Students, faculty and campus officials gathered in Marano Campus Center Auditorium, Thursday September 29th, for the first town hall meeting with Deborah Stanley of the semester. The town hall meetings act as a platform where students can bring their questions and concerns about the campus to President Stanley to be addressed. Many students came prepared with questions and concerns for President Stanley and officials pertaining to both on and off campus issues. After Student Association President Emily Nassir, introduced President Stanley, Stanley opened the floor to student concerns.

Plans to build a new staircase that leads to the lake on the west side of campus were brought forward by a student. The student expressed their and other students’ desire to have a proper staircase that leads down to the lake on west side of campus, so residents on west side can also enjoy walking down to the lake. President Stanley and officials confirmed that the plans have gone into effect. President Stanley said that her main concern for building the staircase was safety and she is working with campus environmentalists and professionals to make sure the new staircase meets accessibility concerns and respects the environment. Safety was also the concern of other students who questioned why Desk Attendants were no longer required to check student ids from 11pm until 3am. The new rule went into effect in the beginning of the semester as per request of Residence Life and Housing. Students feel taking away Desk Attendants’ ability to check ids during the late hours, decreases overall safety for students on and off campus. President Deborah Stanley expressed that she did not agree with the decision and wanted Desk Attendants to continue to check ids effective immediately until further notice.

Students also came forward on Thursday evening expressing their concerns over the banking change from Higher One Account to Vibe Account. Because there was a change in companies, the ATM for Higher One Account was taken out of the campus center and as a result, students can no longer take out money without being charged a fee. The university is currently negotiating with the new company to have them install a new ATM for customers to use. Not only did students have concerns over their bank accounts, but they also brought up concerns over their email accounts, as many SUNY Oswego emails have been susceptible to phishing and email scams. Students wanted to know what was going to be done about the problem as email is the primary source of communication on campus between students and faculty. Before addressing the student’s concern, President Stanley jokingly said, “I think it’s Russia. Don’t you think it’s Russia?” After getting a laugh out of those in attendance the Technology Department said they were aware of the problem and we addressing ways to fix the issue. They have been trying to cut down on the amount of LakerNet emails that are in the system by contacting alumni, recent graduates and past faculty members to verify they still want their account activated. In addition to verifying email activations, the Technology Department is also encouraging students to change their email passwords to decrease the chances of having one’s email account hacked.

Many concerns were brought forward at Thursday’s meeting. All concerns were addressed by President Stanley and/or campus officials. The town hall meetings are the time and place for students to bring their concerns forward to be addressed and solved. All students are encouraged to attend the meetings to voice their opinions and make an impact on campus. Town Hall Meetings are held every Thursday evening at 6pm, in the Marano Campus Center Auditorium. The meetings open to the public and all are welcome to attend.

by Erin Meyer, WTOP10-TV

For college students who do not drink, finding a fun way to spend Halloween can be a bit of a challenge. But SUNY Oswego junior Ray Ossino says there’s plenty of options for sober scholars.

“I like to celebrate Halloween by going with a few of my friends to Lake Effect Cafe,” said Ossino. “They have a costume contest every Halloween, and then they have Halloween trivia.” She says campus events like this can be a great way to branch out.

“You get to meet new people, and through the people that I met there I found out that at the ice rink, they have open skate for Halloween too, and the also have a halloween costume contest there too.”

For students who want their Halloween weekend to be a bit scarier, Campus Recreation administrative assistant Jaydee Maldonado has a solution. She’s organized an upgrade for one of the campus’s most popular halloween events: the Scalesbury haunted house. Along with campus recreation, Maldonado has extended the haunted house to Lee Hall.

“This haunted house is actually going to be not only a haunted house,” said Maldonado. “It’s going to be a movie session at Scales Hall and then there is food, drinks and activities of all sorts relating to Halloween in Waterbury, and then Lee hall has the main event.” She says the addition of Lee Hall will elevate the haunted house from a quick event into all-night entertainment.

“I want us to continue to create events where students don’t always feel like they need to go out on weekends and do things off campus”, said Maldonado. She hopes the that these halloween events will inspire similar events in the college’s future.

Regardless of how you plan to spend your Halloween, WTOP wish you a happy one.

This past weekend the women’s hockey team started conference play and looked to continue their winning streak.

On Friday, the team had their first of two games vs. Chatham. This was the first ECAC West play for both teams. Just a little over two minutes into the game, Brennan Butler scored a short-handed goal and put the Lakers on the board. Chatham would tie the game in the second period. Alexa Aramburu would score the game-winning goal for the Lakers. The Lakers took game one by the score of 2-1.

On Saturday, the team had their second game vs. Chatham. In front of the homecoming crowd, the Lakers would get their first shoutout win of the year by defeating Chatham 6-0. The team combined to have three power play goals with Olivia Ellis providing two of those goals.

After this weekend of play, the Lakers improved to 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in the conference. The Lakers will play Cortland at home on Saturday and Sunday.