This year’s Harpur College commencement promises to be one of the most sought-after ever: the school’s enrollment is on the upswing, and who wouldn’t want to see their pride and joy get a sappy speech at the Events Center?

Not too many — and that’s precisely why large numbers of parents, stepparents, grandparents, cousins aunts, uncles and beloved family friends won’t get to do it. In response, one Binghamton University office has set up a system through which those jilted, would-be cheerers-on will get another chance to experience the event from an almost first-hand point of view: through the lens of a closed-circuit camera (see Page 3). Those who couldn’t get one of the four coveted commencement tickets given to each grad will be able to view graduation in the Osterhout Concert Theater.

DVDs of the event will also be available for sale until August, so the University has even eliminated the pile of eager, video-camera equipped fathers that crowds the stage, filming and beaming. Not that they’ll stop: it’s a moment four years in the making that they wouldn’t give up for the world.

But should they, accidentally, be recording without a memory card, it’ll be Baxter to the rescue with a copy of graduation for the whole family to watch.

Seeing commencement from Osterhout is almost as good, really: most parents would be viewing the events from a distance anyway. Hell, commencement isn’t even that exciting — and it’s not like individual students are walking, or their names being called.

So we’d like to acknowledge the University for at least trying to ameliorate a problem that only gets worse every year. Think about it: the Events Center isn’t getting any bigger, but the student population is. And as divorce becomes more frequent, students are increasingly becoming responsible for finagling tickets for two sets of relatives.

Even so, it’s likely that some friends and relatives won’t get into the auxiliary space. We hope the University will continue to innovate new ways to let family and friends witness their favorite Bearcats’ most mundanely prestigious moment.