $40. There are no suspects or witnesses at this time.

Cops Use Yik Yak? WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2:41 a.m. — Officers noticed a noise complaint in O’Connor Hall in Dickinson Community on Yik Yak, Reilly said. The officers then went to the dorm and found the room that the noise was coming from. The officers knocked on the door and told the residents to quiet down. The residents obliged and the officers left.

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Arts & Entertainment

Rosenfield captures more than just a photograph Franz Lino/Photo Editor

Steve Rosenfield speaks about the “What I Be” project in Lecture Hall 9 Thursday evening. Seventy BU students volunteered for the project, who, as Rosenfield described, defeated their insecurities by opening up about them.

'What I Be' project comes to Binghamton, and students bravely share their biggest insecurities with the world Jacob Shamsian | Release Editor and Odeya Pinkus | Assistant Release Editor If a picture is worth a thousand words, then it’s safe to say that Steve Rosenfield’s are worth a thousand and then some.

Rosenfield’s “What I Be” project is based on a concept easier said than done: defeating your insecurities by opening up about them or, as he puts it, “creating security through insecurity.”

By the end of this week, more than 70 Binghamton students will have participated in creating this security by stepping in front of the camera.

Before getting photographed, each subject gets something personal written on them in sharpie. They then attach the caption, “I am not my ______,” placing their insecurity in the blank space.

In something of a culmination of the week’s photo sessions, Rosenfield held a talk on Thursday

night in Lecture Hall 9 where he discussed how “What I Be” came to be.

Rosenfield began the project in 2010. He had more than 500 people leaving and entering his home.

Now, five years later, Rosenfield has shot thousands of subjects, and he notices the same insecurities coming up over and over again.

“There’s only so many of them,” he said in an interview. The high school students he’s shot tend to be more insecure about depressionrelated issues and feel pressure from their parents. College students, he says, gravitate toward insecurities related to gender and sexuality issues, and tend to put more pressure on themselves. They tend to think they have to look perfect to the outside world.

“Everyone on campus is appearing together — and perfect — when nobody’s together and perfect,” he said. “Nobody wants to look bad. Everyone wants to seem like they know what they’re doing next year, everyone wants to seem like they have it together

— especially with mental health issues.”

Spots for Binghamton sessions filled up quickly. Additionally, Rosenfield said that Binghamton’s turnout showed something special.

At other schools, the female-tomale ratio has been about 80 to 20.

Here, it’s around half and half.

“Men, as a societal law, are not supposed to show their feelings,” Rosenfield said. “I’d like to say that here, guys are more open to talking about it.”

Rosenfield said he hopes that people will look past one aspect of a person, while simultaneously gaining more sensitivity to their situation, whatever that might be. If you own your insecurity, Rosenfield’s theory goes, people can’t turn it against you.

Those who went to the presentation were able to see this theory demonstrated firsthand.

Rosenfield asked people to share their insecurities and, one by one, people stood up and spoke. Some of Steve’s subjects spoke about their experience, making it all the

more personal.

“If you look through those 2,300 images, everyone is beautiful,” Rosenfield said. “Everyone looks beautiful in their picture. I don’t know if you noticed that. That’s what honesty does.”

At the talk, Rosenfield explained that when he was growing up, he judged people and felt that he had to outdo others. He said that while he had a lot of people in his life, his relationships were lacking because he withheld his emotions from the people around him.

After high school, Rosenfield went right into the workforce with a steady job at a computer company. And while he was able to support himself, he felt that there was something missing. Soon, he began rock climbing, a sport in which he found a community. He ended up embarking on a two-week climbing trip. While traveling, he decided that if he wanted to change how he was feeling, he had to do something different. Rosenfield decided to start opening up, first to a journal and then to others. He

found that when he shared things with people, they reciprocated.

Rosenfield went from feeling numb to feeling happy, created new bonds and formed new perspectives.

Rosenfield quit his job, sold his condo and traveled for the next four years, ending his trip by eventually moving to California.

He said he had a bit of a rough start there, even with finding a place to live. He slept in the back of a van and worked in a rock climbing gym during the day. He soon moved into an apartment, and with his new home came a new hobby, as inspired by a friend on his rock climbing trip: photography. His first professional camera was a Canon Rebel XT. What began as taking photos for fun soon turned into concert photography. He became close with Michael Franti and Spearhead, taking pictures of them, as well as other big names such as Macklemore, Norah Jones and The Chainsmokers.

While he enjoyed concert photography, Rosenfield wanted to

do something that would make a difference, and in 2009, the “What I Be” project was born.

So what’s Rosenfield’s greatest insecurity? He hasn’t told anyone yet, but not because he doesn’t want to. It’s going to be published in his forthcoming book that collects some of his photos, on the “about the author” page.

The event was organized for the Binghamton University Marketing Association by Danielle Levin, a senior double-majoring in marketing and art, and Hadas Bernstein, a sophomore majoring in psychology.

“It really helped that he was so easy to speak to, and he would respond to every single email with every single question I’d ever ask,” Levin said. Bernstein said she plans to bring Rosenfield again next year.

For those who want to see the results of the project, the photos will be on display in the Fine Arts Building from March 30 until April 3, and those who were photographed can pick up their pictures on March 31 and April 1.

What it's like to be in a photo session with Steve Rosenfield The experience of not knowing your deepest insecurity, and then honestly opening up in front of a stranger Jacob Shamsian | Release Editor I had no idea what I would want to be written on my face when I walked into my photography session with Steve Rosenfield on Monday. I thought I would be invulnerable to his “What I Be” project, meant to have its subjects reveal their insecurities, because I’m not a private person. I’m comfortable with my many flaws and I’m usually —

thank God — pretty well adjusted.

For five days this week, Rosenfield has set up shop in UUW325 to photograph students for “What I Be.” In 40-minute sessions, he gets students to reveal their deepest insecurities to him and then writes them on their face. Each photo is captioned by a trait about which the subject is insecure. His style isn’t interrogative. He does it a bit like I do my own interviews: asking a somewhat open-ended

question and letting the subject speak discursively, before narrowing his line of questioning to arrive at some greater truth.

