Well BU, it’s the end of another semester and you all know what that means: report cards! No, not yours, you can relax again. It’s time for Pipe Dream to pass out its annual semester grades to the best, the worst and the generally just noteworthy.

Binghamton Athletics: A-

This has been one hell of an exciting semester for BU athletics, especially our basketball program. Instead of sitting by and watching our program fizzle, BU athletics managed to recruit and sign Georgetown’s Kevin Broadus. On top of that, our school will once again host the America East men’s basketball championship next year and can brag about a successful showing at this year’s American East women’s tournament, despite it taking place while classes were not in session. OK, as far as our teams’ actual performance, our hopes weren’t exactly fulfilled. But no one can say the effort wasn’t there, and being a fan means sticking by your team through the good and bad, doesn’t it?

Student group cohesion and the Student Group Council: B

It seems like student groups are figuring out how much more can be accomplished when everyone works together, and this could be the beginning of something beautiful. Groups are already showing their ability to collectivize and stand together on issues like planned renovations to the Old University Union. The creation and implementation of the new Student Group Council presents the perfect opportunity to strengthen these ties next year, but only if groups are dedicated to participating in it. There’s definitely strength in numbers, and by showing next year that they’re willing to follow through with their new coalitions, student groups can definitely move from a ‘B’ to an ‘A’ in the subject of cohesion.

SUNY Chancellor Ryan & the BU Alcohol and Other Drug Committee: F

These guys fail, straight and simple. Yes, we agree that preventing alcohol-related deaths is a worthy goal, but attacking one of the few traditions that a state university holds dear is not the way to go about it. Bar Crawl is a BU upperclassman event that gives this school a sense of tradition and the senior class a sense of unity. And while we realize that the University has to listen to orders out of Albany, thinking that they can wipe out college drinking by killing a beloved event is just plain na√ÉØve.

Senior Class Council: A

We all know that Senior Class Council is traditionally just a group of the SA president’s friends who design the senior class T-shirt and sell Bar Crawl mugs ‘ neither difficult nor impressive. But this year’s council has really stepped up to the challenge posed by the SUNY chancellor and BU, and fought for our right to crawl. They’ve met with University and City of Binghamton officials, represented the interests of the students relentlessly and done us all proud. And they’ve done it all with a sense of humor. We think the fact that this year’s Bar Crawl mugs say ‘Car Brawl’ on them will only improve the memories and give us something by which to remember our distinguished chancellor.

The BU Administration: Incomplete

As far as fulfilling their basic functions and running this University, we can’t complain this semester. But how would a BU professor look at a student who only fulfills the bare minimum requirements? Just like us (the University’s students), the administration should be striving for excellence in everything they do here, and excellence means listening to the students and including our wishes in all of their plans. So far, we haven’t seen anything on their part that’s been overwhelmingly impressive ‘ but luckily, it’s not too late. There are three major projects in the works right now (renovations to the Old Union, the East Gym and the Newing and Dickinson residential communities) and that means three fresh chances for the administration to step up and show that they’re not just paying lip service to the concept of incorporating student voices into their long-term vision for this campus. So far their grade is an ‘incomplete,’ but we’re hoping they’ll show us next year that they deserve to be on the Dean’s List.