Spring 2018 Issue 12

Check out B section for the February issue of PRISM Monday, February 26, 2018 | Vol. XCIII, Issue 12 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com

TEDxBU to focus on infinite possibility

The Free Word on Campus Since 1946

Dining Services puts off Panera

" It’s glorious to be able to be united and have this kind of passion." — Actress Regina Hall

Talk will feature eight speakers from across the globe

Chenango Room will stay after faculty, staff pushback

Valerie Oppenheim

Rachel Greenspan

This year’s TEDxBinghamtonUniversity talks will focus on taking advantage of life’s limitless possibilities.

TEDxBU, an independent Technology, Education and Design (TED) event organized by the University, will be held in the Osterhout Concert Theater in the Anderson Center on Sunday, March 25, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. TED, started in 1984, is a media organization that posts free videos of talks online by speakers the organization deems notable or influential.

Last year’s theme was “Beyond the Canvas.” Daniel Pressman, a senior majoring in English and one of the student organizers for TEDxBU, said this year’s theme is “Infinity,” and connects all of the speakers’ talks by describing life’s potential and sustainable ways of living.

“It’s not just through the environment, but sustainable attitudes toward work, the criminal justice system, the way we view knowledge, some environmental stuff like the perspective on life,” Pressman said.

“There’s a lot of different things that are in there.”

According to Pressman, planning the annual event and coming up with a theme was a team effort that began as soon as the previous TEDxBU event wrappped up. A

in all of their glorious forms where we are intelligent and smart and supportive and love each other and loud and ratchet and sexual — all the things that are a part of being human,” Hall said. “We’re in the age of reality television where there [are shows] like ‘Love & Hip Hop’ and ‘Real Housewives’ and there’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s not a complete depiction of who we are as women and how we are as friends.”

During the audience Q-and-A segment of the address, Kai Moon, a

Students looking forward to enjoying bread bowls on campus may have to wait a little longer.

On Friday, Feb. 23, a B-Line news addition was sent to all students, announcing a change in the previously reported plan for the University to open a Panera Bread in place of Einstein Bros. Bagels and the Chenango Room.

According to the announcement, the Chenango Room and Einstein Bros. Bagels will both stay in their current locations.

“Since evaluation of campus dining options identified interest in adding Panera, the University, in collaboration with Binghamton University Dining Services by Sodexo, will discuss other possible locations with Panera Bread with the hope that we can soon bring the Panera brand on campus in a location that will be well-received by all,” the announcement read.

The decision was reached after the Faculty Senate and the Professional Staff Senate raised concerns about the closure of the Chenango Room. Jim Ruoff, resident district manager for Binghamton University Dining Services (BUDS), said in a statement via email

SEE KEYNOTE PAGE 2

SEE PANERA PAGE 2

Contributing Writer

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor

SEE TEDX PAGE 2

Jacob Hanna | Staff Photographer Regina Hall, an actress known for her role in the 2017 film “Girls Trip,” spoke to Binghamton University students on Feb. 23.

The address was part of the Black Student Union’s Black History Month celebration.

Actress talks black identity Regina Hall gives BSU keynote address Kara Brown PRISM Editor

Actress Regina Hall doesn’t remember celebrating Black History Month during her undergraduate years.

When she spoke at the Black Student Union’s keynote address on Friday, Feb. 23, Hall said she was taken aback.

“I’m looking at this, looking at your [Black] Student Union and

seeing how powerful that is and it’s like, it’s glorious to be able to be united and have this kind of passion,” she said.

Hall spoke to hundreds of students at Friday’s event about her time in school, her path to stardom and her role in the entertainment industry.

Her most recent film, “Girls Trip,” is about four college friends reconnecting. Hall told audience members that the goal of this film, which was chosen by Time as one of the top 10 films of 2017, was to depict all aspects of black female identity.

“We wanted to show black women

Professors propose new degree Master's in human rights under SUNY review Jillian Forstadt

Assistant News Editor

Faculty members proposed a new Master of Science in Human Rights to the Faculty Senate on Tuesday, potentially adding a new course of study to Binghamton University graduate programs.

The proposal comes a little over a month after the launch of the Human Rights Institute (HRI), which aims to advance research and engagement on human rights issues among

students, faculty and staff. If approved

by SUNY, the master’s degree will be offered through the College of Community and Public Affairs’ human development department.

The program was first conceived in 2014 when Lubna Chaudhry, the primary author of the proposal and the chair of human development department, began looking at possible master’s programs for the department. While many human rights programs exist around the country, Chaudhry said few prepare students to work with communities at a grass-roots level. “[The program] is modeled after what’s not there,” Chaudhry said. “A lot of the programs were coming from

a legal perspective; they were about international law and human rights.”

If implemented, the master’s program aims to prepare students to engage in human rights practices and conduct interdisciplinary research in community settings, Suzy Lee, the proposed director of the program and an assistant professor of human development said. Lee also sits on the advisory board for HRI. “The goal is to train human rights advocates and researchers who are prepared to work for communities engaged in real-world struggle over our modern world’s most pressing problems,” Lee wrote in an email.

SEE DEGREE PAGE 4

Jacob Hanna | Staff Photographer Panelists at Passion to Action: Democratic Access discussed low voter turnout at Binghamton University and aimed to educate and encourage student voters.

Panel examines BU Students compete at Datathon voter engagement Participants showcase coding skills to local businesses Michael Levinstein Pipe Dream News

Students were challenged to explain datasets through programming, compete in different categories and showcase their programming skills to local businesses at Binghamton University’s Data Science and Analytics’ (BUDSA) first Datathon.

BUDSA is a campus-based group that focuses on using computer languages like Python, Excel, R and SQL to analyze data. According to the organization’s

founder and president, Lydia King, a senior double-majoring in mathematics and economics, BUDSA did not originally plan on hosting a Datathon this year, but after 250 students attended its general interest meeting, it decided to hold the event.

The 12-hour Datathon involved students writing programs, a script that outputs data, models and scripts that predict certain data in order to organize or explain datasets, some of which were provided by local businesses with problems they hope to solve.

Nathan Kwon, ‘17, the senior executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Live in Bing, a local business that helps students find off-

ARTS & CULTURE

campus housing, spoke at the event and emphasized the many applications of data science, both within his organization and in other fields.

“There’s more advanced data in a lot of projects going on,” Kwon said. “For example, using machines to keep track of real-time property management, and also climate statistics too can get a better idea of extreme weather for your predictive maintenance.”

Live in Bing plans on hiring four interns out of BUDSA this summer for data analysis and data science. Its data set listed housing prices and it asked students to create a model that could

SEE DATATHON PAGE 4

Democracy Matters, CCE partner to host discussion

encourage student voters.

The event, held in the University Union last Thursday, featured panelists Shawn Donahue, a third-year graduate Lia Berger student studying political science; Contributing Writer Sergio Garcia-Rios, assistant professor of government and Latino studies at Binghamton University was a Cornell University; Phil Grommet, designated polling center for students democratic election commissioner of on campus this past November, but only the Broome County Board of Elections; about 300 of the 7,000 students who live and Senegal Mabry, president of the on campus voted.

Binghamton division of the New York Democracy Matters and the Center Public Interest Research Group and a for Civic Engagement (CCE) partnered junior majoring in political science. to host Passion to Action: Democratic Access, a panel aiming to educate and SEE PANEL PAGE 2

OPINIONS

SPORTS

Be one with nature at the Roberson Museum’s new exhibition,

Celebrate Parade Day with Pipe Dream’s tips,

Contributing columnist Annick Tabb discusses the problems with trying to racially categorize people,

Softball drops three of four to open season,

Men’s basketball eliminated from postseason contention,

See page 6

See page 8

See page 5

See page 11

See page 12

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NEWS

bupipedream.com | February 26, 2018

TEDxBinghamtonUniversity to add undergraduate host TEDX FROM PAGE 1 team of five student organizers and a staff adviser work together to pick the speakers and plan the event.

“We already had our list of speakers and we try to think of an underlying theme that is catchy, that we think could produce good visuals for graphic design,” Pressman said. “We had a few brainstorming sessions where we threw a couple ideas out there working with our graphic design person.”

This year’s event will also feature an undergraduate student host, something previous TEDxBU events have lacked.

Pressman said most high-quality TED events have hosts. According to Pressman, the host will help handle speaker introductions and will allow organizers to focus on running the event.

Winter Clark, a senior double-majoring in philosophy and the individualized major program, was selected by the TEDxBU team to be this year’s student host.

“I’m really looking forward to hosting this event,” Clark wrote in an email. “I’ll have the opportunity to introduce some very talented and smart individuals at this event! I also know that on the day of the actual event, there is especially high pressure on the entire TEDx team. Having a host allows them to focus on making the event as successful as ever, and I’m excited to help make that happen.”

Changes will also be made to allow more audience engagement throughout the talks. This year’s event will use Slido, a free web-based software that allows audience members to type in questions for the speakers and up-vote their favorite

Jacob Hanna | Contributing Photographer Daniel Pressman, the student organizer for TEDxBinghamtonUniversity and a senior majoring in English, advertises for the event at University Day at the Oakdale Mall.

questions during the event. Afterward, they will post videos of speakers answering the most up-voted questions.

This year’s event will feature eight speakers and No Strings Attached, a BU a cappella group, as the intermission act.

The list of speakers will be available when the team starts selling tickets.

Stone Geise, a senior majoring in biochemistry, was selected by the TEDxBU

team to be this year’s student speaker.

According to Geise, he wants people to live their lives in ways that benefit them.

“This experience has given me the opportunity to reflect on who I am as a person and what my own beliefs are, and that has also been extremely beneficial in helping to design my talk around what I firmly believe in rather than something not as genuine,” Geise wrote in an email.

“The reason I wanted to give this talk in the first place was to help others live their lives in a way that is better for them.

I want people to recognize that living your life half-empty is a beneficial way to do so.”

The TEDxBU team will be tabling in the different locations around campus, as well as off campus at the Oakdale Mall and Broome Community College in efforts

to get more people to attend the event.

Tickets can also be purchased online at BingTickets.

The first 100 tickets sold on campus will be $5 each and come with a complimentary T-shirt. After these tickets are sold, regular ticket prices will go up to $10 each. Tickets at the door of the event will be $15 each.

Student Culinary Council not consulted Panel stresses voter reform, 2018 elections PANERA FROM PAGE 1

that though BUDS presented further options, such as opening a similar restaurant in place of the Chenango Room, but the two senates were not satisfied with those proposals.

“There are always different perspectives around changing dining concepts and we try to identify and balance those perspectives in making decisions,” Ruoff wrote. “In this instance, we believe we can both respond to concerns raised by the faculty and staff senates and still bring a desired retail brand to campus and that is how we will move forward.”

Alex Van Roijen, president of the Student Culinary Council (SCC) and a senior double-majoring in mathematics and computer science, said that the SCC was not notified of the decision prior to the announcement.

“Well, as the SCC, we were also not expecting this situation ourselves,” Van Roijen said.

