Thursday, May 11, 2017 | Vol. XCI, Issue 29
bupipedream.com | Binghamton University
Pipe Dream Photographers
Herff Jones overtaxes 2,300 gown orders Commencement memorabilia company to reimburse over $8K Pelle Waldron Assistant News Editor
Kevin Paredes/Photography Editor Tremayne Stewart, a first-year graduate student studying computer engineering, has created CConnect, an app that allows Binghamton University students to view campus events that they find interesting and relevant.
App provides centralized stream of campus events
CConnect builds individualized profiles for users based on interests, history Pelle Waldron Assistant News Editor
Every morning, Binghamton University students wake up to a B-Line email listing various events being held on campus. But an app created by a BU student has taken that information, which is easily lost in inboxes, and made it more user friendly. CConnect was created by Tremayne Stewart, a first-year graduate student studying computer engineering. It was launched on April 20, and is currently available in Apple’s App Store. The app functions similarly to Tinder: Users are prompted to swipe right or left on categories such as “sports” and “art,” and once their interests are gauged, they are presented with various events on campus they may find interesting. By continuing to swipe right or left, a profile
is accumulated which the app uses to suggest more events. “[The idea was] what if we have a system that learned the type of events you like to go to, and then went all by itself and found those events for you, then presented them to you and then reminded you about them as they were happening throughout the day,” Stewart said. The app is currently only available for use by BU students, who can log in using their University email addresses. The app is able to recommend events tailored specifically to individual users, based on an accumulation of the user’s history and other users with similar profiles, similar to the way YouTube or Netflix make recommendations. The project has been headed by Stewart, who designed the interface
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ARTS & CULTURE
Over 2,300 Binghamton University students preordered caps and gowns for commencement this year from Herff Jones, a national company that specializes in manufacturing and selling graduation memorabilia. Due to an error in the amount of sales tax applied to the orders, each one of those students was overcharged $3.54, totaling over $8,000 in incorrect taxes. According to Yona Benyamini, a representative for Herff Jones, the company is aware of the problem and is working to resolve it. “It was an accounting error and we are rectifying it immediately,” Benyamini said. “Even though it is a small amount, it was still a mistake, and we’re happy that it came to light.” Herff Jones is contracted by Barnes & Noble, the company that runs the BU Bookstore in New University Union, which in turn is contracted by the University. Heather Sheffer, the BU bookstore manager, said that all three entities work together before graduation. “Herff Jones is our provider, and
they work closely with the Bookstore and the University to get everything the University wants [students] to wear,” Sheffer said. “They contract with us to take care of everything for [the students].” In New York state, sales tax is comprised of two components, the state tax and the local tax, the latter of which is determined by individual counties. Under Publication 718-C from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Broome County’s tax rate for eligible clothing costing less than $110 only includes the local tax, which is 4 percent. A detailed list of clothing that is eligible under the document TSB-M-06(6)S includes “graduation caps and gowns” under exempt items. A representative from the New York State Sales Tax information center confirmed in a call with Pipe Dream that graduation caps and gowns, purchased under $110 and delivered to Broome County, are eligible for the state tax exemption. Each online preorder for a cap and gown from Herff Jones came out to $88.50 and should have been taxed at 4 percent as a result of the aforementioned
laws. However, an 8 percent tax was applied to the subtotal, resulting in $7.08 being added to the total, which is $3.54 more than what they are allowed to charge. Each student who was overcharged will have the $3.54 refunded to the credit card used for the purchase, according to Benyamini. The timeline for refunding students and the process of doing so has yet to be announced. Elliot Kamlet, a lecturer of accounting at BU, said that sales tax in general is very complicated and mistakes like this are frequently made. “The question becomes, why are they doing it?” Kamlet said. “And the likely answer is because it is as confusing for them as anyone else.” Elisabeth Gray, the director of special events and commencement at BU, said that Herff Jones has been a longtime supplier on campus and that this has not changed the relationship the University has with the company. “Yona [Benyamini] and Herff Jones truly have the students’ best interests in mind,” Gray wrote in an email. “I without a doubt know they will reimburse all students for the discrepancy.”
Downtown gears up for Bar Crawl Twelve establishments to participate in annual end-of-year tradition Alexandra Hupka Pipe Dream News
On May 18, some students will be busy moving out for the summer, but others will be celebrating the end of finals with a few drinks at the 2017 Binghamton Bar Crawl. Organized by the Off Campus College Council (OC3), Bar Crawl is an annual
tradition at BU. Every spring, students go to the bars in Downtown Binghamton and celebrate the end of the semester and the beginning of summer with drinks and friends. Bar Crawl has its origins as a humble event, when roughly 100 students would get together at the end of the spring semester on State Street, and go from bar to bar, having a drink from
OPINIONS
each. Gradually, the event started to grow larger, and in the late ’90s, the University’s senior class council began selling mugs to students, and planned the event alongside the bars so that students could get deals on drinks. After doing so, Bar Crawl grew rapidly, and eventually became the event it is today.
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SPORTS
Pipe Dream’s guide to making the move off campus,
Stay sane during finals with our workout plans and meal-prep tips,
Pipe Dream’s graduating staff members say goodbye with their senior columns,
Softball to face off with Albany in America East Tournament,
Baseball scores 22 runs in a victory over Siena,
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