January 2007 - Binghamton Review

Binghamton Review January 2007

The Student Journal at Binghamton University

The Student Journal at Binghamton University

Special Anniversary Issue!

Celebrating 20 Years Of

Truth and two staples

Binghamton Review The Student Journal at Binghamton University Founded 1987 o Volume XX Number 4 o January 2007

“Never give in. Never, never, never, never!”

-Winston Churchill

Departments

Editor-in-Chief Christopher Powell

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Editorial: Christopher Powell Credits BR for his sanity.

Managing Editor Thomas Shannon

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Special: Great Moments in BR history.

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Centerfold: A Look at BR covers through the years.

Business Manager Nathaniel Sugarman Treasurer Michael Calabrese Layout Editor Jeff Lichtman

Contents

Graphic Mercenary Josh Geller Staff Writers Arielle Deutsch, Megan Donahue, Denis Fitzgerald, Dylan Lainhart, Harrison Salzman, Thomas Shannon, Nathaniel Sugarman, Nick Tinen Contributors Louis W. Leonini ‘05, Jeremy Zenilman ‘06, Robert Zoch ‘03 Friends of the Review The Aronoff Family Dr. Aldo S. Bernardo Mr. Michael J. Hayes The Kaufman Family Mr. Robert Larnerd The Leonini Family Mr. Michael O’Connell Mr. Tony Potochniak The Powell Family Mr. Conrad Ross The Shannon Family Mr. Bob Soltis WA2CVS The Sugarman Family

Binghamton Review is printed by Our Press, in Chenango Bridge. We provide the truth; they provide the staples.

Binghamton Review

Binghamton University PO Box 6000 Binghamton, NY 13902-6000 binghamtonreview@yahoo.com

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Louis W. Leonini rehashes some war stories.

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Nathaniel Sugarman attempts to fill in the ranks.

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Robert Zoch speaks out about BR.

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Jeremy Zenilman can’t escape his BR lineage.

Cover Design by Josh Geller Binghamton Review is a monthly, independent journal of news, analysis, commentary, and controversy. Students at Binghamton University receive two copies of the Review free of charge (non-transferrable). Additional copies cost $1 each. Letters to the Editor are welcome; they must be accompanied by the author’s current address and phone number. All submissions become the property of the Review. The Review reserves the right to edit and print any submission. Copyright © 2006 Binghamton Review. All rights reserved. Binghamton Review is distributed on campus under the authority of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Binghamton Review is a member of the Collegiate Network and is a Student Association-chartered organization. Binghamton University is not responsible for the content of the Review; the Review is not responsible for the content of Binghamton University. Binghamton Review thanks the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.

Past Editors of Binghamton Review : John Guardiano, Yan Rusanovsky, Kathryn Doherty, Ephriam Bernstein, Michael Malloy, Paul Schnier, Adam Bromberg, Bernadette Malone, Michael Darcy, Nathan Wurtzel, Amy Gardner, John Carney, Paul Torres, Jason Kovacs, Robert Zoch, Matthew Pecorino, Michael O’Connell, Louis W. Leonini, Joseph Carlone

Binghamton Review, January 2007

editorial

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Binghamton’s Greatest Educator

ll work and no play make Jack a dull boy.

The same is true for your average college student. It is especially true here at Binghamton University, where temperatures remain below freezing for months on end, the sun hides behind a strange gray haze that seems uniquely Binghamton and “assoxination” is considered a yearly highlight. If a student hopes to survive four years here he or she is going to need help; I know I did.

I was not quite finished with my first semester here at BU, and yet in so many ways I was entirely finished with Binghamton. I had decided to transfer long before December arrived and, having cajoled professors I hardly knew into supplying me with letters of recommendation, I was about ready to start over at a school that had what I needed. Trouble was I didn’t know what was missing, but that was about to change.

After three months of steadily increasing misery (I blamed it on the shift into Binghamton’s endless winter) I realized that, although I already had one foot out the door, I needed to find something to do that would keep me sane for the remainder of my bearcat days; I ended up with something much, much more.