“However, despite this situation, we are still looking to see if we can not bring Panera to campus in some other form, we just are not sure how that is going to play out yet.”

Van Roijen’s hope for bringing Panera Bread may come true. Ruoff explained that BUDS is still working to find a solution to this problem.

“We remain interested in bringing Panera to campus and Panera has expressed a willingness to discuss other possible locations with us,” he wrote.

Yasha Parawar, a freshman majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said she does not frequent the Chenango Room and had been excited for Panera Bread to replace it.

“I went [to the Chenango Room] once and I feel like the food wasn’t that good, and the hours are kind of inconvenient,” Parawar said.

The Chenango Room is open Monday through Thursday during the semester from 11:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Fridays from 11:15

a.m. to 3 p.m. Despite its limited hours, Jess Senzer, a junior majoring in English, said that the restaurant is not something the University should take away. “[The Chenango Room] is unique to [BU] in that it provides a restaurant experience without students having to go off campus,” Senzer said. “I love going to [the Chenango Room] with my friends because it’s essentially the only time I ever have to actually sit down with my friends during the crazy school weeks, between the studying and extracurriculars.”

At the time of publication, no contract has been drawn with Panera Bread.

Rebecca Kiss | Assistant Photography Editor Binghamton University Dining Services (BUDS) will no longer be replacing the Chenango Room and Einstein Bros. Bagels with Panera Bread. Jim Ruoff, resident district manager for BUDS, said this decision was reached after representatives from the University Faculty Senate and Professional Staff Senate expressed concerns.

Hall closes BSU's Black History Month KEYNOTE FROM PAGE 1 sophomore majoring in business administration, asked Hall if there would be a third installment to “The Best Man” films, to follow up the 1999 original and its 2013 holidaythemed sequel. Hall confirmed there will be one.

“Everyone in the movie pretty much has been working and we

haven’t had the time where we could get [everyone],” Hall said. “And we can’t do it without every person. So it’s a matter of time to figure out maybe in the next year when we can shoot it.”

According to Moon, who said she has loved “The Best Man” since she was little, even before her parents allowed her to watch the entire R-rated movie, she was thrilled to

speak to Hall.

“I’ve loved so many of the movies she’s been in and I’m like, ‘I have to ask her now because I’m probably never gonna see her again,’” Moon said. “Just to hear her talk. [And to see] her humor come out a bit and just to be able to engage with her for a short time was a lot of fun.”

Dasia Jones, a junior majoring in accounting, said she left the event

feeling inspired.

“The number-one thing I’m going to take away from the event is not letting the culture of whatever field you’re going into determine you,” Jones said. “So as a business major, I know it’s dominated by white men, but I’m not going to let that deter me from what I want to do. You just turn a blind eye to the opposition and just keep going.”

PANEL FROM PAGE 1 The panelists were asked a series of questions that touched on topics like voter registration, national low voter turnout and voting barriers for minorities, with each panelist drawing on their area of expertise to answer the queries. The event focused on posing solutions to the lack of voter engagement on campus in preparation for the upcoming midterm elections in November 2018.

“We’re in one of the few seats that is a tossup,” Donahue said. “These votes can help decide if there will be a democratic or republican Congress.”

He pointed to the 2016 presidential election as an example of the importance of the student vote.

“New Hampshire was decided by a very small margin because students from other northeast states went to school there, but voted in their hometowns instead,” Donahue said.

As election c o m m i s s i o n e r, Grommet’s job includes processing voter applications, overseeing and administering elections and placing names on ballots. He said he hopes to continue making voting accessible for students at BU. “We want to ensure that we don’t put up unnecessary barriers to students regarding voting,” Grommet said.

“I’m very proud that we have voting on campus and I want to make sure that continues.”

Mabry also emphasized the importance of students feeling invested in the community, and said a lack of belonging could be contributing to low voter turnouts on campus.

“If you don’t care about the community, why would you register to vote if you’re only here for four years?” Mabry said.

“To that, organizations like [New York Public Interest Research Group] make people aware of recent elections — for example, there was a recent mayoral election.

We ask, are you sure you don’t want to have a say in that? Locally, you can make a difference.”

Student presentations followed the panel.

Brianna Cea, a junior double-majoring in political science and philosophy, politics and law and the Southern Tier district leader for the Let New York Vote coalition, said she thinks the state’s voting laws are antiquated.

Cea encouraged reform throughout her presentation.

“It’s important to educate students at [BU] about democratic access because of our state senator being the chair of the elections committee,” Cea said. “There is a lot of potential for voting reform this legislative session. Call state Sen. [Fred] Akshar. Tell him to support early voting in this legislative session.”

According to Ferdous Dehqan, Vote Everywhere ambassador for the Andrew Goodman Foundation at BU and a senior majoring in political science, plans for future events like this one are in the works.

“We are going to have a follow-up event for this event to really make sure that the students are more aware of their voting rights,” Dehqan said.

“We also want students to understand the importance of reaching out to their legislators and representatives.

That is the most important thing.”

O PINIONS FFUN PAGE UN III Monday, February 2018 Thursday, Thursday, Monday, Monday, September October October April 3,26, 2,5, 2017 28, 2017 2017 2017

address: University Union WB03 4400 Vestal Parkway E. Binghamton, N.Y. 13902 phone: 607-777-2515 fax: 607-777-2600 weB: bupipedream.com

Tastes of Hong Kong

Spring 2018 editor-in-Chief* Noah Bressner editor@bupipedream.com Managing editor* Shauna R. Bahssin manager@bupipedream.com

news editor* Sasha Hupka news@bupipedream.com asst. news editors Amy Donovan Jillian Forstadt Yuri Lee opinions editor* Emily Kaufman opinions@bupipedream.com asst. opinions editor Savanna I. Vidal arts & Culture editor* Georgia Westbrook arts@bupipedream.com asst. arts & Culture editors Kara J. Brown Rachel Greenspan sports editor* Samuel Ditchek sports@bupipedream.com asst. sports editors Evan Cole Grace Palumbo

Kevin Paredes | Photography Editor Hong Kong’s Exchange Square hosts a cafe featuring authentic dishes including egg tarts, mapo tofu with rice, curry fish balls and milk tea, in the Mohawk Hall Great Room on Saturday morning.

photography editor* Kevin E. Paredes photo@bupipedream.com asst. photography editor Rebecca Kiss

Pipe Line CAMPUS NEWS Protests will not affect BU admission decisions

produce an $11 million affordable housing project that will renovate 10 neglected homes into 40 units of housing. Binghamton Mayor Rich David announced the partnerships in his annual State of the City address on Thursday.

David also discussed public safety, infrastructure projects and poverty in the city of Binghamton at the address.

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Binghamton University announced that it would not change admission decisions for students involved in peaceful protests regarding gun violence. The University joins almost 120 schools across the country that have pledged to Woman faces assault charge after stabbing honor admissions decisions for high school students advocating Danielle Harris, 37, of Windsor, for gun control. faces a second-degree assault charge for stabbing a BinghamLOCAL NEWS ton man on Clinton Street Thursday night, according to the Press Binghamton mayor vows to tackle homelessness, afford- & Sun-Bulletin. The victim, a 32-year-old man, was treated for able housing wounds that were not life-threatThe city of Binghamton is partner- ening. According to the Binghaming with the Family Enrichment ton Police Department, Harris Network of Greater Binghamton and the victim became involved in to construct a $4.5 million, 19- a personal dispute that resulted in unit housing development for the stabbing. Harris was arraigned homeless families. The mayor’s in Binghamton City Court and, if office will also work with the First convicted, could face up to seven Ward Action Council, which will years in prison.

Police Watch The following accounts were provided by Investigator Patrick Reilly of Binghamton’s New York State University Police.

Government employee THURSDAY, Feb. 22, 11:23 a.m. — A 38-year-old male contacted UPD to report fraud. The male said he had received a call from someone who claimed to work for the Internal Revenue Service. The individual told the male there was an issue with his taxes and he needed to call back immediately.

When the victim called the number provided, the individual asked the male for personal information, including his full name.

According to the victim, the individual spoke with a foreign accent. The case remains under investigation.

Holes THURSDAY, Feb. 22, 4:30 p.m. — Officers

fun editor* Nate Walker fun@bupipedream.com

Yuri Lee Assistant News Editor

patrolling on Connector Road noticed a section of the pavement had buckled and appeared to be at risk of creating a sinkhole. They contacted Physical Facilities, who said it was actually a large pothole. According to Physical Facilities, they had attempted to fix the hole the day before, but weather conditions forced them to patch it rather than repair it entirely, and the patch they had put in came undone, creating an even larger pothole. The road was briefly closed to fix the problem.

Plowing away FRIDAY, Feb. 23, 9:39 a.m.

— A 59-year-old male Physical Facilities employee notified UPD of property damage caused while operating a plow truck. According to the male, he had been plowing snow through the parking garage near the Couper Administration Building. He said he didn’t realize the entrance arm for the garage was lowered, and ran into the arm, snapping it off. There was no damage to the plow truck, and UPD contacted Transportation and Parking Services to repair the gate.

“As much as we all would have liked this school security officer to act differently, once you’re in the position where you’re hoping the school security guard or a gym teacher decides to take a pistol to somebody with a military-style assault weapon, public policy has failed. You should be passing laws to stop that kind of horrific incident from happening in the first place.”

— Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, discussing law enforcement response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday morning.

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bupipedream.com | February 26, 2018

Participants compete in 11 categories at first Datathon DATATHON FROM PAGE 1 predict them. Peter Malinverni and Jeremy Goetz, both seniors majoring in physics, worked on the housing data set for Live in Bing and said they hoped to get noticed by local businesses at the event.

“I’m looking for a summer job, so it is a possible opportunity for that,” Goetz said.

Students were judged in 11 different categories, with one winner chosen from each.

Some were sponsor categories, consisting of Live in Bing’s housing prices, Rx Refund’s data on drug prices and the BU political science department’s data set on major political unrest since 1990.

Unsponsored categories included best overall, funniest, novice and social impact.

According to King, one of the club’s goals is to facilitate community outreach between BUDSA members and local businesses.

“There’s this disconnect between what good-paying jobs exist and people who don’t have the skills,” King said. “They used our tutorials as the basis for what they are creating for the local Binghamton community.”

Josh Eimer, a sophomore double-majoring in computer science and mathematics and the chief financial officer of BUDSA, said the Datathon gave students the opportunity to learn about what to expect once they leave school.

“This is important for preparing Vicki Su | Contributing Photographer people to leave the University Students participate in Binghamton University’s Data Science and Analytics first Datathon, a 12-hour event that challenged participants to write programs to explain data sets and connected them with local businesses. because a lot of people get their

degree and then go into the real world and they have no idea what they are doing or how to go about doing things,” Eimer said.

“So we give people skills, a place to practice their skills and then networking opportunities, in some cases even internships.”

Seniors Andy Wang, majoring in mathematics; Ziaf Khan, majoring in actuarial science; Daniel Kim, majoring in actuarial science; and Joe Prato, a junior majoring in actuarial science, won the Live in Bing sponsored category.

