The Unoriginal
2 In today’s episode of Bing Mural Review, we look at two disappointments
100
STUDENTS A DAY
DURING FLU SEASON SAW AN AVERAGE OF
130
STUDENTS A DAY
From 1/26/2015-3/17/2015, total of 1,666 students were seen for walk-in visits with an average wait time of
25 MINUTES 8 SECONDS
17 2 11 3 7-8 1 examination rooms
From 1/26/2015-3/17/3015, total of 1,969 appointments with an average wait time of
9 MINUTES 36 SECONDS
psychiatrists
physicians
full-time nurse practitioners
registered nurses
licensed practical nurse
From flu symptoms to allergies to more serious diseases, students turn to the Decker Student Health Services Center for immediate attention. Decker is certified by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, an organization that annually evaluates health centers’ treatment procedures. It provides primary, chronic, sexual and psychiatric
director of health and counseling services, because Decker is on campus, its staff specializes in working with college-aged patients. “Our goal is that we can interface with off-campus and on-campus folks so that we can assist the students,” she said. Many students say their concerns about the health center stem from the availability of walk-in hours. Julian Madera, an undeclared freshman, said that although he appreciated the services he received, he did
Zachary Wingate News Intern
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Decker Health Services professionals available on campus five days a week for walk-in hours and appointments treatment, as well as health education and vaccinations to BU students. These services are covered by the mandatory health fee, which totaled $181 for students enrolled in 12 or more credits for the 2014-15 school year. While the center is open from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. for walk-ins and 1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. for appointments, Decker refers students to local hospitals for after-hours or emergency treatment. According to Johann Fiore-Conte, the
Watson prof. Ron Miles uses anechoic chamber to study auditory senses
not enjoy the wait times. “I don’t like how walk-ins stop at 11 a.m.,” Madera said. “If you start getting sick one afternoon you have to wait until the next day to be treated.” According to Fiore-Conte, Decker used to operate entirely on a walk-in basis. But because they could not control the flow of student arrival times, she said, many complained that the waits were too long.
Through crowds and conflicts, patients seek medical care News Intern
Sound-proof room allows for cuttingedge audio tech
To improve the acoustics in everyday electronic devices, a Binghamton University professor is studying vibrations to help better understand and control sound itself. Ronald Miles, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering and associate dean of research at the Watson School of Engineering, and his team of five graduate students study acoustics, a branch of physics concerned with properties of sound, by using custom-made microphones in an anechoic chamber in the Innovative Technologies Complex (ITC). Meaning “free from echo,” an anechoic chamber is a room designed to block out sound from the outside and absorb sound on the inside so that the microphones can collect the most accurate measurements. “It is very important to have a quiet place where there are no echoes from the walls when you want to accurately characterize the performance of microphones,” Miles said. The anechoic chamber itself is about 13 by 15 feet and is covered in long, creamcolored triangular prisms composed of
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Gabriella Weick
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The Free Word on Campus Since 1946
Monday, April 13, 2015 | Vol. LXXXVII, Issue 20 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
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Chemistry prof. investigates gene coding mystery Eriks Rozners awarded $1.5M for study of chemically modified RNA Emilie Leroy
Pipe Dream News
Screenshot Provided
Pictured: A screen shot of GreatPositive, a social media website for community service that helps connect nonprofit organizations with volunteers and donors. BU graduate Carol Luong teamed up with co-founder Matt Martindale to market nonprofit organizations and bring volunteering into the 21st century.