One of the things that impressed me least about this campus was its complete and total lack of valuable news. I was disappointed that BU did not have a daily campus paper and yet further disappointed by what I discovered was our only normal paper…chalk another point for inadequacy. However, by the end of October I noticed something else hanging around campus: something exciting, funny, and refreshing… something green.

As soon as I read a few pages of Binghamton Review I was hooked. The editorials were funny, bold and fearless. The columnists didn’t back down either.

The values and ideas of the writers often mirrored my own, and nearly as often they challenged mine; either way there meticulous research and compelling writing made me think. I had a feeling I might have found my savior.

Like most students at a new school I was a bit apprehensive about taking the first step towards getting involved in a student group. I approached my first BR meeting with trepidation, fearing that I was about to throw myself before a group of highly intelligent militants who would find me both unimpressive and uninteresting. What I found was definitely a little different.

Upon entering the office I was immediately greeted by the man in the fancy chair, then Editor-in-Chief Louis W. Leonini. He introduced me around the room and I began to feel comfortable among the writers very quickly, before long I was coaxed into articulating my own values and beliefs, and although it was

intimidating I found solace there among a group of people that largely disagreed with one another, let alone me. However, I also discovered the stimulating academic discussion I had been craving, my first ideological conversation at BU that had not been fueled by my alcohol consumption or someone else’s drug use.

It was invigorating, but it did not seem meant to last.

At the close of that first meeting I was disappointed to learn that this was to be the Review’s last meeting of the fall semester. That meant they wouldn’t remember me, I was a BU ghost once again.

However, against my own better judgment, I could not resist heading to the first meeting of the next semester where, to my surprise, everyone remembered me. I was even invited to the Review strong-house to continue the meeting’s debate, drink some cold beer, and watch Jeopardy on TiVo. And so my second semester at Binghamton trudged on.

I was surprised to find how quickly Binghamton Review changed my opinion of the University as a whole. In discovering BR I found intelligent students who kept me engaged; in short I had found what I had wanted from my college experience. Steadily my involvement with the Review increased, first one article about the war in Iraq, and then an ideological one, then campus issues, and so it went. The staffers taught me a ton about the world around me as well as the campus government. They challenged me weekly, and made sure I had at least one meeting per week to look forward to that didn’t involve hair gel, popped collars or Milwaukee’s Best.

As the weather improved and spring came back to Binghamton (see: mid-April) we quickly ran out of semester. Before long I was surprised to hear that I had received decisions on my transfer applications.

Sure the decisions worked out well and presented me with several exciting opportunities, but only one thing mattered at that point I was surprised. Through my involvement with Binghamton Review I had found the spark I needed to survive four years in Binghamton.

Fast forward two years. I am now the Editor-inChief of this campus’s oldest and most successful student journal. We have a proud twenty year history of fighting for students and making changes on a campus we’re not exactly a majority. With the help of the Review I’ve learned to call Binghamton University home, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The most important question for any college student is this: “what do I hope to gain from this experience?” If you’re looking for an intellectually stimulating experience that will challenge your conceptions and help you grow into a more rounded individual then might I suggest Binghamton Review, it might be the home you never knew you had.

-Christopher Powell

Binghamton Review, January 2007

Reflections

Great Moments in BR History A Look at Victories Won in Days Gone By by the Editors of Binghamton Review

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hen considering the history of an organization like Binghamton Review it can be overwhelming to enumerate the various accomplishments, trends, and landmarks that have come to define us (come check our comprehensive archives and see for yourself!). Although the task was daunting we felt it was important to include some of the Review’s highlights to give readers a better sense of who we are and what we’ve achieved.

And so we’ve boiled 20 years of rabblerousing and action-taking down to a few key victories that represent what BR fights for.

March 1997 Editor-in-Chief: John Carney

Binghamton Review successfully spearheads the initiative to remove the diversity requirement from Binghamton’s liberal arts curriculum. Students may still be stuck with lame Gen-Eds (we’re working on that…), but at least it’s now a personal decision whether or not to take Marxist, minoritycentered courses that provide no educational value (save the course corollaries that teach students the many uses of hemp).