The winners for the best overall category were first-year graduate students Naveen Balaji Murali, studying systems science and industrial engineering; Abhinaya Ravi, studying computer science; Narasimha Prasath Krishnan, studying systems science and industrial engineering; and Piruthviraj Angamuthu Selvaraju, studying computer science.

Their project looked at data and ranked energy plants across the United States.

The winners in each category had their choice of gift cards from local businesses, such as Cold Stone Creamery and Subway.

According to King, the event would not have been possible without support from the University and local community.

“We fundraised $5,000,” King said. “A lot of University departments and local businesses, who absolutely love the idea of the University getting involved in data science and analytics, we’ve just had overwhelming support from the community.”

Engineers showcase research Second annual TRIO Days recognize success

Students connect with alumni, celebrate work Gillian Kenah News Intern

Engineering students put their skills to the test during the sixth annual National Engineers Week at Binghamton University, showcasing their research while interacting with faculty, alumni and the local community during various events.

The Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science held several events from Monday to Saturday, sponsored by companies like IBM, Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems.

The highlight of the week was the Alumni, Students and Friends event, which was held in the Engineering and Science Building at the Innovative Technologies Complex (ITC) on Thursday night. Alumni, students and community partners toured the newly opened Smart Energy Building, viewed student research and listened to alumni speakers including Mary O’MalleyTrumble, ‘99, and Alecia Rundell Lashier, ‘02.

Lindsey Sikorski, director of the Watson School’s career and alumni connections, said the event is important for networking on the part of students and alumni.

“We set it up as a networking event so that our students can talk to people who have been through it before, so they can network with them,” Sikorski said. “But also, so our alumni can connect with each other — that’s really important too.”

Joe Prisaznuk, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering,

and Matt Simiele, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, attended the event to represent the BU Mars Rover Team, which competes against over 90 universities worldwide in designing the most durable and effective Mars rover. They presented their project to attendees and alumni.

“We built this rover to drive through the desert and do four individual tests, so it will be able to drive autonomously,” Prisaznuk said.

“Other things include manipulating tools for astronaut assistance basically to simulate what it would actually be like on Mars if there was people there.”

One alumnus, Adam Van Buren, ‘08, said he enjoyed coming back to the University to interact with other alumni.

“If I could sum up my thoughts on the alumni event and [Engineers] Week as a whole, I would say that it’s a wonderful way to connect with like-minded people and a way to find purpose for what we work hard to accomplish in our careers,” Van Buren said. “It’s a source of inspiration and motivation to me to see colleagues progress in our field. Networking with alumni and current students and learning of their journeys is a way for us to quantify our efforts, a tangible reward for our work.”

Other events included the Engineers Week 2018 Dinner on Tuesday night, held at the Holiday Inn in Downtown Binghamton. There, New York State Society of Professional Engineers scholarship recipients from Broome Community College, Tompkins Cortland Community College and BU were recognized, and

different organizations and attendees presented their featured research.

To close out the week, the Watson School Dean’s Office held Community Day at the Engineering and Science Building in the ITC, which offered an array of resources and activities for local residents. The stations, run by undergraduate students, involved using engineering skills to build slingshots, paper airplanes, lava lamps, prosthetic hands and more.

Megan Shoen, senior assistant to the Watson School dean, organized the event and said the activities were designed to teach local children and spark their interest in engineering.

“Community Day is an event that’s focused on connecting our students with local community and kind of exposing the kids to professions in engineering,” Shoen said. “The idea is to inspire the future generations of engineers.”

Jim Kohlbach, a 44-year-old attendee from Windsor, said his children enjoyed learning from the students.

“These guys love building with their Legos and their blocks and everything,” Kohlbach said. “We thought it’d be a great opportunity for them and they came down and absolutely loved it.”

Grace Clark, a senior majoring in systems science and industrial engineering, said teaching kids how to build paper airplanes using engineering skills was fulfilling.

“I think that it was rewarding to teach even the smallest engineering idea to kids of all ages,” Clark said.

“They may not know how big the concept they’re learning is, but just to even show them a little bit in a fun way is really cool.”

Alumni share stories about overcoming education barriers Gillian Kenah News Intern

Students and supporters of TRIO programs participated in the second annual national TRIO Days on Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24 to recognize the programs’ impacts at Binghamton University.

The University hosts six TRIO programs, which help low-income, first-generation and students with disabilities pursue higher education, overcoming barriers to higher education. The programs, funded under the Higher Education Act of 1965, include Upward Bound, Student Support Services (SSS), the McNair Scholars Program and the Educational Talent Search.

Saturday’s activities, held in the Mandela Room, featured several speakers who gave TED-style talks, discussing poverty and identity issues. The selected speakers came from BU, Le Moyne College, Cazenovia College and Cornell University.

David Best, the main organizer of the event and an SSS academic counselor, said TRIO focuses on encouraging academic success and helping students overcome personal struggles.

“This is all about motivating our students, because they aren’t alone in their struggles, and so getting someone who could speak on that was really important,” Best said. “We wanted our students to leave the event not feeling bad about their personal struggles, but to be uplifted.”

Keynote speaker Bert Gervais, ‘07, discussed surpassing obstacles in life in order to achieve goals. Gervais, who is an author and has been recognized by former President Barack Obama

for his work, also reflected on how TRIO helped him during his time at BU. He said he aimed to show students they aren’t alone in their personal obstacles, and that there is a way to overcome them.

“The big idea is that every student has the ability to achieve their dreams, they just have to remove their lid, and their lids are these negative beliefs that a lot of times we think that we are the only ones who have them,” Gervais said. “But I think the point of the presentation was to make people feel less alone about this lid that they have, and that literally anything is possible when they remove it.”

Gervais shared his story with the audience to convey how he became successful despite the misfortunes in his life.

“When I got here, I was lost, and if wasn’t for programs like the one you’re part of today and the people who helped me out, I would’ve stayed lost,” Gervais said. “It didn’t happen overnight, but I slowly started to remove my lid.”

Gervais said BU students have a positive attitude toward success, which brings him back to speak at BU. “For me, it was always a gem,” Gervais said.

“I would hire anybody from BU. They’re really hardworking, ambitious students from all over with a huge chip on their shoulder like, ‘I’m going to show you how awesome I am,’ and I love being around that energy.”

Nick DeFazio, a junior majoring in business administration, said he appreciated Gervais’ perspective on working hard and overcoming one’s background.

“I came out to support TRIO and [its] programs because they are very influential in my life,” DeFazio said. “I thought [Gervais] was very motivational and taught us a lot about not limiting yourself with what you can’t do and removing those things to be successful.”

Degree under SUNY review DEGREE FROM PAGE 1 The program will consist of 36 credits to be completed over the course of three semesters, according to the proposal. The courses will provide rigorous training in human rights theory, research and advocacy with a critical and communityoriented approach. They will also address the historical implications of past human rights projects and help students gain an understanding of the field’s future directions. In the first year of the program, the department plans to accept only eight high-quality applicants to build

a solid reputation for the program before increasing enrollment.

By the fifth year of the program, its organizers aim to have 30 students enrolled.

“We’re already starting to teach undergraduate courses on the topic, so it won’t be hard for us, once the program gets approved, to develop graduate courses that build on our undergraduate courses,” Chaudhry said.

No other SUNY school has a similar program. Jonathan Karp, chair of the Faculty Senate and an associate professor of Judaic studies, said HRI and the new program could

form a new type of focus at BU. “I hope that they would be complementary and benefit each other, and that they’d create a kind of synergy that would put Binghamton on the map as a center for this kind of endeavor,” Karp said.

Now that the proposal has passed the University’s process, it has been submitted for review by the SUNY Chancellor’s Office. Although the timeline for the review process is uncertain, plans for the formation of the program are underway. Once approved, BU will begin to recruit students for the first class of the new program.

Courtney Mitchell | Contributing Photographer TRIO Days’ keynote speaker Bert Gervais, ‘07, discusses TRIO’s impact on his experience at Binghamton University. TRIO’s programs help low-income, first-generation and disabled students pursue higher education.

OPINIONS FFUN UN Monday, February 2018 Thursday, Thursday, Monday, Monday, September October October April 3,26, 2,5, 2017 28, 2017 2017 2017

My identity is none of your business People shouldn't have to disclose their racial background to strangers Annick Tabb

Contributing Columnist

Tim Bath | The Kokomo Tribune via AP In a Nov. 27, 2017 photo, Kaelynn Meyer stops to pet one of the animals on the way to do some work during classroom time. Students in John Sinnamon’s agriculture class at Maconaquah Middle School in Bunker Hill, Ind., take care of livestock as a daily routine.

A bigger brain isn't better Humans shouldn't be seen as more intelligent than other species Georgia Kerkezis

Contributing Columnist

A common argument as to why humans are superior to all other species is that we possess higher intelligence. While this argument may make sense upon first consideration, I believe that it is fundamentally flawed. Upon deeper contemplation, one may realize that humans are no better than any other species, and that all species are equal and amazing in their own uniqueness.

Comparing human intelligence to the intelligence of other species is arbitrary. We could judge superiority based on any other characteristic and we would reach a different conclusion. If we judged species based on their ability to fly, we would conclude that birds are superior to humans. If we judged species based upon their ability to run, we would conclude that cheetahs are superior. Just because we have arbitrarily chosen intelligence as the trait

upon which to judge superiority doesn’t mean it is the right one.

Even if intelligence is the right trait upon which to judge superiority, many of the strongest examples of human intelligence are also displayed in other species. This means that human intelligence is not so unique. Just as humans are aware of themselves, so too can elephants recognize themselves in a mirror and immediately notice when something about their visage has been changed.

Just as humans can make and use tools to accomplish tasks, so too can crows create knives and hooks to cut leaves and catch food.

Further, some species demonstrate intelligence that even humans don’t possess.

Dolphins are capable of conveying and receiving 20 times the amount of information that humans can. Bats hunt for food using echolocation, a complex system of frequencies that humans are incapable of producing. Thus, it is impossible to rank all of these unique intelligences on a spectrum. It is

also impossible to conclude that humans are superior, or that any species is superior at all.

Even if we did assume that humans are superior because we have higher intelligence, this correlation is flawed at its core. A correlation between intelligence and superiority would mean that we also have to assume humans of higher intelligence are superior to humans of lesser intelligence.

But it’s wrong to believe that a well-educated college professor is superior to someone who has a mental disability. This proves that we cannot, and should not, inherently judge superiority based upon intelligence.

We don’t actually prioritize other species based on our perception of their intelligence.

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), pigs are smarter than any other domestic animal and are more trainable than cats or dogs. Yet, in the United States, we have habitualized the slaughtering of pigs, but find it appalling to do the same to dogs.

If we truly and morally judged other species based upon our

perception of their intelligence, we would be more inclined to keep a pig as a pet and slaughter a dog for dinner instead.

Even if the intelligence of different species could be compared, how are we to prove that higher intelligence is better?

