Spring 2018 Issue 16

Restaurant Week Pipe Dreamʼs

guide

Thursday, March 22, 2018 | Vol. XCIII, Issue 16 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com

Allison Detzel

Pipe Dream News

In pursuit of practical solutions to racism at Binghamton University, nearly 70 students, faculty, staff and community members gathered to discuss racial identities and recent events in a public deliberation on Tuesday evening.

Held in the University Union, “A Public Deliberation: The State of Race at Binghamton University” was hosted by the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), the Dean of Students Office, Residential Life and Broome Community College’s President’s Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion. Since 2014, the offices have worked in collaboration to foster conversation on racism and put forth policy in an effort to combat it.

Lea Webb, diversity specialist for DEI, said the organizers chose to hold a public deliberation because it centers on individual beliefs and experiences.

“We take this head-on in this particular structure, but we do it in a way where it doesn’t become a debate,” Webb said. “We’re hoping that you will connect with other folks here in the room, share your experiences, your thoughts and your perspectives.”

Two trained facilitators were seated at each table and guided participants through four frames of discussion surrounding race at BU, which originated from the 2015 Campus Climate Survey and past deliberations. The four topics included the psychological impact of racism, the limited knowledge of policies to help stop racism from occurring, the idea that racism arises due to the lack of diversity in staff, faculty, administration and students and the lack of a direct conversation about race relations on campus.

The session discussions touched on recent incidents

SEE RACE PAGE 2

The Free Word on Campus Since 1946

Toussaint named SA president

Public forum highlights 'State of Race' Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hosts student, community discussion

See pages 5 to 7

Elections by the numbers First-choice votes 37.78 % Michael Wuest

48.09 % Jerry Toussaint

12.04 % Rachel Anszelowicz

Write-in %2.10

2018

2,855 2017

3,063 22.47 %

2016

20.85 %

Total Voters

2,735 20.27 %

+% of undergraduate votes These results will not be considered official until they are certified by SA Congress on Monday, March 26.

Undergraduate activity fee will remain mandatory Sasha Hupka News Editor

The results are in, and the Student Association (SA) has a new executive board for the 2018-19 academic year.

Almost 3,000 students voted in the election, held from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20.

Jerry Toussaint, a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, will replace current SA President Jermel McClure next fall.

Toussaint received endorsements from College-in-the-Woods, Pipe Dream and several multicultural organizations, and currently serves as chief of staff in the SA president’s office.

Roughly 48 percent of voters chose Jerry Toussaint as their first choice. His two opponents, Michael Wuest, a junior double-majoring in history and philosophy, politics and law, and Rachel Anszelowicz, a sophomore triple-majoring in philosophy, politics and law, philosophy and classical and Near Eastern studies, received 988 votes and 315 votes, respectively.

Except for president, all other positions were uncontested.

Michelle Dao, a junior majoring in business administration, will serve as next year’s executive vice

president after garnering 2,218 votes. Kevin Darrell, a junior double-majoring in accounting and mathematics, will assume the vice president for finance position with 2,855 votes, and Andy JeanBaptiste, a junior double-majoring in economics and philosophy, politics and law, won the vice president for multicultural affairs position with 2,310 votes. Courtney Mitchell, a junior majoring in computer science, received 2,260 votes, and will begin his new position as vice president for programming next fall.

Out of the uncontested positions, Doug Wehbe, a junior majoring in computer science, had the closest race, winning the vice president for academic affairs position with 1,492 votes. Write-in candidates earned 802 votes — roughly 35 percent.

Students also voted to make the undergraduate activity fee mandatory in a referendum.

The fee, which funds Student Association groups and businesses such as Off Campus College Transport and Harpur’s Ferry student ambulance, will be voted on again in 2020.

Faculty, staff evaluate final CIO candidates Search committee conducts four public interviews Gillian Kenah News Intern

Sasha Hupka | News Editor Carolyn Singer, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, casts her mock ballot on the Spine at the Democracy Walk.

Students criticize voting laws Roosevelt Institute, NYPIRG partner for Democracy Walk Michael Levinstein Pipe Dream News

As midterm elections draw closer, posters questioning the impact of New York’s voting laws on voter turnout filled the Spine on Wednesday.

The posters were part of the Roosevelt Institute’s efforts for voting reform in New York as it hosted its

Democracy Walk. Co-sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement, the Andrew Goodman Foundation and the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), the walk was a way for members to promote critical issues.

The Roosevelt Institute, a policy group on campus for undergraduate students that lobbies for better health care, education and economic development in the Binghamton area, has also advocated for funding substance abuse prevention programs in Broome County and promoting initiatives for

ARTS & CULTURE

Hinman Production Company updates a classic tale to tackle contemporary issues,

See page 8

student entrepreneurs to remain in Binghamton.

Brianna Cea, the president of the Roosevelt Institute and a senior double-majoring in political science and philosophy, politics and law, wrote in an email that lobbying for various issues is extremely important because of the upcoming midterms. Cea is also the Southern Tier district leader for the Let NY Vote coalition, a statewide organization of grass-roots groups that

SEE WALK PAGE 2

The search for a Binghamton University’s new associate vice president and chief information officer (CIO) will come to a close within the next few weeks.

Over the past week, a search committee has been interviewing final candidates for the position, which was left open after Sharon Pitt, the University’s previous CIO, was named vice president for information technologies at the University of Delaware in late October. Pitt had served as BU’s CIO for almost three years.

Curtis Kendrick, the chair of the CIO search committee and the dean of libraries at BU, wrote in an email that the University is looking for a candidate who is experienced, enthusiastic and able to communicate complex technological jargon to nontechnical audiences.

“The CIO will be a dynamic leader who combines a service orientation with an energy and enthusiasm towards innovation,” Kendrick wrote in an email. “They should have an interest and knowledge of leading edge information technology and an appreciation of technology’s potential to facilitate teaching, learning and research.”

The CIO will be tasked with leading BU’s Information Technology Services (ITS), facilitating effective teaching and cutting-edge research, managing the ITS

OPINIONS

budget and collaborating with the SUNY Information Technology organization to take advantage of available resources, according to the University’s job posting.

Kendrick said BU needs to fill the CIO position so ITS can begin new initiatives.

“The position needs to be filled to not only lead Information Technology Services (ITS) but also help provide leadership and direction University-wide for strategic technology initiatives,” Kendrick wrote.

According to Logan Robinson, BU’s communications manager, the University retained Valletta Ritson & Company, a search firm, to find qualified candidates for the CIO position. Robinson said BU has previously used the firm to find possible candidates for the CIO position, as well as other administrative positions within ITS. The University has selected four final candidates who were publicly interviewed.

At the interviews, ITS faculty could directly ask candidates their questions.

Candidates included Michael Ospitale, who is currently the senior director of Stony Brook University’s Division of Information Technology operations.

According to Ospitale, his skill set and past experience could benefit upcoming projects at BU. “I’m excited about your initiatives, the expansion of the health science program, expansion of the campus network, as well as the new data science initiative,” Ospitale said. “All things of which I have had experience with in my past with direct experience in implementing and leading

SEE CIO PAGE 2

SPORTS

Stay in shape over spring break with these workouts,

Contributing columnist Sarah Molano calls for publications to take accountability,

Women’s basketball falls to Yale in WBI Quarterfinals,

Softball looks to rebound at UMBC Retriever Classic,

See bupipedream.com/ac

See page 10

See page 12

See page 12

2

NEWS

bupipedream.com | March 22, 2018

Fair promotes health and wellness Students, faculty discuss racism within University

More than 70 vendors tabled at annual event Ariana Benhuri

Contributing Writer

At Binghamton University’s 12th annual Health Fair, students explored the benefits of healthy practices, personal awareness and mental and physical well-being.

The fair, which was held on Wednesday, March 21 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the East Gym, was the result of a partnership between Binghamton University Dining Services (BUDS), Campus Recreation and B-Healthy, the Healthy Campus Initiative.

Alexa Schmidt, registered dietitian for BUDS, helped organize the event with Laura Cichostepski, assistant director of marketing for Campus Recreation. Schmidt said the Health Fair incorporates and promotes the many factors that can help students conduct a healthy lifestyle.

“We want people to walk with tips and tools, and to be inspired,” Schmidt said. “There are so many different ways to improve your way of life — like keeping plants in your room. It’s not just about fitness and eating right.”

Over 70 vendors were scattered across the East Gym, offering resources that students can take advantage of both on campus and around Broome County. Several different University-affiliated organizations were at the event, including the Binghamton Ballroom Dance Association, the Pre-Medical Association and the Taekwondo Club.

Students could also learn more about beneficial off-campus groups and clubs in the area, such as JAM Fitness Studio, Tri-City Hearing, the Southern Tier Aids Program and Broome Triathlon Club.

“There are activities and options out there for everyone, it’s

STATE FROM PAGE 1

Jacob Hanna | Staff Photographer Kara Perez, the executive chef for Binghamton University Dining Services, cuts up some vegetables at the 12th annual Health Fair in the East Gym.

all about just finding out what’s right for you,” Schmidt said.

At the fair, Decker Student Health Services discussed their Real Education About College Health (REACH) program as part of BU’s Health Promotion and Prevention Services. With peer educators talking to students all over campus, REACH educates students on important college topics, such as alcohol risk reduction, stress management and safe sex. Attendees could get colorful T-shirts, condoms, safesex packets and pins encouraging

REACH’s cause.

Additionally, BUDS hosted a number of offerings to promote healthy eating. Free samplings of foods like cauliflower rice, quinoa and locally grown cucumbers were handed out, and attendees could make their own salad. A licensed massage therapist was also in attendance, offering massages and aromatherapy.

According to Danielle Lerner, a sophomore majoring in business administration, the fair taught her ways she can live a healthier lifestyle.

“I always wanted to improve my way of life and become more active, and now I know all the ways I can achieve my goal,” Lerner said.

“I don’t even know where to start, there’s just so many options.”

Noah Meyers, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said he plans to come to the fair again next year.

“Who knew this fair would have so much to offer, and for so many different kinds of people?”