“What’s the last thing you’d want to tell someone else, because it would make you look bad?” he asked me. I couldn’t come up with anything, so he took a different direction. “So if you have to walk into a room of 25 people, what do you think would be the last thing you would not want to tell them, that might make you feel

Photo Provided by Steve Rosenfield

Release Editor Jacob Shamsian poses for a photo taken by Steve Rosenfield. The accompanying caption is, “I am not my abruptness.”

uncomfortable?” I couldn’t agree with his terms — who were these people? In what context did I know them? Why was I talking to any of them?

“I have a better question,” he said. “You’re sitting in a café, and your girlfriend is sitting across the café … and you have to say something to her that’s gonna not impress her.” Still no dice. “I have a lot of flaws,” I said. “But I’m cool with them.”

So we decided to talk about the flaws that I’m cool with. “I get jealous of people,” I said. Rosenfield asked me how I react. “I get cold towards them,” I said.

I’ve known this about myself for a while. I consider myself ambitious, and when other people are more successful than me — even if we haven’t even been competing — I tend to smolder. For me, success is irrationally a zero-sum game of winner takes all. If I’m not the best person around me, no one can be.

I don’t compete with this attitude, though; it only comes out when I’ve failed at something, or at least succeeded less impressively compared to someone else. It’s not like I sabotage other people or anything. The feeling only comes out when the competition is over.

But it can be harmful. I don’t want to make anyone sincerely uncomfortable, so I withdraw, and turn cold.

I suggested a caption: “I am not only my coldness.”

Although I didn’t know what I was going to have written at

the beginning of the session, I knew there was one thing I would be adamant about: correcting Rosenfield’s grammar. Of course I am not my coldness. No one is just one trait and it’s disingenuous to assume that anyone would be defined by a single trait in the first place. “Only” or “just” would serve as a corrective, acknowledging that coldness is a part of me, but also implying that I’m much more than that. Especially if this photo would be an expression of my own identity, which includes grammatical obstinacy.

“It’s a cohesive piece, so that’s why it doesn’t change,” Rosenfield said. But… but… “The part of it that is you — that’s the insecurity part,” he said. “The phrasing of it?

That’s my part. The artistic part.

So you’re joining my artistic vision with your voice.” Could I have “just” in parenthesis? “Nope.” In a small font with a small arrow indicating where it belongs in the sentence? “’Just’ is not included in the-” I cut him off — could I Photoshop it in later myself? “Nope.”

I went to get a drink of water and left my recorder on the table. He whistled a bit.

“I mean, grammatically, you would use the word ‘just,’ but you don’t have to in a strong statement,” he said when I returned. We will never agree on this.

But anyway, we proceeded to discuss how my coldness manifests itself. I’ll be abrupt: as a way to suppress flaring jealousy. And sometimes I’ll be jealous of people

who I don’t know in real life — like writers of really good articles or clever Tweeters — and it won’t manifest much at all, because there’s no person to lash out to. Or, more accurately, to suppress lashing out to.

“Have people called you cold?” he asked me. No, I realized. Few people have. Maybe I’m really good at this — is that scary or good or both?

All good art makes you reconsider the world through or because of the artist’s perspective.

Just looking at Steve Rosenfield’s photos did that for me already. To be a part of the process of creating these photos was something else entirely: a self-interrogation that revealed things about myself I had let previously unarticulated.

We had 20 minutes left. We discussed a few other possibilities, but eventually settled on coldness as the subject. I didn’t have any ideas for a pose.

“How do you feel when you’re jealous?” he asked.

I remembered the time I was most jealous of someone — about a year ago — and turned my head and glared.

“Jealousy makes me cold,” he wrote on my face. “I am not my abruptness” would be the caption.

“I’m going to laugh a whole lot, so you’re probably going to have to take a few photos,” I warned him as I set myself up by the white poster board he set up as a background.

But I didn’t laugh once.

March 20, 2015 | www.bupipedream.com

5

RELEASE

What would a libertarian do?

Binghamton Review on hot-button campus issues James Sereno | Contributing Writer If you’ve ever picked up a copy of the Binghamton Review, then you know they’re not afraid to voice their political opinions. The opening sentence of their mission statement is “Binghamton Review is a non-partisan, studentrun periodical of conservative thought at Binghamton University,” and later states “it is our duty to expose the warped ideology of political correctness that dominates this university.”

Release sat down with the Review to discuss how their ideology relates to issues on campus.

Since its inception in 1987, the Binghamton Review has been a conservative publication that has shifted more to incorporate the growing libertarian voice over the past years. With the libertarian interest growing, some members of the College Libertarians have also associated with and written for the Binghamton Review.

While many college libertarians actively advocate for the legalization of marijuana and marriage equality across the country, especially at more liberal schools, many of their more conservative beliefs fall into the background.

At a meeting, Samson Audino, president of the College

Libertarians and a junior majoring in industrial and systems engineering, spoke about Yik Yak and the allegations of racism across campus.

“What can’t be forgotten is free speech is important at a public university,” Audino said.

“I’m looking forward to Students for Change’s meeting with Harvey Stenger.”

Sitting down with some editors from the Binghamton Review, we discussed issues on campus and throughout the country that they plan to take more steps towards.

Some of the issues that the editors spoke about was opposing the National Security Agency’s (NSA) collectivization of data and being against Obamacare.

They also expressed their desire to raise political awareness across campus and their ongoing attempt to get individual racks for the Review’s monthly publication.

During the latest round of Student Association Executive Board elections, the Binghamton Review put out an article endorsing candidates as well as airing complaints with the current E-Board. While many organizations, as well as residential communities, decided not to endorse a candidate for vice president of multicultural

Franz Lino/Photo Editor

Pictured: Binghamton Review, the most opinionated rag on campus. affairs (VPMA), the Binghamton Review wrote, “As we have been asking for the last two decades, why exactly does this position exist?”

Daniel Milyavsky, editor emeritus of the Binghamton Review and vice president of the College Libertarians, said the Review decided not to endorse anyone for the position because it’s not convinced anyone ever does anything substantial with the position.

“I don’t know anyone who actually knows what the VPMA

Unicorns, werewolves and zombies, oh my!

Manuel Gonzales wins the John Gardner Book Award Haralambos Kasapidis | Contributing Writer For a school with a large Pegasus statue in front of the Glenn G. Bartle Library, it’s not surprising that we appreciate tales of unicorns and zombies. “The Miniature Wife and Other Stories,” a collection of 18 short tales containing these two aforementioned topics, recently won the Binghamton University John Gardner Fiction Book Award.