February 1999 Editor-in-Chief: John J. Kovacs

University President Lois DeFleur finally authorized the arming of ULED (UPD) to the delight of Binghamton Review. It took seven years of BR lobbying to guarantee our officers’ safety, but at least we now know that the campus’s deer population will never overwhelm the nature preserve and move into the dorm communities.

November 2002 Editor-in-Chief: Matthew Pecorino

Words of Wisdom: “It is certainly

desirable to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors.”

-Plutarch Binghamton Review, January 2007

Kevin Hines published what is still known to this day as “the gay article”. Kevin’s assertion that homosexuality is a disease caused mass hysteria on campus and (whether you like it or not) galvanized BR’s position as a major catalyst for campus controversy and debate.

All Binghamton Review staffers, regardless of their sentiments towards homosexuality, agreed that the response was exciting.

February 2005 Editor-in-Chief: Louis W. Leonini

In perhaps the greatest turn around in Student Association history, BR managed to freeze the accounts of the hippie-infested Off Campus College Management

while securing a $2700 discretionary allotment from the financial council (we love our iMac and comfy leather chair!). Binghamton Review finally received recognition as an important part of the student experience at Binghamton University. This victory marked the beginning of the end for the now defunct Prisoner’s Support Network...poor convicts.

April 2017 Editor-in-Chief: Dakota Fanning

Binghamton Review successfully derails the Experimental Media Organization’s efforts to bring Ali Mazrui’s good buddy and former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to deliver the commencement address at the Anderson Center.

Binghamton Review’s past is full of many differ-

ent challenges that have been upended by the consitstent efforts of bright, dedicated staffers looking to improve the experience of Binghamton University students. If you want to learn more about BR send us an e-mail, come check out a meeting and grab some pizza, or take a look through our archives. The only thing more exciting than our last twenty years is what the next twenty have in store.

Binghamton Review:

“Where the real debate on campus takes place” We Are Always Looking For:

Conservatives, Objectivists, Libertarians, writers, cartoonists, graphic designers, debaters, Second Ammendment fans, Twenty-First Ammendment fans as well as all lovers of liberty, justice, and the American way.

Join Binghamton Review and join the voice of reason at Binghamton University!

Weekly Meetings: Thursdays, 9 P.M. in our office, WB05 (basement of the New Union below the food court). e-mail binghamtonreview@yahoo.com Binghamton Review, January 2007

Tales of the Trenches

How a Bearcat Grew its Claws A snapshot of BR glory

by Louis W. Leonini ‘05

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University campus is a study in contradiction. There seems to be a plethora of freedom, but a dearth of responsibility. There is much to be said for studying and learning, and yet the beer pong leagues are never short of teams. It shows that in college, whenever one aspect of life gets too overwhelming, there is always a counterweight that attempts to bring things into balance. Why are students drinking all of a sudden? They studied too much in the early part of the week.

Why are they studying all of a sudden?

They were drinking too much; perhaps all semester. The best way to understand Binghamton Review is to think of it as exactly that--a counterweight.

Among Review staff, both old and new, there is never a shortage of opining about the past and present of the magazine. There is as much debate about our history as there is about anything you might read from our pages.

The stories are endless about former staffers and their shenanigans. This history is so lively that it always comes up, regardless of whether there is a reason.

One common theme in all the stories is that our magazine is unique. We enjoy our role as counterweight, to be sure.

I first joined this unique paper in my sophomore year. I was late. Many writers begin during their freshman year because they are absolutely sure of their ideological roots. I was not. They come early, and stay as long as their ego allows. I didn’t much have the writer’s ego. In fact, I never considered myself a “writer.” Writers and opinion nerds always annoyed me. They care about commas, “voice” and the split infinitive more than most normal people. They

are arrogant, and mostly introverted.

They don’t go out. What sniveling people! And yet, I joined the ranks. Why? I joined mostly because Binghamton Review was the only sensible organization on campus. The articles were funny and they developed arguments for things I wanted to say (or scream) but couldn’t. After a few Review meetings, that was no longer the case. Meetings were wonderfully engaging. Debate was raging at all times, and you had no choice but to be articulate. It was the first (and only) place on campus I had gone where this was the case. It was funny to me that the last vestige of a “liberal” education was a conservative opinion journal. I quickly realized the new liberals of our time were at home in the right-wing of thought, not the left.

