Fall 2016 Issue 18

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Celebrating 70 Years as the Free Word on Campus

Tuesday, November 1, 2016 | Vol. XC, Issue 18 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com

BU faculty, staff receive SUNY-wide recognition Excellence Awards granted to twenty-one employees for success in respective fields Stacey Schimmel Pipe Dream News

Twenty-one Binghamton University faculty and staff members have received honors for their exceptional work in teaching, research and mentorship across all of the SUNY schools. The reception dinner took place in Old University Union’s Mandela Room on Thursday, Oct. 20, where Provost Donald Nieman, University President Harvey Stenger and other department heads spoke and presented the awards, which are given on a yearly basis across the SUNY system. All faculty and staff, from professors and lecturers to custodians and human resources staff, are eligible for the awards. Recipients received a medal, a certificate and a $1,000 cash award, and also heard the reading of a short write-up from their letter of recommendation saying why they were deserving. Nominees for teaching awards were required to have high teaching evaluations from students, syllabi with substantive content, 10 letters of recommendation from current colleagues, former students and alumni successful in their field and an approval from the dean of the school. Faculty must also possess evidence of research including a currently active research program and published works. Anthropology professor Ralph Garruto was awarded for Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring.

Outside the classroom, he helps students with internships, career goals, medical school applications and ways to increase marketability after graduation. His research focuses on Lyme disease and he said that mentoring students is crucial in ensuring that they learn from their work. “They learn to work in a crossdisciplinary way and gain an education from different perspectives toward solving a single problem,” Garruto said. “I’m multidisciplinary trained myself and I take that framework from my earlier work and try to apply it to students here. They’re not just taught to produce data, it’s the entire research process we want them to learn.” Thomas Kelly, the former dean of the School of Management and recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award, said that receiving the award made him feel like he is doing something significant in his classroom. It also enriches the experience of BU’s teaching, research and service by awarding those who do well. “It was very gratifying to be acknowledged in this way, particularly at my age because I’m getting close to retirement, and to be able to connect with students at this stage of my career is very meaningful to me,” Kelly said. “Whenever a university honors excellence, it provides an example for junior faculty to aspire to.” Stenger said that the award ceremony is one of his favorite events of the year.

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Laura Schorr/Contributing Photographer Ithaca mayor Svante Myrick talks to students Friday afternoon in Old University Union’s Mandela Room. Myrick spoke of his personal life that has led him to encourage students to participate and trust in the government.

Ithaca mayor encourages civic action

Svante Myrick calls on youths to run for political office, trust government Gabriella Weick Assistant News Editor

Svante Myrick, the youngest mayor of Ithaca and the city’s first mayor of color, addressed Binghamton University students and faculty on Friday in the Old University Union’s Mandela Room and urged young people to participate in and trust the government. Myrick was elected to the position when he was 24 years old, after serving on the Ithaca Common Council while he was a junior at Cornell University. His talk was the keynote address for BU’s Masters of Public Administration Public Service Weekend. The mayor began by describing his

early life, in which he was homeless and living in shelters with his mother and siblings until he was eight years old. Myrick said he was always conscious of how government affected his life, such as living off of food stamps and attending public schools. That, he said, is what inspired him to get involved in the first place. “I believe in government,” Myrick said. “I believe in public service, and I believe in politics. It’s a controversial thing to say; there’s not a lot of faith, hope or optimism, and not a lot of people saying that not only can government be good, but also great.” Myrick said that although people might doubt a young person’s ability

to participate in government, youths have more energy, creativity and moral authority at this point in their lives and should not wait to run for office. While campaigning, Myrick said he knocked on the door of every constituent in Ithaca. When that didn’t work, he did it again, and when that second attempt didn’t work, he did it a third time. “There’s no magic to what we pulled off,” he said. “It was hours, sweat and energy; [it was] energy from people saying that we’re knocking our head against a wall, but our head is stronger.” As mayor of Ithaca, one of Myrick’s biggest accomplishments

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Libraries display interactive exhibits NSF grants $900K for Presentations feature information about animals, local sustainability Andrea Papp Contributing Writer

Each of the three libraries at Binghamton University — Glenn G. Bartle Library, the Science Library and the library in the University Downtown Center — have added special exhibits to expand the resources that each of the locations provide. An exhibits committee was formed consisting of 14 members with specializations in different departments. They gathered old books, artifacts and current student work in order to put together the exhibits, which have different themes. Bartle Library hosts “Illuminated Lifestyles: Food, Sport and Books in Medieval Life,” which features a 3-D touch point that informs students about images of different manuscripts and their content. Next to this is the “From Aesop to Joachim: the Medieval and the Early Modern of Facsimiles Special Collections” exhibit. A facsimile is an exact copy of something, usually a written or printed material, and the exhibit includes a collection of facsimile illustrated codices, scrolls and printed works from Europe and Asia. Kristen Gallant, a librarian and one