On Tuesday March 17, University of Kentucky professor Manuel Gonzales, author of this book, was invited to our campus by the Binghamton Center for Writers, where he read a few excerpts to University students from his compilation of wild stories.

“Thank you for having me out here on St. Patrick’s Day and for coming relatively sober,” Gonzales said. “This is not a book I ever really expect to get that kind of …

I mean it has zombies and unicorns and a werewolf that maybe isn’t a werewolf, and one doesn’t usually expect that to win any of those accolades.”

Gonzales started off the reading with “All of Me,” the first of his two stories that focuses on the lives of zombie characters.

“The only real thing you need to know about ‘All of Me’ is that the narrator is a zombie, but he also has to work in an office and is in love with the receptionist, Barbara,” Gonzales said. “But he can’t go out on a date with Barbara because she’s married and because he’s a zombie.”

This piece focused on a man

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who recently turned into a zombie and tries to hide his horrific transformation from the people with whom he works. The woman he has a crush on, Barbara, confides in him, telling him that her husband has cheated on her, while he daydreams and thinks about how much he loves her. Gonzales explored this zombie’s mind, revealing to the audience how complex life can be for this dead creature.

“I think some of these things that I write are weird and upsetting but are also funny, or at least I think that they’re funny,” Gonzales said.

He revealed that his unconventional story often gets interpreted differently depending on the audience, with some people classifying it as either sad or funny.

The pertinently titled “OneHorned and Wild-Eyed” refers to the focus of the unicorn in the second story he read. This piece explores the mind of a man who has just purchased a unicorn, which helps him realize he has not been living the life he wants. Doing odd jobs to support himself for the last few years of his life, this unicorn makes him realize he wants to find a steady job and start living a more fulfilling and eventful life.

His wife, jealous that the unicorn is what inspired her husband to clean up his act, remarks how she wants to make a pair of pants or jacket out of the mythical creature.

Gonzales explores a dysfunctional marriage in this story, offering the unicorn to the audience as a reminder of how special life can be

This piece explores the mind of a man who has just purchased a unicorn when you choose to make it so.

Gonzales took questions from the crowd. Students asked what advice he has for developing writers, and Gonzales told them to pick up a random situation and go with it. His inspiration for “One-Horned and Wild-Eyed” came to him when his daughter received a plush unicorn in a happy meal.

“I started thinking, what if I did have a unicorn and where would’ve I gotten it and maybe it would be a better story if it wasn’t me who that had a unicorn but a friend from high school,” Gonzales said.

Despite the fantastical elements, Gonzales’ work often focuses on himself.

“There’s a lot of me in this,” Gonzales said.

Some stories are autobiographical while some have nothing to do with him, and he told the audience that a few pieces from his collection are just stories of how he would choose to deal with hypothetical situations.

does on a daily basis,” said Milyavsky, a senior majoring in biology.

After discussing the VPMA, the discussion moved to Students for Change.

Milyavsky complained about the recent Lecture Hall protests run by the advocacy group and said, “You will definitely see something about the protests in the Review soon,” as well as his belief that they are an “antifree speech group.” He promised something written online by the week’s end that will also be

published in the Binghamton Review’s April edition.

Sean Glendon, the editor-inchief of the Review and a junior double-majoring in accounting and business administration, called Students for Change’s demands to the University’s administrators “unrealistic.”

“They need to work together and not talk down to them,” Glendon said.

Milyavsky and Glendon also discussed one of Students for Change’s long term goals: “There should be a mandatory

cultural competency course as a general education requirement for all Binghamton University students in order to be eligible for graduation.”

They explained how during the 1990s, the pluralism general education requirement was created for this reason.

They also mentioned how the Binghamton Review had fought this requirement at the time, and Milyavsky commented that if Students for Change continues with this demand, “We’re definitely gonna fight that.”

Want to join Release? It's a little late in the semester, but you can still email release@bupipedream.com if you want. Up to you, though.

6

RELEASE

www.bupipedream.com | March 20, 2015

Yahoo! 'Community' rejoins for more hijinks in season 6

The show tries new types of characters, but the college still retains its signature absurdist charm and meta-humor Jacob Shamsian | Release Editor The cult TV show “Community” has been through a lot. Its showrunner Dan Harmon was replaced and then returned, and NBC canceled it after five seasons and it was finally picked up by … Yahoo.

Well, it’s finally here. Yahoo isn’t going for the all-at-once release strategy that Netflix used — the first two episodes are online on Yahoo Screen, and the rest of the season’s episodes will be online in subsequent weeks.

“Community” is about a misfit group of students at Greendale Community College that deals with incompetent administration and each others’ issues. It’s also known for its meta-humor, and given the drama that led to its release, it makes sense that it would be addressed. Now, the

core group is down three — Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown) is gone, “spun off” to her own show, as it’s explained to Abed, purveyor of “Community’s” fourth wall. She has a cameo in the episode, hilariously as the star of her own spin-off show.

Shirley’s exit from the season follows that of Troy (Donald Glover) and Pierce (Chevy Chase) from previous seasons.

When they left, the show experimented with replacing them with other characters, but mostly resorted to buffing up the roles of Dean Pelton (Jim Rash) and Chang (Ken Jeong), both of whom have a propensity for scene-stealing. This time, the replacement is more explicit, and seems to be more permanent.

Shirley’s replaced by Frankie (Paget Brewster), who plays a consultant for Greendale.

Abed immediately notices

how much Frankie doesn’t fit into the rest of the group — she’s too grounded, too unwilling to engage in the fantastic antics the rest of the school doesn’t hesitate to join. It’s her job to care about what’s going on in the real world. For her, quirks are a means of delivering results, not defining features of a personality. “Good shows change,” she tells Abed, but she doesn’t have a TV. One wonders if she’s the manifestation of the NBC executive, an adult in the room who didn’t understand the show’s sense of fun, telling Dan Harmon to calm down.

“Community” has never really had a “straight man” character. Jeff (Joel McHale) and Annie (Alison Brie) played the type in some episodes, but each one eventually gave in to the absurdity of Greendale, leaving the show gloriously

untethered. In a normal show, the grounded characters would be the administrators, but part of “Community’s” premise is that the dean and professors are just as incompetent as the students are.

