Reported by: Deirdra O’Boyle

Reported by: Conor Halton

Reported by: Casey Matto

For the past few months the concern over the Zika virus has been steadily growing. The Zika virus as of now is found mostly south of the United States in Central America and the northern part of South America, but is expected to spread northward as it gets warmer and warmer headed into summer. The full capacity of the disease is unknown, each week new symptoms and ways of transmission are talked about.

What we know is that the symptoms are relatively mild for adults but for pregnant women who catch the disease the fetus is susceptible to numerous brain complications upon birth.

The disease is spread mostly by mosquito but sexual transmission has also been know to happen for those carrying the disease. And there is currently no vaccine or cure for the virus.

As for the Oswego area the mosquitos that carry Zika are not expected to travel this far north this summer however for students living in Long Island, New York City, and southward be careful because it will be warm enough for mosquitos to travel up to those areas. A lot of bug spray, long pants, and long sleeve shirts this summer may be a good idea to decrease your chances of catching the virus.

Prince William, Virginia — Prince William County Police Department in Virginia is mourning the loss of an officer today.

Ashley Guindon was killed in the line of duty on her first day. Guidon was sworn in on Friday and was answering a domestic violence house call when she was shot.

Ronald Williams Hamilton shot and killed Guindon and injured two other officers. Hamilton’s wife, Crystal Hamilton, was already dead when police arrived. Hamilton surrendered to back up officers who arrived after he shot the original three officers.

Hamilton is charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of malicious wounding of a police officer, one count of capital murder of a police officer, and two counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony.

Hamilton’s arraignment is scheduled for Monday and he is currently being held without bond.

Written By: Kirby Socker

WTOP10 Reporter Shanna Fuld interviews 2-time Tony Award winner Brian Ronan.

OSWEGO, N.Y. — Beloved “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee was laid to rest Saturday afternoon.  Lee’s ceremony was small and private, with just her family and close friends present.

Lee’s longtime friend Wayne Flynt gave the eulogy at the ceremony. The eulogy Flynt gave was from the speech he wrote in 2006 when Lee won the Birmingham Pledge Foundation Award for her work with racial justice. Lee requested to Flynt that he read the speech as her eulogy.

Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird”, published in 1960, was an American classic dealing with race in a small southern town. A part of Lee’s book was pulled from her childhood. Her book won the Pulitzer Prize.

Many people have been moved by the loss of Lee, including author John Green and Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. Harper Lee was 89-years-old.

Written By: Kirby Socker

OSWEGO, N.Y. – Linda Cohn, the Oswego alumnus and sportscaster celebrated her 5,000 episode on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Sunday. Cohn became the first SportsCenter anchor to reach such a mark. Cohn has been a trailblazer for women in sports, but there was still one goal she longed for. Getting a sub named after her at the famed Oswego Sub Shop.

The staple in downtown Oswego is one of the most exclusive clubs for Oswego alumni like Cohn. From Al Roker to Steve Levy, the Oswego Sub Shop is where SUNY Oswego graduates come to be enshrined, in a sandwich.

When skimming the menu, Cohn’s name was nowhere to be seen, but one fan and fellow alumnus is looking to change that.

“She was like, actually I haven’t reached that celebrity status yet because I don’t have a sub at the Oswego sub shop,” said Paul Esden.

Esden, a producer at ESPN radio in Syracuse, N.Y. spoke to Cohn and started the trending topic.

Paul said, “I made the hash tag, I made the meme, and I was like let’s just see what happens.  Cohn’s hash tag #GetCohnASub, has Oswego alumni rallying around her and the sub shop making plans.

“We’d definitely get her input and design it accordingly,” said William Green, the once owner of the Oswego Sub Shop. He sold the family restaurant to his son just a few years back.

Green said, “I had no idea that she was that popular or did that many shows.”

He remembers when Al Roker and Steve Levy got their subs and hopes Cohn will be the same kind of ambassador, they’ve been.

“They never come in here asking for anything, they’re doing it just out of the gratitude and respect of the sub shop,” said Green.

Odds are Cohn shouldn’t have to wait long. Green added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a sub named after her, within the week.”
Cohn’s much-deserved sub is waiting. The Sub Shop even has a spot reserved.

SUNY OSWEGO – On Tuesday evening, the Student Association called their fourth meeting of the Senate to order. The quorum to start the meeting was met, and following the approval of the meetings agenda and minutes, the meetings was well under way.

Emily Cole, President of PRSSA was the first and only guest to the Senate for the evening. The organization was requesting funds to help with the costs of the tee shirts they will be purchasing from “Zink” for Com Week in April. PRSSA stated that they tie-dying event held that week will be free for students. Although they do have funds in their budget, they do not wish to use all of it as they need to purchase the supplies for the tie-dying. The requested funds from SA to help with the tee shirts. They feel this is a great and fun way for them to promote SUNY Oswego’s School of Communication. Two senators volunteered to write the bill which will be proposed and voted on at a later date.

