The Student Association introduced its proposal for major changes to the structure of Off Campus College Transport in order to save the bus company at Monday’s meeting.
“This is a critical point [for OCCT] as a company,” said Giovanni Torres, service manager for OCCT. “It cannot continue to run as it has the past 39 years.”
Torres and SA President Adam Amit drafted a plan to ensure long-term sustainability for the bus company, which includes financial and infrastructural changes, as well as a restructuring of the board.
As of right now, the company is slated to sink into paralyzing debt…
The Off Campus College Transport Board of Directors voted to accept the Student Association’s proposal to remove the Graduate Student Organization from the Board Monday.
With OCCT headed toward bankruptcy, the Board also decided to begin charging graduate students and community members to ride the student-operated blue buses in hopes of bringing in new sources of revenue.
The GSO currently pays 2.5 percent of OCCT’s total operating cost. Student Association President Adam Amit noted that graduate students will be able to ride the blue buses for free for the remainder of the semester.
“We are disappointed by the outcome but…
Alumni, students and staff at Binghamton University are designing iPhone applications to help create a safer and more convenient environment on campus. Their contributions to the app craze join the ranks of over 140,000 others available on the iTunes App Store.
i911
Alumni Jeffrey Midgley, class of ’04, and Adam Bitterman, class of ‘05 plan to bring the i911 app to all BU iPhone users.
The app is an emergency dialer, which the iPhone owner can program to call any number at the click of a button. The app, which is free to the general public through the App Store,…
Two years after its creation, BingBuilder.com has drawn over 5,000 users and is looking for a new student to take over the reigns and provide Binghamton University with its fast and free service.
BingBuilder, created by Richard Viscomi, a senior majoring in computer science, allows students to plan their schedules with a horizontal weekly sketch that fits onto one page. Courses and discussion sections are updated simultaneously with updates on BU Brain.
On BingBuilder, students can save up to three schedules and copy course registration numbers for faster registration on BU Brain. The site also has a feature that allows…
Concerns about the financial sustainability of Off Campus College Transport was front-and-center for the second time in two years at a preliminary meeting Friday.
The board of directors and members of the Student Association met to discuss changes in authority and the potential for administration involvement, in the hopes of fixing the company’s structure and avoiding more financial challenges in the future.
According to Giovanni Torres, service manager of OCCT, the bus company’s latest financial woes stem from adding routes to the Binghamton University Downtown Center (UDC) and the Information Technology Center (ITC) without proper monetary backing.
Student Association President…
On Sunday, Dec. 13, a graduate member of the Muslim Student Association went into the organization’s unlocked office in New Union University room 308 to pray. What waited for him would not only interrupt his plans, but would present a direct affront to his beliefs and set off a police investigation.
“He smelled gasoline but didn’t know what it was,” said Maaz Sohail, president of MSA. “The carpet was soaked.”
The student contacted police at 3:15 p.m., and upon arrival, officers tested the drenched prayer rug for the liquid, which proved to be flammable, possibly gasoline, according to the police…
As the spectrum of electronic educational materials expands, many Binghamton University students will choose whether to go digital with their studies.
With the first week of the semester marked by long lines at Mando’s and the University Bookstore, a number of students are noticing the benefits of shifting to electronic materials.
“E-books are part of a technology-driven change,” said Bruce Hildebrand, executive director for higher education for the Association of American Publishers. “They’re cutting-edge. You can do [in text] searches. You can take notes. They have flexibility, portability.”
The bookstore began selling e-books through Universal Digital Textbooks, an electronic textbook…
A head injury incurred during service in the United States Navy left Bonnie Pierce with a seizure disorder and brain damage, but has not stopped her from pursuing independent research at Binghamton University.
During her final semester at BU, she is working on research that could identify and follow obesity patterns through computer technology, and she has been admitted to Duke University, where she will begin her graduate studies next fall.
Pierce graduated from Endicott High School and joined the Navy in 1980. She did two North Atlantic and Caribbean tours and one in the South Pacific as a mess…
With a record number of members this year, Binghamton University’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) aims to better socioeconomic situations in and outside of the campus community.
The club has grown over the past few years from 80 to 200 members, making it the biggest non-religious group on campus and allowing it to expand project possibilities.
“EWB is changing the world we live in,” said Nick Fannin, president of BU EWB and a senior industrial engineering major. “We are not solely focused on building things, but trying to involve social and environmental aspects into [our work].”