Frankie is the ultimate “straight man”: a bureaucrat.

She’s not a killjoy or anything — well, her character is for a bit, but it’s good for the show — but we’ll see how long it takes until she really lets loose.

Otherwise, “Community” is the same as usual, and remains just as funny and full of heart as the previous seasons.

The first episode, “Ladders,” has a proliferation of selfaware montages. And, as in a recent episode of

“Broad City,” it proves that contemporary speakeasies are always funny. In the second episode, “Lawnmower Maintenance and Postnatal Care,” we meet Britta’s (Gillian Jacobs) parents, and learn more about the disagreement between them and Britta.

It took a while, but “Community” finally got its sixth season. Now we await the movie.

Photo Provided

Even after being purchased, Downtown Masonic temple remains a mystery The Binghamton landmark has gone through decades of financial issues, and plans for its future are vague Jonathan Ortiz | Contributing Writer The stone structure that towers over the corner of Murray and Main streets in Downtown Binghamton has, for as long as many Binghamton residents can recall, been a source of mystery.

Its deteriorated, cream-colored walls, boarded up windows and rust-decorated doors blend into the Binghamton scenery, yet it has not provided its residents with any useful function in over four decades. However, the latest Broome County tax foreclosure auction on Feb. 21, 2015 has

landed the Masonic Temple under the ownership of John Diehl, who plans to transform the deteriorating property into a theater for live music performances.

Back in 1922, Walter H. Whitlock and Charles H. Conrad designed the temple after an Art Moderne style, fitting it with a large theater and a grand ballroom. It was during the 1960s and ’70s that the Masons opened the temple for community functions, such as live concerts, Broadway performances and even the Tri-Cities Opera.

Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena, which began

hosting many of the functions that once supported the Masonic Temple, was constructed in 1973.

It was soon after that the vision of the temple’s purpose began to grow fuzzy. Binghamton residents of the 1980s witnessed the inception of a plan to convert the Masonic Temple into senior housing, while $200,000 later, those of the 1990s witnessed that plan’s demise because of an unanticipated halt in funding. By 1997, the property was foreclosed.

Binghamton Associates, a company operated by David Band, a Florida developer, purchased the property for $85,000 with the

aim to convert the once-dynamic community center into student housing. It only took one year for that project to be abandoned, too. Instead, the edifice currently houses scattered piles of construction debris.

Even today, the future of the Masonic Temple is unclear.

On Nov. 15, 2014, Sam Khan, a Brooklyn contractor who operates the company Great American Contracting Inc., purchased the building for $19,500 at last fall’s Broome County tax foreclosure auction. When asked what his plans for the property were, his answer was rather ambiguous.

“Try and do something, like build a gym,” Khan said. “It’s a big place, it is a huge place.”

Due to this skeletal business plan, Broome County turned down Khan’s bid offer and put the property up for auction yet again on Feb. 21, 2015. For $7,500, John Diehl and a small group have obtained ownership of the Masonic Temple and plan to repurpose it as a theater for live music performances. Additionally, Diehl has expressed that he wishes to add a community performing arts center, with classrooms, to engage Binghamton residents and provide opportunities for instruction.

Today, the interior walls of the old Masonic Temple are stripped bare. Unfinished and unsightly plumbing remains exposed. The dark, dreary air of the catacombs underneath the auditorium has spread throughout the building like an infectious disease. Time and time again, plans have been conceived to save the degrading structure from slipping into a purposeless grave, yet time and time again, these plans have all fallen themselves. However, not all hope is lost. Only time can tell us if the tired walls that once contained music and laughter may do so once again.

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March 20, 2015 | www.bupipedream.com

7

FUN

Hillary Clinton's Email

Chocoholism

Sam Saskin and Ben Moosher

Danielle "Thor" Pilosof

Hell-In-The-Woods

Ugh Freshman year sucked

TFP My girl left me, I’m failing classes, and I literally have the roommate from HELL

Hey I used the last of the toilet paper, can you pick up some more?

Thanks roomie

RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, April 8, 2009

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

ACROSS 1 Summon the genie 4 Stacy who played Mike Hammer 9 Fischer man?

13 Greek goddess of discord 15 Parcel out 16 Pentathlon event 17 Almanac tidbit 18 “Show me” state?

20 Anxious feeling 22 Car loan letters 23 Lunched or brunched 24 Empire state?

27 Painful areas 29 City near Düsseldorf 30 Bringing up the rear 32 A unicycle has one 33 Optimist’s credo 35 “Men in Black” extras 37 Volunteer state?

40 Broadway opening?

42 Cork sources 43 Oodles 44 With 6-Down, it’s “bitter” in England 46 Francisco’s farewell 51 Leading the pack 53 Beehive state?

55 Not working 56 Instrument sometimes made from koa wood 58 Campaign contest 59 Granite state?

63 Chairlift predecessor, at many resorts 64 Netizen, e.g.

65 East Asian capital 66 Trig ratio 67 “Sneaked” look 68 Turns (off) 69 Media mogul Turner

DOWN 1 Scow load 2 First planet discovered using a telescope 3 Weightlifter’s pride 4 Casey who provided Shaggy’s voice in TV’s “Scooby-Doo” 5 Bugling grazer 6 See 44-Across 7 Common HMO requirements 8 URL starter 9 Push-up muscle 10 They’re abuzz with activity 11 Gene Autry film 12 Luthor and Brainiac, to Superman 14 Unsettling look 19 Treasury Dept. arm 21 Declining from old age 25 Jai __ 26 Sicilian pastry 28 Elevator man 31 Gas holder 34 Movie excerpt

36 “Gil Blas” novelist 37 Was released 38 Not __ many words 39 One who may converse in Erse 40 Failed to meet as planned 41 Befuddle 45 “The Story of __”: 1975 Isabelle Adjani film

47 Collection agency concerns 48 “It won’t be long” 49 Gas rating 50 Get riled 52 Dartboard setting 54 Pastoral poems 57 Sleeping Beauty awakener 60 Scriptural ship 61 Debtor’s pledge 62 Disapproving word

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

By Patrick Jordan (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

04/08/09

04/08/09

OPINION Friday, March 20, 2015

Preserve dying languages now

Many precious native tongues are sadly fading into extinction Ben Goldberg

Contributing Columnist

T

Life Hacks oday, coders from all over the country will gather in the Innovative Technologies Complex for the second annual HackBU hackathon.