In Executive Reports, SA President Emily Nassir gave her first official report seeing as she was in a conference last week in Boston. Nassir revealed that the legislation for her first project as President “SA Assembly” has been laid out. SA Assembly will give organizations on campus a better opportunity to effectively communicate with SA, through monthly meeting where concerns and questions can be expressed. The legislation will be looked over and reviewed several times prior to voting by the Senate which will determine whether the bill passes or not. Nassir also stated that she is open to any suggestions or changes. Nassir also shared minor details of a new project she is working on with Auxiliary Services. The plan is to make student food favorites from the dining halls available in the express markets on campus. This project is just in the beginning stages and Nassir will provide more information as the project evolves. Nassir also discussed the use of the discount cards available to students on campus. The cards have expired, but are currently being renewed. Due to expenses, they will not be purchasing the cards, but instead the discount app. There are several store in town that work with the school to provide discounts to students. To finish off her report, Nassir proposed that funds be moved to the contingency account due to the lack of funds currently there. This allows SA to help the organizations on campus with their funds. By majority vote, all senators approved and the funds will be moved to the account.

Vice President Shelby Gallaro gave a short and brief executive report sharing the success of the town hall meeting and workshop that were both held last week. Gallaro said that the town hall meeting was informative and shared that SUNY Oswego is working on creating a common space in Sweatman gym, There is space that is not being used which can be a potential common are including but not limited to pool tables and a dance area. The workshop in which Gallaro and Senators attended was a great leadership and teambuilding experience.

Matthew Peters, Director of Finance concluded the meetings executive reports. Peters reminded senators that the budget for clubs and organizations opens on February 29th. Clubs and organizations can submit their budgets for next year and SA will begin reviewing them shortly after the date budgeting opens. Peters wanted to clarify a previous statement made about the ticket prices of OzFest. In the previous meeting Peters suggested that prices be reduced anywhere from $10 to $20 per ticket, however this was not an official statement revealing the price of the ticket. Peters was merely expressing his opinion, and stated Tuesday night that ticket prices will be determined by the overall cost of the event as well as how much funding they receive from the school. Peters closed his executive report by stating that SA does not currently know who the performer(s) will be, but hopes to know by the end of next week.

Following Executive Reports was Committee Reports. Finance Committee shared that the bill for the ASL Organization on campus has been written. They are currently working with the National Broadcast Society to reduce the amount of funds requested. The Men’s Rugby team is waiting for a response from the Women’s Rugby team to see if they will be willing to help fund the tournament hosted on campus in the spring. The Involvement Committee shared that the “Miss-a-Meal” date for this semester has been chosen. April 14th, students will be able to donate their meal to help veterans in the community. The committee is also working on making posters to be placed on bulletin boards in campus that will encourage students to vote yes for the mandatory student service fee. The poster will include some of the reasons why students are encouraged to vote yes especially since the service fee is what allows student shuttle services to run, fund SAVAC and also funds WNYO and WTOP on campus. These are just a few of the many things that the student service fee fund, which is why it is extremely important that the fee be kept mandatory.

In Hall Council Reports Oneida shared that their night in Hollywood event was a great success. All students who attended really enjoyed the program and had a great time. Johnson hall will be making a constitution committee which will serve to make sure that all rules of the hall’s constitution are being followed during their hall council meetings. Finally, Waterbury is in the process of re electing E-Board Member.

There were no special orders, therefore the meeting moved to the only general order for the evening. The National Association of Black Students Accountants requested funding for promotional materials, travel and lodging and guest speakers. The budget presented at the meeting included funding to help them sustain their new organization through promotions such as flyers to be placed around campus and a new banner to represent their organization. Funding for their events will be voted on at a later date because they are currently finding other ways to help with funding. The budget for the promotional materials was voted on and approved by general consent.

The meeting was adjourned following the passing of the only bill of the evening. SA holds their weekly meetings of the Senate Tuesday nights at 6pm, in Lanigan 106. Each meeting is open to the public. All students and organizations are encouraged to attend to express any concerns they may have.

Reported by: Conor Halton

Hearing is about to get a little clearer in Oswego.

SUNY Oswego is upgrading some of its major venues on campus to be more hearing aid friendly. The college is installing hearing loops, which will minimize reverberations and ambient noise. The hearing loops will be compatible with newer models of cochlear implants as well as most digital hearing aids.

Although SUNY Oswego is only upgrading a few locations at the moment, the college hopes to install the system at other locations on campus in the future.

A few of the locations getting the upgrade are the Marano Campus Center, Sheldon Ball Room and the new Waterman Theatre.

