Fall 2016 Issue 8

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Stars of

“Whose Line is it Anyway” brought improvised fun to campus See page 4

Tuesday, September 20, 2016 | Vol. XC, Issue 8 | Binghamton University | bupipedream.com

Celebrating 70 Years as the Free Word on Campus

Students fight off campus

'Ban the Box' vote passes

Two individuals confronted

SUNY adopts initiative to

by multiple fraternity

end disclosure of felony

members Friday night

history on applications

Staff Reports

Brendan Zarkower Assistant News Editor

Two Binghamton University students were assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity late Friday night. One student went to the hospital, but nobody was critically injured in the incident. According to one student involved in the incident, the attack began after he had mistakenly urinated on the fraternity’s front door. Very quickly, about six members emerged and started yelling at and attacking him. He said that Adam Wilkes, the other of the two students attacked, had come to his defense and was injured when he tried to stop some of the fraternity members from harming him. Wilkes, a junior double-majoring in economics and sociology, said that the incident was damaging to the relationship between BU students and the Greek Life community. “The assault I suffered from undermined the general trust I had in fellow students and the Greek community,” Wilkes said. “Fraternities have to hold all of their members to a standard of decency, and I hope word spreads that Chi Phi lacks that

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which is awesome,” Cea said. “The Garnar campaign has not changed any policies; if they recommend any changes, it’s done by us and then we give it back to them. So it’s completely student-made, they just make sure it’s feasible and pledge to actually make it happen.” The county executive’s role includes acting as the head of the executive branch of the county and overseeing most Broome County departments. The platform, which Garnar has officially backed, outlines plans to make the Binghamton area more appealing to BU students after graduation. This will be accomplished by creating a competitive incentive grant program in which the local government,

The SUNY system has voted to “Ban the Box” on student applications, meaning applicants are no longer required to disclose their criminal history when applying to any of SUNY’s 64 campuses. The change was passed by the SUNY Board of Trustees, the governing body of SUNY, last Wednesday and follows a national “Ban the Box” movement as well as a resolution passed by the SUNY Student Assembly (SUNY SA) in March. The resolution reads, “Criminal history screenings should only be implemented after a student has been admitted, and they should never be used to revoke admission.” Under the policy passed by the trustees, students will not be asked about their criminal history before a decision has been made regarding their admission. Instead, individual schools will reserve the right to ask students to declare any felonies they have been charged with when they seek campus housing, apply for on-campus internships or embark on study abroad programs. Permission

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Kevin Sussy/Photography Editor Binghamton University students gather to listen to Jason Garnar, a candidate for Broome County executive, Friday afternoon in front of the Pegasus statue.

Garnar proposes student-made platform Candidate for county executive holds rally announcing plan at BU Peter Brockwell Staff Writer

Local politics are finding their way onto Binghamton University’s campus as Jason Garnar, a candidate for county executive, unveiled a new student-made political platform on Friday afternoon. Approximately 40 students gathered outside of Glenn G. Bartle Library to hear Garnar, a Democrat, present his plan for increasing connections between the University and the city of Binghamton. At the beginning of his campaign, Garnar reached out to Binghamton for Broome, a student group that was founded last December, whose mission is to connect BU students to the local government. Brianna Cea, the campaign manager of

Binghamton for Broome and a sophomore double-majoring in political science and philosophy, politics and law, said that Garnar began talking to them in order to increase interaction with the University. Garnar is the first candidate in Broome County to support and present an entirely student-made political platform. Binghamton for Broome surveyed hundreds of BU students about their desires for the Binghamton area and the University’s relationship with the surrounding community. They then presented their platform to Garnar’s campaign, and according to Cea, the campaign was receptive to the group’s initial proposal. “Every idea has actually remained original to [Binghamton] for Broome,

CCE works to register voters

Student ambassadors provide election information for peers Amy Donovan Staff Writer

Gearing up for the presidential election, the Center for Civic Engagement’s (CCE) Vote Everywhere ambassadors have been helping students get registered to vote. Vote Everywhere, a nationwide program focused on increasing voter participation, has teamed up with the CCE. Student ambassadors are helping students get registered by handing out registration forms during classes, tabling every Tuesday outside the CCE office and awarding $1,000 to the living community who registers the greatest percentage of students before the last day of registration, Oct. 14. Nick Doran, the Vote Everywhere ambassador team leader and a secondyear graduate student studying public