HackBU is an opportunity for programmers to collaborate and compete on projects in a 36-hour time period. Organized by students, HackBU is intended to benefit students and pushes programmers and observers alike to pursue the side projects that help us develop job-ready skills.

Unlike most other events on campus, HackBU encourages attendees to actively participate.

Instead of passively watching a speaker, movie or theatrical presentation, attendees take part in creative projects with concrete results. On Tuesday, we praised and encouraged more student speakers on campus. More collaborative events like HackBU also serve to inspire students to take initiative.

How does HackBU encourage students to take initiative?

Competition. The event is organized so that teams work together to create the best project in a limited time span. This pushes programmers to outdo one another.

And even if one is not an expert programmer, event organizers team up such newbies with more experienced students to encourage participation from all levels.

Connecting novice students with more experienced programmers inspires them to gain new skills in their years at BU. HackBU started out as a small group of students’ passion project and then quickly snowballed into something much larger. Students from all around the Northeast

come to this hackathon and — like the organization itself — work on a passion project that often snowballs into something bigger.

There’s something to be said for the creative sparks that fly when hundreds of students are in a room together, each competing to create something better.

Events such as HackBU work to inspire students from all disciplines, not just programmers.

Organizers encourage everyone to come out to view the spectacle.

Witnessing our peers do impressive work empowers all of us.

What’s important about this event isn’t just the competition.

We want more students, not administrators, to organize events like HackBU. The student

organizers worked to provide attendees with valuable resources, including top-of-the-line hardware, corporate sponsorship and access to recruiters. So often we press the University to organize events to help students network and succeed, but it is possible to achieve this ourselves. HackBU demonstrates that as students, we are responsible for creating these opportunities. With hundreds of students participating this week, HackBU’s success shows us that not only are we responsible for creating opportunities, as students we are capable of doing so. This is an example of students helping students. In the quest for prestige and job prospects, we must rely on one another.

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.

There are roughly 6,500 languages currently spoken in the world. Most linguists estimate that by the end of the 21st century, more than half of them will be extinct. Roughly 500 languages are currently listed by UNESCO as “critically endangered.” Of the existing languages, roughly 90 percent have fewer than 100,000 speakers. Language death can be caused by a variety of factors ranging from the economic to the political. The process usually begins when a younger generation fails to learn the language from their parents. The death of a language is something that negatively affects all of humankind and not just the people who spoke it. That is why dying languages need to be preserved today.

Many people don’t think we should be saving or preserving dying languages because they don’t understand the value of what is lost when a language dies. A language is more than just a collection of words that have meaning; a language is the way in which a group of people think of and discuss the world around them. It’s how people solve problems and interpret their experiences, and every language does it differently. Because of this, languages provide scientists with important insight into neurology and psychology.

A language can provide incredible insight into a culture and its worldview. For example, in Cherokee there is no word for “goodbye,” only one for “I will see you again.” Many languages can express thoughts or feelings that others cannot. Returning to the example of Cherokee, there is a word (oo-kah-huh-sdee) that describes the sensation one feels upon seeing a cute child or animal.

If we lost languages such as Cherokee, we would lose a thread in the vast tapestry that comprises human understanding of the world, and we’d never get it back.

Since the vast majority of world languages aren’t written, many are also rich in oral traditions.

Some of the most famous and important stories in the Western tradition, such as the “Odyssey” and the “Iliad,” were passed orally for generations before finally being written down. If not, they very well could have died with Ancient Greek. Even the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm were all oral traditions before the two brothers compiled them. Imagine what we would have lost if they were never written and the German language was subsequently forgotten.

Countless traditions, stories and songs such as these are lost every time a language dies. For example, the Tofa people of Siberia (whose language has only 93 speakers) no longer remember their old creation story about a duck laying the first egg. Even a story as whimsical as that can provide anthropologists and laymen alike with an appreciation for how people understood their environment.

With the death of a language also comes the disappearance of scientific or mathematical knowledge known only to its speakers. Many people are intimately familiar with their environment and their languages contain words for animals and plants that are unknown to modern science. They are also familiar with possible medicinal properties and benefits of various flora that can be lost forever if a language goes extinct.

When a language dies and it hasn’t been recorded, humanity as a whole is affected by this loss of collective human knowledge, and whether we know it or not our lives are made that much poorer.

— Benjamin Goldberg is an undeclared freshman

Rapper Azealia Banks' homophobic comments are indefensible

Banks' bisexual identity is no basis for her use of the word "faggot" in reference to Perez Hilton Esmeralda Murray

Contributing Columnist

Some of us are already familiar with Azealia Banks, the Harlemborn rapper, most likely for the wrong reasons. She has been extremely controversial as of late, growing increasingly familiar for her polemical tweets rather than for her musical achievements.

If there’s anything she’s well known for, it’s her public derision and lampooning of fellow celebrities. She’s duked it out with

Kreayshawn, T.I., Angel Haze, Lil’ Kim, Lily Allen, Nicki Minaj, Jim Jones, Baauer, Action Bronson, Diplo, Rita Ora, Lady Gaga, Pharell and Iggy Azalea among others over the course of two years.

Despite the extensive assortment of aforementioned names, one of her more contentious spats was with Perez Hilton, an openly gay blogger.

While in the midst of one of her many digital arguments with Angel Haze, Banks took the time to attack Hilton and call him a “messy faggot” in response to him vocally supporting her opponent.

She defended her choice of wording and tweeted that “a

faggot is not a homosexual male. A faggot is any male who acts like a female. There’s a BIG difference,” later explaining that “you can be a straight faggot … faggots are men who want to bring women down, fuck with their heads, control them” in an interview.

She claimed that her attack was not sexually malicious because she is a bisexual woman, explaining that most homophobic comments come from a fear of “catch[ing] the gay,” something that she has “already caught.”

Banks is attracted to women and Hilton is attracted to men, so she’s allowed to call him the f-word, right? Uh, wrong.

Claiming that it is OK to use a gay slur because you are bisexual is an odd, faulty argument. Claiming that it is OK to use a gay slur that is almost always gender-specific because you happen to belong to one of the marginalized groups in the equation is even more harmful. Actually, let me make this crystal clear: It doesn’t make any damn sense at all.

