PIPE DREAMTuesday, December 11, 2012 | Binghamton University | www.bupipedream.com | Vol. LXXXII, Issue 25

In the midst of a gray period for Binghamton University’s Greek Life, where police raids on fraternity parties foreshadowed the closing of two chapters, all 54 remaining chartered Greek organizations collaborated to throw “Black & White,” a large, alcohol-free party to prove Greek life is about more than drinking.

The event, which took place on Friday night in the Old University Union, was advertised on its Facebook page as “the biggest frat party Binghamton has ever seen” and as “the best party of the year.”

Students began streaming into the Mandela Room at 9:30 p.m. — many wearing their best monochromatic outfits — and by 10 p.m. the party was underway.

Zach Stein, former Interfraternity Council president and a member of the recently de-chartered Alpha Chi Rho, organized the event and DJed for the evening, despite the status of his chapter.

“We want to show people that we’re responsible and that we’re men and women, not frat-boys and girls,” Stein said. “We want to show that we’re mature and what we can have a good time — the Greek world doesn’t revolve around alcohol.”

Stein, a senior majoring in anthropology, said the chapter’s closing did not affect his involvement with the party.

“I decided that myself and my fraternity was no more important than Greek Life as a whole,” Stein said. “That’s why I decided to continue with this event. It has nothing to do with the loss of the chapters. This has been in the works for a long time. We want to promote a good image in light of the things that happened last semester and, I guess, now this semester. We want to show that we’re a strong, united

Nicolas VegaPipe Dream News

Nia Pellone/Assistant Photo EditorMichael McGuinn, left, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, and Ethan Taubman, a junior majoring in financial economics, started Rank BU.

Chabad of Binghamton’s attempt to break the Guinness World Record for most dreidels spinning at one time took a downward spiral Monday evening, as they fell roughly 35 dreidels short.

The world record is 732 dreidels, and although Chabad’s Dreidel Spin-Off attracted 900 people to the Mandela Room throughout the night, only 749 people stayed when it was time to break the record an hour after the doors opened. And of the 749, only

about 700 were able to keep their dreidels spinning for the required 10 seconds.

“Even though we didn’t break the current world record, we brought together a tremendous amount of people from the Binghamton community, including students, faculty, and community members,” said Lucy Schwartz, Chabad major program coordinator. “It was a fun event and it was wonderful to be able to celebrate giving over $10,000 to charity with so Jonathan Heisler/Photo Editor

Students wait to spin dreidels as part of an attempt to break a world record. The event, hosted by Chabad, was supposed to start at 6 p.m. on Monday, but did not get underway until 6:45 p.m.

Having traveled more students than ever to out-of town tournaments, being ranked competitively against top-tier schools and jump-starting a debate program at Binghamton High School (BHS), the Binghamton University Speech and Debate team can head home happy from a successful semester.

Joe Leeson-Schatz, who has

directed the team since 2001, said 49 students traveled to tournaments this year — already a jump from the 32 who traveled over the course of last year.

“We did a little more outreach this year than we have done in prior years,” Leeson-Schatz said. He said the team changed their focus from being solely competitive to being “more about the way in which we benefit the University holistically.”

Christina PullanoAssistant News Editor

Overall I think it’s set up pretty well. Some of the questions/answers were hilarious and the ranks are pretty accurate.— Sam KozhebrodskyJunior majoring in art history

Why do I care? This means nothing to me

— Lillian ZhangSophomore majoring in psychology

It blows because it arbitrarily ranks things based on

stereotypes — Steve McKown

Senior majoring in anthropology

What began as a juvenile ploy to rank the attractiveness of female students at Binghamton University quickly evolved into Rank BU, a website that compares all things BU — from bars and fraternities to living communities and SA-chartered clubs — with a single stroke of the keyboard.

BU juniors Ethan Taubman and Michael McGuinn began developing ideas for the website Rank BU before Thanksgiving break. Since its Nov. 30 launch, the site has attracted more than 3,000 visitors from along the East Coast and roughly 10

countries in Europe.McGuinn, who is majoring in mechanical

engineering, said they designed the site to be “an insider’s guide to Binghamton.”

“When we came up with the idea, we were thinking about it in terms of freshmen,” McGuinn said. “It would be written by students, for students.”

The site allows students to compare various aspects of life at BU, including fraternities and sororities, club and Division I sports teams, and student groups, as well as bars and restaurants Downtown. Visitors to the site rank each category based on a variety of criteria, with questions ranging from “Which community is more studious?” to “Which sorority is easier?”

Taubman and McGuinn said the site could be useful for student groups to see how they compare with one another, but that it will mostly just spark some friendly competition.

“Some people may make informed decisions based on what parties to go to based on the rankings, or what bar to go to based on the rankings, but it’s mostly for entertainment,” McGuinn said.

The pair got the idea for the site from an equation Taubman wrote to rank girls based on looks and personalities, but they quickly grew tired of rating females based on arbitrary 10-point scales using

Christina PullanoAssistant News Editor

How do you Rank? Greek Life stays sober for the nightBlack & White party tries to combat a broken image

See GREEK Page 5

Student-created website pits BU hallmarks head-to-head to see where they stand

See RANK Page 5

Dreidel Spin-Off fails to break recordSusan LambAssistant News Editor

See DREIDEL Page 6

Debate team rounds out quality semester

See DEBATE Page 6

Bearcats battle MichiganBinghamton's mens basketball team takes on #3 ranked team in the country

SEE PAGE 18

Winter WonderlandSAPB hosted the fourth annual Frost Fest Sunday in the old union

SEE PAGE 2