Particularly influential to my early time at the Review was then-editor Mathew Pecorino and his predecessor Robert Zoch, who attempted to develop my talents and expose me to the history of the organization. In addition, there was Gideon Lamb who was a libertarian with a sharp intellect and a penchant for endless political and philosophical discussion. They all gave me a taste of the “behind-the-scenes” action. I often hung out in Matthew’s apartment with all of them talking about the victories of years past—things such as the “diversity requirement” (a requirement that students take classes that amounted to left-wing bias) being voted down by Harpur College, or how Nathan Wurtzel turned the paper away from its decline after our loss of funding in 1992. In addition, we were a force to be reckoned with in the big debates of the mid-nineties when we argued,

Binghamton Review, January 2007

and the school eventually agreed, that campus police should be armed. There are so many others I can’t begin to discuss now, but we also talked about the periods when the paper suffered from internal and external strife. The worst of which might have been the late nineties when, for the second time in our history, the SA vengefully tried to shut us down.

That period didn’t last. When Robert Zoch was editor, recruitment went up, and the quality did as well.

Robert’s personality, which can best be described as ingeniously irreverent, was pouring onto the pages, and the readers responded. Sometimes they responded with anger, sometimes with glee. The modern style of the Review is heavily influenced by this period. In short, we got our groove back.

I listened intently to the old guard speak of the past, and imagined my own editorship. This came closer to reality when Matthew Pecorino tapped me for the managing editor position. I gladly accepted and became Mike O’Connell’s right-hand man (he had become the new editor-inchief.) Together, we kept the magazine thoughtful and engaging. We also were able to recruit new members and befriend many people. This was a new concept to some. Review writers were famous for not socializing with editors and it was not uncommon for editors to have personal disagreements as well.

Our attendance at meetings reached new highs, and we were more cohesive. We jokingly called ourselves “the cabal” and constantly mocked each other. It was good times.

With all of this, we remained haunted. There was a hostile student

government attitude towards our organization. We were relegated to the basement of the new union and we were isolated. Whenever I would propose that we take on the student government “kingdom” and rip them from their thrones, I was criticized. Then, when I said we should actively participate in student government, I was vilified. “If you do that, they’ll kill us,” they said.

“Funding? Are you crazy, Lou? They’ll have our heads if you ask for it!” was what I was told. They remembered the days when we actually were targeted by past presidents and committees of the Assembly, and so they had accepted a self-defeatist attitude. This had to change. The moment I took the gavel and became editor-in-chief (we have a gavel, we’re cool like that) I pursued a different course. I was not going to preside over a neurotic magazine afraid of its own shadow.

I became obsessed with the nuances of the paper. Over the summer before my senior year, I completely overhauled the layout and added new features. I settled our debt, and improved our operation. Gone would be the days where we could be isolated and tolerate our own in-fighting. No more speaking softly. We were going to have our voice heard until the powers that be were sick of it. They weren’t going to have a choice.

I realized that I actually enjoyed all of this extra work. Because there were so many things I wanted to change, I essentially became the layout editor, the business manager, the treasurer, the spokesman, and the editor-inchief. My family thought I had lost my mind. I kindly told them I never had it in the first place (and that was probably their fault anyway.)

At the beginning, things were difficult.

We were having trouble getting articles from new writers, and the layout was causing some difficulty with our publisher. While my friends and I were

elected to the Student Assembly, we were looked upon with great suspicion by the other representatives, and it was unclear how we would be treated. One left-wing group challenged the election, saying that we couldn’t possibly have been elected fairly because we were outside of the mainstream (this was coming from a fanatical Marxist group: the hypocrisy was jaw-dropping)

Publicly, the former editors and seasoned staff said very little. But in private, I was told I was a loon. They worried that I was going to crash the magazine into a brick wall and run it into the ground. I was stretching BR too thin and making it impossible to be left alone to publish, they said. They were convinced that my policy of confrontation towards our rivals was going to bring us down. I listened, but then again, I didn’t really listen.