Though humans have used their intelligence for good, we equally use it for evil. Are we superior because we invented atomic bombs that killed over 100,000 unsuspecting Japanese civilians?

Are we superior because we have caused Earth’s climate to radically change?

We must challenge our selfish point of view that we are superior creatures because we are intelligent. The rationale behind this argument is flawed, and intelligence is a characteristic too arbitrary to judge superiority upon. Instead of trumpeting our perceived superiority, we ought to acknowledge the uniqueness of other species and humble ourselves to the beauty of it.

— Georgia Kerkezis sophomore majoring environmental studies.

a in

to my stroller and ask my mom if she was my babysitter or congratulate her on choosing adoption.

I was lucky to grow up in a very racially diverse city where my brother and I were definitely not the only mixedrace kids in our schools.

However, some comments managed to slip through the cracks. When I was in second or third grade, a girl turned to me in gym class and asked me, “Are you a mulatto?” While I can’t remember what or if I responded, the memory has stuck with me ever since.

One might hope that adults, at least, would have more tact when dealing with a topic as sensitive as racial identity, but one would be mistaken. For example, a common response from people after finding out that I’m a quarter Asian is, “Wow, I see it now, your eyes are pretty narrow.” A quick tip: You don’t need to “justify” someone’s race to them for it to be valid. So please don’t.

Once I got to a certain age, the questioning changed somewhat. The male population suddenly became very interested in my background.

Interesting examples include an intoxicated man trying to pull me away from my friend on the streets of Germany because I “looked Brazilian or Middle Eastern,” and a man old enough to be my father deciding that using “What is your ethnic background?” as an ice breaker to try to get my phone number on a Metro-North train was a great idea. I can poke fun at the ridiculousness of these interactions now, but in the moment, they felt creepy and even dangerous.

I have been told by different people that I should be happy people take interest in my background. This might be easier to do if people didn’t question me about it like they were collecting information for a census or expect me to whip out a laminated copy of my Ancestry.com results at a moment’s notice. It’s not like I’m unwilling to share things about my identity; it’s quite the opposite, actually. I would just love to do it on my own terms without the input or badgering of others.

In 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that 9 million Americans self-identify as multiracial. The people of this diverse community come in different shapes, sizes, ages, races, colors — the list goes on. In a society that is outlined by different races and their relations with one another, some people find it confusing when they can’t automatically classify someone.

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, “Where are you from?” I feel as though I would be able to pay the tuition of every undergraduate student at Binghamton University. Sometimes I think about how much easier my life would be if I had an index card that read, “My mom is German, Armenian and other European things and my dad is black and Japanese,” that I could stick to my chest whenever I had to leave my house. While I am immensely proud of my multiracial identity, it is sometimes extremely wearing to explain this identity to people I will probably never see again.

I first want to say that I am aware of the privilege that being hard to racially categorize affords me. I have relatively light skin and I know that the way I look gives me preferential treatment and opportunities that I have not earned. It has also shielded me from outright discrimination because I am harder to classify.

Additionally, my mother is relatively dark for a white person and my father is relatively light for a person of color. This gives my family a pretty cohesive skin tone that may not automatically label us as an interracial family, consequently lessening invasive questions and comments.

If I have learned anything from the experience of being racially ambiguous, it is to never underestimate people’s audacity. When I was a baby, my facial features were a lot more stereotypically Asian, which meant that my mom and I looked very different — Annick Tabb is a sophomore from each other. This inspired double-majoring in English complete strangers to come up and political science.

What happens if we don't talk about guns?

Remaining complacent will only create more devastation

Hannah Gulko

Contributing Columnist

President Donald Trump responded to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida by addressing the need “to help secure our schools, and tackle the difficult issue of mental health.” He tweeted, offering his “prayers and condolences,” promising the United States that his administration wants to do “whatever we can do to ease your pain.”

Meanwhile, he quietly signed a bill into law on Feb. 20, revoking an Obama-administration directive that regulated the ability to purchase guns for people with mental illness

diagnoses. The rule, which was finalized in December, added people receiving Social Security checks for mental illnesses and people “deemed unfit to handle their own financial affairs” to the national background check database.

But let’s not talk about it.

Instead, let’s follow in the footsteps of our president and fail to mention anything about guns or the National Rifle Association (NRA) and instead misalign the presence of mass shootings in schools and public spaces with the mental health of individuals.

Let’s not mention how it is, in fact, the normalization of gun violence through films, video games and music that associates power and masculine strength with bloodbath, that explains the prevalence of these shootings. How it is the failings

of the NRA, the failings of the U.S. government in the protection of its citizens and the failings of the community to warrant an alarming discussion — do we care more about protecting one’s right to a gun or one’s right to life?

But let’s not talk about it.

Let’s pray, offer condolences and make no strides toward social reform and legal change.

Let’s say we’re sorry after the fact, and continue to act surprised when AR-15s keep reappearing in the United States’ deadliest shootings.

We’ll just keep creating codes for public institutions for the proper way to react to an armed intruder. We’ll raise children in a world where their kindergarten teacher asks them to memorize what to do when they hear “Code red,” how to hide under desks,

turn off the lights and keep quiet.

We’ll tell teachers that they need guns to protect our children, rather than listen to their continued opposition and educate adults instead. We’ll focus on protecting ourselves in any way possible except for turning to the source of the problem. Because we’re adults, we avoid policy change and we pretend there’s nothing we can do.

Fear is a conservative principle.

Those who are afraid of change are usually afraid of something they don’t understand, and due to lack of empathy and drive, channel their fear through anger.

In the cases of racism, sexism and discrimination based on sexuality and identity politics, we see anger from the people who don’t want to understand. We see rage erupting from the “alt-right” in

the face of change; a monstrous, unbecoming and uninhibited response to cover for their blatant disrespect for humankind and lack of knowledge.

I believe that those who continue to argue that instilling better gun control is a detriment to their right to own a firearm forget that we no longer live in a society where using such violence as a matter of protection is consciously a normal part of life.

Nor should it be. We have much greater methods of protection for ourselves, our families and our properties.

But rather than learn about something we don’t understand, and admit to our crippling levels of fear and outward rejection of things beyond our knowledge, we instill rage and hostility. We’ll continue to be the most polarized society we have ever been and

ignore having conversations with people — we’ll just shout blind, blanketed statements ad nauseam instead.

So let’s ignore that this marks the eighth school shooting in the United States in 2018 alone.

Let’s not call our elected representatives and demand a legislative response.

Let’s not act as if we’ve had enough loss of innocent lives, enough torture for families.

Let’s not learn from other countries that have avoided the United States’ plague of ignorance and have found successes in strengthening their gun control, diminishing suicide and homicide rates and avoiding mass shootings.

Let’s just not talk about it.

— Hannah Gulko is a sophomore majoring in human development.

ARTS & CULTURE New Roberson exhibition brings wildlife to West Side Explore the flora and fauna of upstate NY Danielle Gutkovich Contribuing Writer

Animals around every corner, squawking bird noises, varying climates — no, it’s not a zoo.

On Feb. 16, the Roberson Museum and Science Center on the West Side of the city of Binghamton opened NatureTrek, an immersive exhibition that invites viewers to take a closer look at the wildlife that surrounds them in upstate New York.

NatureTrek features models of five different ecological areas: deciduous and transitional forests, wetlands, meadows and backyards. Each life-size diorama displays artificial replicas of local plant life and various taxidermic animals commonly found in the environment, including birds, bears and deer.

These mounted animal specimens were donated to the Roberson Museum by Lee J. Loomis, an accomplished taxidermist and lifelong resident of Broome County who died in 1979. The Roberson Museum has roughly 3,000 specimens in its Lee J. Loomis collection, but only a fraction of these are displayed in NatureTrek.

The habitats showcased in NatureTrek are carefully crafted with accurate ecological details.

During a walkthrough of the exhibition, Peter Klosky, ‘73, director of exhibitions for the Roberson Museum, pointed out

Jacob Hanna | Contributing Photographer At NatureTrek, the Roberson Museum and Science Center’s new immersive exhibition, guests can experience the environment of New York state firsthand, including replicas of wildlife such as this taxidermic bear.

a small red bird called a scarlet tanager in the forest habitat.

“This [habitat] is supposed to be [set in the] fall,” Klosky said. “Scarlet tanagers, going into October, start losing their red color. So, it was important for us that, if we had to include that bird in here, to set this in late September.”

The installation of NatureTrek was a three-year process and a collaborative effort every step of the way. The idea for the project was first introduced by Terry McDonald, the Roberson Museum’s former executive

director. When McDonald stepped down in 2017, the position was taken over by Michael Grasso, ‘07, an Endicott native who continued the project.

The bird noises echoing throughout the exhibition were provided by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology.

Numerous local organizations, including Binghamton University’s Nuthatch Hollow Nature Preserve, were consulted when constructing the different ecological areas.

“This has really been worthwhile,” Klosky said. “We’ve

had a lot of great partnerships, great volunteers, a lot of input from the community.”

NatureTrek also features a number of interactive elements, including touch-screen digital displays of animal noises, which were also provided by the Lab of Ornithology. With the touch of a finger, visitors can hear any animal noise of their choosing, an experimental feature that has only been a part of 24 other installations worldwide.

Interactive features also run throughout each individual diorama. Mobile information

displays are stationed next to every area, inviting viewers to turn each panel to reveal more information about current threats to the habitat and what they can do to help preserve it.

NatureTrek encourages viewers to continue their exploration long after they’ve left the Roberson Museum. A large plaque titled “Nature Areas For You To Discover” marks the end of the exhibition, citing 33 nature preserves, forests and state parks to explore all over the greater Binghamton area. The Binghamton University Nature

Preserve is listed as the second suggestion in the section about Broome County.

“One of the big themes is to get people not just to watch nature on public television where you see the Serengeti, but to start appreciating wildlife in your own backyard,” Klosky said.

Klosky, who has been working at the Roberson Museum for 40 years, said that he loves the museum because it allows him to explore his varied interests, including art and natural history.

“I’ve been able to spend my life being surrounded by things that I really enjoy,” Klosky said. “Not too many people, I think, get to do that.”

Grasso only recently joined the team in November 2017, but his words echoed Klosky’s. “[The Roberson Museum] was the first museum that I had ever been to,” Grasso said. “This was my hometown museum and it was always my dream job to be at [the Roberson Museum].”

As a BU alumnus, Grasso also had some words of advice for current BU students who might be on the fence about visiting NatureTrek.

“All big colleges are bubbles,” Grasso said. “Whenever you can get outside of the bubble to experience something new, learn a little bit more about the world around you from outside of the classroom, I think that’s a good opportunity and you should take it.”

NatureTrek will stay on as part of the permanent collection at the Roberson Museum.

'Conjure' installation connects students with artist Samantha Parker Salazar spoke at closing Alejandra Rodas

Contributing Writer

“Every moment in life is an improvisation.”

This was one of the key ideas for artist Samantha Parker Salazar’s “Conjure,” a singleobject exhibition held at The Elsie B. Rosefsky Memorial Art Gallery in the Fine Arts Building.

