The lawsuit between Elizabeth Williams and Binghamton University has been settled. Williams, a former major gifts officer for Binghamton athletics, will receive $280,000 from BU and the state of New York in a settlement. She will keep $140,000 after legal fees, which is more than twice what her salary was, at $61,800. Williams accused two athletic department officials of sexual harassment. Louis DiLorenzo, a New York City labor lawyer who represented BU, said the majority of the money, $218,200, is provided by the New York State Comptroller, while the remainder of $61,800, comes from BU through the payroll division. Williams…

From a young age, Jordan Hirsch dreamed of becoming a doctor, and hoped to one day be a reconstructive plastic surgeon. Hirsch, a sophomore majoring in biochemistry on the pre-med track at Binghamton University, was inspired largely by his mother, Stacey Dranscak, a five-time cancer survivor. He became very involved in the Reaching & Inspiring Survivors Everywhere (RISE) group, the first group in the country to raise money for the financial needs of those diagnosed with breast cancer. Dranscak started the group in 2001. Hirsch always wore a pink bracelet in honor of his mother. He was still wearing the…

A construction scaffold collapsed on Binghamton University’s East Campus Housing project early this afternoon, according to a Rave alert. The scaffold fell from Building 3 of the multi-phase housing project that is in progress on that part of campus. Bingham Hall of Newing College was the first completed building of this project. Some injuries have been reported, although specifics have not yet been determined. University spokeswoman Gail Glover insists that people avoid the area. “Responders need to get in and out so the area needs to be as clear as possible,” Glover said. According to the alert, updates will be…

Every weekend, and most week nights, cab drivers queue up near State Street, waiting to pick up fares from students who spent the night partying. But after June 1, this may no longer be a common sight. New legislation passed by Broome County officials in March will prohibit taxi drivers from picking up customers on the street unless they have received a phone call or there is an official taxi stand in place. “If you’re on State Street and there is a big fight, I cannot pick you up. It’s dangerous,” Nas Huseyin, owner of Express Taxi, said. “I can’t…

Binghamton University’s Rainbow Pride Union will host the 2011 Northeast Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Conference, aimed at inspiring attendees in the LGBT community. The 2011 conference will be held from April 8 to 10. RPU is expecting nearly 500 people from at least 58 schools to attend. The Northeast LGBT Conference (NELGBTC) is an annual conference for LGBT groups and allies — straight college students who advocate for LGBT people. According to the NELGBTC website, the goal of the conference is working to unite people of diverse backgrounds through education, activism and networking. “We want to touch…

The brothers of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity will take turns rolling a barrel from Syracuse to Binghamton, raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Friday’s 88-mile relay marks the 28th Annual Keg Roll. The fraternity plans to start at Syracuse around 4 a.m. in the parking lot of a McDonald’s. From there it will roll the keg to Route 11 and follow it to Binghamton. According to Michael Sokol, senior vice president of TKE, the event usually takes 10 to 15 hours, and this year the goal is to finish in 12. A van filled with brothers drives in…

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and groups on campus are holding several events this week to promote women’s rights. A group of students will table in the New University Union to promote awareness about women’s rights during civil wars for a project assigned in the Causes of Civil War course at Binghamton University. A friend of one member of the group has a mother who lived through the civil war in Bosnia. After hearing her story, the group was inspired to make others aware of the struggles she went through. “We really want people on campus to be aware…

Binghamton University’s president may be on the pathway to retirement, but BU Council is honoring her legacy with the dedication of the President Lois B. DeFleur Walkway. The walkway chosen to bear her name connects the Lecture Hall and Student Wing to the upper-level entrance of the New University Union, and is commonly referred to as the Central Campus Walkway or the spine. The Council passed the resolution April 16. The plan calls for the embedding of two plaques that will recognize the president for her leadership skills, dedication and commitment in different locations along the walkway. The exact location…