Written By: Kirby Socker

OSWEGO, NY – Where the temperatures seem to get colder and the work load seems to become heavier, this is the time of the years where a healthier life style is the most important way to get you through these winter months. Sharing living quarters, restrooms and combined social activities makes it easier for students to catch that common cold or flu. But even more so, unhealthy practices like eating junk food, not exercising regularly and not getting enough sleep can have the worst outcome on a students daily life.

“In college I pack myself full of vitamins. I grew up in Virginia and we get a lot of sun and light over there, which vitamin D comes from sunlight,” said Deanna Jones. Well during the winter months we don’t have much sunlight so I take a Vitamin D pill every morning to help jump start my system.”

Eating right seems to be one of the biggest problems for college students. Many don’t realize that this is not only important to consume but to help fight off germs and bacteria.

“I starting drinking propel water. Just the flavor packets to flavor up my water to make sure I am drinking it. That has like 50% Vitamins across the board as opposed to the generic Walmart brand. So its worth the extra 50 cents to get the propel version just to make sure you are getting the electro lights you need and all vitamins you need. Because you need that to fight off any sort of cold or flu.” Said Deanna Jones, Resident student of Oswego

Healwithfood.org  has many useful tips on how to eat right on a low budget. For instance, substituting soda with a fruit juice and if your still craving a carbonated drink, add a little seltzer water or ginger ale.

However, if you still need that extra little kick to start eating right, you can see a dietitian right here on campus.

*Photo provided by Alex Simone

OSWEGO, N.Y. – The City of Oswego is asking for city residents to vacate all street parking for the next 48 hours.

Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow is calling for all vehicles to be removed from city streets, while the Department of Public Works works to clear the roads of snow and ice. The inclement weather and combination of snow and rain has caused many of the city’s drainage systems to clog.

“The significant weather event we are experiencing calls for the cooperation of all our citizens,” Barlow said. “In consultation with DPW Commissioner Tom Kells, I am requesting that all vehicles park off the road over the next 48 hours as the DPW works on snow removal and freeing the storm sewers from overflowing water.”

In addition, the Oswego City Police will continue issuing tickets and towing vehicles that are violating the city’s already existing parking ban from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Several municipal lots are open and free to park in and for more information you are recommended to contact the Mayor’s office at 315-343-8140.

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.

On Tuesday evening, the 53rd Student Association met for the ninth official time of the semester. The number of senators to make a quorum were present, and Executive Vice President Emily Nassir called the meeting to order.

The Oswego State Cheerleading Team kicked of the meeting as a guest to the Senate. The Cheer team asked for an increase in their budget this year as a result of the team growing in size.  They currently have thirty-six members on the team.  To ensure that all get a chance to travel to Nationals in Daytona Beach this April, they’ve turned to the Student Association to help with transportation, hotel, uniform and food costs. In previous years the Cheerleading Team have relied on sponsorships to fund their trip, but after handing out over forty letters, and only receiving three, they felt it would be wise to reach out for funding.  Their budget proposal and official budget structuring will be overseen by the finance committee next week.

There was no public comment, so the meeting moved into the next section, executive reports.

Student Association President Christopher Collins-McNeil, shared his experience from the Net Impact Equity Premium Group Conference in Seattle, which he had attended over the weekend. Collins-McNeil briefly described it as “one of the most powerful experiences at a conference.” He stated that he would go further into detail next week about his time spent in Seattle.

Student Association Director of Finance Matthew Peters then took the floor. Peters spoke about a proposal to change the fifty percent rule, regarding the purchasing of items for clubs and organizations on campus. A change in the rule would give each student club or organization control over its own budget, with the advisement and approval of the Director of Finance and the SA President. It is up to the rest of the Senate to vote on whether the fifty percent rule should change or not.

The meeting then progressed into Hall Council reports.  Waterbury Hall announced that students are no longer restricted to only using the lounge on their floor. Students now have access to any lounge in the hall. Waterbury Hall also reminded the Senate that their Laker Life program Glow Jam, will be on December 4th.  They encouraged all Senate members to attend the event and spread the word. Cayuga Hall spoke on combating the issue of bullying in their residence hall.  The hall has organized a program against bullying where students will post index cards and post-its with encouraging words in the hallways of Cayuga Hall.

No new legislation was introduced, therefore the meeting came to a close and the senators dismissed.

Student Association Senate Meetings take place every Tuesday at 6pm, in Lanigan 107. There are only two meetings left in this semester, November 18th, and December 4th. All meetings are open to the public and students are encouraged to attend and present on any issue.

OSWEGO, N.Y. – The SUNY Oswego student that was arrested for raping another student two weeks ago has been formally charged. Adarsha Budhathoki was charged with third-degree rape, second-degree unlawful imprisonment and third-degree sexual abuse.

