The Thrill Speakers Toastmasters Club provides undergraduate and graduate students alike a place to practice making speeches, build confidence and gain leadership skills.
In the Binghamton area alone, there are five separate Toastmasters groups, although they vary in membership and participation. At Binghamton University, the Toastmasters Club is called Thrill Speakers. Matthew Grenier, president of the BU Toastmasters Club, which has been around for approximately 10 years, said that there are currently 15 members.
“But sometimes there are as few as five, which makes meetings very difficult,” he said. “It is a challenge to get people to come, but guests…
Members of the Student Association are making changes to the executive board election process to avoid the many recounts and runoff elections that occurred last year.
“Our system has been in place for a while and we’ve noticed a lot of problems with it,” SA President Adam Amit said. “We thought outside the box to see how we can improve the system.”
Elections Committee chair Karen Galán has outlined several specific changes, as well as new additions, to the SA elections system.
The elections board requires that candidates hand in all their receipts for purchases made toward their campaign, but…
University Plaza Apartments provides Binghamton University students with a close, comfortable and convenient place to live while attending classes. Students may lose some of this convenience, however, when UP begins charging students $150 per academic year for parking.
“I think it’s just another way to take money from students,” Gabby D’Annunzio, a sophomore political science major who plans to live in UP next semester, said. “[The fees] should be less than or equal to what off-campus students pay, or something else should be considered.”
According to Corky Gatewood, vice president of marketing and professional development of the Ambling Management Company,…
A memorial intended to send a message of peace, and symbolize the 13 lives cut short at the American Civic Association shooting, is set to be constructed next fall.
The memorial will be located at the southeast corner of the intersection between Front and Clinton streets in Binghamton.
The city has opted to establish a trust fund for not only the memorial itself, but the building, maintenance and upgrades to Tyler Park, which is located at the northeast corner of that intersection, as well as the surrounding area.
Through a unanimous Jan. 20 vote, the City Council approved the creation…
The New York State University Police Officers Union is looking to consolidate its individual police forces, including Binghamton University’s, into one centralized force.
On Nov. 17, James McCartney, president of the University Police Officers Union, gave testimony to the SUNY Board of Trustees outlining the multitude of inefficiencies in the state’s university police departments, as well as explaining ways to alleviate them.
There are currently 28 different police departments across SUNY campuses, each one operating as a sovereign police force with its own rules, regulations and policies.
“Because they’re not centralized, there are too many losses,” McCartney said. “We have…
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded Binghamton University $2.2 million in grants for various research projects in everything from organic chemistry to psychology to anthropology.
These grants will help BU obtain newer equipment and retain employees.
“I got several grants,” said Mohammad Younis, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “Most of them are from the National Science Foundation; we compete amongst each other, and if they like an idea, they will fund [it].”
The NSF sponsors about 10,000 research projects per year, judged with rigorous, merit-based criteria to see if they qualify.
“My advisers, when I was in grad school,…
Though there have been few events at Binghamton University that have required a lockdown or evacuation, officials have a detailed list of procedures in the case of an emergency situation.
The list, titled the Department Emergency Evacuation Plan, includes guidelines ranging from how to deal with a civil disturbance or protest gone wrong to a natural disaster.
“[The emergency procedures] are updated annually,” said Connie Corey, associate director of Environmental Health and Safety on campus. “They are used to pre-plan for emergencies that may require the evacuation of a building. Building administrators are in charge of coordinating their building’s written…
Officials have confirmed one “mild” case of H1N1 influenza on campus, and say that Health Services is seeing increased incidences of respiratory illness.
Another case was confirmed in Broome County at the Wadsworth State Laboratory in Albany on Oct. 27.
“There has been a rapid nationwide increase in the number of H1N1 cases,” said Gail Glover, spokeswoman for BU. “Binghamton University’s incident management team continues to monitor the situation. The Incident Management Team (IMT) came together in the spring and will continue to work to manage issues relating to H1N1 flu.”
Donald Nieman, the dean of Harpur College of Arts…
Each class at Binghamton University has a council of students devoted to helping their peers, planning activities and creating a memorable college experience.
In addition, these class councils, representing the freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, work with the students they represent to deal with any problems they may be having.
“The Freshman Class Council’s role is to unite the Class of 2013 and raise class and school spirit through planning class events, and fundraising for these events,” said Danielle Kutas, the president of the Freshman Class Council. “Ultimately, we want to make sure the Class of 2013 leaves a significant…
Binghamton University will host its fourth annual 5K race, known as “Tour DeFleur,” on campus this Saturday.
The event will be held near the East Gym at 11 a.m., and is expected to bring in more participants and spectators than ever before.
“Last year’s race had about 70 runners,” said Cindy Cowden, associate director of BU campus recreational services. “Each year the numbers have increased. This year we hope to top 100 runners.”
All proceeds from the race will go to the Eating Awareness Committee on campus.
“The committee uses these funds to support educational programming, consultations and referrals to…
Binghamton University is promoting the benefits of studying abroad and teaching students how to apply at the study abroad fair on Thursday, Sept. 24.
BU sponsors 25 study abroad programs encompassing an array of academic fields and locations, including Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United Kingdom.
In addition, Binghamton students have the option of entering over 520 study abroad programs that are based out of other SUNY schools, and can even access non-SUNY exchange programs for academic credit.
