OSWEGO, NY — Oct 13, 2016

It’s a relief for SUNY Oswego students to get a day off from classes, but yesterday’s break in honor of Yom Kippur may have allowed them to avoid something besides their professors. On Wednesday morning, the college issued an alert that a black bear had been sighted on Route 104 by the college’s main entrance.

The University Police said the bear posed no immediate threat, though students and staff were advised to keep their distance and contact university police in the event of another sighting.

Although the sighting may have surprised students, these incidents are not unique to Oswego. Black bears have been a common sight across Oswego County over the past few months, with several seen in July alone. Bear sightings have increased across upstate NY, with some towns reporting over three times as many than usual.

Though the actual cause of this increase in sightings is unknown, black bears are not uncommon in upstate NY. Oswego may fall outside of their primary range, but that does not rule out the occasional sighting: according to the Department of Environmental Conservation, 10-15 percent of the state’s population of 6,000-8,000 black bears live in the central-western region of NY

Even with the increase, the odds of an actual attack remain extremely low. Black bears are responsible for the deaths of less than one person per year across North America.

For more information on what to do in the case of a bear encounter, visit the Oswego State University Police Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Oswego-State-University-Police-90985222236/.

Reported by: Conor Halton

On Tuesday evening the Student Association held their weekly meeting of the Senate, making it the twelfth one of the semester. Quorum to begin the meeting was met and following the approval of the minutes and the agenda, the meeting was well under way.

Seeing as there were no guests to the Senate and no public comment, the meeting moved into executive reports. Emily Nassir, SA President was the first to deliver her report. Nassir announced that all of her Directors have been hired and their positions filled. The Directors were introduced during this evening meeting and include Jill Kranz incoming senior appointed as Chief of Staff, Sarah Wood appointed as Director of Student Advocacy, Alex George appointed as Director of Legislative Affairs, Xochitl Santamaria appointed as Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Allie Stango for Director of Graphic Design, Emily Stasko for Director of Public Relations, and finally Keith Jacobson appointed as Director of Academic Affairs. The directors have all been involved with the Student Association prior to accepting their position and they will continue to work next to Nassir in the upcoming 2016-2017 academic year. Nassir happily announced more tickets for OzFest have been purchased, though they would still like to see these numbers increase. The Oswego Food pantry was the focus of this semester’s “Miss-A-Meal” which was a great success and those who donated help to fund the food pantry begin developed on campus. Nassir stated that she is currently trying to request and receive more funding for SUNYSA to allow more senators the opportunity to attend the event.

Shelby Gallaro, Vice President of SA, was the next to deliver her executive report. Gallaro revealed that she is currently working on the budget for next year which may involve breaking up the pay scale for senators. Gallaro is also working on getting dinner for the senators for the last meeting of the semester. The focus then shifted towards Matthew Peters, Director of Finance for his executive report. Peters stated he is looking into increasing the student activity fee steadily each semester, however it would only be an increase of one dollar. The Senate voted on the idea of increasing the student activity fee and the proposal passed. Peters will begin working on the budget and proposal for that. Matthew Peters closed his executive report and was then reappointed to his position as Director of Finance for the 2016-2017 academic year.

Following executive reports, committee reports was next on the agenda. Rules and Judiciary presented the Senate with the referral binder they have been working on which will be handed out to the clubs and organizations on campus. Involvement Committee has been working on their Pageant event which will take the place of King and Queen during homecoming week. The pageant will be separated by gender, and those who wish to participate will be required to send in a video submission. From there rules and requirements will be drawn up to eliminate contestants following a series of rounds. The goal is to have this during homecoming week.

In Hall Council Reports, Johnson Hall is going over the final edits for their constitution and they also have new floor representatives. Cayuga is working on brainstorming ideas for prizes which will be raffled of at their end of the year raffel. Riggs Hall is hosting their laker night this Friday. It is a “Spring Fling” 5o’s themed event.

Due to the fact that there were no special orders, the meeting moved to general orders for the evening. The increase in Student Activity fee was referred to the Finance and Involvement committees for the week. They will discuss increasing the fee at their meetings and the matter will be voted on at the next meeting.

The meeting came to a close following the general orders for the evening. The Student Association holds their weekly meeting of the Senate Tuesdays in Lanigan 106 and 6pm. All meeting are open to the public and students are encouraged to attend to express any concerns or opinions they may have.