The department of art and design hosted a closing reception and artist’s talk on Feb. 22 to highlight the installation by Salazar. The exhibition was on view from Jan. 25 to Feb. 23.

“Conjure” is an abstract piece composed of elements including paper, hex pipes and paint. It consisted of a centerpiece in the middle with smaller pieces hung on the wall surrounding it. Salazar said she envisioned a togetherness in the piece inspired by movement. The program for the exhibition said the work “moves

back and forth between beautiful and hideous, birthing an object that has the presence of having been conjured spontaneously as if from nothing.”

Chukwudi Kanu, a senior majoring in systems science and industrial engineering, said he appreciated the scale of the installation.

“When I saw how everything was, and how she transformed spaces, she created an atmosphere for me,” Kanu said.

Hans Gindlesberger, assistant professor in the art and design department, helped curate the exhibition. He said this show provided Binghamton University students with unique access to the artist.

“It was an opportunity to start the semester doing something large-scale and ambitious,” Gindlesberger said. “It had an element of interaction between the artist and the students.”

The artist’s talk was a chance for students to have a conversation with the artist, and it highlighted Salazar’s journey as an artist.

She received her bachelor’s in fine arts from Bradley University, where she was trained in metal engraving, then went on to complete her master’s in fine arts at the University of Texas at Austin. Salazar said that it was during graduate school that she began experimenting with turning her two-dimensional engravings into larger 3-D installations.

Gindlesberger said Salazar’s educational experience could provide guidance for BU students.

“We don’t have any dedicated classes in media or installation or participatory classes,” said Gindlesberger. “To see someone, through her own agenda, move her work from printmaking to a practice she’s designed herself is a good model for our students to have.”

Salazar also discussed failures she has experienced and mistakes she has made in her career. She spoke about the difficulties of being a graduate student and the role of trial and error in figuring out how to transition from printmaking. Although she

Vicky Su | Contributing Photographer A visitor taking a photo of Samantha Parker Salazar’s art exhibition, “Conjure.” The show was on display at Binghamton University’s Elsie B. Rosefsky Memorial Art Gallery in the Fine Arts Building.

mainly works as an abstract artist, Salazar said she finds inspiration in all sorts of artwork, including that of artists like Francis Bacon and Caravaggio.

Salazar, who is now based in Columbus, Ohio, said she started

with a picture of the gallery and used specific architectural elements to inspire “Conjure.”

“I’m not going to lie, this was probably the scariest piece I’ve ever done,” Salazar said. “This was probably the most improvisation

I’ve ever done. But because of the improvisation and because of the need to overcome fear, it caused me to let go of all my preconceived notion of what it is. But I think sometimes that creates the best results.”

Celebrating Korean American culture in Chamber Hall Performances included dance, music and more Alejandra Rodas

Contributing Writer

Yanah Hossain | Contributing Photographer The Korean American Student Association held its annual Korean Night event on Saturday in Chamber Hall of the Anderson Center. Performances in the celebration included student dance groups, percussionists and martial artists.

Hundreds of students gathered in Chamber Hall in the Anderson Center to celebrate the dance, music and culture of Korean American identity at the Korean American Student Association’s (KASA) annual Korean Night on Saturday.

The event included performances by the Danciples, the Korean American Christian Fellowship’s dance group, the Tae Kwon Do Club and Sulpoong, the Korean percussion group.

The special guest for the evening was Korean American YouTube star Jung Sung Ahn — better known by his YouTube name Jun Curry

Ahn — who currently has over a million subscribers. Ahn started his YouTube account in 2011 as a freshman at Northwestern University. He is best known for his popular violin covers ranging from contemporary radio hits to Korean pop, most of which have over a million views. When Ahn was a senior in college, his most popular video, a cover of Frozen’s “Let it Go,” amassed over 3.8 million hits and it now has over 7 million views.

Before the show started, a meet and greet was held for students to get the chance to speak to and take pictures with the violinist.

Josh Shin, president of KASA and a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, said the evening reflected the KASA Executive Board’s interest in celebrating the fusion of Korean and American cultures.

“It’s this idea of identity,” he

said. “Being Korean American and balancing these different cultures that do share many similarities. It defines who you are. Learning to find what that means is something that resonates with me.”

The event also included the showing of a video made by the e-board in which members spoke about what aspects of their lives define them as Korean American.

“After the separation between Korea, many Koreans were poor,” said one board member featured in the video. “My parents worked hard for me to be successful. I’m usually stuck between happiness and money.”

Shin said the event made him optimistic about the future of the club.

“It’s hard to put into words, but this night made me excited about what the future holds for KASA, and what we’ll be able to do,” Shin said.

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ARTS & CULTURE

February 26, 2018 | bupipedream.com

Which movies are you rooting for this Academy Awards season? Maybe you’re in a pool and want to guess which movies will take home the statue, or maybe you’re just a film lover and want to see your favorites win. Here are my predictions for each of the eight main Oscar categories.

Best adapted screenplay

Best original screenplay

“Call Me By Your Name” “The Disaster Artist” “Logan” “Molly’s Game” “Mudbound”

“The Big Sick” “Get Out” “Lady Bird” “The Shape of Water” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Choice: “Call Me By Your Name”

Choice: “Get Out”

Starting off with probably the least buzzed-about award of the top eight, the bottom three choices, “Logan,” “Molly’s Game” and “Mudbound” can immediately be eliminated. No disrespect to any of those movies — I’m actually pleased to see the adaptation of a comic book story get a nod — but none of the films have a script that can surpass the top two. That leaves a two-way race between “Call Me By Your Name” and “The Disaster Artist” — you’ll see that a two-way races will become a common theme of these predictions. I was leaning toward “The Disaster Artist” because many Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members can connect with the story of someone doing whatever it takes to achieve their Hollywood dream. Also, turning Tommy Wiseau into an inspirational figure has got to be award-worthy. But then I thought back to last year when the socially aware movie “Moonlight” beat the Hollywood romance “La La Land,” and I figured that the Academy is probably even more woke than last year. Not to mention that “Call Me By Your Name” has a scene with a peach that’s even more award-worthy than any Wiseau dialogue.

This was a pretty easy prediction to make, as it would be downright criminal if any movie other than “Get Out” won. “Get Out” is the rare movie that you can watch over and over again and always discover a hidden detail or layer that changes the movie for you. Not to mention how poignant of a discussion it leads on race and how it practically pioneered a new genre of the societal thriller.

Best leading actress

Best supporting actress Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound” Allison Janney, “I, Tonya” Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread” Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird” Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water” Choice: Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water” Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya” Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird” Meryl Streep, “The Post” Choice: Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Once again, this is essentially a two-person race between Frances McDormand in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and Saoirse Ronan in “Lady Bird.” There was a big part of me that wanted to go with Ronan, an Irish woman who carries the movie with a relatable and convincing portrayal of a California teenager. I suspect the Academy will go with the more engaging performance McDormand gave as an angry mom ready to lash out. It’s close, but McDormand deserves her second Oscar win for this role.

Best leading actor

When it comes to best supporting actress, it’s really just a battle of the moms between Allison Janney in “I, Tonya” and Laurie Metcalf in “Lady Bird.” I’d go with Metcalf, because the way she portrayed the complex relationship between her and her daughter created one of the most realistic moms I’ve ever seen — but I suspect that Janney’s biting performance as the abusive mother of Tonya Harding will sway more Academy voters.

Best supporting actor Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project” Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water” Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World” Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Choice: Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me By Your Name” Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread” Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out” Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour” Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

This was a tough choice to make, as I can realistically see any of these nominees winning (except Woody Harrelson, but only because Sam Rockwell clearly outshined him in the same movie). As far as the rest of the nominees, Jenkins and Plummer both were fine in their roles, but I think that Plummer is only here as a substitute for Kevin Spacey, and Jenkins’ nomination probably should have gone to Michael Shannon for “The Shape of Water.” That leaves Dafoe and Rockwell, and I lean toward Rockwell for having the dark comedic chops to pull off the role and for having the best character arc in a movie with a lot of character arcs.

Choice: Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour” This is probably the hardest choice to predict because every year there’s at least one category in which you need to consider how the Academy operates rather than the performances themselves. After all, Daniel DayLewis is nominated, and he’s basically the darling of the Academy when it comes to best leading actor. Not only that, but this is presumably his last role before retirement, which means this may be the Academy’s last chance to honor him. On the other hand, Day-Lewis gives a fairly forgettable performance in a fairly forgettable movie. That takes me to the other top two candidates: Timothée Chalamet for “Call Me By Your Name” and Gary Oldman for “Darkest Hour.” I would love for Chalamet to win at such a young age, but Oldman’s transformation into Winston Churchill has already secured him a number of awards. Oldman has somehow never won an Oscar, but this is the year he’ll likely do it.

Best director Paul Thomas Anderson, “Phantom Thread” Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water” Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird” Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk” Jordan Peele, “Get Out”

Best picture “Call Me By Your Name” “Darkest Hour” “Dunkirk” “Get Out” “Lady Bird” “Phantom Thread” “The Post” “The Shape of Water” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Choice: “The Shape of Water”

Choice: Choice: Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water” This was the most exciting category for me to pick, because I would be thrilled if any of these directors won.

Anderson, del Toro and Nolan are all fantastic directors who are long overdue for their first Oscars, and Gerwig and Peele are young directors who’ve earned their place in the spotlight. Typically, the film with the most nominations will win for directing, and “The Shape of Water” far outpaces the rest of this slate with 13 nominations.

Remember how I said that best actor was the hardest category to pick? Turns out that best picture is much harder, but only because the Academy has an annoying habit of having nearly twice as many best picture nominees as the other categories. To make things simpler, I’ll just eliminate the movies I don’t think have a chance of winning: “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk,” “Lady Bird,” “Phantom Thread” and “The Post.” That still leaves four more choices to pick from. Again, “The Shape of Water” is far ahead in the number of nominations, but the same was true of “La La Land” last year and it didn’t win. But “The Shape of Water” and “La La Land” aren’t the same movie in almost any context, and I believe that the combination of the strong direction, unconventional love story and a strong female lead will clinch the win for “The Shape of Water.”

On Cube Day, solving puzzles — one turn at a time Rubik's cube contest draws community Marcus Budashewitz Contributing Writer

Old Union Hall filled up on Saturday, all for one toy. While the Rubik’s cube may just be a neat puzzle to some people, the speedcubing community sees it as much more.

Binghamton Winter Cube Day drew an international crowd, though the majority of attendees were not Binghamton University students. The event featured six different competitions including 2x2x2, 4x4x4 and 3x3x3 onehanded — the event names correspond to the number of squares across each Rubik’s cube used.

Zachary Goldman, the organizer of the event and a junior majoring in environmental studies, placed fifth in the 7x7x7 combined final, but explained victory is not necessarily the point.

“It’s a friendly community, nobody is really mean to each

other and we help each other out when we can,” Goldman said. “Nobody’s trying to beat anyone else, we learn a lot from each other.”

The event highlighted that community feel, as attendees congratulated one another on achieving personal records.