Portobello-dusted lamb tenderloin over a Boursin cheese polenta with a portobello mushroom and port wine ragu sauce — it could be a dish at a five-star restaurant. But that recipe belongs to Hinman Dining Hall chef manager Sam Pfaffenbach, who competed at the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast Regional Competition held at Princeton on March 12. He returned to Binghamton University with a bronze award from the National Association of College and University Food Services’ (NACUFS) culinary competition. The competition was split into six regions. The winner of each one goes to the national competition, which will be held in San Jose,…

Using the phrase “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” as inspiration, a coalition of environmentally-friendly students will host a fashion show of clothes made entirely from trash. The first of its kind at Binghamton University, the “Trashion Show” will be Monday, with workshops and shows starting at 6 p.m. in the Tillman Lobby of the Old University Union. For the main event, 12 models will strut down the runway at 7:30 p.m., dressed in everything from the mesh bags that hold vegetables to the plastic used in wrapping flowers. In order to make the 12 outfits out of trash,…

April, a month when Binghamton University students see flowers, the sun and people enjoying life outside the dorms for possibly the first time since September, is also a month for alcohol awareness. Every year, the Thursday of the first full week of April is National Alcohol Awareness Day. The date this year was April 8, and many college campuses held special events to educate students. Many organizations, such as the U.S. Department of Health and CollegeResponse.org, dedicate the entire month to educating college students on the negative effects of alcohol. Jason Marshall, College Response program manager, said the goal of…

Kaskeset has been selected as the first Jewish a cappella group ever to advance from the quarterfinals to the semifinals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) competition. The Binghamton University a cappella group placed second out of the eight groups at the quarterfinal competition, earning themselves a spot in the semifinals. The semifinal competition will take place at 8 p.m. Friday, April 2 at Rutgers University. The ICCA is broken up into eight legions. According to Ari Hausman, the music director of Kaskeset and a sophomore double-majoring in music and psychology, most groups are from the United…

Binghamton University was placed on the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and awarded with distinction. The annual award recognizes universities and colleges throughout the country for their commitment to, and achievement in, community service. This is the fourth consecutive year that Binghamton has made the Honor Roll, but it is the first time BU has been awarded with distinction. There are three categories for the award, starting with the presidential award, which is given to six schools. From there schools can be named to the Honor Roll with distinction, and, according to Dr. Elizabeth Carter, executive director…

Binghamton University students don’t have to look far to travel back to the days of Old Hollywood – Saturday’s University-wide semi-formal will be reminiscent of those times. The semi-formal, “Casablanca,” will be a night of black and white and 2-foot martini glasses. It will be held from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday in the Old University Union’s Mandela Room. Mediterranean Gyro will cater the event, and there will be a chocolate fountain and music spun by DJ Decibel, who plays at The Rathskeller Pub. This year’s semi-formal is the first time all of the residential communities have united to throw…

Matt Allwood announced his plans to resign as Student Association vice president for finance at Monday’s Assembly meeting. He made the announcement at the same time he informed the Assembly about his decision to withdraw from school because of a medical condition. “I have already begun the paperwork for my medical withdrawal, and it is my hope that it will be completed by the end of the week,” he told the Assembly. Allwood has only announced plans to resign at this point; a date for his actual resignation has yet to be set. A senior majoring in accounting, he could…

The Student Association executive board candidates presented their platforms at sweeps Wednesday night to the residential communities. Karen Galan, elections committee chair (full disclosure: Karen Galan is a photographer for Pipe Dream), organized sweeps differently this year in hopes of making them more efficient. The event was held in Lecture Hall, rather than having candidates visit communities. Each community had its own Lecture Hall classroom, which candidates rotated between. Residents from Hillside and Susquehanna communities did not attend the event. Approximately 80 students attended overall. “Our concern as a committee is voter turnout and sweeps is the way to do…

The Binghamton University Student Association is making the move to connect popular technology and schoolwork by putting class lectures up on iTunes U. The information on iTunes U, found through the iTunes store, is completely free and as of now only available to BU students, according to Daniel Rabinowitz, SA vice president for academic affairs. Students will need to go to itunesu.binghamton.edu and enter their PODS username and password. To access the Web site, students need to have the iTunes application installed on their computers. “The ultimate goal of this essentially would be to have 100- and 200-level classes on…