Banks’ identity does not magically absolve her of any guilt — if anything, the issue lies with who she is and what she identifies with. Though faggot is sometimes used to reference both genders, gay men are predominantly the target of the insult, especially

in the United States. Banks being bisexual does not give her a pass because she’s a member of the LGBTQ community, nor does it vindicate her because she’s “caught the gay.” Slurs are harmful words that are meant to mock negative properties, chiefly when used by those who do not belong to the identity group in question. Banks is not a gay man and therefore does not have the justification to include faggot in her vocabulary.

Banks is certainly a provocateur — she lives to hurt feelings and ruffle feathers, which would explain why she approached the backlash regarding her

comments in such a peculiar way, practically flipping the switch on her audience and beseeching us to figure out why we’re mad and she’s not. She is brash, unapologetic and I can’t help but wonder if she is purposefully pushing these arguments to force us into thinking. One thing is certain, however. Calling Hilton the f-word has left quite a blemish on her career and for good reason — using pejoratives toward communities you do not belong to and identities you do not align with will always be indefensible.

— Esmeralda Murray is an undeclared sophomore

Female sexual liberation may change porn content for the better When more women feel comfortable watching porn, its portrayals of women will improve Shirley Tong

Contributing Columnist

Much of today’s pornographic material is catered toward straight male needs or fantasies. If you were to quickly scroll through a typical porn website, you’d find that the majority of videos contain sex elements that only men would enjoy. The camera usually only shows different angles of the woman and her facial expressions, while the men get little to no camera time. It makes sense because if the typical

porn consumer is usually a man, why would they want to look at a male porn star who doesn’t arouse them?

The porn industry is problematic because women are objectified. Some videos appear to encourage rough or violent behavior against women. Common searches in porn websites include “rough sex,” “BDSM” and “gagging,” with the male porn actor as the dominant partner in all of these types of videos. The way women are portrayed in porn also seems to encourage disrespectful behavior toward women during sex. The female porn actresses act dumb or crass and the male actors call them disrespectful names.

Some argue that the existence of pornography in general is debilitating to feminists’ goals because of the misrepresentation and treatment of women. However, the porn industry is not making these types of videos for the purpose of promoting misogyny or disrespect for women. The main goal is to earn the maximum amount of revenue they can based on what the average consumer wants.

The porn industry, like any other industry, recognizes that if there is a stronger demand for a specific good or service, then supply for that good or service will increase. Therefore, if most men fantasize about having sex with

a busty, submissive blonde who obnoxiously moans and screams out loud every 10 seconds, then that is the type of porn that we are all — as a society — going to get.

This is actually good news for women because it means that changing the way women are portrayed in pornography wouldn’t be difficult at all if more women consumed pornography.

Then the demographics of general porn consumers would undergo a radical shift. More women will search for female-friendly pornographic material, such as videos that try to emphasize the romance, beauty and sensuality of sex. Views on videos that appeal to women would skyrocket. In

response to the changing trend, the porn industry would cater material toward female-friendly interests.

However, this shift will require overcoming significant social boundaries. Most women and girls feel extremely uncomfortable or ashamed of expressing their sexuality or need for sex. It is clearly more socially acceptable for men to openly discuss anything related to sex, consume porn and masturbate, while women are often encouraged at a young age to cherish their virginity and suppress sexual exploration, including masturbation to porn.

And if some women do openly express their interest in sex, they

are immediately judged or — the more modernized expression— “slut-shamed.” The notion that women are less interested in sex than men is a myth, but it’s easy to believe that it’s true because the fear of being judged by others as a “slut” encourages most women to avoid sexual exploration.

Despite these obstacles though, I believe that we are slowly moving toward sexual liberation for women. As more women choose to embrace their sexual freedom, the needs of overall porn consumers will redefine portrayals of women in porn.

— Shirley Tong is a senior majoring in art and design

9

SPORTS

March 20, 2015 | bupipedream.com

Binghamton aims to tame No. 18 Tigers Behind strong play of O'Donnell, Nelson, BU to face Towson on hot-streak Kyle McDonald

Deuel, McKeever face top competition on biggest stage

Pipe Dream Sports

After losing its first three games of the season, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team has responded with two consecutive road victories.

Binghamton (2-3, 1-0 America East) will hope to draw upon that success when it faces its next opponent: No. 18 Towson. For its part, Towson (5-3) is set to enter the contest coming off a frustrating, 7-6 loss to Ohio State.

A low-scoring team, the Tigers currently only average 8.38 goals per game, ranking 55th out of 69 Division I programs in the category. But what the Tigers lack in offense, they make up for in defense. Towson allows just 7.25 goals per game, good for fifth in the country in scoring defense.

“They help each other well and they are really athletic,” BU head coach Scott Nelson said of the Towson defense. “Their goalie is pretty good and takes up a lot of room in the cage. He’s a big kid.”

In their last two victories, the Bearcats have improved some of the issues that led to a 0-3 start.

Primarily, BU’s defense — which allowed 40 goals in its first three games — has upgraded its play.

BU has allowed only 11 total goals since.

“We have been helping each other out more,” Nelson said.

“They’re helping better and playing as a team and our short sticks have been doing great.”

The Bearcats have also struggled to close games this season. In its first three contests, Binghamton was outscored, 125, in the fourth quarter. That included a 5-1 drubbing at the hands of Marist in its season

Two BU wrestlers compete at NCAAs Jeff Twitty

Assistant Sports Editor

Caroline Sardella/Contributing Photographer

Senior attack Paul O’Donnell currently leads the Bearcats in goals scored with 11 this season.

opener. Like their defense, the Bearcats have managed to improve their fourth-quarter performances: They are now posting a 6-3 edge in that category over the last two games.

To compare, the Bearcats and Tigers have played two mutual opponents this season.

The Tigers defeated Hobart, 9-6, while BU fell, 11-10, to the Statesmen on Feb. 28. Towson also faced America East-member UMBC, which Binghamton defeated, 13-4, in its last contest.

The Tigers secured a victory of their own over the Retrievers, 11-7.

