The Binghamton University Student Association’s first-ever Campus Wars, a battle between BU’s residential communities, continues through this Sunday, Oct. 15. A new BU tradition, they started Monday with a kickoff event, an inter-community banner contest and “Yell Like Hell,” where communities battled it out to see which could come up with the best seven-minute chant.

Other events this week included painting Bearcat paws around campus, a poker-run-style scavenger hunt, a lip-synch contest and an 8-pin-tap bowling tournament. Remaining this week:

Friday, Oct. 13:

– Area office decorating contest, campus-wide.

– Black Student Union fashion show, Mandela Room, 8 p.m.: “Check out what’s hot and what’s not. This is a show you don’t want to miss!”

– Casino Night, Old University Union Hall, 10 p.m. From the SA Web site: “BU-llagio is open to all, gamble your night away as you take your chances to win great prizes in an authentic Vegas-style casino. And best of all, it’s FREE! You may also designate your totals to be counted toward a community to help with points for the wars.”

Saturday, Oct. 14th

– Brain Train Homecoming Parade, Campus Drive, 3 p.m.: “Come on out and see floats made by students and alumni. You know what a Vegas parade means – everything will be out of the ordinary! If you aren’t in the parade, then come watch as it makes it’s way all the way to the BBQ!”

– Baxter’s Barbecue, Peace Quad, 4 to 6 p.m.: “The parade ends here for the biggest party in Homecoming, Vegas style! Join the crowds for FREE FOOD, music, prizes and fun! Part of Campus Wars — find the purple pimp hat and sign in.”

– AEPhi’s 21st Annual Greek God, West Gym, 7 p.m.: “Come watch the fraternity men sweat their way to the title of Greek God in this crazy and unpredictable competition!”

Sunday, Oct. 15th

First-annual Binghamton Bowl, Newing Fields and College-in-the-Woods Commons, 1 p.m.: “Come watch the communities in their final Campus Wars showdown as they compete in a classic Homecoming football tournament and College Bowl!”

See Tuesday’s edition of Pipe Dream for photos and further coverage.

Camille Paglia, social critic, to speak Tuesday

From B-Line: Camille Paglia, the 2006 Milton Kessler Distinguished Reader, will speak at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, in the Anderson Center Chamber Hall. Paglia, a Binghamton alumna and former student of Kessler’s, is an internationally recognized social critic and thinker. She’s the author of five books, most recently “Break, Blow, Burn: Camille Paglia Reads Forty-three of the World’s Best Poems.” The event is sponsored by the Binghamton Center for Writers with support from the Office of the Dean of Harpur College, the Binghamton Foundation and the Office of Alumni Relations. For more information, see http://readers-series.binghamton.edu or call 777-2713. All are welcome at this free event.

Binghamton University Library receives rare books

From a recent BU press release: A Binghamton University professor has donated more than $1,500 worth of rare Italian books to the Binghamton University Libraries, and plans to continue contributing to the collection.

The donations from Sandro Sticca, professor of Romance Languages, and a number of his European colleagues will be given in honor of his mother Gentilina Sticca. Sticca’s most recent donation, “Il Codice Atlantico,” is a facsimile reproduction published by Giunti in 2006 in Firenze-Milano and is worth nearly $1,000.

The Binghamton University Libraries, which is open to the public, is the first institution in the country to own this newly published three-volume set, which embraces material from the career of Leonardo da Vinci.

The books, which include numerous illustrations, provide rich documentation of da Vinci’s contributions to mathematics, geography, architecture, botany, chemistry, mechanics and other fields. There’s even a drawing of a machine that looks a lot like a bicycle, though he drew it some three centuries before bicycles became a popular means of transportation. The books also offer examples of da Vinci’s unusual secret handwriting, in which the text runs from right to left and the characters are backward.

Sticca has also donated a five-volume set entitled “Storia della Filosofia,” edited by Nicola Abbagnano. Only seven editions of this rare and valuable five-volume set are owned by other libraries in this country, including Johns Hopkins University and Harvard college.

— Compiled by Matt Zeidel