administration, said that it’s important for students to vote because they belong to a generation that will end up facing the long-term repercussions of candidates’ actions. “The decisions that are being made now will not only affect everyone in the country now, but they will affect our generation for a longer term,” Doran said. “What is going to be decided today is going to affect us when we are adults. It’s important that we have a say in those decisions that are being made.” The CCE encourages students to register in Broome County because absentee ballots can be difficult to understand and students who live on campus are able to vote nearby in the Mandela Room. In the last presidential election in 2012, about 1,700 students at BU voted. Approximately 981 students out of 1,600 registered and eligible

students voted in the presidential primaries last spring. Assistant Director Alison Handy Twang said that this past summer, the CCE helped register over 700 students at orientation. “It was really a way for them to feel like they were part of the community here from the start of their time at Binghamton,” Twang said. Sarah Knoell, a Vote Everywhere ambassador and a senior majoring in political science, said that part of their mission is to not only get students to register, but also to provide them with all the information they need to actually vote. “Registering 100 students is great, but what difference does it really make if none of them go out and vote?” Knoell

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BU Council holds first meeting of year Stenger gives governing body update on state of University

Brendan Zarkower Assistant News Editor

The academic year’s first meeting of the Binghamton University Council occurred the morning of Friday, Sept. 16. The BU Council is a group of 10 members, consisting of nine members that are appointed by the governor of New York and one Binghamton University student who is elected by the student body at the end of each academic year. Members of the Council are generally prominent members of the community, such as the president of United Health Services, Inc. and a retired New York state attorney general. The group has supervisory powers of a variety of administrative functions at the University, from nominating candidates for president of the University to naming buildings on campus.

“The Council is the governing body of the University and President [Harvey] Stenger’s boss,” said Nicholas Ferrara, president of the Student Association (SA) and a senior majoring in political science. “One notable thing the Council does itself every spring is approve the Code of Student Conduct for the following year.” In their first meeting of the semester, Stenger, Student Representative Ryan Sheppard and Chief Diversity Officer Valerie Hampton each spoke to the Council and summarized the previous year, outlined plans for the coming year and addressed events that have already occurred on campus this semester. Stenger reviewed his State of the University address and went over macro trends with the Council members. He praised the change in the University calendar, which changed freshman move-in

ARTS & CULTURE

day to a Sunday, instead of the traditional Thursday. This change offered parents with full-time jobs more flexibility to help with moving in. “Move-in on a Sunday was a brilliant idea,” Stenger said. “We are going to repeat that at least two more times.” According to Stenger, the new move-in day also led to the highest attendance rate for University Fest in years. He further stated that the University has surpassed 17,000 students and that all growth since last year has been among graduate student programs. The count of undergraduate students has remained steady at 13,500. Even with the growth in revenue from an enlarged student body, Stenger expressed some concern regarding BU’s budgetary

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Sean Lastig/Contributing Photographer Pictured from left to right: Maria Roberts, the associate director of auxiliary services; Brian Rose, the vice president for student affairs; and Jim Ruoff, the resident district manager of dining services, cut a celebratory ribbon in honor of the grand opening of Starbucks and Subway retailer locations in the Hinman Dining Hall.

Subway, Starbucks hold grand opening

New vendors in lower Hinman Dining Hall host ribbon-cutting ceremony Stacey Schimmel Pipe Dream News

Free pumpkin bread, lemon pound cake and coffee attracted hundreds to the lower level of the Hinman Dining Hall Saturday afternoon for the official grand opening of the new Subway and Starbucks at Binghamton University. The event was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and music, followed by samples of pastries and subs. Any attendee who had a receipt from either Starbucks or Subway was able to spin a wheel for prizes ranging from coupons for free tall mocha drinks to cookies, cold brew coffee and six-inch sandwiches. BU Dining Services and the Student Culinary Council (SCC) organized the event, along with the two brands. John Enright, director of resident dining, said that the new brands have

OPINIONS

so far elicited positive reviews from students. The grand opening, he said, was held during parents’ weekend to showcase the change to more people. “For the Hinman community, it kind of brings some uniqueness to Hinman that no one else can really brag about, just a specialized attraction for the Hinman community,” Enright said. “It’s been an overwhelming success for us and we’re very happy with the outcome.” Enright said Hinman College was chosen as the location because, after analyzing student foot traffic, the dining services team determined that many commuters park in Parking Lot M and may grab a cup of coffee in the mornings before class. He said business has been successful, and Subway is currently doing more

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SPORTS

Binghamton’s North Side gets colorful with Mural Fest,

Mac Miller releases a new album about his life in love,

The Pipe Dream Editorial Board weighs in on the SUNY “Ban the Box” vote,

Men’s tennis opens season at Army Shootout, women compete at Navy Invitational,

Allison Davis wins women’s 5,000-meter at Binghamton Invitational,

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