SEX ISSUE 2019 See insert
Thursday, February 14, 2019 | Vol. XCV, Issue 7 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com
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Professor State budget could affect EOP students nominated for national book award Proposed cuts threaten reduced services, smaller class for 2019-20 Laura D’Angelo news intern
Diane Sommerville was one of five nominees for the Lincoln Prize Zackary Chaqor
In 2018, Binghamton University provided Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) enrollment to 140 freshmen, according to SUNY records. Now, the program is in danger of seeing budget cuts. The proposed state budget would cut funding for the EOP across the SUNY system, which means the University’s
EOP could see a decrease in its next cohort of students. “This is not a game,” tweeted the University’s EOP account on Feb. 9. “This incoming [Binghamton Enrichment Program] cohort will be the smallest in decades if we lose [state] funding for the 2019-20 year. Closed mouths don’t get fed.” EOP, a SUNY program that aims to provide access, academic assistance and financial aid to students who may qualify as economically disadvantaged or are first-generation college students, has been in operation at BU for more than 50 years. The program’s services include
providing career counseling, academic assistance, tutoring and supplemental instruction. If the state budget cut gets passed, the EOP may be forced to cut some of its services. Karima Legette, interim director of the EOP at BU, wrote in an email that this could be the second budget cut imposed on the program in the last two years. “The current 2019-20 New York state executive budget was proposed by Gov. Cuomo and will need to be voted on by state legislators,” Legette wrote. “The proposed cut to EOP is not isolated and sadly not unusual; all 48 EOP programs
of the SUNY system are funded by New York state. Each program would be affected if the proposed budget were to be passed.” Some EOP students are concerned about how the budget cuts could affect them. Zion Baldwin, an EOP student and a sophomore majoring in English, wrote in an email that the cuts could mean that minority students see fewer resources and face a harder journey to graduation. “The EOP program has given me a safe space for the past year and a half to study and learn effectively,” Baldwin
see eop page 4
pipe dream news
Diane Miller Sommerville, an associate professor of history at Binghamton University, has written millions of words on America’s bloodiest war. But this time around, her book, “Aberration of Mind: Suicide and Suffering in the Civil War– Era South,” made her one of the five authors nominated for the 2019 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. Sommerville began thinking about writing the book, which focuses on mental health in the 19th century American South, after she tried and failed to find scholarly information about mental illness during the era. “I found that almost nothing had been written about the topic,” Sommerville wrote in an email. “So I had actually found something interesting and new to say about the Civil War — not an easy thing to do.” The Lincoln Prize is awarded annually for the best historical, nonfiction work on the Civil War. Throughout her book, Sommerville examines the ways class and race influence mental health issues by examining how they coincided with a period of collective suffering. She argues that in the period following the Civil War, suicide within white communities in the South started to be seen as a valorous act, while black communities saw an opposite effect, with African Americans being labeled manic and dangerous when they struggled with mental health. According to Sommerville, these ideas can be seen in “The Birth of a Nation,” a film set in the Civil War period. “Culturally, white suicide was embraced as heroic and patriotic, as in the famous suicide scene in ‘Birth of a Nation,’ in which a young white girl throws herself off a cliff rather than succumb to the sexual advances of a black soldier,” Sommerville wrote. “When an African-American showed signs of depression or exhibited suicidal impulses, he [or] she was typically diagnosed as manic, consistent with white stereotypes that blacks were animalistic in nature.” Sommerville searched through obituaries, coronary reports and family documents to find cases of suicide. She
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theo mason pipe dream photographer Binghamton University’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), which is facing budget cut threats for the second year in a row, provides financial and academic assistance for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Students open Girls Who Code chapter at BU Club aims to provide local girls with coding skills Leora Schwadron pipe dream news
When engineering students Kasey Hill, Caitlin Hall and Fiona Liang noticed there was no club in Binghamton that could introduce coding to the next generation of female students,
they decided to form their own: the Binghamton University chapter of Girls Who Code. Girls Who Code is a national nonprofit organization with the mission to bridge the gender gap in computer science and engineering fields. Teaching and exposing girls at young ages to coding, Girls Who Code provides free summer immersion programs, campus programs and club programs for young female students to participate in throughout
the year. The managing board members of the club will provide training and curriculum material through the national organization to teaching instructors, who are female engineering and computer science students at BU. Hall, a senior majoring in systems science and industrial engineering, said she hopes the club will encourage other female students to consider participating in fields related to science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM). “As female engineering students, we understand the importance of having a support network in our field of study,” Hall said. “We want the program to introduce coding to the next generation of female students and inspire them to consider STEM and engineering fields in their future studies.” According to Hill, co-founder of the
see code page 2
Traditional job fair sees changes Fleishman Center to host four industry-specific fairs Gitl-Yevgeniya Driker pipe dream news
pipe dream achives Students and employers gather in the Events Center for the biannual Job and Internship Fair. This spring, four smaller, industry-specific fairs will be held.
Students seeking jobs and internships can expect to see several industry-specific events in place of the traditional, largescale fair this spring. In previous semesters, the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development held one fair in the Events Center, but this year the center will host four industry-specific fairs. The new career fairs will feature a STEM fair, a business and communications fair, a student employment and summer opportunities fair and a common good,
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OPINIONS
government, nonprofit and summer camps fair. Brandy Smith, senior assistant director for employer engagement and operations at the Fleishman Center, wrote in an email that these changes were prompted by the differences between fall and spring recruitment. “Fall recruitment tends to be larger, and more competitive,” Smith wrote. “This spring, we decided to try holding several small industry-fairs after hearing feedback from employers who wished for a more specialized environment for spring recruitment. Spring-semester recruiting tends to be of a different nature than the fall, with different industries recruiting for both jobs and internships during this time. This new format is designed to take advantage of that with students in mind
and provide them with a different way of connecting with employers.” According to Smith, the Fleishman Center began holding smaller fairs for nursing students and received positive feedback, which got them thinking about holding specific fairs for individual industries. Smith wrote she believes the smaller fairs will be beneficial to students as they are more specialized and take place in a central location on campus. “We believe these smaller, industryspecific fairs are a great place for new networkers to practice their skills in a more specialized environment,” Smith wrote. “Students will have an opportunity to make connections with employers in a smaller venue centered around a field
see fairs page 4
SPORTS
Snuggle up with a box of chocolates to watch these rom-coms,
‘Cutie pie’ recipes will spark up your typical Valentine’s Day treats,
The Editorial Board considers the lack of accessibility on campus,
Women’s lacrosse falls in season opener to Syracuse,
Men’s basketball falls short against UMBC,
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