By the end of the first semester, Binghamton Review got its funding back. It was the largest discretionary give-away that year, by far. It was supported by a super-majority of student assembly members (the vote was 16-3), and it crossed ideological lines. We were being taken seriously, and we were back on the map. The election challenge by the hippies was thrown out, and the leftist Off Campus College (notorious for shady bookkeeping) was being investigated. They eventually had their funds frozen early the next semester, and hated us for it. Or maybe they hated us because we showered and actually had a life outside of student government; I guess I’ll never really know. I didn’t harp on it. I was just happy that our staff was united against a common enemy. All during this, our popularity reached a new high. I think I remember some parties with AZD girls at my house, and another one with a stripper on a beer pong table, but I’m just not sure. It’s all so very fuzzy.

Most important to me, besides

Binghamton Review, January 2007

those victories, was the struggle to achieve them. I loved my time as editor more than anything. I made life-long friends, and I learned more than I ever could have by just going to class. You’ll know what I mean if you join. The experience is immensely fulfilling.

As I said in my farewell editorial (Two Parts ‘Sorrow,’ One Part ‘Sweet’, May, 2005): “Some of my fondest memories are still those nights spent debating my friends and mentors.

I will forever miss the days where our penchant for hookah sessions and drinkmixing was matched only by our love of battling wits.” It is those battles that made me what I am today, both politically and philosophically. I came to the Review one person and left a better one.

I haven’t lost my philosophy of government, and I don’t plan to anytime soon.

Now that I work at an investment bank and I can plainly see that countries with economic freedom are clearly better off than those without, I believe even more strongly that liberals simply have no clue that the policies they propose hurt those they claim to help. Even worse, maybe they do, and they don’t care.

I could bore you with the victories of my time as editor, and how my successors picked up the ball and continued the fight against a poisonous ideology on campus, but I’d rather you hear them from people currently carrying the torch of liberty at Binghamton University. Are you a conservative or a libertarian of some stripe? Then the question shouldn’t be “why would I go to a meeting.” The real question is “what the hell is taking me so long?”

Make this first part of our next twenty years astounding. Join the war effort, and have some fun!

-Louis W. Leonini was Editorin-Chief of Binghamton Review in 2004-05 and transformed BR while retaining its “same great taste!”.

BR: A History In Covers

Binghamton Review, January 2007

Binghamton Review, January 2007

Recruitment

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The Pen is Mightier than the Sword And the pen won’t land you on probation, so write for Binghamton Review!

by Nathaniel Sugarman

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inghamton is a funny place.

Every time I find myself discussing my college life with high school friends I tend to be hard on Binghamton. After all, there is absolutely nothing to do here and the weather is as gloomy as the girls at Sports Bar are grimy. However, every time I go home I look forward to returning to the Southern Tier and getting back to my usual mischief.

Binghamton Review is a significant reason why I put up with this place.

I am exposed to the points of view of other students who share similar concerns with me, and I am given an opportunity to share my grievances with others. Writing for this magazine has given me greater perspective, which allows me to laugh at the imbecilities of BU and the city of Binghamton rather than be troubled by them.

In this particular issue of the Review, I will not waste time grumbling about my Napoleonic TA last semester who wore stupid racing caps; instead, I would like to send an important message to the students of Binghamton. Whether this is your first semester here, or you are graduating this May, there have got to be things that are irritating you. I’m not talking about the rash you got from dancing with that girl at the Rat last Saturday night, but for example a Professor or TA that has been treating you unfairly. Maybe there is a policy that you think is ridiculous, like the laborious system for appealing parking tickets. Perhaps you want

to complain about that obnoxious fat woman who gives you attitude at the Mountainview Nite-Owl when you try to order a smoothie that isn’t on the menu. Regardless of the nature of the injustice, don’t just go to your room and sweat it—sweat it with other sweaty students in the Binghamton Review office, write about it, and let others know what you think.