Meyers said. “It makes me happy to know that it’s not just limited to students.”

on campus, including a Binghamton Review article published last week, which many considered homophobic, and an email sent by Victor Skormin, professor of electrical and computer engineering, which many called racist. Ideas for preventing future incidents were proposed, including a mandated faculty, staff and student training session on how to handle racist incidents at BU. Webb said the ideas generated from the event will be added to a policy brief on race relations on campus that will be presented to the University in fall 2018.

While the event started with a full room, by the two-hour mark, attendance dwindled down to around 20 students.

Louis LaSpina, a junior double-majoring in psychology and human development, said he was disappointed in the deliberation.

“A lot of this event, unfortunately, individualizes many of the systemic and institutional issues that we have and even creates this dichotomy where we allow for the administration to take a good cop versus bad cop role,” LaSpina said. “The DEI often falls into this role of bad cop where they have to clean up the messes of [the administration’s] lack of transparency and overall, lack of accountability.”

LaSpina said he believes the organizers should focus

on creating events that would serve as an educational and disciplinary opportunity for those who display racist behavior at BU. “One of the main things is having these sort of events, but having them in a way that isn’t going to attract the same people that are interested in these events,” LaSpina said. “So creating accountability for when professors, staff or students are found to have committed explicitly or covertly racist or discriminatory actions, being forced as a means of repercussion to attend these sorts of training sessions.”

University President Harvey Stenger and Dean of Students April Thompson were not present at the meeting.

Abby Melillo, an undeclared freshman, said she enjoyed the discussions in her small group, but felt the format could be improved.

“There was a lot of openness in sharing opinions, but it definitely could have been better and more directed in addressing potential solutions,” Melillo said. “But I think it’s a great starting point for the future.”

According to Webb, the deliberation aimed to come up with policy and practical solutions to a variety of wideranging problems and was not strictly a space to discuss recent issues. But she said there may need to be a forum in the future where people can discuss specific racist incidents.

9 ROUNDTRIPS A DAY

TO NYC! DAILY ROUNDTRIPS TO WESTCHESTER, QUEENS AND LONG ISLAND!

Theo Mason | Contributing Photographer Amy Berg was the second of four candidates for the CIO position to be publicly interviewed. Her interview took place on Monday in UUW-325 at 3 p.m.

University seeks new CIO CIO FROM PAGE 1

Great Student Fares, EXPRESS buses & FREE ON-CAMPUS PICKUPS ON FRIDAYS! ONLINE LIKE US ON FACEBOOK TICKETING REFUNDABLE

TICKETS

follow us on Twitter

FREE WI-FI Join Fre e!

VIP STUDENT TRAVEL CLUB www.Shortlinebus.com

FOR TICKETS & INFORMATION

BINGHAMTON BUS TERMINAL Chenango & Henry Street, Binghamton 607-722-7553

teams or working together in acquisition of resources for projects of that nature.”

During the candidate interviews, ITS faculty raised concerns about how the new CIO would allow faculty to voice

their opinions on developing initiatives. Ospitale encouraged an open communication process where faculty can add to and create projects.

“It is a bottom-up approach to filling in the project portfolio and the project initiatives of the University,” Ospitale said. “That’s

not to say that some of those initiatives don’t come from the top, or come from various levels within the organization and the institution, but it is a truly open and transparent process that opens to the whole campus community to have a voice in the conversation.”

Groups call for voter reform WALK FROM PAGE 1 fights for the modernization of New York’s voting laws. According to Cea, representatives like State Sen. Fred Akshar, who serves New York’s 52nd district, are in a position to make major changes this year.

“Since Senator Fred Akshar is Binghamton University’s representative in the NY State Senate and the chair of the Elections Committee, we are in an important position to advocate for voter reform this year,” Cea wrote in an email to Pipe Dream. “Rather than deliver a few hundred signatures to Akshar’s office in support of early voting and voter reform, I had thought of using the Spine as a symbolic ‘walk to the ballot box.’”

As students walked along the Spine, they learned about New

York’s voter laws and cast a mock vote for early voting at the end.

The mock ballots asked voters if the state should make voting fair and accessible for all New Yorkers and whether New York should have early voting. The box of ballots and posters will be delivered to Akshar’s office.

Senegal Mabry, the president of NYPIRG at BU and a junior majoring in political science, said he helped volunteer at the event to register people to vote.

“Power comes from voting,” Mabry said. “You should be out here voting, you should be out here participating in civic life as much as possible, so that you can make your society a better place.”

Rachel DiSibio, a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, registered to vote at Mabry’s table. According to DiSibio, she is especially

interested in voting this year to elect candidates that care about women and diversity.

“I really want to vote in the midterms because I think it’s really important to get more women elected into our government,” DiSibio said. “I think it’s ridiculous that all of these decisions about women’s health are being made by men, so I really wanted to register.”

According to Zuzu BoomerKnapp, a senior double-majoring in English and anthropology, it is crucial for young people to vote.

“I think that voting is especially important for young people because this is the climate that we are going to be growing up into, this is the climate we are getting jobs in and starting families in, so it’s really important to have that say in what you’re doing,” Boomer-Knapp said.

PAGE III Thursday, March 2018 Thursday, Thursday, Monday, Monday, September October October April 3,22, 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

Activism with Azar

Pipe Line LOCAL NEWS

STATE NEWS

Restaurant owner fails to pay $59K in sales tax

New York pension fund aims to diversify corporate board

The Buffalo Head Bar and Grill in Conklin underreported restaurant sales by $747,000 from June 2011 to November 2015, according to WBNG. Restaurant owner Robert Niederriter, 52, was required to report taxable sales in 18 different reports, but he only filed two, failing to pay $59,789.01 in sales tax. Niederriter pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny in Broome County Court on March 14. On Wednesday, Niederitter pleaded guilty to petit larceny in Conklin Town Court.

New York state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who is in charge of the state’s $209 billion public pension fund, announced on Wednesday that the fund will be used to vote against board directors up for re-election at companies without any women on their boards, according to U.S. News and World Report. Companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Leucadia National, Packaging Corporation of America and PulteGroup have agreed to include gender and racial diversity when searching for board candidates.

weB: bupipedream.com

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

Kevin Paredes | Photography Editor Assi Azar, an LGBTQ rights activist and the host of Israel’s Big Brother, speaks to students about international LGBTQ issues at a lecture on Wednesday evening.

sports editor* Samuel Ditchek sports@bupipedream.com asst. sports editors Evan Cole Grace Palumbo

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

Jammin’ out SUNDAY, March 18, 5:30 a.m. — Officers responded to a noise complaint in Cleveland Hall of Hinman College.

According to Residential Life staff, loud music could be heard through the open window in the lounge at the end of the hallway. ResLife staff told officers that they believed the noise was coming from a group of residents who had been disrespectful and aggressive toward them before. Upon arriving at the residents’ suite, officers realized that the music was not coming from the suite, but from somewhere outside the building. When exiting the residence hall, officers observed a gray vehicle in Parking Lot L that appeared to be the source of the noise. The occupants of the vehicle were passed out inside. Officers woke up the occupants and identified them as 20-year-old males. According to the occupants, they had gotten in trouble for playing loud music in their suite the other day and come out to the parking lot to listen without disturbing others. They said they had just returned from a bar in Downtown Binghamton and had

Sasha Hupka News Editor

asst. photography editor Rebecca Kiss

accidentally fallen asleep. Officers advised the males that the music was still very loud and could be heard inside the building. The males agreed to turn off the music and go to bed.

Unknown how long…

MONDAY, March 19, 11:01 p.m. — A 31-year-old female contacted UPD after she noticed a large penis etched in the snow on the co-rec field in Mountainview College. The female told officers that she wanted to report it before students saw it. Officers could not determine how long the drawing had been on the field, however, the shape was frozen in place. Because the snow was iced over, the snow around the drawing was removed and the shape was changed to something less explicit.

Bubble Wrap TUESDAY, March 20, 8:13 p.m. — A ResLife employee in O’Connor Hall of Dickinson Community contacted police after an interactive bulletin board on the first floor of the building was damaged. According to the employee, a square of Bubble Wrap was removed from the board sometime between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. The employee said she felt “silly” reporting the incident to UPD, but said “something should be done” to resolve the situation.

“It looks as though the SRO [school resource officer] did exactly what the SRO is trained to do, and yet we still have a tragic loss of life. We still have somebody in critical condition. And we have students at the school and staff at the school impacted.”

— James Scott Smith, the superintendent of St. Mary’s County public schools, on Tuesday’s shooting at Great Mills High School in Maryland where a school resource officer fatally wounded a gunman who shot two students.

Taken every day, PrEP can keep you free from HIV. You can reduce your chance of getting HIV if you use Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. PrEP can stop HIV from taking hold and spreading throughout your body.

Daily PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by more than 90 percent. Among people who inject drugs, by more than 70 percent.

Contact UHS Binghamton Primary Care at 762-3300.

Our Navigator will set up an appointment and assist you with insurance and prescription information.

A collaborative program of UHS Binghamton Primary Care, and the Broome County Health Department.

photography editor* Kevin E. Paredes photo@bupipedream.com

fun editor* Nate Walker fun@bupipedream.com

design Manager* Cory Bremer design@bupipedream.com design assts.

Khaled Pendleton Goaming Lyu Copy desk Chief* Bridget McCusker copy@bupipedream.com asst. Copy desk Chief Sarah Molano digital editor Alana B. Epstein digital@bupipedream.com newsrooM teChnology Manager* Henry Zheng tech@bupipedream.com asst. newsrooM teCh. Manager Michelle Tan editorial artist Annabeth Sloan

Business Manager* Maryam Soomro business@bupipedream.com distriBution Manager Laura Staff distribution@bupipedream.com

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

Pipe Dream is published Mondays and Thursdays while classes are in session during the fall and spring semesters, except during finals weeks and academic breaks.

The content on the Opinions page with bylines represent the views of those authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Pipe Dream Executive Board.

The content of advertisements do not necessarily reflect the views of the Pipe Dream Executive Board.

We reserve the right to reject ads for any reason.