Thirteen-year-old participant James Southcott said this was his first cubing event.

“It’s a one-man thing, you’re not competing against others and you always want to see people do better,” Southcott said. “There’s a lot of new people every time and we cheer each other on.”

While competitors like Southcott appreciated the challenge, others are just as glad to be a part of the community. Corey Sakowski, World Cube Association delegate and a staff member at Binghamton’s Cube Day, cites his cubing friends as driving his involvement in the community.

“I wouldn’t be so motivated to practice and go to competitions if I didn’t make so many friends through this,” Sakowski said.

“Ninety-five percent of people

walk in knowing they’re not going to win, it’s more important for people to beat their own personal goals.”

Cube Day brought a variety of people, including parents filming their children solving cubes and students trying to beat personal records. Meanwhile, passionate cubers helped to run the whole event.

When talking to cubers, there was a commonality to how they picked up the hobby: with help from someone else.

“My brother learned how to solve it first and that was back in 2008,” Sakowski said. “He didn’t get really into it but I got pretty much hooked on it since then.”

Similarly, Eric Zhao, a 20-yearold who traveled from New York City, also said his interest in cubing came from someone close to him.

“When I was in middle school, my friend had a cube and seeing him do it made me want to solve it,” Zhao said.

The internet has aided the rise of cubing because it provides the opportunity for cubers to

Courtney Mitchell | Staff Photographer Participants in Binghamton Cube Day compete in a 4x4x4 contest. Cube Day drew students and community members to Old Union Hall on Saturday for the competition.

receive recognition for their accomplishments and to connect with other cubers. A 2016 YouTube clip of cuber Feliks Zemdegs, for example, has amassed 2.4 million views, and anyone with

an interest in the activity has an array of resources online to reach such mastery.

According to Goldman, this was the first cubing event held at BU, and while nothing is set in

stone, Goldman said he hopes the event can return to campus.

“Seeing as the competition was a success, there will probably be another one in the future,” Goldman said.

A8

ARTS & CULTURE

bupipedream.com | February 26, 2018

Parade Day Recipes Parade Day is coming up and that means pregames, parties, bar-hopping and shamrock-themed attire. Pipe Dream has crafted some St. Patrick’s-themed drink and snack recipes to get you through the daylong bender — from Bailey’s coffee to mint-chocolate cookies.

Meet your mint cookies Ingredients: — 2 1/4 cups flour — 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder — 1 teaspoon baking soda — 1/4 teaspoon salt — 1 cup salted butter — 3/4 cup granulated sugar — 2/3 cup packed brown sugar — 2 eggs — 1 teaspoon vanilla — 1 bag mint M&Ms Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

3. Mix the butter and sugars together.

4. Mix in eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture.

5. Fold in dry ingredients.

6. Roll the dough into balls the size of a quarter.

7. Press a few mint M&Ms into each cookie dough ball.

8. Bake for nine to 11 minutes.

9. Let cool on a cookie rack until firm.

Adapted from Two Sisters.

Minty shamrock M&M popcorn Ingredients: — 1 bag microwave popcorn — 1 bag white chocolate chips — 1 1/2 tablespoon shortening — 1 1/2 cups mint M&Ms — 1/2 cup green milk chocolate M&Ms Directions: 1. Pop popcorn and pour in large bowl. Set aside.

2. In a double-boiler, melt chocolate and shortening over medium heat.

3. Stir constantly until chocolate has a smooth consistency.

4. Remove bowl from heat and immediately pour chocolate on top of popcorn.

5. Stir until the popcorn is fully coated.

6. Pour in M&Ms and mix.

Adapted from Kleinworth & Co.

Mint brookies Ingredients: — 1 box of brownie mix, prepared according to instructions but not baked — 1 package mint Oreos — 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour — 1/4 teaspoon baking soda — 1/4 teaspoon of salt — 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened — 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar — 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar — 1 egg — 1 teaspoon vanilla extract — 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips — 1/2 cup dark chocolate mint green M&Ms Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line a 9-by-13-inch pan with parchment paper and spray with baking spray.

3. Pour brownie batter into pan.

4. Crumble Oreos by hand and sprinkle them on top of brownie mix.

5. To make the cookie dough, sift together flour, baking soda and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Set aside.

6. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar until thoroughly blended.

7. Stir egg and vanilla into mixture.

8. Add in flour mixture and mix together with a hand mixer until smooth.

9. Stir in mini chocolate chips with wooden spoon.

10. Press cookie dough on top of the brownie batter and Oreo mix in the pan.

11. Press M&Ms into the top of the cookie dough and bake for 28 to 30 minutes.

12. Allow to cool for at least 45 minutes.

13. Cut into bars and enjoy.

Adapted from Two in the Kitchen.

Baileys Irish coffee Ingredients: — 2 ounces Baileys original Irish cream liqueur — 6 ounces hot coffee — 1 ounce Irish whiskey

— Whipped cream Directions: 1. Combine Bailey’s, coffee and whiskey in a mug.

2. Top with whipped cream.

Adapted from Baileys.

Shamrock shake Ingredients: — 2 cups vanilla ice cream — 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup — 2 tablespoons whipped cream — 1 1/4 cups of milk — Peppermint extract — Green food coloring — Sugar — Two glasses Directions: 1. Blend ice cream, milk, peppermint extract and nine drops of food coloring in a blender until smooth.

2. Drizzle chocolate syrup around the inside of the glasses and pour blended mixture into glass.

3. Mix a few drops of food coloring with sugar to create green sugar.

4. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with green sugar.

Adapted from Allrecipes.

Spritz Patrick’s Day drink Ingredients: — 3 cups lemonade — 1 1/2 cups green sour apple cocktail mix — Green food coloring — Lime — Lemon — 3 cups 7UP — 1 1/2 ounces vodka — Ice Directions: 1. Mix lemonade, cocktail mix and a couple drops of green food coloring in a pitcher.

2. Slice the lemon and the lime into thin slices and add fruit slices to the pitcher.

3. Add vodka and 7UP to pitcher and mix again. Serve over ice.

Adapted from Simply Made Recipes.

Green Beer Ingredients: — Any light beer, such as an India pale ale — Green food coloring Directions: 1. Choose your beer glass and put four to six drops of food coloring in the bottom of the glass.

2. Pour beer into the glass and stir slightly.

Adapted from The Spruce.

St. Paddy’s Day Jell-O shots Ingredients: — 1 6-ounce box lime Jell-O — 2 cups boiling water — 7/8 cup cold water — 1/8 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice — 3/4 cup clear tequila — 1/4 cup triple sec — Small plastic condiment cups Directions: 1. Mix boiling water and Jell-O. Stir for a minute until dissolved.

2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients.

3. Pour into small plastic condiments cups and leave on cookie sheets in the refrigerator for four hours until firm.

Adapted from Genius Kitchen.

Lucky leprechaun Ingredients: — 1 ounce creme de menthe, chilled — 1 ounce white chocolate liqueur, chilled — 2 ounces vodka, chilled — Cool Whip — 1/4 cup chocolate shavings Directions: 1. Combine creme de menthe and white chocolate liqueur in a glass.

2. Add vodka and stir to combine.

3. Top drink with a dollop of Cool Whip and sprinkle a couple chocolate shavings on top.

Adapted from Delish.

Festive green beauty products, from glitter to tattoos A Parade Day look you can order online Katherine Scott

Contributing Writer

It’s less than a week away from Parade Day and many people will be flocking to local stores to find green makeup and merchandise. However, with midterms coming up, you may not have time this week to go searching for your green beauty needs.

Here is a list of affordable products available on Amazon Prime, so you can avoid searching the shelves or waiting in line.

Green eyeliner is just one of the many ways to put on a festive face for Parade Day.

Green Glitties Cosmetic Glitter — $7.95 Glitter is great for going-out looks because it makes your favorite feature pop. You can use it on your eyes, you can tap a little on your cheekbones for an exaggerated highlight or use

it all over. The key is to have a good glitter-glue base, like the one made by e.l.f. But, please be cautious: Only use glitters made for cosmetic use.

Craft glitter is typically cut with sharp corners, and those corners can severely injure your eyes.

Green CoverGirl Perfect Point Plus Eyeliner Pencil — $6.99 Another traditional makeup product, this eyeliner is a subtle way to incorporate green into a makeup look. You can use this liner to create a bold winged look or just use it in your waterline for a hint of green.

Green Maybelline New York Expert Wear Eyeshadow — $3.99 This eyeshadow is a great alternative to wearing glitter all over your face. You can apply this normally, on your eyes or even tap it over your lips on top of a vampy liquid lipstick to add a green sheen.

Green Joyous Professional Temporary Hair Mascara Salon DIY Hair Dye — $6.99 Using the mascara wandlike brush, you can use this temporary hair dye to create highlights of green hair. Unlike spraying your whole head with a color and having crunchy hair for the day, this small tool allows you to have control Green Snazaroo Classic Face of what parts of your hair or beard you Paint — $6.46 want colored.

Try a more artistic take on St. Patrick’s Day beauty and paint your Konsait St. Patrick’s Day face or body green. You can paint Temporary Tattoos — $5.99 shamrocks or other Parade DayIf you’re not particularly into makeup themed items, or you can paint half or beauty products in general, temporary or all of your face with a solid green tattoos are an alternate way to be festive. color to really commit to the Parade Simply apply one of the many choices that Day celebrations. are available in this pack and boom — you’re ready for Parade Day.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE? Visit

BeKappa.com/Binghamton to submit your interest today!

OPINIONS FFUN UN Monday, February 2018 Thursday, Thursday, Monday, Monday, September October October April 3,26, 2,5, 2017 28, 2017 2017 2017

Nate Walker Dark horse

Loophole

Almost as scary as midterms

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By The Mepham Group

Level: 1 2 3 4 Solution to Thursday's puzzle

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ACROSS 1 __ insult to injury; makes matters worse 5 Billiards shot 10 “Father Knows __” 14 Jump 15 Superior to 16 At __; immediately 17 Soaks through 19 Halt 20 Opening; gap 21 Uptight 23 Garden tool 24 Part of the leg 26 Woodwind instrument 28 Felon’s home 31 Puts on, as a play 34 Shoot carefully 35 Passengers 37 Pleasant 40 Surpasses 42 Autry & Wilder 43 Actress Tyne 44 Out of __; not in rhythm with others 45 Reconciled 47 Haul into court 48 Wanderers 50 Napped 52 Hit hard 54 Sports squad 55 Rat-a-tat-__ 56 Cowboy’s rope 60 Deep pink 64 Individuals 66 Melania’s home 68 Not yours, not his & not hers 69 Guitars of old 70 Large group of relatives 71 Cracker spread 72 __ from; originates with 73 Cluckers DOWN 1 Mont Blanc’s range 2 Profound 3 Actress Wynter 4 Bits of glitter

by Jacqueline E. Mathews

Thursday’s Puzzle Solved

5 Cougar or Jaguar 6 Diminish 7 Learn by __; memorize 8 __ mitts; kitchen gloves 9 __ up; dishevel 10 Derek & others 11 Fan 12 Move over a bit 13 Traditional Crow home 18 Pavarotti or Caruso 22 File drawer, perhaps 25 Conundrum 27 __ a hand; aid 28 Taps gently 29 Public uprising 30 Not sorry 31 Mails 32 Myrtle or yew 33 Give confidence to 36 Lifeless 38 Hint 39 Black-__ peas

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41 46 49 51 52

Espy Juicy fruit Boss on “Alice” Kiss __ off; leave in anger 53 Excessive enthusiasm 54 Tribal pole

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Hole makers Close Location Bylaw As wise __ owl Part of the eye Behold Curvy letter

Weekend

Terrell Julien | Contributing Photographer

WARRIORS

Well, Weekend Warrior, you’ve done it again: another weekend in the books. After a week of tenuous Binghamton weather, you braved the lines and the rain, and made it to the bars. Despite a few big days coming up in March (ahem, Parade Days — plural), we commend you, Weekend Warrior, for your dedication to State Street.