I remember vividly how

...there is absolutely nothing to do here and the weather is as gloomy as the girls at Sports Bar are grimy.

I first became involved with the Review. It was in the spring 2005 semester, my second at Binghamton.

I had come across some copies of the Review from January and February and was inspired by the writings of a number of young academics including Jeremy Zenilman and Louis Leonini. I had already been in Binghamton long enough for things to have started to annoy me, so I Binghamton Review, January 2007

decided to write for the March issue.

I took the liberty of pillorying a certain professor who treats his students like children and looks like a phallus, as well as addressing other academic malfeasances which I came across. I already saw that the Review was an excellent vehicle for political involvement, intellectual growth, and sometimes just causing a little trouble.

Despite our passion for campus and academic issues, we are by no means limited to publishing articles on just these subjects. If you have a unique perspective on national or international issues, submit something to us. Anything from the Patriot Act to the Middle East conflict will be published as long as it is well written.

Politics doesn’t interest you? Fine— last month we published an article on how to behave at strip clubs.

Whatever interests you, write it down. Whether it is published or not, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you did something to stick it to the man. That man could be your professor, President Bush, Hillary Clinton (not a man, but damn close), or that fat lady in Mountainview. Incidentally, your resume will also be a little longer as a result. Besides, don’t you want the opportunity for thousands of people to know what you think?

-Nathaniel Sugarman is the business manager of Binghamton Review.

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Binghamton Review, January 2007

Basic Training

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Voice Lessons How The Review Helped My Inner Intellectual Survive BU

by Robert Zoch ‘03

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t was nearly a decade ago when I attended Summer Orientation and first allowed Binghamton’s drab and institutionalfeeling campus environment to sink in. I felt panic ripple through me as I overlooked its utilitarian brick buildings and feared that I had enrolled in a state prison of sorts. Workshops calling attention to and celebrating our infinite “diversity” did nothing to reassure me, as I soon came to know that school administrators and student organizations were merely celebrating their ability to pad brochures with faces of different hues; useful—intellectual—diversity was of little value to them. I had never extended much consideration to my personal ethnic background, so “cultural” organizations were a foreign idea to me. The concept of being dragged through swamps in the cold of night also presented little appeal, so I never went Greek. Yet, I did make one discovery as a freshman that would ultimately change my outlook on life and provide me with several friends who remain on my Buddy List today. I found Binghamton Review.

The Review was different from other campus organizations in that it actually encouraged intellectual diversity. Liberal and socialist activists on campus often labeled us “fascists,” but we were promoting free thought in more ways than any other visible group. Our ranks included traditional conservatives, neoconservatives, libertarians, objec-

tivists and most any other non-leftists conceivable. While others sought to silence opposition in the name of “social justice” or “minority rights,” I learned to use my own voice to convey my thoughts to my peers.

To read the opinion pages of Pipe Dream, one would have believed that the Review constituted a fringe

...students from every conceivable corner of campus would personally share their appreciation and support for our alternative voices. group, completely incompatible with college students or even American society—yet students from every conceivable corner of campus would personally share their appreciation and support for our alternative voices. I gotta give it to you guys. You make a good point.

As a staff writer and later Binghamton Review, January 2007

editor, I was constantly finding that my views rarely mirrored that of another contributor. I support many of the same goals as the Religious Right, yet I could best be described as an agnostic, completely opposed to the indoctrination of young children with their parents’ religious ideals. I oppose Roe v. Wade not because the Bible condemns abortion, but because it is an act of barbarism, irrelevant to the philosophical aims of our Founding Fathers. I support returning our troops home from Iraq because a nation unwilling to stand on its own feet does not deserve the sacrifice of another American life; we won that war in 2003 and the Iraqi people have been losing it ever since. I see no reason to support the State of Israel, as its very creation in that corner of the globe seems designed to assure us of an everlasting bloodbath. I don’t support “gay rights” because I don’t believe it’s a government’s place to endorse social disorders. I have more support for a President facing weak polling who struggles to combat terrorism on American soil than one who enjoyed strong polling and whose inaction helped deliver it to us. I believe that color of skin is irrelevant without presence of brain.

