by Jessica Kisluk, WTOP10-TV

The Student Association held their weekly Senate meeting Tuesday evening. The second meeting of the semester began after the number of senators required to begin were met and the meeting’s agenda and minutes were approved.

SUNY Oswego’s Ecology Club was one of four guests to the Senate that evening, and began by requesting additional funding for the spring semester. The Ecology Club requested funds to help support the club’s growth. The funds would go towards the cost of gas, hotel stays, bird seed and feeders, as well as, material such as gloves and towels for their volunteer work in the community. The largest expense would be an end of the year trip to go whale watching. The funds requested include this trip and will help defer some of the cost to students. Three senators volunteered to write the bill for the budget, which will be proposed and voted on at a future meeting.

The second guest to the Senate was SUNY Oswego’s Table Tennis Club. They requested funding for the Women’s Team regional tournament trip, where 10 members will compete  in the Great Lakes Regional Tournament. The tournament will take place the weekend of February 27th, 2016. The Table Tennis Club requested the funding to help pay for their travel expenses. The team’s entrance into the tournament came as a pleasant surprise to many. The bill for the budget will be written by three senators, and will be proposed and voted on later this semester.

The National Broadcasting Society was the third guest to the Senate and requested funding for a trip to the 2016 NBS Convention in Los Angeles. Last year was the first time the National Broadcasting Society attended the convention, and hope to send three students again this year. They requested funding to help pay for their travel costs. To help offset the total cost of the trip, they have also partnered with local restaurants, YoBerry and Fajita Grill in hopes of raising the rest of the funds for the trip. Three senators volunteered to write the bill for this budget that will be proposed and voted on, prior to the National Broadcasting Society’s trip.  

The fourth and final guest to the Senate was the National Association of Black Accountants. In hopes of hosting a Business Gala this semester, they requested fund to help pay for the event. Funding was requested for catering, a keynote speaker, advertisements, and entertainment. The event will allow students, particularly business majors, to network, make connections and learn from successful businessmen and women who are working in the field. The bill for this budget will be written by three senators and proposed and voted on at a future meeting.

Following the guests, Student Association President Christopher Collins-McNeil, addressed the Senate for the last time in his executive reports. Collins-McNeil will be resigning his position after accepting a job with the Mosby for Mayor Campaign in Baltimore, MD. Collins-McNeil has been involved in SA since his freshmen year at SUNY Oswego. When he became SA President, Collins-McNeil revealed, he wanted to make his presidency about advocacy and feels he can respectively say he accomplished that task. Collins-McNeil requested his SA Presidency be assumed by Student Association Vice President Emily Nassir.

Nassir, when offered the position, accepted and upon swearing in, assumed the role of Student Association President. Nassir announced her first project as SA President was what she called, “SA Assembly;” a monthly meeting of both the Student Association Assembly board and representatives from student organizations. Nassir hopes these meetings will build a stronger connection between SA and the organizations they represent.

Senator Shelby Gallaro was nominated to fill the now vacant seat of SA Vice President. After a ballot vote, Gallaro was successfully voted in as the new Student Association Vice President.

Finishing off executive reports was Matthew Peters, Student Association Director of Finance. Peters announced that the OzFest Committee had met and discussed the 2016 budget for the end of the semester event. Peters stated that ticket prices for OzFest will need to drop, in order to draw more students to the event’s concert.  

In committee reports, Senators Christ and Himberger nominated themselves for the position of Chair of the Involvement Committee. Senator Gallaro had been the prior chair, but due to her new role as SA Vice President, she had resigned. Following a ballot vote, Senator Christ was elected Chair of the Involvement Committee.

Hall Council Reports and General orders were suspended due to time constraint, so all general orders for this week were moved to next week.

Student Association meets Tuesday nights at 6pm, in Lanigan 106. All meetings are open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

OSWEGO, N.Y. – Clown sightings have been on the rise across the country after the first reported incidents occurred in North and South Carolina. The clown epidemic has reached Upstate New York with reports in Syracuse, Auburn and Rochester. Although dressing up as a clown can be creepy and make people feel unsafe, it isn’t a crime.

In a statement released by local authorities, police have advised people not to dress up as clowns and wonder throughout neighborhoods.

“The Oswego Police Department has been made aware of rumors circulating via social media of the potential for people to dress up as clowns (similar to what you may have seen in other areas) in an attempt to scare kids and/or adults in our community. Please note this act could be considered a crime. Oswego Police will be on the lookout and encourage anyone who sees anything suspicious to contact 911 immediately,” said Oswego police.

The Phoenix Police Department is asking people to not dress up as clowns on Halloween, in a Facebook post made on Oct. 4. “if someone hides behind a clown costume with the intent to cause fear, alarm or commit a crime; we won’t be clowning around when they are apprehended,” said the department in the post.

Police in Syracuse are prepping up patrol in the city’s North Side after a 10-year-old boy was chased by three clowns on his way to school last week. In an interview with CNY, Central New York, Central, police said that people could be charged with harassment and loitering which are unlawful.

Clown sightings have started to pop up on college campuses across the country as well. Within the past week clowns have been spotted at Louisiana State University, LSU, Penn State and Oswego State University. There was a sighting in the Seneca Hall parking lot on Oct. 4 but nothing has been released by university police if it was a threat or not.