Hey guys! Sorry about missing a post last week, I got sick with the flu and couldn’t do anything for an entire week. I’m really sorry about that so this is sure to be an awesome photo of the week! (I hope it is awesome.) I took this picture a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was great. This action shot of a student doing stunts reminds me of the fact that there are many talented people on campus. It also reminds me that there is always something to do on and off campus. Whether you’re practicing your stunts or painting the scenery of our nature preserve, there’s absolutely no reason for you to get bored. With hundreds of clubs on campus, you’re bound to find something you can be a part of. If you can’t find a club you like, you always have the freedom to start your own start club and have fun.

If you guys have any feedback or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.

-Shutterbug Dennis

The Binghamton Men’s Cross Country team completed its amazing turnaround by capturing its first-ever America East championships on Saturday morning at the University of Vermont. 

Junior Erik van Ingen became the first Binghamton runner to win the conference’s individual title. The Bearcat men won the nine-team meet while the women were seventh. Furthermore, Annette Acuff and Joe Pienta were named the America East Men’s Cross Country Staff of the Year for the first time in both of their careers.

With eight runners finishing among the top 21 in the race, Binghamton left little doubt as to the meet’s outcome. Graduate student Chris Gaube was second overall with a time of 25:26.10. It marks the second year in a row he has finished in the top three. Junior Casey Quaglia was fourth (25:40.80) while freshman Jeff Martinez placed 10th (26:01.70). Juniors Adam Quinn clinched the win with a 13th-place finish (26:10.90).

Junior Andrew Ugolino was 17th (26:21.00), freshman Evan Bloomberg was 19th (26:24) and senior Craig Coon was 21st (26:31). There were 81 runners in the nine-team race.

On the women’s side, freshman Rachel Miura was the Bearcats top finisher, placing 10th in the 5,000-meter race in a time of 19:01.80. She is the first Binghamton female runner to earn all-conference honors since 2006.

“Hey, we’re playing Rock Band and we need a fourth player, you in?”
“Sorry I can’t, too much work.”
“But we really need you! Just play a few quick songs :(”
“I really shouldn’t...”
“C’mon just for a few minutes”
“Well, if it’s only for a few minutes....Let’s do it!”

School is an amazing experience in that there are always people around to have fun with, but sometimes you need to be careful how much fun you have, and remember that your here for school first, and for play second. The situation mentioned above is one I faced yesterday, and every student faces almost every day (not necessarily with rock band, but you get the idea). It’s tempting when your always around friends at school to hang out and have fun all the time, and I’m not saying that having fun is a bad thing at all, but it’s still very important to prioritize your time and make sure you get everything done that you need to. I bet you’re all wondering what happened yesterday when my roommate asked me to play rock band. Well, I did play, and I had a blast! However, after an hour or so of rock band, and an additional hour of t.v. afterwards, I was faced with a time crunched evening full of meetings, work, and stress. If I had planned out my time better and done about an hour of work during that time, it would have made my night a lot easier. Friends would understand if you have work to do, because I’m sure they have work to do on their own as well. One way of helping me to focus on my studies is going to the library, as opposed to studying in my room. There are less distractions there, and everyone around you is working too, so you don’t feel as bad as if you’re around people who are playing games. I’m even in the library right now writing this blog!
Of course, college is not all about work, and part of the experience is having fun and taking advantage of opportunities to try different things and enjoy yourself. But beware, and don’t let your grades slip! I know it’s easier said than done, as I’m a junior and still have trouble with time management. But Hey, that’s life! You need to learn from your mistakes. So next time I’m faced with the same situation (probably later today), I’ll make sure I only play a few songs .

Sincerely,
Dan

The Binghamton University Japanese Association or BUJA, puts together a haunted house every year for students and the public to enjoy and a portion of the profits going to charity. Students can even volunteer to be actors in the haunted house so if being scared isn’t your thing how about being a part of the haunted house? You’ve probably been in at least one haunted house before but probably not one like this. Watch the video to see how it came out.