Candidates for next year’s Student Association Executive Board positions will present their platforms before the student body starting at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Sweeps, as the speeches are more commonly known, will take place throughout Lecture Hall. The event was moved into Lecture Hall this year in response to past problems related to candidates’ ability to travel in a timely manner between the communities. Mountainview College and BTV will be in Lecture Hall 1, Off Campus College in Lecture Hall 2, Dickinson Community in Lecture Hall 7, College-in-the-Woods in Lecture Hall 8, Hillside Community in Lecture Hall 9, Hinman College in…

Students at Binghamton University will gather in the East Gym Thursday to celebrate the 19th annual Purim Carnival. The carnival, which is scheduled to be held from 8 to 11 p.m., honors the Jewish holiday of Purim, which commemorates the salvation of the Jewish people in ancient Persia from genocide. The holiday, which falls on Feb. 28 this year, is celebrated with costumes, games and fruit-filled cookies called Hamantaschen. In addition to the annual costume contest and Hamantaschen, this year’s main attraction is a mechanical bull. Jonathan D. Cogan, treasurer of Chabad and Purim Carnival chair, describes the occasion as…

It was a snowy Wednesday morning when senior Tufan Gebecelioglu received his eviction letter from his suite in Hinman College’s Lehman Hall. Andrea Cronkrite, resident director of Lehman Hall, knocked on his door at 9 a.m. to inform Gebecelioglu that he needed to evacuate and move out of the building by 5 p.m. that same day. According to Gebecelioglu, the letter of eviction was signed by Suzanne Howell, director of Residential Life, and it explained that Gebecelioglu was banned from entering any residence or dining hall because he was considered to be a threat to the other residents in the…

The Binghamton University Council is in the process of appointing a search committee to participate in the hiring of President Lois DeFleur’s successor. The Council, which is charged with running the presidential search, is made up of 10 members: nine governor-appointed members and one student-elected student representative. Matt Allwood, vice president for finance of the Student Association, is the student representative who acts as the voice for both the undergraduate and graduate students. Currently, the Council is working on assembling the members of the presidential search committee by following a set of SUNY guidelines. According to Kathryn Grant Madigan, chair…

Many students and adults are familiar with the old Aesop fable of the tortoise and the hare. Dr. Shana Clark, author and psychiatrist, applies this fable to everyday life in her new book, “My Money’s on the Turtle.” The fable describes a slow tortoise who believes he can pull through and beat a hare to win a race. Clark puts her faith in the turtle in her new book, as she believes that the tortoise wins by putting his negative resentments aside and being positive. Clark will hold a book signing in the Binghamton University Bookstore Wednesday and Thursday, from…

Binghamton University’s Student Association is one of the only student governments in the country that is not a subsidiary of its university. The SA is an independent, non-profit organization in control of a $2 million budget. Check out the information below to get reacquainted with the Association’s members, before their positions go up for election in March! ADAM AMIT As president of the SA, Adam Amit, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, has the job of representing student interests to the administration, the city and other students on campus. During the day, he can be found in a…

The end of every semester is filled with stress, library overflow and professors urging students to complete online SOOT surveys, but as of right now, that’s the last time most students see the surveys. But this is something Daniel Rabinowitz, vice president for academic affairs of the Student Association, is looking to change. As of now, the surveys are sent to the Office of Institutional Research where they are analyzed, and professors can then see them upon individual request. Rabinowitz is calling for the surveys to be released to students as well. Rabinowitz filed a request to the New York…

Graduating seniors at Binghamton University have the opportunity to host a program and be a group leader in another country through the Experiment in International Living. The program, which has chapters in 30 countries worldwide, gives leaders the opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture of another country and help a group of American high school students do the same. Applicants for the group leader position require a bachelor’s degree, leadership experience in working with high school students, living or learning experience in the host country and competency in the language of that country. Stephanie Holleran, a 2007 Binghamton University…

