STUDENT ASSOCIATION E-BOARD ENDORSEMENTS
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Monday, March 11, 2019 | Vol. XCV, Issue 14 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
The Free Word on Campus Since 1946
Freshmen, transfers fail to get SA-Line Some students did not receive emails with election information Kyle Dunnigan
contributing writer
12-4 AE) on the defensive end. BU held a team that had votes in the national Men’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll to just 32 percent shooting from the field and 11 percent from deep. Most importantly, Binghamton kept redshirt junior guard Akwasi Yeboah in check. Despite averaging 16.6 points per game, BU forced him into 1-of-8 shooting from the field at the break. While the first period was undeniably all Binghamton, the Seawolves responded fiercely in the second half to keep everyone watching on the edge of their seats. Sophomore forward Elijah Olaniyi, who had a game-high 27 points,
Until the most recent edition of Student Association (SA) Line came out on Friday, March 1, freshmen and transfer students had not received any emails from the SA since the start of the 201819 academic year, preventing them from receiving SA election information. According to the SA’s Management Policies, the SA is required to communicate election information, including letters of intent, sweeps and a candidate’s eligibility requirements to all undergraduate students. The organization generally does so via email. Rachel Anszelowicz, chair of the elections and judiciary committee and a junior triple-majoring in philosophy, classical and Near Eastern studies and philosophy, politics and law, wrote in an email that Information Technology Services (ITS) at BU is responsible for adding students to the Listserv used by the SA and that the SA is unable to access to view or edit the Listserv for confidentiality purposes. “Without having notification from [students] themselves, the Student Association has no way to confirm whether every student is on the [Listserv] or not,” Anszelowicz wrote in an email. According to Anszelowicz, the SA has notified the ITS help desk to ensure that the list is updated. Additionally, Anszelowicz wrote that the election information has been marketed in other ways aside from sending emails through the Listserv. “This year, the elections committee, in conjunction with the marketing and promotions department, has extensively increased advertising and promotion for this [year’s] election,” Anszelowicz wrote.
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The Bearcats and their spirit squad stormed the court in celebration as Binghamton stunned second-seeded Stony Brook in the AE quarterfinals.
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STUNNER AT STONY BROOK
Men’s basketball advances to AE semifinals with upset victory Samuel Ditchek sports editor
A stormed court, a silent crowd and a drenched visitors’ locker room only means one thing in March. For the first time since the program reached the Big Dance 10 years ago, the seventh-seeded Binghamton men’s basketball team advanced to the conference semifinals after defeating the second-seeded Stony Brook Seawolves, 78-72. BU’s victory kept its season alive and sets up a semifinal match at Vermont in the upcoming round of the America East (AE) postseason. Despite seven seeds sporting a dismal 2-31 all-time record against two seeds,
78 - 72 Binghamton (10-22, 5-11 AE) defied the odds as the overwhelming underdog. The Bearcats rode an 18-point lead into halftime behind a trio that featured freshman guard Sam Sessoms, who at that point had a game-high 14 points, graduate student guard J.C. Show and senior forward Caleb Stewart. The three combined for 35 of Binghamton’s 43 points, with 18 coming from long range in the first half alone.
“We have a special kid [Sessoms] with the ball in his hands and we surrounded him with seniors,” said BU head coach Tommy Dempsey. “He’s a handful. That’s the best defensive team in the league — they throw length and athleticism at him and they really couldn’t keep him under control.” Not only did the Bearcats dominate offensively in the first 20 minutes, but they also stifled Stony Brook (24-8,
BU aims to improve Students seek gown-buying options gender-neutral policies Seniors say new garb comes with convenience, but used is cheaper
System changes to allow students to use preferred names Gitl-Yevgeniya Driker pipe dream news
Binghamton University is planning to introduce a new update to its database that will allow students to change their names in all University systems that do not require the use of a legal name. The update aims to accommodate students of all genders and identities, and comes after the passage of a new ordinance in New York City that allows gender-nonconforming residents to designate their gender with the letter “X” on their birth certificate, rather than “M” for male or “F” for female. According to Kelly Clark, director of BU’s Q Center, the update will also come with a new policy allowing name changes in the University system. “We are in the process of developing a new policy,” Clark wrote in an email. “In fact, the policy is just about done, however, [we] are waiting for the
upgrade to the database systems that will allow the policy for name changes to go into effect. Our current databases do not have the capacity to hold a nickname or chosen name.” The change is not the only one concerning gender to come to BU in the past several years. According to Clark, the Q Center has been working on a variety of policies to accommodate students of all genders by providing training sessions and working to increase the visibility of nonbinary pronoun usage featured in the classroom. “We have been working over the last few years to recognize, respect and include people of all genders, including trans and gender-expansive and [nonbinary] employees and students,” Clark wrote. “We have developed a pronouns statement that faculty can adopt for their syllabus and provided some guidance on how to create a [gender-affirming] classroom. A number of departments on campus have updated the way they ask about gender on
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ARTS & CULTURE
Yuri Lee
assistant news editor
With graduation rapidly approaching, Binghamton University students aiming to walk in commencement are exploring new options to obtain their caps and gowns. At BU, students can buy their caps and gowns from Herff Jones, a company that sells educational recognition and achievement products. These products vary from caps, gowns, tassels, stoles and hoods to optional items such as class rings, diploma frames and thank-you notes. liat katz contributing photographer According to the Herff Jones website, the Students are buying and borrowing used commencement garb from friends and alumni to price for a cap, gown, tassel and stole for save money. undergraduates is $88.50, not including tax and shipping. For graduate students, political science and Latin American and cap. I haven’t looked into it, but I’m going the price of a cap, gown, tassel and hood Caribbean studies, said she’s exploring to try that. It might sound crusty, but for ranges from $96.50 for master’s students cheaper options for when she graduates people that don’t want to keep their cap to $141.50 for doctoral students. this semester. and gown, there should be an option to The price of ordering a brand-new “I personally think it’s a lot to ask for, rent or something.” cap and gown can be prohibitive for especially when students have already paid According to Yona Benyamini, a students, and some are starting to look so much in other dues,” Ronquillo said. college division representative for Herff into buying or borrowing used graduation “Thankfully, I was told by a housemate to Jones, there are different graduation garb from friends and alumni. Ruddy borrow one of my older friend’s gowns, see gowns page 3 Ronquillo, a senior double-majoring in and then maybe search online to buy the
OPINIONS
SPORTS
Harpur Cinema presents “Dirty Looks: Eight Years On,” an inspiring queer film series,
Women’s empowerment gets a new superhero in the form of “Captain Marvel,”
Contributing columnist Seth Gully scrutinizes the Trump administration’s recent memo,
Women’s lacrosse overpowered by Ohio State,
Four wrestlers punch ticket to Big Dance,
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