Writing for Binghamton Review, I worked with individuals who would vehemently argue against any one of those positions (and countless others), and I wouldn’t have had it any other

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way. We came together to cultivate our intellects and raise our voices to improve our world, even if it was just one small corner of it. We towed no party line; we spoke out against campus bullies every month while enduring the same hangovers as our fellow students. We had our own political voices, but stood united against the leftist hegemony that would have existed in our absence.

These days, I’ve chosen to use my voice for the spinning of

tales, the absence of an intensely political campus environment making the creation of fiction seem a far more entertaining way to pass the time. (Certain campus activists would claim I’ve never written anything but fiction.) I look back on my college years with mixed emotions, but my admiration for those who worked with me at Binghamton Review will never diminish. I am also heartened to know that my mag-

azine remains in business to receive this piece. You are my brothers in arms and I thank you for the service you’ve given and continue to give to your campus community. Keep up the fight and never underestimate the value of a lone, brave voice.

-Robert Zoch was Editor-in-Chief of Binghamton Review from 1999 to 2001. He resides in Georgia and is now writing a novel based on his experiences as a student activist.

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Hours: M-F, 9-6PM Sat, 8-4PM Binghamton Review, January 2007

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Up Close & Personal

Who We Are And Why We Matter

by Jeremy Zenilman ‘06

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hat is Binghamton Review?

Who are we? What makes alumni like myself keep coming back to guest write articles?

When I graduated, I swore I wouldn’t be one of those people who kept coming back. But for the 20th Anniversary of the Review? That’s something I couldn’t pass up.

You all wonder what the Review is, and who we stand for. The answer, in a word, is America. There’s some old stereotype of the Review as a bunch of angry, white, wealthy, suburban, evangelical Republicans sitting in a room, plotting the overthrow of the counterculture that our campus loves so much.

Well, here’s the truth. The Review was founded by Russian Jews.

The editors of the Review, but more importantly the staff, have spanned the breadth of campus. When I joined the Review, our editor was Italian-Jewish.

His predecessor was a Protestant from the Hudson Valley. The following editors have been a Binghamton native, two Italians from the suburbs, and a Long Islander. I’m from Long Island, and the contributors I have been closest to are from Upstate New York and never let you forget it.

We’re not elitists. We’re just regular students with a vision. Our collective vision of open minded conservatism, free market, the freedom of speech and common sense public policy both for the country at large and the campus in particular brought us together and has united for twenty years.

We worked not for ourselves, and not for personal aggrandizement.

We worked for students, to bring you issues that we thought merited your attention. Over the years, we have brought you the humor of the back cover and the glitz of our flagship centerfold article. We exposed biased professors on a regular basis, and brought waste in government and the administration to your attention. Some of us chose to write to get our points heard.

Others ran for office, caring not if we won but if we could get our message out. Others chose to work behind the scenes, while others donated their time to the SA to continue our Good Fight.

We’ve been attacked throughout the years as being racist, homophobic and ignorant. But are any of those charges even remotely justifiable? The people who made them did so only to divert attention from their own faults – exactly the ones they accused us of.

We were intimidated by these threats.

We never let anyone or any accusation stop us from doing what we view as our jobs. We considered it our duty, and that’s why you all students should read BR.

But what is the state of campus? How has it changed, or how did it change from the time I entered to the time I graduated. Out of my four years in Binghamton, I got a degree in History. I have the paper to prove it.

Yet, I could land no job had I looked. I don’t regret going for that degree, and I did learn a lot and had excellent professors.

But I was a member of a school that had been left to wither on the vine. The powers that be have decided that Binghamton is to be two

Binghamton Review, January 2007

things. A CPA mill, and a teacher mill.

The vaunted Job Fair, the E-Recruiting program did nothing but bring the Big 4 Accounting firms. Did they even bother to look out for the finance majors not lucky enough to get chosen

by Goldman Sachs?

Binghamton University has been left to whither on the vine.