Florie Ho, public…
Over 14,000 signatures from Binghamton University and other State University of New York schools were delivered to New York Gov. David Paterson’s office last week in opposition to multimillion dollar budget cuts.
BU alone contributed 2,811 signatures, firmly communicating the students’ displeasure with the $90 million budget cut Paterson ordered earlier this year.
“I delivered them personally to the governor’s higher education director,” said Cariann Quick, director of government relations at the SUNY Student Assembly, referring to the Nov. 9 delivery. “At this time, the SUNY SA has not been contacted by him.”
SUNY SA Communications Director Juliette Price said…
Binghamton University’s German Club and the German and Russian studies department will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a 6-foot long cake and other festivities.
On Monday, in the Grand Corridor of the Fine Arts Building, the cake, donated by Sodexo, will be on display starting at 1:15 p.m. East German and Russian poetry and music will be presented at the event.
“The fall of the Berlin Wall signified the end of the Cold War, an end to the separation of families and the release of political prisoners,” said Ingeborg Majer-O’Sickey, associate professor of…
Throughout October and November, Binghamton University’s English department is set to host a number of events geared toward educating students about the literary industry.
These events, part of the department’s Reader’s Series, showcase recently published works of BU faculty.
As part of the Reader’s Series, on Tues Oct. 27 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in Library North room 1104, the Graduate Student Lounge, BU alumnus Jeremy Shraffenberger will be holding The Writing Life informal question-and-answer session on what it means to be an essayist in today’s world.
According to Shraffenberger, he plans to provide philosophical insight about publishing and represent…
Forget The Onion — Binghamton University students now have a local source when it comes to getting news from an alternative perspective: The Wad.
The Wad, a Binghamton University student-run online magazine at thewadnow.com, will consist of fake news, similar to The Onion, as well as comics and videos.
Ryan Vaughan, an English professor and The Wad faculty editor, said he had been toying with the idea of creating a humor magazine for two years.
“There is a huge hole in BU where comedy should be,” he said, adding that The Wad is purely comical with no political message. “The…
Members of Binghamton University’s Greek Life came together Saturday night to present the 24th annual Greek God competition, a showcase of male bodybuilding talents.
Corey Campbell from the Chi Phi fraternity became the Mr. Greek God of 2009, beating out eight other contestants and making Chi Phi the winners of Greek God for two years in a row.
“It felt amazing,” said Campbell on his win.
First runner-up was Izaac Fouladi from Pi Lambda Phi, whose fraternity competed on Saturday for the first time in three years.
Greek God is coordinated by the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority (AEPhi), and all…
A Binghamton University freshman won a contest that will give him the opportunity to speak in front of tens of thousands of equal rights supporters at the National Equality March on Washington on Oct. 11.
Sam Sussman, a philosophy, politics and law major, entered “Equality Idol,” hosted by Equality Across America, by submitting a YouTube video stating the importance of equal rights for everyone. The video is a preview of what he planned to say if he were selected to speak in Washington, D.C.
Sussman was one of five finalists in the contest, and found out late Thursday night that…
Representatives from over 130 graduate schools are scheduled to come to Binghamton University today for the Graduate School Fair.
The Fair, sponsored by the Career Development Center and the Student Association, is set to run from 11:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. in the Events Center. Off Campus College Transportation will provide blue bus service from 10:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. from the West Gym and Student Union.
“Grad school [representatives] feel it is important to come and meet face to face,” said Holly Horn, assistant director for the CDC. “That may improve [students’] chances of being admitted.”
BU holds one…
Starting in February 2010, the newly-passed federal Credit CARD Act of 2009 will restrict students under 21 from obtaining a credit card in their name. In order to get a card, students will have to apply with a credit-worthy co-signer or prove that they are financially capable of paying their bills.
College students often mishandle their bank accounts and go into credit card debt. To combat this, the Credit CARD Act of 2009 will leave a whole bracket of students who are ineligible for credit.
This act could likely hinder students from actions such as taking out loans for graduate…
Binghamton University upgraded to the newly released “Blackboard version 9” during the week of Aug. 17 to take advantage of new features, but what was expected to be an improvement has caused difficulty for many professors and students across campus.
The decision to switch to version 9 was based on the recommendation of the Blackboard advisory group, said James Wolf, director of Academic Services and Computing.