All letters submitted for publication must include the author's name, year and major. Please limit letters to the editor to 400 words and guest columns to 750 words. Pipe Dream reserves the right to edit submissions, and does not guarantee publication. All submissions become property of Pipe Dream. Guest column submissions may be emailed to the opinions editor at opinions@bupipedream.com, and all letters to the editor may be sent to editor@bupipedream.com. © Pipe Dream 2018

stabilizing:hot

pudding:destabilizing

4

NEWS

bupipedream.com | March 22, 2018

Local officials speak out against SOTA initiative NYC homeless relocation program burdens Broome County, Garnar says Hannah Walter

Pipe Dream News

In August 2017, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio enacted the Special One Time Assistance (SOTA) program to help curb the city’s growing homelessness.

According to Steven Banks, New York City’s Department of Social Services commissioner, the policy, which falls under the city’s Department of Social Services, helps dispossessed city residents transition into permanent housing both inside and outside the five boroughs. But Broome County Executive Jason Garnar said SOTA is being used to illegally move homeless people to various upstate locations to move the financial burden from the city onto other counties.

Garnar spoke out against the program in a statement released on March 8. In the statement, Garnar threatened to take legal action in order to stop the program.

“Recipients of this program

have been relocated from NYC to upstate NY, then abandoned

by NYC’s [Human Resources Administration],” Garnar said in the statement. “After being relocated by NYC, these individuals seek medical, food, cash and other forms of public assistance from the targeted county. That is illegal and could have a significant impact on the taxpayers of Broome County.”

SOTA is available to individuals in the shelter system who show economic promise. The service will compensate their rent for a year, regardless of the home’s location, under the assumption that the resident will be able to continue payments after the grace period is over.

Garnar cited five cases in which a landlord was paid one year’s worth of rent upfront by the city’s government. Yet, in contradiction to the program’s own eligibility requirements, Garnar said he believes these citizens are being moved out before they secure a job or the means to afford future

rent payment for their new homes. According to Garnar, the policy violates New York state’s Social Services Law 148, which addresses the displacement of residents to avoid responsibility of assistance or personal welfare.

Howard Schultz, an attorney for the Broome County Law Department, said these five families could potentially end up needing assistance from the county.

“These five families that have come up here were on long-term assistance within the city, and the city didn’t do what they needed to do to fix that situation,” Schultz said. “So the likelihood is, it is very foreseeable after the 12 months they will also be seeking rental assistance from Broome County.”

Garnar’s claims have sparked news stories from papers like the New York Post, and various administrative officials have commented on the matter.

Banks responded to Garnar’s allegations on March 13 in a letter

addressed to Nancy Williams- these residents are free to move Frank, commissioner of Broome in and out of whatever county they please. The message also highlighted that New York City shelters are housing 53 individuals, or 20 households, whose last addresses were in Broome County.

“Like the five families you cite who chose to relocate from New York City to Broome County, the 20 Broome County households in the New York City shelter system exercised their rights to travel outside of Broome County,” Banks wrote.

The same day Banks responded to the allegations, Garnar released another statement.

“It is clear that New York City has no intent to stop sending people to Broome County through Jason Garnar, this cynical and illegal program,” Broome County Executive Garnar’s statement said. “We will see them in court.”

County’s Department of Social Garnar is not the only local Services. The letter brought up politician speaking out against the court cases determining that program. State Assemblywoman an individual has the right to Donna Lupardo also published a travel, with the subtext that statement in a letter to Samuel

“It is clear that New York City has no intent to stop sending people to Broome County through this cynical and illegal program”

Roberts, the commissioner of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance. In the letter, Lupardo asked Roberts to clarify whether these families have a connection with Broome County and what fiscal impact the situation could have on the counties the families are being relocated to.

In a statement, State Sen. Fred Akshar also voiced his disapproval of SOTA and New York City’s response, and committed to protecting Broome County.

Akshar urged New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to launch an investigation into the legality of the practice.

Schneiderman has not released a statement.

“I will not allow Bill de Blasio to shift his responsibilities onto the people of my district,” Akshar said. “I pledge to the people of Broome County and the Southern Tier that I will stand up for them and work to protect their interests from the cowardice of Bill de Blasio and his administration.”

Pipe Dream presents

Restaurant Week It’s every student and local resident’s favorite time of year: Binghamton Restaurant Week. Restaurant Week is a biannual event, during which restaurants in the city offer fixed-price, three-course meals for lunch and/or dinner. For this Restaurant Week, our staff has sampled old favorites like The Lost Dog Cafe and The Shop, as well as newer spots like Craft, to create a guide for different budgets and tastes. Take advantage of these deals as an excuse to get Downtown — and to see all that the city of Binghamton has to offer beyond State Street — before you leave for spring break. Restaurant Week runs until Thursday, March 29.

Garage Kara Jillian Brown

Assistant Arts & Culture Editor The first time I visited Garage Taco Bar in December 2015, I left less than impressed. I’m not sure what I ordered, but I know it was a taco and that I didn’t like it. During each subsequent visit, I’ve avoided tacos and developed a loving, committed relationship with the cauliflower quesadilla.

But the cauliflower quesadilla wasn’t on its Restaurant Week menu, so I was forced to step out of my comfort zone — and I’m so happy I did.

Garage’s Restaurant Week menu offers a three-course lunch for $12 and a three-course dinner for $20. My friend Kevin and I went for dinner. For lunch and dinner, the options for the first

course, which is more like a side served with the second course, are the same: lime citrus salad, street corn, chips with pico de gallo and the soup of the day.

When I went, the soup of the day was verde corn.

I ordered the chips and pico de gallo, and Kevin ordered the street corn. As usual, the chips were delicious. Garage’s pico de gallo is a mild, fresh tomato salsa paired with delicious house-made chips. The street corn is a bowl of corn topped with cheese and chili seasoning. When it arrived, I was surprised that it was loose corn and not corn on the cob, which Kevin said also surprised him the first time he got it. He said the flavors were reminiscent of elote, which is a Mexican-style corn on the cob, and that although the

overt moisture of the corn threw him off, it was still enjoyable.

For dinner, the choices are cauliflower tacos, chicken fajitas, steak tacos and the daily special tacos, which were chorizo this night. I was tempted to stay close to my favorite and order the cauliflower tacos, but instead I ordered the chicken fajitas. Contrary to the name, the chicken fajitas are tacos.

My waitress clarified that the chicken and peppers are cooked and seasoned in the fajita style, but made into a taco. I went in with low expectations, so when it came and I loved it, it seemed even more delicious. This taco comes with chicken, onions, peppers, crema (a mayonnaisebased sauce with cilantro and lime juice), cilantro and radish.

I got the radish on the side and ate it separately. The meat was tender and juicy, and the peppers and onions were perfect — not too crunchy, but not too soft. All the flavors came together and created a delicious meal.

To add a bit of heat to our meals, Kevin and I both used hot sauce. Garage offers an extra extra hot sauce, a chili habanero hot sauce, a chipotle hot sauce and sriracha. The extra extra hot is indeed very hot — I have a medium-high tolerance for heat, and when I tasted a bit on my fork it lit my mouth on fire for a solid five minutes. I also tasted the chipotle sauce, which tasted like a spicy-sweet barbecue hot sauce.

Both Kevin and I decided on the chili habanero. Even if you’re good with spice, we recommend

going light because these sauces pack a serious punch.

For the third course, you can choose to either have a drink with your meal — the house margarita or Modelo (an authentic Mexican beer) — or a cheesecake burrito as dessert. Kevin got the Modelo and said that it was light and paired well with his meal. I ordered the cheesecake burrito and it was easily one of the best desserts I’ve had in a while.

It’s a fried burrito stuffed with cheesecake, rolled in cinnamon, sugar and honey and topped with whipped cream. The creaminess of the cheesecake juxtaposed with the crunchy fried burrito was incredibly satisfying.

If you’re looking for a relaxed atmosphere and a great meal, look no further than Garage.

appease the palates of regulars who know what they want before they even sit down. Your choices, however, depend on whether you decide to stop by for lunch or dinner, as the dinner menu boasts a little more variety.

To start off my dinner, I ordered the lobster slider — one of the new additions to the Restaurant Week dinner menu — and to say it was delicious would be an understatement. The bun was warm and perfectly toasted, while the lobster salad filling in between had a freshly balanced blend of mayo and lobster meat with a subtle hint of scallion and coleslaw cabbage that left a nice, mildly sweet

aftertaste in my mouth. The plate was finished off with a small side of house chips. The only drawback to this seafood delight was its portion size: a single slider was finished in three bites.

Being a lover of seafood, for my second course, I ordered the Citrea Pizza: a white pie with shrimp, jalapeños, lemon and chives. While the baked shrimp, lemon skins and chives proved to be a surprising and enjoyable combination, the flavor of the pizza as a whole lacked a satisfying punch. The heat of the jalapeños was a zesty addition, but I still found myself constantly reaching for garlic powder and Parmesan

cheese to add more flavor. The crust of the pizza, though at first soft and doughy, leaned a little toward the thick and rubbery side as it started to cool down, with the center almost too thin to hold on to its toppings.

For dessert, I sampled the zeppoles and the cannolis.

The cannolis were a little underwhelming to look at. Again, the main issue here was the portion size; I was served two cannolis that were each the size of my index finger. The taste, however, made up for the look of the dish, with crispy outer shells, dark chocolate chips and ricotta filling.

The highlight of the zeppoles was the Nutella drizzle on the top. No one can deny Nutella, and when it’s on fried dough, the will to keep from scarfing down the entire bowl in one bite is a task fit for champions.

Citrea, for the most part, has got something good going.

Despite a few points against my meal, I enjoyed it enough to want to come back a second time and perhaps try something different, maybe another pizza. The Restaurant Week menu is good, and the service and atmosphere are warm and welcoming, but for $25, the portion sizes could be a bit bigger.

menu, but you’ll be able to hit the highlights. The restaurant is offering lunch for $12 and dinner for $20, the latter of which we tried on the first day of Craft’s first Restaurant Week.