The incident was reported to University Police by the victim on Oct. 25. Budhathoki was arrested four days later. The two individuals that were involved in this case were acquaintances. It has been reported that there were no drugs or alcohol involved in this incident.

Budhathoki was a resident of Cayuga Residence Hall. The rape took place in Funnelle Residence Hall. He allegedly restrained the victim, not allowing her to leave the room. He also committed other sexual acts and consent was not given.

In response to the incident, an email was sent from SUNY Oswego President, Deborah Stanley, to the students. The email informed students what happened on campus and directed students where they can find more information about Title IX.

Re: Krystal Cole

Senator Schumer announced yesterday that the U.S. department of Health and Human Services will be allocating over $326 million to the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP).

Many New York residents rely on this service to pay their heating bills during the winter.

Schumer and Gillibrand pushed to have the highest level of funding possible given to this program. Schumer says that this decision will force fewer people to decide between food and heat this winter. The senators say that October marks the beginning of the heating season.

HEAP helps hundreds of thousands of seniors and low income families, according to Schumer.

Originally Written By: Krystal Cole

Local Rite Aids may be changing their names soon after Walgreens announced today they are buying Rite Aid in a $17.2 billion deal.

If the deal gets approval from the antitrust review, the second and third largest pharmacy companies will combine and surpass the current number one, CVS.

Rite Aid stores will keep their names for right now, but they eventually will change. The consolidation of the two stores is just another change that the health care industry is changing due to Obama Care.

If approved that would mean Walgreens will have more than 13,000 stores in the U.S alone. In recent years, Walgreens has been buying up other chains, such as Duane Reade in 2010 and the European pharmacy chain Boots Alliance, last year. Walgreens currently is in 11 different countries.

Written By: Kirby Socker

The New York State Police are asking the public to keep an eye out for 15-year-old Allison Fletcher. She is believed to be around the Fort Drum area.

Fletcher was last seen walking away from Solvay High School before 7 a.m. on October 1. She is described as 5-foot-3-inches tall and 115 pounds with blue eyes and red hair. She was last seen wearing a red and white jacket, green sneakers, and dark pants while wearing a zebra-striped backpack.

If anyone has any information, contact Watertown Sate Police at (315) 782-2112.

Reported By: Jessica Kisluk

*UPDATE* Allison Fletcher was found today, October 21, and was returned to her family.

On Monday, SUNY Oswego students were subjected to some unusual surprise when a “preacher man” took over their quad and said what some students claimed were “offensive remarks and beliefs”.

Jim Deferrio, a middle aged man, was seen holding a sign preaching on the SUNY Oswego quad a variety of different ultra-religious phrases other remarks unpopular on a liberal public campus.

Students grouped around Deferrio and gave their input before he was asked to leave by University Police, but soon was allowed to come back on campus as it is considered a public university.

Many students expressed their displeasure to the man and on various sources of social media, calling the man “homophobic” and claiming that his messages were “hateful”.

According to several different sources, Deferrio has been known to go to different colleges and university preaching a similar message.

Whatever his message may have been, he certainly raised a stir on the quad and on the SUNY Campus.

Originally Reported By Chelsey Moore

A Chicago boy accidently shot and killed his 3-year-old brother while playing with his father’s illegal gun on Sunday. The boys were playing a common game known as “cops and robbers” and got ahold of their father’s gun who told officials was given to him illegally by a gang member in Chicago.

The boy was rushed to the hospital but later died.

Police arrested the boys’ father, 25-year-old Michael Santiago, on a felony charge of child endangerment. The gun was reportedly bought off the street, kept on top of the refrigerator wrapped in pajama pants, and was shown to the oldest son. Being a former gang member himself, the father kept the gun for protection after he knowingly snitched on another gang member in a murder trial.

Santiago is represented by the county’s public defender and has bail set at $75,000.

A man was found in criminal condition Sunday morning after he was pinned under a car after an 11-car crash in Syracuse.

Emergency responders rushed to Interstate 81 south around 5:43 a.m after several callers reported the crash just past the Interstate 690 eastbound split.

Sgt. David Sackett, of the Syracuse Police Department says that the first car involved in the crash was taxicab, followed by 10 more cars. One out of the 11 drivers was pinned under a vehicle, suffering a serious head injury.

Written By: Christina Galvin

Syracuse Police are investigating after one person is reported dead and another suffered a leg injury in a shooting near a home on Hope Avenue in Syracuse Wednesday evening.

According to reports, two suspects dumped their car and fled into Oakwood Search resulting in what is being considered an active search and homicide investigation.

Because of the closeness to the school, Syracuse University issued an Orange Alert which warned students of the off-campus investigation and recommended that they stay indoors and not let anybody in.

As of 10:56 PM, the Alert was lifted, but authorities still have not been able to find the suspects, who shot at two police officers in two separate encounters.

No officers have been reported injured at this time.