As the reality sinks in of the Dec. 4 stabbing at Binghamton University, some prospective students and alumni say that the tragic incident will have a minimal impact on their ties to the school. Josh Ciolek, a 17-year-old high school senior from Rochester, N.Y., only heard about the attack once he got to campus for his tour and read about it in the newspaper. “At first I was curious about why something like this happened. But when I saw it was a graduate student I wasn’t too concerned,” Josh Ciolek said. “Violence happens everywhere you go. I’m from Rochester and…

A student’s freshman year in college brings about a slew of changes that require some adjustments — notably to a heavier workload, larger classes and greater responsibilities. Although many first-year students feel adequately prepared for the large amount of work, some aspects of college exceed their expectations. “High school was a joke,” said Jaymee Nusbaum, a freshman majoring in human development. “I didn’t have to do anything and I was able to get As. Here, no one is telling you when to do things. It’s manageable but you have to take full responsibility.” With finals on the way, freshmen are…

It’s 4 p.m. and you’ve returned to your room. Your back is aching, your shoulder is sore and now you get the privilege of digging through your seemingly endless stack of books only to discover that there is one more you need to shove in your bag to lug on your trip to the library. To those lucky few who only have a notebook to carry, that trip is just a short walk from the residence halls, but for others carrying a shoulder bag full of heavy textbooks, it is a daunting journey that results in an uneven frame and…

The final Student Group Council meeting for the fall semester focused on two major aspects of a student group’s existence: the allocation of group funds and ideas on how to increase membership and performance. At Wednesday’s meeting, both Matt Allwood, vice president for finance of the Student Association, and Adam Shamah, Assembly representative for Off Campus College, discussed a change in how student group funds will be spent. Student groups at BU are funded through two sources: one is a mandatory student activity fee paid by all students along with tuition, which the SA divies up each year in a…

Binghamton University is making its way to the top of the communication ladder as the school was recently named one of the top 20 using Twitter, according to the U.S. News and World report. According to Universitiesandcolleges.org, a school’s ranking included statistics on the number of accounts, the total number of followers per account, total number of users following each account, number of “tweets” per day and total number of tweets on Twitter, a social networking service. The Web site collected data during September from Twitter.com, with additional statistics calculated using TweetStats. Only accounts officially affiliated with the university were…

Just as quilts have many layers, so do the stories that go behind them. The “Full Spectrum” exhibit in the Binghamton University Art Museum unravels the colorful threads to uncover the life behind the fabric. The museum tour begins at the lower level of the Art Museum with “Vibrations: Color Resonance in Antique Quilts,” where most of the history lies. Amish quilts that date back to 1860 still hang, preserved in the Kenneth C. Lindsay Art and Study Room. Owned by Gerald Roy of the Pilgrim/Roy Collection, the quilts were made by the Amish and Mennonite quilters of Ohio and…

An upcoming on-campus performance plans to take a different approach to the tension in the Middle East — comedy. The Nov. 12 show, “Stand Up for Peace,” will highlight the similarities between Israelis and Palestinians, and not their differences. Hillel’s Bearcats for Israel and the Muslim Student Association will be holding the event at 7 p.m. in Studio B of the Fine Arts Building. Shayna Eichen, a senior history major and co-coordinator of the event, called it a “two-comedian solution to peace in the Middle East.” “The basic idea is that once both sides can relate on a personal level…

Two new majors in the Asian and Asian American studies department were proposed and carried, or passed, during Wednesday’s meeting of the Harpur College Council. The topic of adding Korean and Japanese majors was brought up through new business and was met with questions regarding the amount of faculty available to support both majors. The council is made up of 55 percent faculty, 32 percent undergraduate students, 8 percent administration staff and 5 percent graduate students. The motions carried unanimously and will now be sent to the Faculty Senate for approval. If approved, an announcement will be sent out to…

The H1N1 vaccine is expected to become available, free of charge, through Binghamton University’s Health Services within a matter of weeks. The vaccine will be available in two forms: a nasal spray and an injection. Officials said the nasal spray, a live vaccine, will arrive first. The injection, which is a killed vaccine that will be inserted into the arm, is similar to a seasonal flu shot. Since needles are involved, this form of the vaccine is more difficult to distribute, and patients will need to be in a safe area with proper accommodations in case they feel dizzy or…