For dinner, guests can choose two sliders, one side and one dessert. We ordered the Craft slider, the Blue Monday, the Crispy Chix and the Korean Pork Belly, with house fries and the Chop’t BLT salad with white balsamic vinaigrette on the side.

Each of the sliders had its own merits, and the opportunity to choose two per order provides the opportunity to play it safe and try something new. The

Craft slider is an elevated version of a fast food-like burger with Craft burger sauce. The burger sauce is mayonnaise-based but highlighted by the restaurant’s house beer, Craft All Day, brewed

by Bear Tree Brew Co. in Port Crane, New York. All of the sauces on the sliders are made in-house with different twists on classic dips and all can be ordered on the side — perfect accents for the house fries or Tater Tots.

The other sliders we sampled were just as delicious. The Crispy Chix slider was buttermilkflavored, but not heavy; it reminded us of something that might be served at Social on

State. The Blue Monday slider featured creamy blue cheese, which was balanced by a sweet barbecue sauce also highlighted by the house beer. We also tried the Korean Pork Belly slider, which had a surprising kick countered by cool cucumbers.

The dessert options were less varied than the slider options, with only edible chocolate chip cookie dough and the Cookiez & Cream sundae to choose from. The cookie dough played into the foodie trends Craft is trying to match with its overthe-top milkshakes, but it was challenging to eat with a plastic spoon and was cloyingly sweet.

The sundae provided a hint of the restaurant’s popular shakes.

Jay Pisculli, the head chef at Social at State and one of the men behind Craft, said that the new restaurant goes through about 30 gallons of ice cream per day and has sold around 2,000 milkshakes since its opening.

If you don’t want to venture off the Restaurant Week menu for an $8 milkshake, the sundae is your best bet.

With small portions made up for by punches of inventive flavor, Craft left us satisfied but not overstuffed. If you’re able to get a table this Restaurant Week, it’s well worth the wait.

Citrea Renelle Pereira

Contributing Writer While Citrea Restaurant and Bar features river views, it really is the restaurant’s wood-fired oven pizza that draws people in — it’s the only restaurant with such a feature in the Downtown Binghamton area.

For Restaurant Week, Citrea is offering a three-course meal at the price of $12 and $25 for lunch and dinner, respectively. This year for Restaurant Week, in addition to its popular specialty pizzas, the restaurant has added new features to its menu, along with a few old classics to tickle not only the taste buds of new patrons, but also

Craft Georgia Westbrook Arts & Culture Editor

Craft, the newest restaurant to open in Downtown Binghamton, has been welcoming customers for just over two weeks. The vibe of the restaurant is like Buffalo Wild Wings meets a laid-back version of Craft’s sister restaurant, Social on State. Though it is owned by the same team, the food at Craft is only like Social on State in the size of its portions. Rather than tapas, however, Craft specializes in sliders.

This Restaurant Week, Craft is serving only its milkshakes, beer list and Restaurant Week

6

ARTS & CULTURE

bupipedream.com | March 22, 2018

South City Publick House Sarah Buerker Staff Writer

South City Publick House has been a familiar spot ever since I moved to Downtown Binghamton.

Just across the street from Number 5 and Whole in the Wall, the family-friendly gastropub is the perfect place to try some New American dishes at a cozy Binghamton staple.

This South Side gastropub — a bar that has an equal emphasis on food and drinks — has universal appeal. When I went, the dining room was filled with the quiet buzz of chipper conversations between students, families and locals at the bar. My photographer, Kelly, and I went for dinner and sat at the front of the dining room, atop the stage where they sometimes host live music performances.

The atmosphere provides a perfect place to sit back and relax with friends or to dress up to celebrate a birthday.

For Restaurant Week, South City Publick House offers a $12 three-course lunch and a $25 three-course dinner, each with a diverse sampling of the eclectic menu. For the appetizer, you can order the housemade French onion soup, the pub salad or a flatbread with avocado and bacon.

I ordered the French onion soup and Kelly ordered the flatbread.

The soup was a run-of-the-mill French onion soup, but a classic starter nonetheless. While the flatbread sounded good on paper, it was bland and fell short of expectations.

For the main course, South City offers up a hearty lineup: shrimp or chicken and chorizo

tortellini marinara, Greek chicken, seafood paella, Brazilian steak kebabs or eggplant parmigiana. Each comes with a choice of six sides. Kelly ordered the shrimp chorizo tortellini marinara, which our waitress said is Mayor Rich David’s favorite dish, and I ordered the Brazilian steak kebabs. The waitress enthusiastically recommended the sauteed spinach for a side, so we both opted to try it. The Brazilian steak kebabs were majestically plated — it looked like one of those dishes you see go by at a restaurant and think, “Oh, what’s that?” The kebab was stacked with steak, green peppers and onions, all cooked to perfection, on top of wild rice. While the plating was beautiful, this also tasted very plain and basic. On the bright side, the generous portion of

steak, rice and vegetables left me enough to take home for lunch the next day. The shrimp chorizo tortellini marinara had a perfect pasta-to-sauce ratio, and the sauce packed a delightful and surprising kick. The spinach was perfectly seasoned with garlic and salt, making it a pleasant pairing to complement both of our meals.

For dessert, we had the choice between a cheesecake parfait, peanut butter pie and glutenfree rice pudding. Kelly, being a big fan of cheesecake, ordered the parfait and I ordered the rice pudding. The rice pudding was a perfect, sweet ending to the savory dishes we’d been enjoying all night without being overbearingly sweet. The pudding was topped with a feathery whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon.

The light cheesecake parfait

complemented the hearty meals we’d had before, offering a familiar sweet taste without being quite as heavy.

After polishing off our desserts, wrapping up our leftovers and thanking our waitress, we walked around to get a closer look at the snapshots lining the exposed brick in the dining area. The frames held snapshots from the city of Binghamton during the early 20th century. They depicted the construction of the building that now houses the restaurant, an advertisement for a 1911 carnival and other pieces that highlight the rich local history of the city.

The atmosphere and friendly service is by far the best part of South City — while nothing was incredibly disappointing, there were no standout dishes that left me wanting more.

For the main course, we both, without much thought, ordered the rigatoni a la vodka because we’ve been to the Lost Dog before and the dish left a lasting impression on us. It was, of course, delicious in every way.

From the perfectly cooked pasta to the vodka sauce that puts all others I’ve tasted to shame, I could find no fault with this dish.

For something that sounds quite simple, the rigatoni is anything but. The chefs have managed to create layers of flavor within the sauce that elevate the dish to a higher level than similar ones.

If you’ve never experienced it for yourself, I highly recommend trying it the next time you’re Downtown. Seeing as how the menu is adapted for Restaurant Week, I expected the portions to

be smaller, but this was not the case. The portions were still fairly large, and I wasn’t able to finish mine because I knew a dessert was coming. If you don’t fancy pasta, no worries. The menu also features chicken or tofu curry, churrasco steak and potatoes and “Fancy Mac” — a macaroni and cheese with mushrooms, truffle oil and balsamic glaze.

When the time came to order dessert, Rebecca chose the springtime carrot cake with walnuts and cream cheese frosting, while I decided to go for the flourless chocolate torte.

Rebecca’s cake came out looking like a hearty homemade dish, so when my dessert came out and was a significantly smaller slice, I was a bit disappointed — until I took a bite. Once I tasted it I

understood why it was so small: It was soft, dense and the richest chocolate confection I’ve ever tasted. If you aren’t a fan of rich desserts, I don’t recommend this dish. There is also an upside-down vanilla rainbow cake on the menu.

Besides having an array of foods inspired by different regions of the world, the Lost Dog Cafe also has a friendly and attentive staff — shoutout to our waitress Michelle — and an atmosphere that immediately puts you at ease and allows you to thoroughly enjoy your time there. There are a variety of gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options catering to the needs of anyone who may walk through its door. If the normal price of having dinner at the Lost Dog has deterred you from going before, now is the time to go.

dessert option for a total of $12.

To start, I ordered the redskin potato salad and despite not being the biggest fan of potato salad, macaroni salad and things of that family, I was instantly a fan of the sour cream-based spud dish.

Other options for sides included German potato salad, which has more of a sweet taste, macaroni salad and Greek pasta.

For my entree, I chose the Buffalo Soldier, one of four sandwiches on the menu. The sandwich tastes exactly how it sounds. Strong like a soldier, the Buffalo sauce gives the sandwich a necessary kick.

The sandwich consists of a

Buffalo chicken cutlet and Buffalo turkey deli meat draped with provolone. Despite the amount of Buffalo flavor, the spice level is limited and very manageable if you’re not a fan of hot dishes. The spice was also nicely balanced with the flakiness of the bread.

You can choose to have your sandwich on various types of bread including plain, cheese and oregano. Feeling a little crazy, I chose the oregano bread that complemented the Buffalo sauce of the sandwich well, but plain probably would have been the better option.

Overall, the flakiness of the bread matched with the Buffalo

flavoring and chicken and turkey made for a warm, delicious lunch.

Other sandwich options include the Chuckster, one of the deli’s signature sandwiches that consists of bacon, turkey and chicken topped with mayo, barbecue sauce, lettuce and tomato.

For dessert, there were three options including a fudge brownie, chocolate chip cookie and a fruit turnover. After trying the fudge brownie and the rather large chocolate chip cookie, I was extremely content. The fudge brownie had a unique, rich frosting topped with walnuts that was perfectly sweet.

While I was pleased with my meal, I do wish there had been more varied entree options, including a vegetarian one. Still, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this deli.

In addition to a delicious meal, the staff was very friendly and welcoming, as well as patient when my indecisive tendencies kicked in. The atmosphere was casual and customers came and went with ease.

Its fast service, pleasant atmosphere and quality sandwiches make Old World Deli the hidden gem of Court Street, perfect for a midday meal in my mediocre life.

was brought out, my dining partner and I both delighted in its vibrant orange color. The unique mix of flavors that had seemed intimidating when I read it off the menu turned out to be delicately balanced, and the spice and root vegetable elements were distinct, but never overpowering.

As a coconut lover, I had hoped for a stronger coconut presence, but I still really enjoyed this soup.

Its lightness ensured that I could enjoy every last drop while saving room for the main course.