According to Wolf, students had stated that the old Blackboard’s interface was not as modern as other interactive online programs. The University then decided to make the switch at the end of the August…
While most college graduates often choose to follow the traditional paths of going to graduate school or beginning careers after receiving their diplomas, some Binghamton University students have decided to enlist in the military and give back to their country post-graduation.
While working for their undergraduate degrees, many University students are also part of military training programs.
“I teach a number of military students every year,” Patrick Regan, a professor of political science, said. “Some write papers critical of policy. [Apart from the military], we don’t have other alternatives in serving our country. They’ve made a choice. They’ve chosen to…
Earth Day was celebrated at Binghamton University on Wednesday with a zero-waste festival at the Dickinson Amphitheater.
“I’m tired of people asking me, ‘Why recycle?’” said Juliet Berling, the environment resource manager of Physical Facilities who coordinated the event. “We’re here today to show people you don’t have to go out of your way to leave a small footprint [on the environment]. We’re here to raise awareness and show that it’s easy, it’s fun and it tastes good.”
All products, such as organic juices and locally grown apples, consumed at the fifth annual festival were recycled. Free handouts included donated…
Colorful shirts bearing “No Means NO” slogans lined the walkway from the fountain in front of the Glenn G. Bartle Library to the New University Union this week, marking domestic violence awareness day.
“Take Back the Night,” an annual event led by the Woman’s Student Union, took place on Wednesday. The shirts, clipped onto the clothes line placed up along the walkway, were not given out, but hung close together in a wall of neon colors.
“If you keep [the shirts] in one spot, you’re showing there is a large number of support out there for victims,” said Brad Gordon,…
Alina Fernandez Revuelta said she still remembers the day when Mickey Mouse disappeared from Cuba forever. Revuelta, a daughter of former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, spoke to a packed lecture hall Wednesday about her childhood in the communist nation.
Revuelta, Castro’s illegitimate daughter, lived in Cuba for 40 years before fleeing to the United States to provide for her child and tell her story.
Taniya Thomas, a junior chemistry major and the insight chair of the Student Association, booked Revuelta’s appearance.
“This was a good idea to show something different, something we never had [at Binghamton University] before,” Thomas said.…
The author of “The Assassination of Jesse James” honored the memory of a former Binghamton University professor at the second annual John Gardner reading Sunday.
Ron Hansen read excerpts from his latest novel, “Exiles,” in the Anderson Center Chamber Hall. The reading, made possible by BU’s Dean’s Office, was held in memory of the late John Gardner, who taught at Binghamton University from 1978 up until his death in 1982 in a motorcycle crash.
According to Liz Rosenberg, a BU English professor and Gardner’s former wife, Gardner was a “great and beloved teacher.”
“At the scene of the motorcycle accident,…
A Virginia bill could exempt college students from serving jury duty while classes are in session.
Bill 2045 passed unanimously through the Virginia House of Representatives Feb. 3. It would allow full-time college students to request exemption from jury duty while classes are in session. The bill is under review by the State Senate.
However, the student must attend school at least 50 miles from the courthouse they were summoned to.
In Broome County, requirements for jury duty include being a resident of the county, having the ability to comprehend and communicate in English, not serving on a jury for…
A crowd chanted “Don’t take more from the poor,” as they rallied Downtown last week.
New York state employees and Binghamton University students rallied outside the State Office Building in Downtown Binghamton Thursday, expressing dismay over the governor’s proposed budget cuts for the 2009-10 state budget. Ralliers were also fighting for the enactment of the Fair Share Tax Reform Act.
Over 100 people participated, and the rally lasted from 6 to 7:50 p.m.
“Thousands are gathered, not just here, but all across New York state tonight to tell Gov. David Paterson to stop balancing the state budget on the backs…
Even if you’re not a member, you can learn the nuts and bolts behind Binghamton University’s student-run television station.
Binghamton Television’s director-training workshop prepared new staff last Thursday to handle equipment and responsibility. Meanwhile, the general public is welcome to attend “How It Works,” a presentation on video broadcasting Monday, March 2, at 8:30 p.m. in the New University Union, WB14.
“By the end of tomorrow, you’ll be able to direct by yourself,” Eric Nelson, training director, told his recruits last week. Trainees handled cameras while Isaac Attias, BTV’s production manager, instructed them from a headset, troubleshooting the effects and…
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