The fair will be held in the Mandela Room of the Old University Union from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30…
Dunkin’ Donuts, the coffee and baked goods chain founded in 1950, has recently agreed to become the new official sponsor for the Binghamton Bearcats.
This union between the school and Dunkin’ Donuts will apply to both the men’s and women’s Binghamton basketball teams and will begin with the slam dunk contest at Late Nite Madness on Oct. 16.
“We’ve been in conversations [with Dunkin’ Donuts] for a few years now,” said Jason Siegel, the senior associate athletic director at Binghamton University. “The sponsorship is a terrific opportunity for our fans and our community; they’ll recognize people who do wonderful things…
Binghamton University has recently been recognized for its “green activities” by the Princeton Review in its second annual “Green Rating” contest this past July.
SUNY Binghamton is one of 15 colleges in the nation to achieve this recognition, and the only SUNY school to do so.
The Green Rating is a score from 60 to 99 given by the Princeton Review to 637 colleges across the United States. Those in the Green Rating list that score perfect 99s are placed on a Green Honor Roll, which includes Binghamton University.
“[The Green Rating system] is growing tremendously among students and administrators…
The smell of dirt and mulch wafts through the air as dozens of Binghamton University students work diligently on what used to be an empty lot between houses on Clarke Avenue in Downtown Binghamton. The students operate drilling machinery, put up plywood squares and begin planting what will soon be the neighborhood’s first community garden.
“Our class, MGMT 350, organized this,” said Shuki Cirlin, a Scholars Program junior, referring to the second annual PricewaterhouseCoopers Scholars Community Service Day.
In addition to BU students, there were many construction workers on the scene working on the plywood enclosure which would surround small…
At Binghamton University, campus police are not the only ones who have an arsenal of weapons at their disposal. Students and visitors on campus have a collection of their own, too.
For years, Binghamton’s New York State University Police have confiscated all sorts of weapons from students, from knives to BB guns to battle axes. Traditionally these weapons are found during room searches, traffic stops or if said weapons are used to commit a crime.
“The people who get them [the weapons] confiscated don’t usually get them back,” said Investigator Matthew C. Rossie of Binghamton’s New York State University Police.…
Willie Poon always wanted to be a psychologist. Sadly, though, he was never able to become one.
Poon died in a one-car accident on his way back to Binghamton after a trip to Ithaca nearly a year ago to the day. The driver of the car, who was the victim’s fraternity brother, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.
This, along with other cases of alcohol-related deaths, was brought up Thursday at an alcohol education session, hosted by a conglomerate of fraternities called “The Machine.” According to Anthony Scaria, the social chair of Sigma Beta Rho, The Machine…
The runoff elections for president and vice president for finance of the Binghamton University Student Association will be held again tomorrow, April 22, four weeks after the original runoff date.
None of the candidates for the positions received the 40 percent of the vote necessary to win during the March 18 and 19 elections. As a result, Student Association presidential candidates Adam Amit and Jonathan LaSala and vice president for finance hopefuls Matthew Allwood and Abid Hossain will go head-to-head to win their respective positions.
A common concern among the four remaining candidates is whether the week-long spring break will…
As the Internet continues to grow, popular search engines like Google may begin having trouble searching through the more than 900 billion existing Web pages. To make things worse, many of these pages are not linked by other more modern Web sites, giving Google no reference for any of them.
For one Binghamton University professor, the solution could be around the corner: a “meta-search” engine.
“A meta-search engine has a similar interface to other search engines,” said Weiyi Meng, a computer science professor at BU. “But the way it processes queries is very different. It queries other search engines and…
Off Campus College Transport bus service will continue its usual rounds, but police patrols will increase after a rowdy crowd attacked a bus Downtown last week.
A mob rocked an OCCT bus back and forth, and kicked in its back window at the corner of Court and State Streets on Sunday, March 15, at 3:20 a.m. The driver contacted OCCT training and on-call coordinator James Harrison to report the matter.
“I instructed the driver to pull over as soon as it was safe and contact the police,” Harrison said.
No arrests were made and no charges have been brought, since…
The Binghamton University Mock Trial Club advanced in the regional tournaments and is headed this weekend to the nationals in Kansas City, Mo. for the first time in its eight-year history.
“Mock trial is a competitive team that competes in several competitions each year,” said Josh Wurtzel, vice president of the Mock Trial Club. “Mock trial allows students to learn proper trial techniques, strategies, decorum and more by performing fake trials. Many of our members are interested in attending law school, but several of our members simply like to act [play a witness role] or speak in public.”
Karl Zysk,…
Despite Residential Life’s efforts to de-triple rooms and move students out of lounges, freshmen placed in triples at the beginning of the semester have yet to see a change.
In the past few days, however, a new option has become available to tripled students who wish to be de-tripled for the upcoming spring semester.
ResLife has distributed forms detailing how students can request a transfer out of a tripled room — 220 of which remain. According to the forms, students who wish to be de-tripled can apply to do so, and in most cases just one student from each triple…
After a 40-year absence, construction company William H. Lane Incorporated has returned to Downtown Binghamton.
Mayor Matthew Ryan and other community leaders attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 2, to celebrate the company’s move to its new headquarters.
“William H. Lane Incorporated is a premier construction company with a long tradition of important projects in our city and the surrounding area, and I applaud their return to Binghamton,” Ryan said. “In addition to their successful transition Downtown, Lane Inc. has done an impressive job upgrading the building and attracting additional tenants.”
According to Ryan, the move is a sign…