For my entree, I chose the roasted vegetable spinach crepe.

Hearty and nourishing, it paired well with the thin, refreshing soup I had just eaten. The crepe was presented beautifully, accented with a side of crisp salad greens and a single stripe of pale pink sauce. When I cut into it, I

was pleased to find that each thin layer was stuffed with cheese and vegetables. Every bite was warm, substantial and satisfying. As I picked apart the layers, I noticed that not only did the flavors and textures work perfectly together as a whole, but that each separate ingredient was exceptionally crafted. The chunks of zucchini and squash were perfectly cooked, and the spinach was not too heavy or oily in the way that sauteed spinach often is. The crepe itself was thin and lightly browned — neither burned nor papery. It had the same soft, pillowy consistency with every bite, and the tangy pink sauce added some welcome moisture to the densest parts of the crepe. I’m not a huge fan of vinaigrettes, but if I was, I’m sure I couldn’t find one much better than The Shop’s. The bright,

vaguely fruity dressing nicely complemented my side salad of fresh-tasting greens.

For dessert, I opted for the Nutella crepe. I worried that I would be sick of crepes by the time my meal was finished, but luckily, my dessert tasted distinctly sweet and different from my savory entree. It was smaller and thinner than the savory crepe, and more delicate than hearty. I love Nutella, and it certainly didn’t hurt that this dessert saw it coupled with a delicious crepe, sprinkled with powdered sugar and served with a dollop of cool, fluffy whipped cream.

Diners should be warned that meat-free options are somewhat limited — the six entrees include only one vegan option and one vegetarian option. As a

vegetarian, this was not my ideal Restaurant Week menu in terms of variety. However, I enjoyed my meal, and The Shop’s regular selection includes several more vegetarian options.

Overall, I was very satisfied with my dining experience at The Shop. The restaurant’s cozy brick interior, adorned with hanging lights, candles and quirky posters, makes it a great spot for a romantic date or a relaxing evening with friends.

With its boozy coffee concoctions and selection of breakfast crepes, I imagine this is also a perfect brunch spot. I will likely be returning to try some more dishes — the creativity and precision that shined through in the chef’s work made me want to sample every crepe flavor on the menu.

The Lost Dog Cafe Rachel Burt

Contributing Writer Known for its signature dish — rigatoni a la vodka — and eclectic decor that seems too cool for Downtown Binghamton, the Lost Dog Cafe is an interesting place to say the least. Named in honor of a spunky little chihuahua named Clarese, the Lost Dog Cafe is the place to be if you fancy great food, wonderful service and a relaxed atmosphere.

For Restaurant Week, the Lost Dog Cafe is offering both lunch and dinner menus at the fixed prices of $12 and $20, respectively. My photographer Rebecca and I went for the dinner special and were presented with an array of appetizer options to start our meal. Rebecca chose

to go with the avocado toast, which was the perfect size for an appetizer and came with a generous amount of avocado. It was topped with pistachio, which added a new level of texture to the dish. I chose to forgo an appetizer in favor of wine — the house chardonnay to be exact. If wine isn’t your thing, but beer is, the Restaurant Week menu also offers the Lost Dog Pale Ale as another substitute for an appetizer. Other appetizer offerings included spinach and artichoke dip with tortilla chips, the Dog House salad and a soup of the day. If you’re under 21, I recommend the dip; it’s warm, creamy and delicious and pairs perfectly with the crisp and salty tortilla chips, though it is hard to taste any spinach or artichoke flavor.

Old World Deli Amy Donovan

Assistant New Editor Exemplifying the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,’” Old World Deli provides a welcoming atmosphere with an array of toasty and tasty sandwiches to choose from this Restaurant Week.

Located at 27 Court St. in Downtown Binghamton, this deli is perfect for a quick bite to eat or a casual place to hang out with friends.

For Restaurant Week, Old World Deli is offering a lunch special where customers can choose a sandwich, side and

The Shop Gabby Iacovano Arts & Culture

The Shop celebrates its threeyear anniversary this week, and although it’s fairly new compared to many Downtown Binghamton locales, it holds its own during Restaurant Week as an innovative cafe-style eatery.

The restaurant’s $20 dinner menu allows diners to choose from three appetizers, six entrees and three desserts. Owner Eugenie Zynda said the menu was curated with both popular favorites and new experimental dishes in mind, and also allows the 21-and-over crowd to sample the restaurant’s spiked house brew coffee as a dessert.

I started my meal with the roasted carrot and parsnip coconut curry soup. When it

7

ARTS & CULTURE

March 22, 2018 | bupipedream.com

Social on State James Tlsty

Contributing Writer Social on State is exactly what its name implies: social.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, I was greeted by the roar of conversation from the restaurant’s tightly packed and enthusiastic crowd. With an eclectic menu and expansive drink selection, it’s the kind of spot that would make any Williamsburg resident excited.

Social has the kind of atmosphere that’s perfect for a large, hungry crowd looking for a couple of special drinks.

The structure of Social on State’s Restaurant Week menu is tied to its social ambiance, as you’re encouraged to order three courses

from a wide array of creative dishes for a flat rate of $25. Social boasts a fun and colorful menu, with choices ranging from falafel to egg rolls to macaroni and cheese.

Settling on three dishes will prove a happy dilemma, and as such, sharing with a friend becomes a no-brainer. The photographer who accompanied me was on the same page, so we made a pact early on to share all three courses of our meals.

The first course of my meal, the BBQ chicken egg roll, was an early highlight. The combination of the egg roll shell with barbecue chicken, bacon, caramelized onions and avocado aioli made for equal parts indulgent comfort food and decadent culinary fusion. The savory

chicken and sharp avocado dressing blended seamlessly, treading a fine and impressive line between guilty bar food and premium restaurant quality that I loved.

Next, I had the falafel lettuce wrap, featuring large lettuce leaves that made the dish difficult to navigate. The combination of falafel, lettuce, cherry tomatoes and Thai curry sauce was delicious, but getting the right distribution of each on your fork was challenging.

It was an awkward arrangement of elements — aesthetically pleasing, but not mindful of its consumer.

For my main course, I had the octopus poke bowl, with sliced octopus, sushi rice, kimchi, scallions, sweet chili soy glaze and seaweed salad. The poke bowl is the

kind of meal any sushi lover revels in, and I quickly took a liking to this recipe. While it is not a dish welcoming to those who rarely eat sushi, its niche will be apparent to all those enticed by its description.

I then had the chicken curry, which was a tasty and standard take, but rather unimaginative on a menu with so many creative arrangements.

However, the portion was generous and filling, making this one of the better choices for getting the most of your $25.

Lastly, we were served our desserts. The first was the poached pear, which featured a peeled pear and vanilla ice cream dressed in honey and cinnamon, garnished with a mint leaf and all topped off

with a crisp gingersnap cookie. The dessert was excellent, but again, it was a challenge structurally. I can say with confidence that this is one of the few dishes I’ve ever had that required the use of both a spoon and knife at the same time. If you’re patient, though, the poached pear is a great cap to a filling meal.

The tiramisu arose as the true star of the dessert menu, as its rich cocoa mascarpone is given extra depth with the addition of Kahlúa.

My bias as a chocolate-lover may be showing, but the taste was heavenly.

Regardless of what you choose, all of the dishes are a satisfying part of a night of fun banter and eclectic dining at Social on State, a gem among this year’s Restaurant Week’s participants.

mini garlic ball also set the bar high for all nontraditional garlic breads, with its soft interior and distinct flavor.

For our second course, we shared the organic mixed green salad with a vegan tofu-garlic dressing and two soups: signature creamy mushroom and the soup of the day, potato-cheddar. While the surprisingly creamy dressing complemented the simple salad topped with sprouts, the soups’ creaminess and abundance of flavor left us craving more. I would have taken a quart of it home if I could.

For my entree, I couldn’t resist trying one of the restaurant’s eight pesto spreads, which are sold in 125 stores nationwide.

While I enjoyed my sun-dried

tomato pesto, the most dominant flavor came from the whole pine nuts that topped the bow tie pasta.

My photographer ordered the popular pierogi lasagna, which is slathered in sauteed onions, cheddar, ricotta and a white sauce. While the two pasta dishes contrasted in flavor, both were a unique take on comfort food favorites. We agreed, however, that the pesto plate was a more filling entree, as my photographer happily finished off my leftovers after finishing his smaller plate.

For dessert, we shared the two options on the menu: a raspberry chocolate chip brownie sundae teaser and a fat-free mango sorbet, made with Alphonso mangoes. According to Fiks, the

brownie sundae is popular among customers, but I found it to have an overly grainy consistency, which turned me off despite the delicious homemade raspberry sauce. Still, I was more than happy with my sorbet, which tasted like freshly cut mangoes.

Dining at Whole in the Wall was more than just a good meal — it was a lesson in Binghamton’s diverse community and history.

The waitstaff and owners make themselves known to their customers, and soon you’re sharing tips and jokes about the communal honey pot or favorite dishes. I look forward to coming back, if not for one of the other pesto options, then for the ’70s folk music that played in the background of our meal.

Whole in the Wall Jillian Forstadt

Assistant News Editor Walking into Whole in the Wall, one steps into what looks like a physical representation of the city of Binghamton’s history.

The walls are covered with photos showcasing the city’s past and art, including pieces from local First Friday artist E.B. Schott.

A scrapbook at the back of the room documents the history of the restaurant, founded by Eliot Fiks, ’78, and located at 43 S. Washington St. Like the book, the eclectic decor and menu reflect the establishment’s 39year history. Serving a variety of what Fiks refers to as “homemade natural foods,” this cozy South Side spot offers options for

vegans, vegetarians and meateaters alike.

During Restaurant Week, the restaurant’s fixed-price menu includes a three-course lunch for $15, a three-course dinner for $25 and a four-course dinner for $30.

My photographer and I stuck to a vegetarian four-course dinner, but many of the restaurant’s standout options happen to be vegetarian-friendly anyway.

While the setting is explicitly Binghamton, the menu puts a natural twist on dishes from around the world. The falafel bites and mini baba appetizers, for example, don’t taste particularly authentic to their Mediterranean background, yet were my favorites among the appetizer sampler’s offerings.

