NEWARK, NJ–According to ABCNews, a federal judge has declared a mistrial in New Jersey Senator, Bob Menendez’s case. Jurors decided the case was deadlocked across the board.
Senator Menendez was previously charged with bribery and corruption. He was accused of accepting $1 million worth of gifts and donations for the campaign from Salomon Melgen, a Florida doctor.
According to the Justice Department, Menendez allegedly accepted private jet flights, vacations to Melgen’s private villa in the Dominican Republic and a 3-night stay in Paris. In exchange, Menendez would do political and personal favors for Melgen.
Throughout the trial Menendez maintained his innocence. Today he thanked his friends, family, congressional colleagues, and defense team for their support through this process. He also expressed his feelings towards the FBI’s actions during the investigation.
“The way this case started was wrong. The way it was investigated was wrong. The way it was prosecuted was wrong. And the way it was tried was wrong as well.. Certain elements of the FBI and of our state cannot understand or even worse, accept that the Latino kid from union city and Hudson County can grow up to be a United States senator and be honest,” said the senator.
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Hewitt Hall Set to Become New Communications Building
This spring, Hewitt Hall is expected to shut down in preparation for its renovation to become the new communications department building. This new space is set to give students more access to the tools they need.
The Chair of the Department of Communication Studies, Jessica Reeher, explains what is planned to be included in this new space. “The new building is going to house all of communications studies as a department, and as well as the Dean’s office for SCMA and the graphic design faculty component of the art department.”
The Hewitt building is home to many of SUNY Oswego’s departments, including the Department of Sustainability and the Department of Auxiliary Services. It also currently includes many counseling services, and the health center.
The renovated Hewitt building is expected to be a space for students to utilize 24 hours a day. Once the renovations are finished, this new space is set to include open areas for students to relax and eat.
There are also plans for team rooms where small groups can get together to work on projects or scripts. There will also be more studio spaces, more computer labs, and more opportunities for students to get ahold of the technology they need.
Reeher stated, “We envision this as a 24-hour building. So students can access if you need to get into the editing suite, if you need to get into a studio, you can get access to many of the facilities 24 hours.”
According to Reeher, once the space in Hewitt is up and running for the students, Lanigan hall will then move into a phase of renovation. All of the renovations happening are being done with the students in mind, so they are able to make the most of their time here at Oswego.
The renovation plans were made pre-COVID so the dates for opening the new building are subject to change. But, Reeher seems to have high hopes that the project will be completed and that the building will be open for students by spring 2024.
“It’s just a beautiful space, the renditions are, if it looks half as good as the current computer renditions it’s going to be really amazing.” -Jessica Reeher
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University Police To Enforce Strict Policies On Seatbelt Use
The University Police Department is participating in an intensive campaign to ensure that students and faculty buckle-up during their commutes. The program has been a success for the past twelve years.
Police are looking for violations on campus, although the traffic stops may be made off campus.
As part of the nation-wide ‘Buckle-Up Day And Night’ campaign, University Police will have special patrols out looking for motorists who are not wearing their seatbelts.
People not wearing a seatbelt are 30 times more likely to be ejected from a vehicle. Assistant University Police Chief, Kevin Velzy, has been involved with university police for thirty years.
“Because we are a Police Department on a college campus, the majority of our drivers are of college age. We do have some older people, older drivers, that are employees or some people just passing through campus,” said Kevin.
According to the New York State University Police Department, Motor Vehicle accidents are the number one cause of death for those aged up to fifty-four in the United States.
It has been proven that just wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of death or injury by fifty percent. As a matter of fact, airbags are not a substitute for seatbelts.
More than half of teens aged thirteen to nineteen and adults aged twenty to forty-four who died in crashes in 2015 were unrestrained at the time of the crash.
Men are more likely than women to be unbuckled.
“The crashes have dropped. Our compliance rate, what they also look for in these grant programs, has gone way up. When we first started our compliance rate was about seventy-five percent, which means seventy-five percent of the people that are required to wear a seatbelt in the front seat of a vehicle. Seventy-five percent of them were, and twenty-five percent were not,” said Kevin.
The compliance rate on campus currently lies at ninety-three percent.
A ticket for unrestrained motorists is fifty dollars with no points initially deducted from the license, whereas distracted driving is worth five points on the license in addition to a fine between fifty and two-hundred dollars.
According to the New York State University Police Department, unrestrained motorists involved in a crash are almost four times as likely to suffer a traumatic brain injury compared to those wearing a seatbelt.
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Student Association Update
by Stefanie Sciolaro, WTOP10-TV
The Student Association held their weekly Senate meeting Tuesday evening on October 18, the date also marked the 52nd legislation session. Once roll call was taken, quorum fulfilled, and all agendas and minutes were approved, the meeting commenced. The agenda included some guest speakers to the Senate this week, along with a few words from President Emily Nassir, and some updates on various items for SUNY Oswego.
