OSWEGO, NY – Last Friday was the final day of the event by Enactus at Oswego called Launch It. It’s an entrepreneur event where students take their idea for a product they can sell and pitch it to other people who work or run their own business.
Students give those judges the rundown of what the product is, along with the finances, profits and marketing strategies that would give their idea as much success as possible.
This event included not only prize money to the winner to invest in their product, but it also featured an opening concert by Feyde, a R&B artist.
Over a dozen students gave insightful ideas that may very well have tons of potential. The enthusiasm from the students was fantastic as the team at Enactus stated, was the most successful year they’ve had so far.
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Diversity Speaker Series: Kevin Powell
by Ilyssa Weiner
Oswego, NY- Writer and Humanitarian Kevin Powell spoke at SUNY Oswego’s Sheldon Hall Ballroom on Feb. 16 as part of the school’s “I Am Oz” Diversity Speaker Series.
Powell stressed the importance of education and history to his audience. His mother, who only had an eighth grade education, pushed him to do well in school.
“She kept saying to me when I was a child ‘You’re going to go to college. You’re going to go to college. You’re going to go to college,” Powell said.
Powell went to Rutgers University. However, his love for reading and writing came at an early age when his mother took him to the library.
“She allowed me to roam around the library,” he said. “That’s how I ended up falling in love with books and eventually decided as a young person I wanted to be a writer.”
After his time at Rutgers, Powell joined the cast of the very first season of MTV’s The Real World. At the time of taping, he and the rest of the cast had no idea how successful the show was going to be. Because of the show’s success, Powell was able to dig deeper into the world of pop culture.
“I love pop culture,” he said. “I think it’s a useful tool for reaching people and talking about serious issues.”
In 2011, Powell co-founded Building Knowledge (BK) Nation, a progressive non-profit organization focused on civil and human rights. The organization has worked on several racial profiling cases, including the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown cases, and was also a deep supporter for the recent Women’s March.
Despite being the co-founder of the organization, Powell doesn’t believe in titles beyond that.
“We’re all equals and all our voices matter in the organization and that’s how we operate,” he said.
Powell’s most recent book, The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey Into Manhood, is available on Amazon.
Powell autographed copies of his latest book after his speech was over.
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Trump administration announces new Title IX guidelines
Written by Erin Meyer
OSWEGO, N.Y– The Trump administration has announced new guidelines for colleges on how to comply with the Title IX program. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced her intention to rescind the Obama-era program, which protects people from sex-based discrimination in education programs or activities which receive Federal financial assistance, last week.
“This interim guidance will help schools as they work to combat sexual misconduct and will treat all students fairly,” DeVos said in a written statement. “Schools must continue to confront these horrific crimes and behaviors head-on. There will be no more sweeping them under the rug. But the process also must be fair and impartial, giving everyone more confidence in its outcomes.”
DeVos overturned past guidelines issued by the Obama administration in 2011 and 2014, including guarantees that assault victims are not denied access to education, and issued new guidelines for dealing with cases of sexual misconduct.
The announcement has been met with criticism from advocates for survivors of sexual assault. “It’s On Us,” an initiative to stop sexual assault on college campuses created by President Barack Obama in 2014, has created a petition to maintain current Title IX regulations.
It is currently unclear how these changes will affect the implementation of Title IX at SUNY Oswego, if at all. The campus branch has not yet commented on the announcement, though its page on the school’s website still reflects the standards put in place under the Obama administration.
For more information on Title IX and SUNY Oswego’s sexual harassment policies, visit https://www.oswego.edu/title-ix/.
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Lakers Win Close One over Buffalo State
The Oswego State men’s hockey team defeated conference foe, Buffalo State, 4-3 on Friday night at the Marano Campus Center Arena. With the victory, the Lakers improve to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the SUNYAC while the Bengals drop to 3-2-1 on the season and 0-1-1 in conference play.
It did not take long for Oswego to find the back of the net as Joseph Molinaro scored his first goal of the season just five minutes into the game. However, Buffalo State responded with a score of their own to make it a tie game. Although there was not any scoring in the second period, the third made up for it. Aaron Huffnagle and Cameron Berry each scored for the Lakers during the period in five on five action. With Buffalo State down by one and time running out, the Bengals pulled their goalie for an extra skater. However, that move allowed Mitch Emerson to score an empty net goal which sealed the win for the Lakers.
In his third start for Oswego, goaltender David Richer stopped 21 shots. Buffalo State’s Ian Sylves made 35 saves during his time in the crease.
The Lakers will look to maintain their undefeated SUNYAC record tomorrow night against Fredonia in another home matchup. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm.