February 26, 2018 | bupipedream.com

A11

SPORTS

Women's basketball earns third seed in postseason BU enters playoffs with two straight losses Justin Zion

Sports Intern

The Binghamton women’s basketball team ended its regular season in heartbreaking fashion this past weekend. The Bearcats (19-10, 10-6 America East) threw away a 17-point halftime lead against Albany on Thursday evening to fall 57-53 in the final home game of the season. Following that, the Bearcats traveled to Hartford on Sunday afternoon, where a late fourth-quarter collapse allowed the Hawks (17-12, 9-7 AE) to take a 6145 victory.

The two losses sent the Bearcats into the AE Tournament on a sour note, as they match the longest AE losing streak the team had all season. Binghamton now extends its overall losing streak to Albany (23-6, 12-4 AE) to 17 games, and failed to achieve its first 20-win season as a Division I program.

“We’ve just got to be tough,” said senior guard Imani Watkins on Thursday night. “No excuses. We’ve just got to be better.”

Watkins came out on fire against Albany in the first half of Thursday’s contest. She shot fiveof-10 from the field in the first two quarters, including three triples, for a total of 18 points, coming close to outscoring the entire Albany team in the half. Sophomore guard Karlee Krchnavi added six points of her own on two 3-pointers, contributing to Binghamton’s six first-half triples.

Sophomore guard Karlee Krchnavi tallied seven points and nine rebounds in Binghamton’s loss to Albany.

Defensively, BU did not allow the Great Danes to produce much offense. Albany turned it over 13 times in the half, shot 36 percent from the field and was outrebounded

by Binghamton, 22-14. The Bearcats entered the halftime locker room with a seemingly insurmountable 17-point lead, 39-22.

During the second half, whatever shooting prowess Watkins had in the first half was gone, as she couldn’t get her shots to fall.

The rest of the team shared her struggles, going two-for-11 in the third. Albany’s defense grew pesky, forcing steals and points in

transition. By the time the third quarter ended, Binghamton’s 17-point lead had been cut to four.

“I thought we got good looks,” said BU head coach Linda Cimino.

“We just missed them. We shot air balls today. We never shoot air balls from the three.”

Albany continued to chip away, until a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Mackenzie Trpcic tied the game for the Great Danes. A couple of minutes later another long ball, this time from redshirt senior guard Jessica Féquière, gave Albany the lead for good. Trpcic went on to hit yet another bucket from

downtown to seal the game for the Great Danes. Binghamton scored only 14 second-half points, hit only four field goals and shot 6-for-13 from the line.

“We backed down from their pressure,” Watkins said. “We stopped listening. We completely went away from the game plan, we didn’t execute down the stretch.”

Adding to Binghamton’s troubles was an injury to sophomore guard Kai Moon, who injured her foot near the end of the third quarter. She did not return to the game, and has been ruled out indefinitely by the team.

Rebecca Kiss | Assistant Photo Editor

“Losing [Moon] in the second half killed us, not only offensively but defensively,” Cimino said.

“It was a huge factor … losing [Moon] hurt.”

BU’s shooting woes continued into the first half of Sunday’s game at Hartford. The team struggled mightily from the field, shooting under 30 percent and coughing the ball up 15 times. The Bearcats remained in contention at halftime only because their defense was decent, thanks to senior center Alyssa James’ seven rebounds.

The beginning of the third quarter featured Hartford

establishing a 13-point advantage, but the Bearcats began to turn the tide. Watkins hit a couple of jumpers, while the Bearcats forced missed shots by Hartford. A jump shot by freshman forward Kaylee Wasco pulled the Bearcats within one point, 46-45, and it seemed as if the team could do to Hartford what Albany had done to them three days prior.

However, Binghamton did not score again for the rest of the game. Six turnovers in the final five minutes allowed Hartford to finish the game on a 15-0 run. The Hawks captured the victory, 61-45, giving the Bearcats a defeat in their final game of the regular season.

Entering the weekend, the Bearcats were in contention to potentially grab the top seed in the upcoming AE Tournament.

These two losses, however, dropped Binghamton all the way to the third seed, BU’s highest finish since the 2010-11 season. Despite the losing streak, Cimino remains optimistic.

“The season’s not over,” Cimino said. “We have a lot of season left to play, and this is a postseason tournament team. We’re going to be playing in a postseason tournament, and we need to be better. We need to know that when things aren’t going our way, we have to respond.”

The Bearcats get the week to rest and prepare for the AE Tournament in Portland, Maine.

Entering as the third seed, the team will play a rematch against sixthseed Hartford in the first round on Saturday, March 4. Tipoff from Cross Insurance Arena is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.

Softball captures one win in Lamar Cardinal Classic Binghamton shut out twice in opening series Samuel Ditchek Sports Editor

With season expectations at a high and feelings of redemption flooding the clubhouse, the Binghamton softball team opened its year with just one victory in the Lamar Cardinal Classic. Even though the Bearcats (1-3) dropped two games to Lamar University as well as one to Alabama A&M University, they still managed to pull out a win against Loyola University Chicago.

“I thought we got better each game, so that was good to see,” said BU head coach Michelle Johnston.

“We did some things really well and others not so well, so I think we got a good idea of what we want to come back to work on and how to improve going into next weekend.”

Despite the second showdown with Alabama A&M being rained out Sunday morning, BU kicked off its 2018 season matching up with the Bulldogs down in the Lone Star State. Binghamton, only able to keep Alabama A&M scoreless through 2 1/5 innings, committed two costly errors that turned into a pair of unearned runs. Even though the team held the Bulldogs to just two hits on the day, BU left seven runners on base in the season debut and failed to score in the 4-0 defeat.

Hoping to secure its first victory, Binghamton took on Lamar (66) in the nightcap on Friday. As opposed to the opener, the Bearcats found their stride offensively as they posted 11 hits and four runs in their second game. Although the team was down 7-2 in the top of the seventh inning, BU tacked on two runs from an RBI triple by senior infielder Kate Richard and an RBI single by freshman infielder Alex Guay.

Unable to drive in runners when the stakes were the highest, the Bearcats ultimately fell to the hosts, 7-4, and left 12 runners stranded during the game. The contest concluded with the Bearcats leaving the bases loaded to the Cardinals.

“We were putting good pressure on throughout the entire game, so that was one of the things we’ve been working on,” Johnston said.

“We obviously didn’t come up with some clutch hits and we made some mistakes on the bases as well.”

Still seeking their first victory, the Bearcats were scheduled for another doubleheader against the Ramblers (5-4) and the Cardinals on Saturday. Under the cloudy Texas sky, Binghamton struck first against Loyola Chicago off of Richard’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning. After five shutout innings and six runs scored, three of which were a career-high batted in by sophomore designated hitter Kassidy Seary, BU came out on top

Senior infielder Kate Richard went 1 for 3 with two RBIs in softball’s sole victory of the weekend.

against the Ramblers, 6-2. “[Seary] has been working really hard … it was good to see her take advantage of her opportunities,” Johnston said. “She had some good at-bats and was working through her at-bats really well, so we were definitely pleased with her performance.”

Failing to carry its momentum from the first victory, Binghamton was shut out for the second time

on the weekend in Saturday’s nightcap. Squaring off with the Cardinals again, the hosts held the Bearcats to just three hits in the 2-0 loss. Sophomore starting pitcher Rozlyn Price earned her second defeat of the season, collecting only two strikeouts in three innings pitched.

Although the Bearcats opened their season with three defeats and only one win, the reigning America

Jonathan Flores | Pipe Dream Photographer

East champions appeared to be shaking off some expected offseason rust. Scheduled to take on tough competition such as the Czech National Team and the University of California Santa Barbara in its next series, Binghamton will certainly look to refocus and address multiple areas for improvement.

“We want to clean up our base running a little bit and we want to be aggressive on the bases, but

smart as well,” Johnston said. “If we can continue to put the pressure on that we did throughout this weekend, we’ll eventually see the results with scoring more runs.”

Softball is set to match up with the University of Notre Dame on Saturday, March 3 as a part of the Citrus Classic 2. First pitch from ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida is expected at 12:30 p.m.

Binghamton surrenders a pair of games to Liberty Solid hitting not enough to overpower Flames Grace Palumbo

Assistant Sports Editor

This weekend, the Binghamton baseball team traveled to Virginia to take on Liberty in a three-game series. Looking for victory after losing their previous two of three games against Northwestern State last weekend, the Bearcats (2-4) again came away with only one win.

“We certainly have a long ways to go to where we want to be, you know, come time for the America East Conference games,” said BU head coach Tim Sinicki.

BU came into the series strong, earning a 4-2 victory against the Flames (6-1) in the first game on Friday afternoon. The team scored

home, but Binghamton extended its lead to four with a final run in the sixth on a single from senior outfielder Pat Britt. The game ended at a 4-2 score in favor of the Bearcats.

Notably, relief pitchers sophomore Jake Miller and freshman Reid VanScoter threw seven scoreless innings over the course of the match, helping hold Liberty to two runs and just five hits during the game.

On Saturday, Binghamton was not as fortunate as the day before.

The team managed to score the first run of the game in the first inning on a home run from senior Rebecca Kiss | Assistant Photo Editor outfielder CJ Krowiak, but Liberty Sophomore infielder Justin Drpich blasted a home run in the baseball team’s did not let the Bearcats take the sole win of the weekend at Liberty. lead so easily. The Flames drove in three runs in the second inning Drpich to center field. The Flames a run of their own in the bottom of alone, spearheaded by a home run scored two runs in the third inning the first on a ground out. from sophomore infielder Justin on a double that sent two runners From here, play went back and

forth between the two teams. By the fourth inning, the game was tied at 3-3. The Bearcats managed to earn another run in the fifth to push the score to 4-3, but Liberty scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth, which gave it a lead Binghamton failed to overcome for the rest of the match. Each team posted an additional two runs before the game ended in favor of Liberty, 10-6.

Sunday saw another disappointing day of play for the Bearcats. While BU went scoreless for the first eight innings, Liberty tacked three runs on the board during the second and third on two home runs.