Two guests consisted of Student Affairs Vice President Kathleen Evans and Michael Flaherty from Auxiliary Services, who discussed the topic of student travel needs. They explained the present transportation methods available to students, and pitched their new ideas on how to improve these options in the future. Kathleen Evans began the presentation by explaining the recent changes to transportation options that have already been enacted for the 2016-17 academic year. All changes, updates, and additional information to public transportation for this year can be found within the Student Travel Guide Pamphlets available at the Marano Campus Center Help Desk or for the most up to date schedules visit http://www.centro.org/colleges/suny-oswego.
After discussing recent changes, Michael Flaherty took over to pitch new ideas on how to better fulfill transportation needs on campus while saving money. He explained that some of the transportation options are barely used and are costing substantial amounts. In order to save money, concentration on only means that students tend to use the most should be enacted. This saved money could be used to enhance van transportation and fund a direct bus route to NYC for students for the end of both Fall and Spring semesters. He says that by utilizing the van shuttles for breaks and only running the Sunday Late Service during peak travel times in the year, it would help offset the overall costs the school pays for travel. Two running times, instead of one, were proposed for the Sunday Late Services during peak travel times: Leaving NYC at 2:00pm, arriving in Oswego by 8:45pm, and leaving NYC at 6:00pm, arriving in Oswego by 12:15.
At this point feedback, comments, and questions were opened up to be voiced by the Senate. The issue of the current amount of training sessions available for students to be certified to drive the vans was raised. The concern was that there are not enough opportunities for students to acquire this certification. It is required that all students who drive the vans, which are predominantly student driven, have their van certification. If you have this certification, an email is sent out when van drivers are needed and students are paid for their driving services. As of right now, training sessions are only held if the class is full, if you are interested in acquiring your van driving certification contact the Student Affairs Vice President Kathleen Evans.
The Senate also brought up the question of where exactly the College Express Service stops within NY, NYC, NJ, and Long Island are and the efficiency of the service as a whole. One Senator voiced that she has ridden the service before and stops were no where near her home town. Making these stops in more areas would convenience students and possibly up the amount of students who ride with the service. In regards to safety and efficiency, another Senator said “ Students wouldn’t mind paying that price if they’re getting good service… I never really feel safe on the bus”. The possible partnering of transportation services with the D- Bus was also brought up as an alternative option of transportation. The D-Buses assists student, predominantly during the weekends, in local transportation. These buses are not utilized as much during the week days, therefore, it would be a great option as far as an additional regular form of transportation is concerned. The guest speakers took all of this feedback into account and specified that they would look into the idea of partnering with the D-bus, explore more direct routes for the College Express Service, and address all comments and concerns as far as transportation needs, safety, or efficiency. If you have any feedback, comments, or concerns in regards to traveling options offered by SUNY Oswego or are interested in taking a van training certification class, please contact Kathleen Evans at kathleen.evans@oswego.edu or Michael Flaherty at michael.flaherty@oswego.edu.
The Director and Assistant Director of SAPB, then, came up to discuss and advertise their need for extra hands from 4pm to 9:30ish during the upcoming Spooktacular Casino Costume Party. The Senate brought up the question of if one were to help work the event, if it could fulfill the GST community service requirement. The Assistant Director stated that it may be a possibility but she was unsure and would look into it for students. At the event there will be prizes handed out, music, food, a gift card given to the best costume, and much more. If anyone is interest in helping set up for the event, or interested in going but have further questions please contact SAPB at sapb@oswego.edu.
Later on, President Emily Nassir spoke in regards to Executive Reports. She confirmed dates and focuses for upcoming meetings: faculty assembly, Presidents Council, etc., and spoke in regards to electing the Constitution this year. Results will be available Friday. She stated that November 11th will be the Veterans Open House and November 17 will be the 1,000 Words Event. On the topic of OzFest, there will be a new way set up this year in order to gain insight directly from the students about what they’d like their experience to be. Instead of only having the online survey, that includes what artists students wish to have come, the theme of Senate on Tuesday will be to physical gain insight into what students want: what artists, food, overall experience, etc.
After the President spoke, Matthew Peters, the Director of Finance, briefly stated that all is well and normal as far as finances is concerned. WTOP10 has received all of the bought materials for the studio’s upgrades. The main focus as of right now is finalizing the audit for the year.
To close all important information for Tuesdays meetings, the President Chief of Staff announced that the final Homecoming Meeting was held and the schedule of events has been almost completely, if not so already, finalized. The events sheet scheduling was discussed and will be released soon. The theme days were also discussed: Monday, Tuesday, and Friday have been confirmed but Wednesday and Thursday had still been up in the air. Themes for those days were voted on during the meeting and will be enacted accordingly. The list of Monday-Fridays Themed Day’s will be distributed throughout campus shortly.
On that note, the meeting was coming to a close as Vice President Dalton Flint confirmed that from now on the Student Association meetings of the Senate will commence at its regular time, 6:00pm, and regular place, Lanigan 105, as there has been some previous issues in scheduling meetings. With that he took a final roll call and the meeting came to a close for this week.