The whole-wheat

Feel better fast.

Choose the kind of same-day visit that fits into your schedule and your lifestyle.

On Demand Virtual Care

Walk-In Care

Receive immediate care from your home, office or on-the-go using your phone, computer or tablet.

Our Walk-In Care locations offer online check-in so you can wait at home.

Symptoms commonly treated: • • • •

Skin rashes Bites and stings Urinary tract infections Congestion, coughs and sore throats

• Sinusitis and seasonal allergies • Fever and stuffy noses • Ear and eye infections • And more...

Get started at getlourdescare.com

Lourdes Hospital, 169 Riverside Drive, Binghamton, NY

8

ARTS & CULTURE

bupipedream.com | March 22, 2018

Band is anything but basic Gillenwalters, '15, leads Basic Printer back home Katy Wong

Arts & Culture

With its unconventional electronic sounds, abstract lyrics and upbeat rhythms that make an impression on listeners, the Binghamton-born experimental synth-pop project Basic Printer is returning to its hometown, playing at Spotlight on Court Street on April 12 with student band natural born kissers.

Jesse Gillenwalters, ‘15, founded Basic Printer when he was a student at Binghamton High School, but began producing his own original music the summer before he began his freshman year at BU. Although he considers the genre of his music to be somewhere in the range of pop, Gillenwalters emphasizes the experimental label in Basic Printer’s self-description.

“I like the experimental tag because it’s just a big question

mark that makes you wander into all these territories of a genre and have it still make sense,” Gillenwalters said. “The dichotomy of pop next to experimental help keep the two different music styles in check.”

Initially interested in video game development as a computer science major, Gillenwalters shortly dropped the major to pursue economics in hopes of finding a practical job after graduation. While at BU, he was involved in several music-related organizations and events on campus, including WHRW 90.5 FM, the Food Co-op and Woodstock at College-in-the-Woods.

Gillenwalters has played a multitude of shows in various cities, but his very first performance in front of a live audience was at an open mic for BU’s Food Co-op in the University Union basement.

“I have never encountered a time I’ve been more nervous since then,” Gillenwalters said.

After the initial stage fright, Gillenwalters played his first traditional set at Woodstock,

an event hosted by College-inthe-Woods that promotes live music and local bands. He said that the laid-back environment in the residential community played a major role in his finding confidence with his abstract style of music. This eventually led him to perform more shows in the Binghamton area.

“I thought my music was so bizarre or wouldn’t be for anyone, but the friends I made at [Collegein-the-Woods] celebrated my music and would always see me play on campus,” he said. “It was totally that initial response that empowered me to keep going.”

After college, Gillenwalters left Binghamton and headed to Nashville, Tennessee, with the intention of finding a job in the city while still experimenting with his music. Shortly after moving, he hired a backup band for Basic Printer and started recording new singles, which eventually caught the attention of Newlywed Records.

The New York City-based music label invited the group to release an EP on its label, which came out

Provided by Basic Printer Basic Printer, an experimental pop-synth group founded in Binghamton, New York, will play at Spotlight on Court Street on April 12. The band is led by Jesse Gillenwalters, ‘15, who majored in economics and participated in student organizations like WHRW and the Food Co-op during his time at BU.

in February 2017.

His hard work and his dedication to his music career paid off and now Basic Printer is headed on its first tour around the east coast, playing in cities including Pittsburgh and Brooklyn — and Binghamton.

“I love Binghamton and having lived there for so long, I know

how the music scene is there,” Gillenwalters said. “It just sounded cool to put on a show there and get campus people involved. There’s not a lot traditional concerts for small-scale bands in Binghamton.”

For students who also want to pursue music as a professional career or hobby, Gillenwalters said he encourages the creation of

music that is meaningful to them, whether or not it’s conventional.

“You have to find your voice and run with it as far as you possibly can,” he said. “Literally do exactly what you want to do and do it in the loudest, best way possible.

That speaks better than feeling like you have to dilute yourself into a boring act.”

Telling a new tale of Robin Hood with HPC's 'Marian' Show plays with gender to challenge social norms Alejandra Rodas

Contributing Writer

The Hinman Production Company (HPC) will transport its audience to Nottingham, England this weekend as they perform “Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood.” The play is a modern retelling of “Robin Hood” and it brings to light ideas of gender, sexuality and patriarchal society.

In this 2015 rewrite of the 15thcentury tale of Robin Hood, each of the classic characters is given new story lines and back stories to better

adapt the play to modern times.

The title character, Maid Marian, is played by Natalie Lista, the president of HPC and a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience. In the original folktale, Maid Marian is Robin Hood’s love interest. However, this adaptation empowers Marian to be her own hero, to be Robin Hood herself. Additionally, her trustworthy band of outlaws, the Merry Men, is composed of mainly women.

The Merry Men fight against greedy Prince John, played by Brian Walsh, a junior double-majoring in economics and English, and battle the limits society has placed on them as women.

“Playing the villain can always be fun,” Walsh said. “Prince John is so petulant and angry and too easy to figure out. He’s a person with many modern analogues. His behavior is timeless.”

Liska Gutierrez, a junior double-majoring in history and anthropology, stars as the invested narrator Alanna Dale, who identifies as LGBTQ in the play.

“We’ve expanded on some of the other explorations of gender,” Gutierrez said. “There’s a character in the show that is agender. Since so much of the show is about how gender is expressed and how it acts in society, we are excited to express different demographics.”

Now hising Franc

Download the B

ing Hots app an

* FIND A SECRE T MENU

d get 10% off

ON THE APP *

The characters undergo transformations that give them new ways of thinking about their identities.

Director Christine McCune, a senior triple-majoring in psychology, sociology and human development, said she believes these developments will leave an impression on University students.

“They will find themselves in the show,” McCune said. “All characters

are all young with big dreams.”

This is McCune’s third year as a member of HPC and “Marian” will be her last show before graduation.

McCune said that being a part of HPC has given her the confidence to express herself creatively and as a person.

“The whole thing has been absolutely phenomenal,” she said.

“I adored directing. It’s been a ride figuring out scripts and taking

these great ideas and concepts and bringing them to life. It’s been a ton of fun and it has been a dream come true.”

The play will run at the Hinman Commons from Thursday, March 22 through Saturday, March 24 at 8 p.m. with an additional show at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets will be sold at the door for $5 for students and faculty, $8 for the general public.

All sketching, no sleeping Museum to host annual Drawing Marathon Nikkolette Sather

Arts & Culture Intern

Artists will use their creativity in demanding circumstances to create life drawings during the third annual Binghamton University art department 24-hour Drawing Marathon.

Ten to 12 participants were chosen to participate in the event based on a portfolio that consisted of 10 samples of their best figure drawings. The deadline to submit the portfolios was March 1, and anyone from the community or University over the age of 18 was invited to submit their work.

A clothed model will be the subject of the drawing marathon.

Each participant will be provided with basic charcoal drawing materials, a 6-by-4-foot paper and an easel. The participants’ drawings will be on display until Thursday, March 31 in the University Art Museum.

Over the course of the competition there will be 15-minute breaks after every three hours for both the model and participants.

Diane Butler, director of the BU Art Museum, became part of the three-person judging committee a few years ago, which also includes Blazo Kovacevic, assistant professor of art and design, and Rick Pirozzolo, executive director and curator of the Arnot Art Museum located in Elmira.

Unlike other art competitions, the 24-hour Drawing Marathon is open to viewing by the public and allows the audience to feel like “flies on the wall” while experiencing the BU Art Museum being turned into an artist’s studio, according to Butler.

“The drawing marathon is the only contest that we are involved with and this institution is focused on the public, and it has a definite beginning and end in a short period of time,” Butler said. “Most artists don’t draw with people looking over their shoulder, and most viewers don’t get to see an artwork in its creation.”

Two cash prizes will be awarded to winners of the competition.

The jury prize is $500 and will be awarded to the artist whose artwork impresses the judges the most, and the people’s prize of $250 will be

Katherine Scott | Pipe Dream Photographer Artists compete in the second annual Drawing Marathon in 2017, sponsored by the Binghamton University Art Museum. The third iteration of the event will be held this weekend.

awarded to the artist who gets the most amount of positive comments from visitors and comments on the BU Art Museum’s Facebook page.

“It is so subjective when it comes to judging each participant’s artwork,” Butler said. “You would never want an artist to draw to the taste of the judges.”

Kovacevic runs the majority of the marathon, including choosing the participants, while the BU Art Museum provides the space and resources for it.

“Kovacevic approached me about this marathon, it was his brainchild and he puts on the real show,” she said. “We’re really happy to host it because the interaction of art that’s being created and art that has long been in our museum have wonderful dialogue and nice synergy.”

Butler said that part of the event’s appeal is in the highpressure nature of the competition, as artists are asked to perform out of their comfort zones while also being critiqued by passersby and judges. However, she said, seeing the creativity and problem-solving skills artists use make the event even more enjoyable.

“It’s an interesting process, what happens with drawing,” she said. “It has to be finished enough but not be overworked, and you have to know when to pull back. Sometimes I have seen a student spend 18 hours on a square foot when you have to fill a whole sheet of paper, it is intriguing to see how each person approaches

the task differently.”

Rebecca Ho, winner of the 2016 Drawing Marathon and a senior majoring in business administration, said that the Drawing Marathon was both rewarding and difficult.

“This is a truly incredible competition and was one of my most memorable experiences as a student,” Ho wrote in an email.

“This competition tested my limits.

I remember around 4 o’clock in the morning, I was feeling anxious, exhausted and frustrated; my drawing just was not coming out right.”

Of course, this competition is no easy feat — Ho said it takes a lot out of its participants, both mentally and physically. But, in the end, she said the excitement of completing her piece was an unparalleled experience.

“It was during this state of disarray that I decided to wipe away half of my drawing,” Ho wrote. “I took a large cloth, a deep breath, and just erased it. For anyone that has ever participated in competitive sports, there is this point you can reach when running long distance, where you get into this groove and you feel as if you could keep running forever. After I erased half of my piece and started drawing again, I felt an artist’s equivalent to ‘runner’s high.’”