Binghamton looked to make a comeback in the ninth, recording two runs during the top of the inning, one of which came off of a home run from Krowiak, his

second of the weekend. The second run came off of a single from senior catcher Jason Agresti. Despite the rally, BU’s two runs were not enough to take the lead, and the Bearcats fell to the Flames, 3-2.

Next weekend, the Bearcats will return to Virginia for another threegame series, this time against the University of Richmond. Sinicki hopes that a week in practice will help the team prepare for play.

“Baseball is a game of repetition, so we need to continue to get our work in offensively and defensively and prepare for another big weekend, next Friday, Saturday, Sunday down in Richmond,” Sinicki said.

The three-game series will begin Friday, March 2 and last until March 4. First pitch is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m. from Pitt Field in Richmond, Virginia.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

BU drops two games SEE PAGE 11 Monday, February 26, 2018

Bearcats' playoff hopes slip away in new format Men's basketball drops key match to Hawks Noah Bressner Editor-in-Chief

In each of its past five seasons, the Binghamton men’s basketball team has been eliminated in the first round of the America East (AE) Tournament. This year, the Bearcats (11-19, 2-13 AE) didn’t even make it that far.

BU was eliminated from AE playoff contention on Saturday after a 67-57 loss to Hartford. It will be the only one of nine teams to miss the conference tournament.

Binghamton has lingered near the bottom of the conference all season, shining only in home victories against Albany and Stony Brook.

It has been a rocky six years for Binghamton since head coach Tommy Dempsey took over the program before the 2012-13 season. In that time, the Bearcats have gone 47-137, including just 20-75 against AE opponents.

The Bearcats lost by 32 points when they faced the Hawks (18-11, 11-4 AE) in mid-January.

“We just weren’t able to get it done,” Dempsey said. “We did some good things, it was a 40-minute fight. I thought that we had a couple of stretches in the game where we lost our flow on offense.”

This year will be the first time since 2012 that there are nine teams

eligible for the conference playoffs.

A committee of the conference’s coaches voted unanimously last year to forgo a play-in game in favor of eliminating the ninth seed.

When asked if there was any single moment this season Binghamton could focus on moving forward, Dempsey said the team isn’t as far away from success as its record shows. He walked into the postgame press conference and blamed himself for this season’s lows.

“The thing I’m most proud of is that we went through the struggle and really stayed with it,” Dempsey said. “We played hard every night and we’ve shown some signs of a team that I still feel like could be a really good team.”

“I didn’t do a good enough job at pulling it together and I take full responsibility for that,” Dempsey added.

The Bearcats have struggled to find any kind of rhythm all season long. And against the Hawks, a torrent of fouls and unforced turnovers hammered the final nail into the coffin of any remaining playoff hopes BU held just three days after a dispiriting 21-point loss to Vermont.

Saturday’s game was supposed to offer BU some sort of amnesty from a harsh stretch of what has been an unexpectedly tough season. It was senior day, during which the program honored all seven of the graduating players.

Dempsey decided to start all five

The men’s basketball team became the first team to miss the America East Tournament under the new format.

healthy seniors.

So in the first half, the Bearcats played a jittery, almost emotional form of basketball. They kept Hartford to 1-10 from 3-point range, where they entered the game averaging 34.9 percent. Sophomore guard Fard Muhammad scored nine points in the first half, going three-for-four from beyond the arc.

BU also coughed the ball up seven times in the first half while only forcing one turnover. The team ended the game with 11

turnovers and 17 personal fouls that allowed Hartford to go 18-of23 from the foul line.

Binghamton made it to the line just four times in the entire game.

“I mean, we didn’t get to the line much,” Dempsey said. “I’m not an official, but that was a tough number for us.”

A dunk by junior forward Thomas Bruce with a little over nine minutes left in the game seemed to energize Binghamton’s bench. A free throw immediately

after gave the Bearcats a one-point lead.

Hartford, though, continued to find success driving to the basket.

A layup from Hartford junior guard Travis Weatherington put the Hawks back in the lead and sparked a 7-0 stretch that put the game out of reach for BU. Muhammad led Binghamton with 14 points and three assists. He was followed by junior guard J.C. Show, who contributed 13 points.

Bruce put up a near double-double

Noah Bressner | Editor-in-Chief

with nine points and 13 rebounds.

Redshirt junior forward John Carroll led Hartford with 23 points and 15 rebounds. He shot ninefor-11 from the free-point line.

“I was joking with the guys earlier that I was going to cry on senior night,” Muhammad said. “I was emotional, I love this team.”

The Bearcats are set to finish their season against Albany on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. from SEFCU Arena in Albany, New York.

Binghamton competes Women's lacrosse at AE Championships records second victory Armstrong, Holt earn top finishes in Boston

Kennedy's hat trick lifts BU over Lafayette

Julian Guevara

Connor Bisaillon

Pipe Dream Sports

The Binghamton men’s and women’s track and field teams came out strong at the America East Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Bearcats set both conference and school records in multiple events at the two-day championship held at Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center. The men’s team rallied to a third-place finish, while the women’s team cracked the top five with a fourth-place finish overall.

“It was a fantastic meet, the effort was as good as I’ve seen in a very long time,” said BU head coach Mike Thompson. “And I couldn’t be happier with how they did.”

On the women’s side, senior Allison Davis continued to shine on the indoor track for BU. The distance runner broke her third school record of the season on the first day, setting a program best for the women’s 5,000-meter race with a time of 16:56.35.

“The ladies got the ball rolling early and just took off from there, Thompson said.

“Everybody stepped up.”

Binghamton men’s distance runners also performed well on the first day. Sophomore Mitch Halpern, junior Thomas Cooper, senior Nate Howe and graduate student Eric Holt took first place in the distance medley relay. They collaborated for a victory after finishing second in the event last year, turning in a time of 9:59.86.

“I definitely wanted retribution for last year,” Holt said. “It’s all coming together and it feels good, it feels good to finally win this race after all those years.”

These two performances were just two of the Bearcats’ five firstplace finishes from the first day.

Another graduate student who shined in her final indoor championship was Binghamton’s long jumper Keishorea Armstrong.

She broke the meet record for the long jump with a jump of 20-4 1/2, which gave her a chance to qualify for nationals.

Contributing Writer

Pipe Dream Archives Graduate student Keishorea Armstrong broke the meet record in women’s long jump in a successful outing for track and field.

“The team really came out and gave it their all,” Armstrong said. “I was really pumped up and excited by everyone’s energy. Everyone brought their A-game and I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

BU snagged another first-place finish in a field event on the first day, this time in the pole vault.

Sophomore Samantha Beyar tied the meet record of BU alumna Sarah Haley with a jump of 12-5 1/2.

The two Binghamton teams carried their momentum into the second day of competition. The success of the women’s team was highlighted by a few breakout performances. Armstrong recorded a second-place finish in the triple jump and a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter race. This gave Armstrong a meet best of 23 points, which earned her the Women’s Coaches Award for the meet, marking Armstrong’s fourth Women’s Coaches Award win.

Another senior turned up the intensity in her last AE Indoor Championships. After winning the weight throw on the first day, Oyin Adewale rode the momentum to win the shot put and the Woman’s Field Athlete of the Meet for her performance, with 48-7 1/4 in the shot put and 56-9 1/2 in the weight

throw.

“Honestly, I’m still in la-la land, it hasn’t hit me yet,” Adewale said.

“I definitely could not have done this without my team.”

Holt also maintained a strong start from the first day, adding a first-place finish in the 1,000-meter race to his decorated career. Davis also continued to impress, breaking another school record in the second day. Her time of 9:53.06 in the 3,000-meter race was enough to break her own record of 9:54.23 that she set just last month.

Freshman Brittany Korsah put up some noteworthy numbers in her first AE Indoor Championships.

The short-distance runner came up just short of gold in the 400-meter race with a time of 55.21. The winner of the event, Albany sophomore Kiyah Owens, turned in a time of 54.78. Korsah’s fifthplace finish in the 200-meter race would earn her the Women’s Most Outstanding Rookie award.

Binghamton is set to return to the indoor track next weekend.

BU is scheduled to return to Boston for the Eastern College Athletic Conference/Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championships, beginning Friday, March 2 and ending Sunday, March 4.

Following a close one-goal defeat just days before, the Binghamton women’s lacrosse team recorded its second win of the year against Lafayette on Thursday.

The Bearcats (2-1) and the Leopards (0-2) exchanged goals in the first two minutes, setting the stage for an exciting back-and-forth game, with BU outshooting the Leopards 34-29 and ultimately capturing the victory by a score of 20-13.

After trading scores in the opening minutes, junior midfielder Rebecca Golderman found the back of the net and began a stretch of seven unanswered goals for the Bearcats. Seven different Bearcats scored during the stretch, handing Binghamton an 8-1 advantage.

Lafayette, however, appeared determined to bounce back from this deficit. The Leopards countered, scoring five total goals of their own before the first half concluded at a score of 10-5.

Teamwork was a trend throughout the half, with the Bearcats sharing the scoring effectively. Eight different players

scored Binghamton’s 10 goals in the period.

“That’s something we go in with the intent in every game and every practice is to have multiple threats out there,” said BU head coach Stephanie Allen, when asked about the number of BU players who scored on Thursday night. “We’ve got more depth than we have ever had in the past on that side of the ball.”

Lafayette struck first in the second half, finding the back of the net two minutes in. The Bearcats went on to respond with two goals minutes later as senior midfielder Stefanie Frolo scored and Golderman earned her second goal of the game, extending BU’s score to 12-6 less than three minutes into the second half.

The Leopards went on a run of its own later in the second half, scoring three straight goals before BU answered with a goal from sophomore midfielder Amelia Biancardi to put the score at 16-9 with 14 minutes left to play.

Although both teams took turns scoring up until the final buzzer, BU’s offense proved to be too much to overcome as the final score read 20-13.

“The focus was on us and what we do well,” Allen said. “The goal was to take better quality shots than we had in previous games and

I think that was well executed on all levels.”

The improved execution was evident, as the Bearcats were able to score on more than half of their total shots. Leading the scoring for them was Frolo, senior midfielder Jacqueline Kennedy and freshman attack Paige Volkmann, each logging a hat trick. The team also received contributions from redshirt senior attack Brianne Arthur, senior attack Tiffany Ryan, redshirt senior attack Jocelyn Penteck and Golderman, each contributing two scores of their own.

“We created opportunities for ourselves with the aggressive execution that we had out there,” Allen said. “It was nice to see us really create for each other on the offensive end.”

Binghamton faced Lafayette last year in its season opener and lost 17-14 in a back-and-forth contest.

This year, the outcome was different as it was able to avoid losing its second consecutive game while handing the Leopards their second loss of the season.

BU looks to pick up its third victory of the year as they play at home for the first time this season on Wednesday, Feb. 28 against Colgate. The contest is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.

Pipe Dream Archives Senior midfielder Jacqueline Kennedy posted her second straight hat trick to power women’s lacrosse to a win over Lafayette.