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.

Mighty Taco will be making an appearance again in Central New York.

Last Friday, Mighty Taco announced on Facebook that they will be opening a new location in Cicero, NY. The food chain will be taking the place of an old Tim Horton’s.

Mighty Taco is a Mexican style restaurant that started in the city of Buffalo in 1973 and it has been a fan favorite ever since it started and has spread out to, with the addition of this new location, 24 locations.

Mighty Taco is primarily based around the Buffalo area and western New York, and the new location will now be the farthest east of any of the other Mighty Taco locations. It is also the second time the franchise tried starting up in the Syracuse area.

The last time Mighty Taco was in the Syracuse area was when it had a location in Carousel Center, now known as Destiny USA.

Given the continuous growth, Mighty Taco believes they are now ready to take on the challenge of starting up in Syracuse.

By Dan Ryans, WTOP10-TV

Senior Forward Shawn Hulshof of the Oswego State men’s ice hockey team has been named the State University of New York Athletic Conference Ice Hockey player of the week. This is the third time in his career that Hulshof has won SUNYAC weekly honors.

In the game against Morrisville State on Friday night, with the Lakers ahead by a score of 2-1 in the third, Hulshof scored within the first 30 seconds of the period to put the team up by two. He was aided by Stephen Johnson and Matt Galati on the goal. With under a minute to go in regulation, the senior scored an empty-net goal to seal the 4-1 victory for Oswego State.

On Saturday night, against the same Morrisville State Mustangs, the Ontario native netted another goal midway into the second period, giving the Lakers a 5-1 lead. He would later assist the Stephen Johnson goal that put the Lakers up 8-1 late in the third period.

With Hulshof’s help, Oswego State remains undefeated on the season with a 9-0 record, and atop of the NCAA Division III Hockey polls.

The Lakers are back in action this weekend as they head out to Western New York to face Fredonia and Buffalo State on Friday and Saturday. Puck drop for both games is at 7 p.m.