The 24-hour Drawing Marathon will be held in the main gallery of the BU Art Museum from Friday, March 23 at 10 a.m. to Saturday, March 24 at 10 a.m.

OPINIONS Thursday, March 22, 2018

A PRESSING ISSUE

Annabeth Sloan | Editorial Artist

In mid-February, New York State Sen. Tom O’Mara and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo introduced a new bill to protect high school and college student journalists, titled the “Student Journalist Free Speech Act,” which is pertinent during a time in which the press frequently comes under fire.

The bill stems from the New Voices movement, which was started by the Student Press Law Center, an organization that works to give young people the right to gather information and share ideas. The bill would give student journalists in New York state more control over their publications — school administrators typically have authority over the content in school publications, unless stated otherwise. This is especially true of high school publications.

The proposed legislation

comes as a response to the 1988 Hazelwood School Distrcit v.

Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision, in which the court ruled that school administrators have the right to review student publications, thereby earning the ability to censor students. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the decision, making the LupardoO’Mara bill even more crucial. A similar bill has already been passed in eight states to protect public and private high schools and colleges, while six other states have passed

it to solely protect high school student reporters. It’s 2018, and free speech for student journalists is long overdue. New York should be no exception.

Although Pipe Dream is completely student-run and has the freedom to criticize and praise Binghamton University as we see fit, the Editorial Board recognizes that high schools and other colleges across the United States may not have this privilege. The proposed legislation would give all student journalists the freedom to report on

both the positive and the negative aspects of their schools, which is, of course, essential to objective and balanced journalism. The Editorial Board stands in full support of this bill and of all student journalists.

We also commend and support Donna Lupardo, the state assemblywoman representing Vestal and the city of Binghamton, for sponsoring the bill.

We recognize and empathize with the fact that there are numerous obstacles to printing.

Finances, securing ample office

space, finding a reliable and affordable printing press and, of course, managing the day-to-day operations of running a newspaper are all tremendous concerns. In the same vein, student newspapers that are not independent and function under an adviser should not have to face censorship either. Printing a newspaper in any capacity takes a considerable amount of time and effort, and censorship should never be added to the list of difficulties students face. And even when they publish content only online, school

newspapers often run into similar problems.

Student journalism is important to journalism as a whole. As a group, we should never be expected to remain complacent and silent in the face of unfair practices and regulations, and we should always have the right to openly criticize the institutions we fall under. It’s imperative to show support for this legislation, so contact your state senator or assemblyperson to make sure your voice is heard and to ensure that free speech is protected.

Views expressed in the opinion pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece which represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial, above. The Editorial Board is composed of the Editor-in-Chief, News Editor, Opinions Editor, Sports Editor and Arts & Culture Editor.

Issuing an apology isn't enough

The Binghamton Review must take accountability for its recent actions Sarah Molano

Contributing Columnist

Taking responsibility for past indiscretions is never easy to do for individuals, let alone entire companies. In the case of publications like newspapers and magazines, every article written typically exists forever, especially when published online.

Nevertheless, taking accountability must always be a standard.

Last week, National Geographic did exactly that. For context, the magazine published its first edition in 1888, so you can imagine the amount of content published over the years that would be deemed problematic today.

National Geographic addressed this, stating that they had written racist articles

and printed problematic photos for decades in the past, and owned up to not allowing people of color to subscribe to the magazine into the 1960s.

The April edition of the magazine was meant to be devoted to talking about race, so the editor-in-chief hired an outsider, John Edwin Mason, a professor of African history and the history of photography at the University of Virginia, to take a look at National Geographic’s history. Mason came to this conclusion: “That National Geographic should not do an issue on race without understanding its own complicity in shaping understandings of race and racial hierarchy.”

Now, it’s still up for debate whether National Geographic is really doing enough to combat its racist past. Publications such as CNN, the Chicago Tribune and New

York Magazine have all written articles detailing the controversy and its mixed reactions. However, I still felt it was a big step forward for National Geographic to even admit to their past wrongdoings. But then I thought, why am I so surprised and impressed by something that should be normal?

I find it incredibly disappointing that National Geographic’s choice to examine its problematic past caused such an uproar. Like many others who have criticized the issue, I’m not sure praise is completely in order. As professor and journalist Ron Stodghill put it, “It’s not being enlightened, it’s just being fair and thorough.”

Coincidentally, the National Geographic controversy came to light around the same time the Binghamton Review, Binghamton University’s publication for libertarian and conservative

thought, came to some controversy of its own. The Review published an article titled “Standard Fuck Parties, Bug Chasing, and Homosexuality,” which cited a documentary that claimed that gay people purposely contract HIV/AIDS in big unprotected sex parties, among other claims. It also published an article, “Sexual Consent Contract,” mocking the concept of consent.

Unsurprisingly, some BU students were outraged; some even created a petition to call for the Binghamton Review’s charter to be revoked. The Student Association also put out a statement in fierce opposition to the publishing of these two articles.

So, what did the Binghamton Review do amid all of this? Its executive board posted a statement to its Facebook page, including this apology: “We offer our sincere apologies to those negatively impacted by this article. We never

intend to distress our readers; the hope is that they will walk away with fresh perspectives.” It also stated that the writer, who goes by the pseudonym “Pino Che,” a reference to the fascist Chilean dictator known for throwing political enemies out of helicopters to their deaths, will no longer be published.

What the apology lacked, though, was any sort of accountability. Though the e-board members technically apologized, they did not mention the incredibly homophobic nature of the article that prompted the controversy.

They make no reference to the fact that the article uses a statistic that has no source. They apologized, but they apologized for offending people, not for posting inaccurate and homophobic content, or for making fun of the importance of consent.

Of course, we can argue about if they’re just using their freedom of speech, but freedom of speech arguments often go nowhere in these kinds of situations. Whether or not the Binghamton Review is allowed to say those things isn’t the question; the question is, what are they going to do differently moving forward?

I, like many others in the BU community, prompt the Binghamton Review to better take responsibility of its actions instead of casting the blame on the people who were offended. Own up to the fact that the article was homophobic and had no basis in verifiable fact. Everyone has their eyes on you; we’re waiting to see what you’ll do.

— Sarah Molano is a junior double-majoring in English and philosophy, politics and law.

Letter to the Editor: BU men's basketball coaching staff salaries can be put toward other University initiatives This season, the men’s basketball team finished 1120, with a pitiful record of 2-14 in conference play. They were never a real contender in the conference, and brought in very low numbers of spectators throughout the season. In short, it was another lackluster season for a Binghamton University athletic team.

In spite of this poor performance, the head coach,

Tommy Dempsey, made a whopping $256,404 in 2017.

On top of that, the rest of the coaching staff together earned $386,159 for a grand total of $642,563 going toward paying the men’s basketball coaching staff for 2017. Keep in mind that this is only one athletic program.

Frankly, this is an outrageous amount of pay for the coaches of a mediocre basketball team at an underfunded state school. It

is abhorrent that the University, whose primary mission is supposed to be “higher education,” is willing to support these salaries while severely limiting funding towards academic institutions. This upcoming year, the University is issuing a universitywide hiring freeze.This will leave professors and graduate students even more overworked and students without the resources they need

to earn a satisfactory education.

Faculty are engaged in incredibly important research that serves to benefit all of humanity. From Harpur to Watson, professors conduct groundbreaking work that is beneficial to students and the Binghamton community at large. Basketball coaches and any other athletic coaches, on the other hand, contribute nothing of real value to the community.

Athletics here at BU are unable to

support themselves and leech off of university funds (see “athletic fees” in the breakdown of your fees), while giving little back to the school. Nothing meaningful, nothing of value to society, can come out of such large payments to coaches.

As a student at BU and a citizen of New York state, I see nothing good coming out of an athletics staff being paid $642,563. That is money that

could be put towards hiring faculty in other departments or further funding valuable, groundbreaking research. What it simply comes down to is that the University and New York state need to fully support our academic institutions before putting such large amounts of money toward athletic programs.

— Harold Jones is a junior majoring in geology.

OPINIONS FFUN UN Thursday, March 22, 2018

Cop a feel

Nate Walker Baby driver

Sudoku

Annabeth Sloan

By The Mepham Group

Level: 1 2 3 4 Solution to last issue's puzzle

© 2017 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

3/22/18

FOR RELEASE MARCH 22, 2018

SUMMER SESSION IN NEW YORK CITY

750+ undergraduate and graduate courses Online, classroom, and hybrid formats.

Visiting students welcome.

www.lehman.edu/summer

THE Daily Commuter Puzzle ACROSS 1 Prune stone 4 Skater Lipinski and others 9 Ship’s pole 13 On __ own; independent 15 “All __”; Irving Berlin song 16 Nostril’s detection 17 Part of a foot 18 Virginia, for one 19 Churchill Downs event 20 Abbreviated 22 Little child 23 Swerve 24 Mauna __ 26 Plant lice 29 Frying pans 34 Detroit team 35 Strong string 36 Doggy doc 37 Noise of an explosion 38 Go back and forth 39 Take on employees 40 Family card game 41 Squeeze water from a rag 42 Ill-gotten gain 43 Powerful pain medication 45 Divided into categories 46 Internet giggle 47 Writer Bellow 48 Smidgen 51 Rising 56 File drawer, perhaps 57 Innocent 58 Midday 60 Worry 61 Flying toys 62 Actress Lollobrigida 63 Strong desires 64 On the ball 65 Congressman’s title: abbr.

DOWN 1 Luau dish

by Jacqueline E. Mathews

Monday’s Puzzle Solved

2 Itinerary stopovers 3 Texas __; univ. in Lubbock 4 Samples 5 Change slightly 6 Reddish horse 7 Poker bet 8 Very young tree 9 Human being 10 Call it __; quit and go home 11 Bootee 12 Yew or palm 14 Pushing 21 NL team 25 Spanish cheer 26 Scrapbook 27 Liberace’s instrument 28 “__ thy father and thy mother” 29 Pigs 30 Picture card 31 Kick out 32 __ Haute, IN 33 Spirited horse

©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

35 38 39 41 42 44 45 47 48

Bed size Asian nation Flinging Which person?