Halloween is a big thing.
I wish it happened more than once a year, since it is not often you get to wear ridiculous costumes to class, to parties, and to suburban Binghamton.

Which is why, this past weekend, I have been dancing singing and generally being silly inside a yellow spray painted Sodexo cardboard box with one eyehole (there was an eyepatch on the other to cover a bad cutting job) a little too low for comfort. Yes, it is incredibly impractical to go dancing in a large cardboard box with absolutely no vision or sense of what’s around you, but hey, again, this chance comes about once a year.

Around me were lots of pirates, vampires, and hippies, apparently this year’s flavors, cats, demons, cowboys and cowgirls, quite a few Where the Wild Things Are Maxs, a good number of Heath Ledger’s Jokers, and approximately one Sandy Cheeks.

The unique thing about Halloween this year is that it happened on a Saturday. Several people dressed up on Friday, even to class, and many had different costumes for Saturday. After recovering my battered box after Friday night, I did what was best for Spongebob. I sprayed his sides white, Sharpied blood all over him, and stuck his jellyfish net through his head.

Post-Halloween, Zombie Pirate Spongebob now functions as a side table in my room.

F is For Friends Who Do Stuff Together
U is For U and Me
N is For Nywhere and Nytime Down in the Deep Blue Sea!
-Spongebob

Catch Joey K, Apprentice Word Puncher, on Mondays and every other Thursday when he’s not trying to find a new way to procrastinate

If you’re a senior graduating this fall or in the spring, make sure to stop by the advising office of your particular school to make sure everything is in order.  Before going to the Harpur Academic Advising, in Academic B, you should stop by your major department to make sure everything shows up correctly on your DARs; if not, they can request exceptions. 
If you studied abroad, make sure you’ve turned in all appropriate forms to the Office of International Programs and to Harpur Academic Advising.  In HAA, processing can take up to two weeks, which could be enough to keep you from registering on time or even from graduating on time. 
I was there last week and right now is definitely the busiest time to visit HAA, but you should do it anyway. It’s a fail safe for your graduation date.  They have walk-in hours Monday through Thursday 10-12 and 1:30-3:30. Take advantage of the resources before you so you’re not haunted by unfulfilled requirements.
Even if you’re not graduating right now, it’s still a great idea to visit HAA and make sure everything is in order.

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while. I’ve had a very busy semester so far - on top of classes, I am working, singing in Harpur Chorale, and doing two internships! Eek! However, I am having a blast! I am interning with the University Photographer, learning so much about everything a professional photographer does. I’ve been attending so many different events and taking photographs. I’ve been learning how to better utilize photoediting software and how to look at photography from a journalistic standpoint. It’s been exciting for me to see my photographs in Inside BU, the University’s publication, for the past few weeks.

The other internship is with Southern Tier Celebrates!, a non-profit community arts programming organization. STC organizes the First Friday Art Walk, which is happening THIS FRIDAY! First Friday is a lot of fun, art galleries and businesses are open late on the first Friday of every month. Bringing the community together!

I am doing all kinds of things in this internship! We are getting ready for a program next week with Flamenco Vivo with Carlata Santana. There will be music and dancing! This performance will be held in the BC Forum, next Tuesday at 7:30. I will be helping with hospitality with the artists the day of, which should be pretty exciting! I like being downtown for this internship; it’s great being out in the community and feeling a part of it all.

Also this weekend, the Tri-Cities Opera company is having two performances of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. This is at the BC Forum Friday at 8pm (convieniently on First Friday) and Sunday at 3pm. Many graduate students studying opera at Binghamton University are in these performances.

If that wasn’t enough, KNOW Theater downtown will have their opening night of BASH by Neil LaBute this Friday at 8pm. There will be three performances each weekend (Friday and Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 3pm) for the next three weekends.

If you’d prefer to stick around on campus, the College Humour tour stops by on Sunday at 8pm in the Anderson Center.

Should be a pretty busy but interesting weekend!!!

Sarah