Binghamton’s offense has been its most consistent component this season. BU ranks 28th nationally in scoring offense, posting a 10.6 goals per game average. In particular, senior attack Paul O’Donnell has

been on a tear lately, tallying eight goals in BU’s last two games. He ranks second on the team in points with 15, while senior attack Tucker Nelson paces the team with 21 — including 14 assists.

“We are very unselfish offensively, it is something we are very good at,” Tucker said.

“We are going to have to make the extra pass to get a good shot.”

But BU’s powerful offense is sure to face a challenge against the stingy Towson defense.

“They could be the best defense we’ve seen all year,” Tucker said. “They are disciplined and conservative. We are going to have to get them to move a lot and make the extra pass.”

First face-off against Towson is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

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[Towson] could be the best defense we see all year.

They are very disciplined and conservative — Scott Nelson BU head coach

Through the first day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, Binghamton’s 184-pound junior Jack McKeever and senior heavyweight Tyler Deuel split their matches to open action on Thursday.

Entering competition as a 13th seed, Deuel opened his NCAA appearance with a victory over his opponent out of Pittsburgh in redshirt freshman Ryan Solomon. The EIWA champion took a riding time advantage against the Panther en route to an 8-3 firstround win. In his second match later that night, Deuel went up against fourth-seeded junior Austin Marsden of Oklahoma State. Marsden — the Big 12 Conference champion — proved to be a challenge for the heavyweight. After an early stalling warning against Deuel,

his Cowboy opponent took a dominating advantage in riding time and takedowns to hand Deuel his first loss since Jan. 11 by a margin of 12-4.

After posting a 1-1 record on the day, Binghamton’s star wrestler remains in competition. Deuel is set to take on either Bobby Telford of Iowa or South Dakota State’s JJ Everard in a consolation match today, with the time to be determined.

McKeever, on the other hand, saw his season come to an end Thursday. In the early afternoon session, McKeever lost, 4-0, in a rematch against Wyoming sophomore Ben Stroh. In the duo’s regular-season bout on Nov. 29, Stroh topped McKeever, 2-0. In his second match of the day, McKeever faced the 11th seed in Minnesota’s Brett Pfarr and fell, 11-4, after failing to come back from Pfarr’s early score. Through his junior season, McKeever posted a 2316 record.

BU NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS JACK McKEEVER, JR.

TYLER DEUEL, SR.

CHAMPIONSHIP, 1ST ROUND VS. BEN STROH, SO. WYOMING LOSS, 2-0 CONSOLATION, 1ST ROUND VS. NO. 11 BRETT PFARR, R-SO. MINNESOTA LOSS, 11-4

CHAMPIONSHIP, 1ST ROUND VS. RYAN SOLOMON, R-FR. PITTSBURGH WIN, 8-3 CHAMPIONSHIP, 2ND ROUND VS. NO. 4 AUSTIN MARSDEN, JR. OKLAHOMA STATE LOSS, 12-4

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MEN'S LACROSSE

Bearcats set to take on nationally ranked opponent See page 9 Friday, March 20, 2015

Bearcats fall, 12-3, to Siena for third consecutive loss Saints build early seven-goal lead, hold Binghamton scoreless for over 47 straight minutes of play Marisa Smith

Contributing Writer Aiming to return to its winning ways after a pair of tough losses against Cornell and Marist, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team’s skid hit three on Tuesday after falling, 12-3, to Siena. In its fourth loss of the season, Binghamton (3-4) faced a disheartening first half and was unable to dust itself off against an impressive Saints (4-4) squad.

“We knew Siena was a much improved team,” BU head coach Stephanie Allen said. “They have a new coaching staff that is doing some really solid things with the program right now, and we knew that the game would be competitive if we came out and played well but unfortunately we didn’t execute.”

Siena started out with a strong three-goal lead over the Bearcats, scoring the contest’s first netter in the opening two minutes.

Siena continued building its lead with two more points before the Bearcats managed to put themselves on the board. The first and only goal of the half for Binghamton was netted by senior midfielder Renee Kiviat just under 10 minutes in. Kiviat also managed to put in another goal in the second half, which made her Binghamton’s leading scorer.

Down seven heading into the half after a 5-0 Siena run to close the first period, freshman goalkeeper Emma Jehle entered BU’s cage for the game’s second stanza, providing a fresh set of hands that picked up eight saves.

“Our second-string goalie stepped in, Emma Jehle, getting

her second time in cage at the collegiate level,” Allen said. “She did a very nice job bringing a spark to the defensive end and getting a few key saves that were important for us when there wasn’t much support in front of her.”

But despite Jehle’s clutch stops, the second half still didn’t start out promisingly for Binghamton. The Saints increased their lead to 121, taking advantage of ground balls and Binghamton fouls. Despite their disadvantage, the Bearcats certainly didn’t go down without a fight. BU hung tough with Siena in shots in the second, 15-13, and committed only one turnover to Siena’s four.

The game was dominated by the Saints, though BU managed to fire the two final goals of the game as the clock wound down.

Sophomore attack Brianne Arthur sprang into action to net her lone goal of the game with three and a half minutes left. Kiviat finished up scoring with a netter assisted by Russo. Still, despite their efforts, it was far too late for the Bearcats to ignite a comeback with only two minutes left and a nine-goal deficit.

Opening America East play against UMBC on Saturday, the Bearcats will use their short week to take a new focus and a long look.

“The rest of this week, going into conference, we’re going to focus on us,” Allen said. “What Binghamton needs to do well is focus on our strengths, improve those weaknesses we have, and go back to some of the basics and play good, clean, disciplined lacrosse.”

First draw control against UMBC is set for Saturday at noon at UMBC Stadium in Catonsville, Maryland.

We knew that the game would be competitive if we came out and played well but unfortunately we didn't execute — Stephanie Allen BU head coach

BU VS SIENA

12 - 3

Caroline Sardella/Contributing Photographer

Senior midfielder Renee Kiviat scored two goals for BU in its 13-2 loss to Siena on Tuesday.

Binghamton prepares for 'Nova BU set to take on Hartford BU looks for "right combination" in nonconference play

Franz Lino/Photo Editor

Junior infielder Reed Gamache, the reigning America East Player of the Week, is tied for second on BU with nine RBIs after knocking in six runs last weekend.

Ashley Purdy Sports Editor

Heading into a weekend series against Villanova on Saturday, the Binghamton baseball team will look to tidy up its fielding and solidify its pitching staff.