BU brain-mapping study

Research examines how individuals' brains can be used as a means for secure identification

Stacey Blansky

Contributing Writer

Laura Schorr/Contributing Photographer Pictured: “Illuminated Lifestyles: Food, Sport and Books in Medieval Life,” located inside Glenn G. Bartle Library. All three libraries at Binghamton University are featuring exhibits to display the resources that each location has to offer.

of the members of the libraries’ exhibit committee, was one of the creators of “Illuminated Lifestyles.” She said that she hopes the palpability of the piece invokes curiosity for students to learn more about medieval art. “A large portion of scholarly work around library and museum exhibits is about virtual exhibits online,” Gallant said. “I happen to love that our exhibit is

tangible; it’s meant to be interacted with in person. It’s been the committee’s hope that this exhibit will inspire curiosity about the Middle Ages and get our students into the stacks to learn more about it.” The Science Library is home to the “Animals of the Land and Sea” exhibit, located on the first floor of the Science

The National Science Foundation recently awarded Binghamton University researchers a $900,000 grant for their work on a brain biometric technology project. The four-year project has taken an interdisciplinary approach, combining computer engineering technologies with cognitive psychology. Zhanpeng Jin, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Sarah Laszlo, associate professor of psychology, are working together to explore individual human brain activity. Their work focuses on using the brain as a biometric identifier, meaning as a distinct and measurable characteristic that can be used to label and describe individuals. By researching how to identify a person based on how their

brain responds to particular stimuli, they can then use that information to map the brain. “The idea with the brain biometric research is to be able to use your brain activity to identify you the same way that now your fingerprint can identify you on your smartphone,” Laszlo said. Laszlo and Jin said that the fingerprint has become a wildly popular method of biometric identification but comes with the risk of being hacked into and stolen. Hacking into a person’s brain activity, however, is significantly more challenging than recreating an identical model of somebody’s fingerprint. “As long as I have a picture of your fingerprint, I can duplicate that using some different materials, and make a fake finger,” Jin said. “That is

SEE GRANT PAGE 2

Alumn describes their Professor examines impact of Jewish vote path to U.S. State Dept. Ira Sheskin discusses largely Democratic voter bloc's weight in election Jillian Forstadt Contributing Writer

Ira Sheskin, professor and chair of the department of geography and regional studies at the University of Miami, came to Binghamton University on Monday to speak to students about the importance of the Jewish vote in the upcoming presidential election. Sheskin was brought to BU by John Frazier, director of graduate studies for the geography department and Norah Henry, professor of geography. The lecture, which was held in Old

University Union, was titled “Why All This Attention To 2% Of The Electorate?: The Jewish Vote In The Presidential Election” and is part of the department’s series. Sheskin discussed the significance of Jewish voters despite the fact that Jewish people are a small fraction of the country’s total population. Much of Sheskin’s expertise comes from his role as the director of the Jewish Demography Project at the Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic Studies at the University of Miami. The Jewish vote is important because

ARTS & CULTURE

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of the location and concentration of Jewish people in specific places in the United States, according to Sheskin. The top five states with the most Jewish people — New York, California, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois — cast 149 electoral votes for president. “Yes, Jews moved and are a little more spread out than they were 40 years ago, but they’ve moved to states with lots of electoral votes,” said Sheskin, who studied 48 different local Jewish communities.

SEE VOTE PAGE 2

Kevin Greer, '12, talks experience working on staff of Secretary of State John Kerry Sarah Rahman Contributing Writer

On Friday, Binghamton University alum Kevin Greer spoke to students about his experience working for the U.S. Department of State as part of the Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development’s “Cool Connections, Hot Alumni” series. The Center and the Alumni Association organized a Skype call with Greer, who graduated in 2012 and

OPINIONS

A new boutique on Clinton Street brings vintage styles to the community,

Garage Taco Bar adds Tex-Mex flavors to the Downtown Binghamton scene,

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The Editorial Board discusses how to get informed in Tuesday’s national and local elections,

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studied political science and history. As a member of the Executive Secretariat Staff, his responsibilities at the State Department include working with a team to go over the specifics of Secretary of State John Kerry’s travel — where he’s going to be, how he’s going to get there, who he’s going to see and what kind of press will be there. After graduation, Greer attended Georgetown University in the District

SEE ALUM PAGE 2

SPORTS

Men’s soccer clinches America East playoff berth,

Volleyball wins fourth straight match,

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