SLAM! poetry Student poets share work at Cyber Cafe West,
Thursday, May 9, 2019 | Vol. XCV, Issue 26 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
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The Free Word on Campus Since 1946
Pro-Palestine student activists met with aggression Group captures video of harassment while tabling Sasha Hupka editor-in-chief
A male student was captured on video harassing two members of Binghamton University’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group as they tabled in the Glenn G. |Bartle Library. The video, which was posted to Facebook by SJP on Tuesday evening, showed the male ripping up the organization’s poster board. According to a statement from SJP posted with the video, the male also tore SJP flyers, threw them at the members and yelled insults, shouting that “Palestine [and] Arab values are in contradiction to Western ‘progressive’ values.” Tousif Khan, president of SJP and a freshman double-majoring in classical and Near Eastern studies and physics, said he asked the male to leave during the incident, but the male refused and continued to yell at the members. “He said a few racist things,” Khan said. “What made me mad was the person who was with me was visibly shaken by his actions. This was her first time ever experiencing something like that, and he said, ‘What, you gonna cry about it?’ and
that was just terrible.” According to Khan, the incident is not the first time SJP has faced verbal attacks. In the statement posted by SJP, the group wrote that they were insulted and harassed at several other points throughout the day while tabling. “Criticizing Israel, on any college campus, we expect people to come to us and argue, but this guy went too far with the stuff he did,” Khan said. “We had more opposition than usual that day. Other people that are Zionists came, and they were arguing to further silence us … I think people that agree with [that student] sought us out. Even when it was happening there were students nodding in agreement, and it was really disheartening when he was acting in such a manner and no one was coming to our defense.” The group also wrote that the incident highlights the tension between group members and the Jewish and Zionist organizations and individuals on campus. According to Hillel at Binghamton, the University’s student body is roughly 30 percent Jewish, the highest percentage of Jewish students at any public university in the United States. “This assault and destruction of our property was uncalled for
“Criticizing Israel, on any college campus, we expect people to come to us and argue, but this guy went too far with the stuff he did. We had more opposition than usual that day. Other people that are Zionists came, and they were arguing to further silence us … I think people that agree with [that student] sought us out. Even when it was happening there were students nodding in agreement, and it was really disheartening when he was acting in such a manner and no one was coming to our defense.” — Tousif Khan, president of SJP and a freshman double-majoring in classical and Near Eastern studies and physics
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Pride and Joy Families closes campus office Quarterly LGBTQ+ family planning nonprofit loses state funding Nicole Kaufman
contributing writer
The Binghamton University chapter of Pride and Joy Families, an organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQ families and helping members of the LGBTQ community achieve personal goals, is pledging to maintain an online presence after closing on April 30, when
it lost its funding from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). Pride and Joy Families was founded in April 2000 with a $43,000 grant award for LGBTQ Health and Human Services from NYSDOH. For the past 19 years, the organization has provided trainings, educational programs, information and referral services, a directory of LGBTQinclusive services and support for LGBTQ families and prospective parents. Although the organization was denied funding, their application was approved by NYSDOH and they will continue to
exist as a local nonprofit organization in the Binghamton community, according to Claudia Stallman, project director of the Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project. “What the New York State Health Department told us is that this time around more organizations applied, and they made the decision to award some of our competitors this time around rather than us,” Stallman said. “Pride and Joy still exists, but we’ve been enjoying healthy support from the New York State Health Department for
19 years running. We’ve had to lay off our staff and we have closed our office in women, gender and sexuality studies on campus.” Stallman said staff were disappointed when their funding was not renewed because they felt that their application had grown stronger over the course of the past five years, despite the increasing competition within the application pool. “Rather than being under the rubric of the research foundation on campus,
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SUNY SA passes resolution on body cameras BU unsure whether UPD officers will use technology David Julien
contributing writer
The Student Assembly of the State University of New York (SUNY SA) delegate body passed a resolution at this year’s spring conference, calling for university police officers to wear body cameras throughout the SUNY system. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether Binghamton University will implement this change. In the SUNY system, there are currently seven SUNY university police departments that employ body cameras, with SUNY Oswego being the latest to adopt the policy. The cameras are mainly used to document traffic stops and other police encounters and act as a deterrent against any potential conflicts at the point of contact or in court, according to a statement issued by SUNY Oswego. Body cameras were first introduced to the SUNY SA by the SUNY Oswego SA President, Omar van Reenen, a senior double-majoring in political science and biochemistry. In his time as Oswego SA President, van Reenen has pushed for security changes at SUNY Oswego and sought to see the same changes
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rose coschignano pipe dream photographer Despite a recent SUNY SA resolution on body cameras for police officers, it is unclear whether Binghamton’s New York State University Police Department will adopt the technology.
ARTS & CULTURE
OPINIONS
report talks hiring exemptions Hiring freeze began in December 2018 due to financial difficulties Lia Berger
copy desk chief
With state-implemented salary increases for faculty members contributing to a budgetary crisis at Binghamton University, President Harvey Stenger announced a hiring hold in December to combat the financial issue — and an exemption process for departments to petition for hires. The University has released information about the number of people who have been hired as a result of the exemption process during the first few months of the hiring freeze. In a quarterly report issued in late March, Stenger reported that approximately 345 hiring hold exemptions were granted from Dec. 1, 2018 to March 28, 2019, with the majority coming from student employee and staff exemptions. According to Stenger, the exemptions have enabled the University to continue its progress despite the financial challenges. “These numbers represent a significant reduction in hiring compared to past winter months, and I appreciate the effort that department chairs and divisional leaders have given to helping the campus meet the current financial challenges,” Stenger wrote. The salary increases causing BU’s budgetary difficulties come as a result of contract negotiations between the State University of New York (SUNY) and United University Professions (UUP), a higher education union for faculty,
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SPORTS
Tips for a smooth and painless move out,
Learn how to travel around the world on a budget,
The Editorial Board examines the issues with Spring Fling’s ticket fiasco,
Softball avoids elimination at the America East Tournament,
Student-athletes are honored at the 72nd-Annual Varsity Awards Banquet,
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