Earsplitting Braids hair Least bananas Cut off Uncertain

49 Monster 50 At that time 52 Set __; leave shore 53 Refer to 54 Pinot __; dry red wine 55 No longer here 59 Short rest

TWITTER

@PipeDreamSports FOR LIVE COVERAGE Thursday, March 22, 2018

Softball Bearcats end season with loss to Yale preps for Hawks Binghamton set to compete in UMBC Classic Edward Aaron

Pipe Dream Sports

This weekend, the Binghamton softball team will travel to Baltimore to participate in the UMBC Retriever Classic. The Bearcats (3-10), are set to play five games against nonconference opponents from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).

BU is coming off a tough showing after being swept in the St. John’s Invitational last weekend, losing to UMass Amherst, St. John’s University, Boston University and Hofstra.

Overall, the team has lost its last five matchups. The invitational marked the toughest competition the Bearcats have faced this season, as all four of their opponents advanced to their respective conference title games last season.

The Bearcats will open the classic with a game on Friday against Monmouth. The Hawks (8-13), are coming off a 1-4 performance at the Loyola Marymount Tournament.

Picked to finish second in the MAAC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, there are high expectations for the team’s performance this season. Thus far, the Hawks own the fourth-best winning percentage during nonconference play in the MAAC. Monmouth is led by head coach Shannon Salsburg, who is in her third season with the program.

Salsburg has compiled a record of 6265 at the helm, leading Monmouth to the conference championship round in both of her first two seasons.

On the field, the Hawks have been captained by senior pitcher Amanda Riley, who last season was named to the All-MAAC First Team, and this season was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Team.

On Saturday, Binghamton will hit the diamond and take on Rider University in a doubleheader. The Broncos (2-13) are currently on a seven-game losing streak and sit in tenth place among their MAAC opponents. In the preseason poll, Rider was tied for last place with St. Peter’s, which the Bearcats will face off against on Sunday.

The Bearcats will conclude the event with a doubleheader against Saint Peter’s University.

The Peacocks (2-10) have also lost their last seven matches and currently sit in ninth place in the MAAC. Neither Saint Peter’s nor Rider had any players named to the all-conference preseason team.

Entering the season as the favorite to win the America East title, BU will be looking to rebound from its early season woes. Having four of their five games against teams that have been struggling should allow the Bearcats an opportunity to get their season back on track and build their confidence.

During last week’s matchups, defense was a problem for the team, allowing at least eight runs in each of BU’s past four games. It will be up to BU head coach Michelle Johnston to spend the week of preparation responding to the issues faced last week.

Despite Binghamton’s slow start, there have been positive individual performances for the team throughout the season. Senior second baseman Stephanie Bielec is currently on a team-best five-game hitting streak, and freshman catcher and first baseman Alex Guay finished last weekend’s games with a .455 batting average. The Bearcats were picked first in their conference for a reason, and the talent of the team that reached its conference title game last year is looking to bounce back as the season goes on.

In its first matchup of the event, Binghamton is set to face off against Monmouth on Friday, March 23.

First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. from the UMBC Softball Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.

Senior guard Imani Watkins and senior center Alyssa James wrapped up their historic BU careers during a WBI loss to Yale.

Watkins, James finish historic BU careers Michael Steinberg Pipe Dream Sports

The last time the Binghamton women’s basketball team and Yale met, BU (20-12) was down six points with less than a minute left in the game. Then the senior duo of guard Imani Watkins and center Alyssa James took over.

After cutting the Bulldogs’ lead to two, Watkins drove straight to the basket to send the game into overtime. Despite the comeback, Binghamton lost that game in overtime, 73-69. Now, playing Yale again in the Women’s Basketball Invitational (WBI) Quarterfinal round, Binghamton fell again despite a strong final push. Yale (17-13) defeated

the Bearcats, 70-64, and ended BU’s season.

“It’s a disappointing loss,” BU head coach Linda Cimino said.

“It’s not the way we wanted to end our season, but I’m proud of our effort and the way we fought back in the second half.”

The Bearcats came out of the tunnel ice cold, shooting just 24.3 percent from the field in the first half and not making a single three. Watkins, the most prolific scorer in BU program history, ended the first half going 1-12 from the field and 0-2 from downtown, scoring her only field goal with three minutes left in the first half. “[Watkins] is so hard on herself and she felt bad. She was disappointed in the way she was playing,” Cimino said.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, shot an efficient 48.3 clip

from the field. A major difference in the game was the number of points in the paint, where Yale scored 16 points, compared to BU’s four. Those points may have forced Binghamton’s attention to the post, allowing Yale to be scorching from the perimeter up until the half, shooting 57.1 percent from long range.

The Bearcats seemed like they were destined for a blowout, down 37-20 going into the half.

They were not going to let the beatdown continue, though. The Bearcats sprung an energy-filled 11-1 run to start the second half. During that span, they shot 75 percent from the field, and 100 percent from three and the charity stripe. Their defensive pressure helped fuel the run, forcing several turnovers, leading to several scoring opportunities.

The defensive surge contributed

Ariel Kachuro | Contributing Photographer

to the Bearcats capturing 17 steals on the day. However, even with BU’s relentless stretch, Yale managed to keep an 11-point lead going into the final quarter.

“It definitely was tough. You know, we struggled to get going and our shots not falling didn’t help, but the second half they started to fall, which started our momentum,” junior forward Rebecca Carmody said.

Binghamton did not back down. Led by Watkins, who started to take control in the fourth quarter, the Bearcats trimmed their deficit to five with about 2 1/2 minutes to go after a 3-point shot by sophomore guard Carly Boland. With Watkins driving straight to the basket with ease and the momentum on BU’s side, a victory suddenly seemed possible. Unfortunately, the Bearcats could not pull off

the comeback, falling 70-64. “[Watkins] was able to lead this team in the second half and I’m really, really proud of her,” Cimino said. “It would have been easy for her to just pack it in, but she didn’t do that tonight and Watkins is a great player and she’s a good leader and I’m really proud of her and I’m proud to be her coach.”

This Bearcats made their first postseason game in their Division I program history.

Watkins became the highest scorer in program history and James posted the most blocks in both program and America East history.

“Proud of the season that we had,” Cimino said. “I thought our young women did a great job this year, made a historic run and continue to build for the future of this program.”

NBA postseason format should be reformed Fewer teams should be allowed in playoffs Justin Zion Sports Intern

As winter turns to spring and the final three weeks of the NBA season come upon us, many of the league’s teams will be making their final push to earn a spot in the NBA Playoffs.

It is a time of year that is often exciting, with the energy of the playoff push intended to lead into an even more intense first round.

Sadly, the NBA has been missing that mark over the past few seasons. There have been some nail-biting finishes to the NBA season as the race to the playoffs came to exciting conclusions, only for the thrill level to come crashing back down to Earth with a slow, boorish first round. Those last couple of teams that had clawed their way to the postseason

move on only to get wiped away by a top seed in the first round, making their qualification almost meaningless. In order to remedy this problem, the NBA needs to follow in the footsteps of the MLB and NFL and limit the number of teams that qualify for postseason.

The current NBA playoff format has the top eight teams from each conference qualifying. The top seed in each conference is matched against the eighth seed, and so on, and four rounds of playoff action ensue, each series being played as best of seven. Instead, the NBA should consider revising its format to only allow the top six teams in each conference to qualify, giving the top two seeds a bye into the second round.

Moreover, the first round should be reduced to best-offive series. This format is a better fit for the current reality of the NBA, makes a postseason qualification more noteworthy and takes heed of the lesson that the MLB and NFL have already made use of: The key to excitement is brevity.

The current reality of the

NBA is that it is a top-heavy league, with one or two teams dominating a conference each year. In the Eastern Conference, six games separate the two and three seeds in the standings; in the Western Conference, it is nine games as of yesterday afternoon. Given the nature of the league, having the top two teams play in the first round is almost a waste of time, because the result is almost guaranteed.

A bottom-two seed hasn’t won a series since 2012, when the Philadelphia 76ers upset a Chicago Bulls team that was missing then All-Star point guard Derrick Rose. Instead of having the top two teams play in a clinic, the NBA should reward them for their dominance with a first-round bye and fill the first round with only the more exciting three-six and four-five matchups.

Not only should the seventh and eighth seeds be done away with because their playoff appearances are a waste of time, but also because it diminishes the quality of teams that make the postseason to begin with.

These teams are more often

than not slightly better than .500 at best, and below that mark at worst. Why should this mediocrity be allowed in the playoffs? By limiting the number of spots, only teams that post respectable records will be able to advance, and, if anything, the race for those spots will become more exciting with fewer spots available.

Finally, the NBA needs to convert to this format for the sake of brevity, because that is what makes a postseason more exciting. The prime example of this is March Madness, which is a single-elimination bracket, but the NFL and MLB have also gone down the path of quickness.

The NFL has six teams qualify per conference, and also uses a single-elimination format.

The MLB has only five teams qualify for the playoffs, and they don’t play a seven-game series until the league championship series. All three of these leagues have a postseason that lasts a month; the NBA, in contrast, has a postseason that lasts two, dragging it out as long as possible.

I know what you’re all

thinking. The NHL has the best postseason in sports, and the same playoff length as the NBA. How does that hold up?

I, however, would say that the NHL has the best playoffs in sports despite its length. The unique nature of the sport of hockey and of Stanley Cup Playoff overtimes allows the NHL to overcome the length of its postseason, not to mention that the league isn’t nearly as top-heavy as the NBA, with top teams going out early all the time (just ask the Blackhawks and the Capitals, they’ll tell you all about it).

For the past couple of seasons, the first round of the NBA Playoffs has been quite boring. In 2017, only one series in eight went to seven games.

Over the past three years, only four series out of 24 have gone the distance, while 12 ended in five games or fewer. This lack of excitement is indicative of a cumbersome, slow format that is in need of reform. It is time to cut away some chaff in order to bring back some excitement and intrigue to the NBA Playoffs.