With GreatPositive, a tech-savvy way to connect with non-profits Alumna Carol Luong launches social media website that links organizations with possible volunteers, donors Haley Silverstein Staff Writer
A Binghamton University alumna is trying to bring volunteering into the 21st century. Carol Luong, who graduated in 2008 and majored in marketing and consulting leadership, is one of the founders of GreatPositive, a social media website for community service that helps connect nonprofit organizations with volunteers and donors. Luong, who has volunteered at nursing homes and soup kitchens since a young age, teamed up with co-founder Matt Martindale
to build GreatPositive. “When we met we had a shared passion of giving back to the community and making the world a better place,” Luong said. “Six months ago, I left my job and we’ve been working on it ever since. It just goes to show the power of engaging with like-minded people.” GreatPositive is a marketing platform for nearly 200 nonprofit organizations such as Autism Speaks, Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross. For now, the organization must be classified as 501c3, or a tax exempt charitable organization. Nonprofits that receive at least $25 in
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A Binghamton University chemistry professor has been awarded over $500,000 to study the biological properties of native and chemically modified ribonucleic acids (RNA). Only 2 percent of human deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) encode functional proteins. However, approximately 70 to 90 percent of DNA is converted into RNA. For associate chemistry professor Eriks Rozners, the mystery behind the abundance of RNA warranted closer inspection. “For a long time RNA was believed to be just a messenger or middleman in the transfer of genetic information in DNA to proteins,” Rozners said. “RNA plays a significantly more complicated role that we do not yet completely understand.” RNA is one of three major biological molecules, along with DNA and proteins, involved in the expression of genes. Genetic information encoded in the DNA sequence is converted into a corresponding RNA sequence. RNA serves as a template for the production of proteins, which perform the function of genes in cells. However, only 2 percent of all RNA is used as a template. The rest of RNA plays important regulatory roles in gene expression that researchers are just starting to appreciate. Rozners has received grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study modified small RNA molecules that have components of both RNA and proteins. The NIH grant, totaling $1.5 million over four years, will fund work by BU researchers partnering with individuals
at Vanderbilt University, the University of Rochester and Dharmacon, a biotech company, working on the chemical modification of RNA molecules. In the study, Rozners and collaborators will look at ways to chemically modify the structure of RNA molecules that regulate gene expression. These synthetic molecules could provide pharmaceutical companies with necessary research tools, since knowledge of gene expression can help in developing drugs to fight diseases such as cancer. Currently, modified RNA molecules can only knock out genes in the cells used in reproduction, but not in the body cells. “If we can improve the properties of these synthetic RNA molecules so that instead of just cells we could apply them to a whole animal, that would be a huge advantage,” Rozners said. The NSF grant, which awarded a total of $570,000 to Rozners and collaborators at the University at Albany, will go toward research on compounds called peptide nucleic acids (PNAs). PNAs recognize certain parts of the RNA code and will only bind to them. While the science behind PNA is not new, Dziyana Hnedzko, a fifth-year doctoral candidate studying organic chemistry, said that a novel aspect of the project is to increase the effectiveness of cellular uptake of PNA, which usually needs the help of other molecules to enter cells. Wayne Jones, the chair of the chemistry department, said these projects help expand the breadth of research being conducted at BU. “These two research awards are a great addition to the research going on in chemistry,” Jones wrote in an email. “This is a very strategic project as biological chemistry is one of three research thrusts
that the chemistry department has identified in our Strategic Plan.” Dennis McGee, a professor of biology and a collaborator on the NSF project, said he enjoyed working with Rozners on the biological components of the study. “I get to use my cell biology experience in a new twist on biology,” McGee said. “Also, I get to learn about their whole new world of chemistry of these PNAs.” Although the projects are just getting started, Rozners said he is excited to see what information about the roles of RNA will be gleaned from the research. “We’re not just doing this because we’re curious,” Rozners said. “We’re doing this because we believe that it will help us understand processes better overall.”
Duncan McInnes/Pipe Dream Staff Photographer
Eriks Rozners, an associate chemistry professor at Binghamton University, is studying the biological properties of native and chemically modified ribonucleic acids (RNA) to try to gain a greater understanding of its complex functions. He has been awarded over $500,000 by the National Institutes of Health to chemically modify the structure of RNA molecules that regulate gene expression.
After graduation, following opportunities off the beaten career path
From international modeling to farming, Binghamton University students choose unconventional routes to employment Zachary Wingate
in psychology, will be pursuing a nontraditional career path after he graduates in May. Alberti is planning to expand his world College students spend four years view by traveling to Europe and Japan training for the real world. For some, while working as an international model. this means continuing their education at Although considering graduate school in graduate school or getting an internship the future, for now Alberti plans to make with the hopes of climbing the corporate a living as both a runway and print model. ladder, but for others it may mean finding “Europe isn’t a big cash market for more unconventional opportunities post- what I would be doing, it’s more the graduation. shows and runway type stuff,” Alberti Dallas Alberti, a senior majoring said. “Japan is a little different, so I’ve News Intern
heard. You go pre-signed saying I will work every day for two months.” Alberti said he would encourage anyone who wants to pursue modeling to get a decent agent, and never disregard education. “There are too many people who drop out of college, drop out of high school and go straight into it,” Alberti said. “And by the time they’re expired, as far as modeling, they don’t have anything to them. Have more to you than going around and be told that you’re pretty.”
According to Zoraya Cruz-Bonilla, data research assistant at the Office of Student Affairs, only 11 percent of Binghamton University class of 2014 graduates chose something other than some kind of employment or graduate school after graduating. Fifty-four percent of those remaining graduates went on to apply for jobs while the remaining 35 percent wanted to continue onto graduate school, which is a seven percent decline from recent years. The information comes from senior
surveys that students voluntarily fill out as well as outside research from the Office of Student Affairs. Another student trying an alternative path is Daniel Morales, a senior majoring in environmental studies, who said he wants to go into organic farming. “I have a natural inclination to the outdoors,” Morales said. “Farming gives me that connection, something I won’t find at a conventional job.”
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