We have degrees…degrees that the Administration’s love affair with HDEV and SOM have rendered meaningless. Students must now go on to graduate school if they are to do anything other than fold clothes or flip burgers. I call on the administration to launch a campaign to put the value back in my degree. The University should make us proud to be alumni, not students doomed to spend years more in school to merely have a chance to make the American Dream come true. Make this Binghamton University again, not SOM University.

I came into college and was robbed by M&T Bank. I left further robbed. Why is it that only M&T has the right to come onto campus and solicit. Why shouldn’t a bank like HSBC, which has a significant presence in all parts of the state, be allowed to solicit students. Is it perhaps because Ms. DeFluer serves on the M&T Board, where she collects thousands in compensation for steering millions of dollars in business to to the company?

It isn’t like M&T wants to support the school and give back to campus. I once asked them to sponsor an event I was involved with and they kicked the decision to Corporate in Buffalo, who of course refused. They don’t

15 care about students. They offer lousy and expensive services and rip you off.

They have barely only a few ATMs on campus, none accessible at convenient hours. They pay little in interest and charge dollars in fees. For the students who cant afford the inconvenience or expense of having two accounts, they charge a good amount of money in fees for the privilege to use the ATM on campus.

At the very least, they should open up the campus ATMs to all students free of charge. Ideally, the administration would allow free and open competition for on campus banking, but that would be asking too much, wouldn’t it? Too bad that analysts say that the boom in bank branches is ending. Looks like we missed the boat on this one big time.

We also missed the boat on the food contract. Last year, the administration opened up the field to bids against Sodexho. Of course, the conglomerate was unopposed due to the high start up costs of getting a whole new food organization started up. Now, I have nothing against Sodexho, other than their lousy food and high prices.

Bring those down by opening up the Food court, at least, to some competition. It won’t be healthy food that’s coming in, but it will be edible and it

will improve the diet of at least some kids by making sure that they eat something other than beer and jello shots.

We could also improve campus by removing the scourge known as NYPIRG. Last year the Financial Council found a loophole that allowed us to bring NYPIRG’s funding back in from outer space. This group deserves nothing, especially not the new contract the SA signed with them this year.

They lobby for themselves and for the Naderite causes they espouse. They are biased. They are useless. They take credit for the backroom deals between the Governor, Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker reach that have nothing to do with them (tuition hike), and use the scare tactics they accused the Review and me in particular of using against them. Get rid of them and make sure you pressure the SA officials never to sign another extortion contract with NYPIRG again.

I am pleased to say that the campus reporting situation is much better than it was 4 and a half years ago. EMO/ FAIR USE and Off! are dead and gone, and Pipe Dream’s monopoly has been broken by the Free Press. I encourage all readers to patronize the Free Press and contribute as staffers to make sure that the Pipe Dream’s more notorious and self serving antics are

kept in line. I further support the continued expansion of BTV, and would encourage students to join or host a show there. It’s a great way to have fun and get your opinion out, and as a former host myself, I can vouch for the effectiveness of the station.

But most of all, there is the Review. The Review is BU’s bastion of truth, the home of many of my good friends. We were comrades in arms, fighting for what we believed was right together and without fail. We stood by each other when we were attacked, and learned that we could make a difference. For that chance, and to you the readers for reading the things we have to say, I am grateful.

I mean it: thank you, and keep reading. The current staff has plenty to say, too; and to them I say good luck. Find good stories. Pursue them.

If you see something, say something.

Never back down, and never apologize. You’ll offend some people, but the silent majority of campus supports you. Never back down. Never give in.

Never stop fighting, never stop writing, and NEVER QUIT. Make sure that the truth always has two staples.

-Jeremy Zenilman was one of Binghamton Review’s most influential staff writers and a major force in student government.

Taj Restaurant

WE SERVE HALAL FOOD Veg. and Non Veg. Curries - Goat & Lamb Biryani - Gyros - Philly Cheese Steak - Kabob - Vegetarian Dishes 59 Main Street, Binghamton, NY 13905 Restaurant: 607-723-6454 Cell: 607-343-6700

Binghamton Review, January 2007

She tried every Tuesday and Friday, but...

“Pipe Dream Never Got This Deep!”

BR

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Binghamton Review, January 2007

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