With many players in new roles this season and many new players besides that, Binghamton (4-8, 1-2 America East) has been a bit inconsistent in the early season.

The team has posted a few blowout wins, such as an 11-5 routing of Auburn, a 13-6 beating of Virginia Military Institute, and, most recently, a 13-2 triumph over AE rival Stony Brook. But most of the time, the Bearcats have suffered a relatively close loss, and at least part of that is due to their youth and inexperience.

“I think that’s really what the preseason, all of our nonconference games, were for,” BU head coach Tim Sinicki said. “Trying to find the right combination, not only defensively but offensively, trying to define the roles both for the position players and for the pitchers. I think we’re getting there, but we do have a lot of new faces this year. So I think it’s going to take some time, obviously.”

Helping to lead the charge for the new kids on the field are senior right fielder Jake Thomas and junior second baseman Reed Gamache. Both have been named the AE Player of the Week this season, with Thomas earning the distinction the week of Feb. 17 and Gamache garnering the merit on Monday, after he batted .538 and plated six runners through play over the weekend. Thomas leads the team in RBIs, with 11, and owns BU’s best batting average clip, at .405. Gamache, who switched to second base this season — which Sinicki called his natural position — leads the team in assists, with 27.

“Everybody leads in a different way, and both Jake and Reed are kind of quiet guys, and so they’re the guys that kind of lead by example,” Sinicki said. “I think it’s important for our younger guys to see the various types of leaders you can have within your program, and those two guys are great examples of guys who aren’t really rah-rah guys, but they just kind of let their play do the talking and those were awards they really deserved as Player of the Week.”

Senior Zach Blanden has also been seminal for the Bearcats in the early season. Blanden is second

on the team in slugging percentage with a .524 mark and on-base percentage, appearing on the sack at a .500 clip. He’s also connected on the second most hits — 16 — and leads the team with 13 runs.

In the center of the diamond, junior Rob Hardy has had a breakout of a debut season after transferring to don the green and white. The right-hander has been the most consistent of the pitchers this season, maintaining a secondbest 3.92 ERA through a team-high 20 2/3 innings pitched. Through that time, Hardy (1-2) has let up only 20 hits and 13 runs, neither of which are team highs.

“Rob’s been the most consistent guy we’ve had so far, and every time he’s taken the mound for us, he’s given us a chance to win the ball game,” Sinicki said. “There aren’t a lot of secrets with Rob — he basically just comes at hitters and he throws a lot of strikes and the ball is put in play. You’ve kind of got to rely on your defense when you have pitching like that, and that’s fine, that works.”

For the past couple of seasons, that’s been an ideal pitching style for Binghamton, which ranked in the top-50 nationally in fielding percentage. Without three integral members of its field, however, Binghamton is experiencing some growing pains, and that’s what makes these non-conference series so crucial.

“There’s going to be a period of time where [the players] have to get acclimated to the speed of the Division I game through a regular basis,” Sinicki said, “and I actually believe that by the time we get to early, mid-April, those guys will be very comfortable and settled into those spots at this point.”

First pitch against Big Eastmember Villanova (7-11) is set for 11:30 a.m. Saturday, with a second game between the two directly following. Sunday’s matchup is set to begin at 1:15 p.m. All games will be played at Villanova Ballpark in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania.

Binghamton to open America East play on Sunday

Orlaith McCaffrey Pipe Dream Sports

Opening the season with an even 9-9 record after 18 straight non-conference matchups, the Binghamton softball team will look to tip its win percentage past .500 this weekend when it begins its America East season at Hartford. The Bearcats aim to rebound from last weekend’s North Carolina State Hyatt Place Invitational, in which they lost to three separate teams before coming back in the seventh inning to defeat Lipscomb in the tournament finale.

Despite being outscored 26-15 in North Carolina, the Bearcats headed home on a positive note after Sunday’s come-from-behind win.

“We were down to our last out in that game, and to be able to come back and finish that was really important going into this weekend,” BU head coach Michelle Burrell said. “It gave the girls some confidence. Being able to finish that, I think, was important.”

In preparation for conference play, Binghamton has faced a slate of opponents that has varied in competition level. That included third-ranked Michigan and 25thranked North Carolina State.

While they didn’t come out on top in either matchup, the exposure to high caliber opponents provided the young Bearcats an opportunity to develop at the plate.

“This past weekend, at the NC State Tournament, we saw some good, quality pitchers that will definitely prepare our hitters,” Burrell said. “I think our girls should feel pretty confident about what they’re going to see. Overall, the level of competition that we’ve faced should definitely prepare us for conference, but we’re going to want our defense to play a little better than what we did

last weekend and just really work to minimize any kind of extra opportunities that we give them.”

The defense will be led on the mound by freshman pitcher Sarah Miller — who has started nine games for the Bearcats — as well as junior pitcher Cara Martin who has appeared in 14 games and leads the team with a 3.92 ERA. After not allowing an earned run at the Myrtle Beach Tournament earlier this season, Martin was named the America East Pitcher of the Week on March 10.

On the offensive end, BU will look to continue to receive contributions from junior outfielder Sydney Harbaugh and junior infielder Lisa Cadogan, who lead the Bearcats with batting averages of .393 and .404, respectively.

“We’re just going to go in and really work to play our game,” Burrell said. “I think our approach is going to be to go out and try to win every inning. We’re looking forward to coming out and starting conference play and playing our game.”

Hartford (1-17) rides a 12game losing streak into the weekend, a slump that dates back to March 7. In each of their three meetings last year, the Bearcats were triumphant over the Hawks, who finished the season at the bottom of the conference standings in amassing just a 2-16 record in AE play.

The Hawks’ offense is led by freshman infielder Jamie Soles, who paces the team with a .340 batting average, and senior catcher Peyton Fisher, who leads the Hawks with a .490 slugging percentage and seven extra base hits.

First pitch for Sunday’s doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m. with a second game to follow shortly after. First pitch in Monday’s finale is set for noon. All games will be played at University of Hartford Softball Field in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Overall, the level of competition that we've faced should definitely prepare us for conference, but we are going to want our defense to play a little better — Michelle Burrell BU head coach

Photo Provided

Junior catcher Lisa Cadogan leads BU with a .404 batting average this season.