The Oswego Men’s Soccer team lost their second game of the season at home against No. 7/8 Oneonta on Saturday by a final score of 3-1. Caleb Asamoah scored his sixth goal of the year during the 26th minute. The sophomore is now second in goals on the team behind Hassan Musa.
The Lakers registered 11 total shots with three reaching the net. The Red Dragons combined for 21 shots with 5 being on goal. Oswego net-minder Brian Terra stopped two of the five shots while Nicholas Giordano allowed one goal on three shots for Oneonta.
The Lakers’ next game is this Friday at 3 p.m. in Plattsburgh
-
Student Association Update
by Stefanie Sciolaro, WTOP10-TV
The Student Association held their weekly Senate meeting Tuesday evening on October 18, the date also marked the 52nd legislation session. Once roll call was taken, quorum fulfilled, and all agendas and minutes were approved, the meeting commenced. The agenda included some guest speakers to the Senate this week, along with a few words from President Emily Nassir, and some updates on various items for SUNY Oswego.
Two guests consisted of Student Affairs Vice President Kathleen Evans and Michael Flaherty from Auxiliary Services, who discussed the topic of student travel needs. They explained the present transportation methods available to students, and pitched their new ideas on how to improve these options in the future. Kathleen Evans began the presentation by explaining the recent changes to transportation options that have already been enacted for the 2016-17 academic year. All changes, updates, and additional information to public transportation for this year can be found within the Student Travel Guide Pamphlets available at the Marano Campus Center Help Desk or for the most up to date schedules visit http://www.centro.org/colleges/suny-oswego.
After discussing recent changes, Michael Flaherty took over to pitch new ideas on how to better fulfill transportation needs on campus while saving money. He explained that some of the transportation options are barely used and are costing substantial amounts. In order to save money, concentration on only means that students tend to use the most should be enacted. This saved money could be used to enhance van transportation and fund a direct bus route to NYC for students for the end of both Fall and Spring semesters. He says that by utilizing the van shuttles for breaks and only running the Sunday Late Service during peak travel times in the year, it would help offset the overall costs the school pays for travel. Two running times, instead of one, were proposed for the Sunday Late Services during peak travel times: Leaving NYC at 2:00pm, arriving in Oswego by 8:45pm, and leaving NYC at 6:00pm, arriving in Oswego by 12:15.
At this point feedback, comments, and questions were opened up to be voiced by the Senate. The issue of the current amount of training sessions available for students to be certified to drive the vans was raised. The concern was that there are not enough opportunities for students to acquire this certification. It is required that all students who drive the vans, which are predominantly student driven, have their van certification. If you have this certification, an email is sent out when van drivers are needed and students are paid for their driving services. As of right now, training sessions are only held if the class is full, if you are interested in acquiring your van driving certification contact the Student Affairs Vice President Kathleen Evans.
The Senate also brought up the question of where exactly the College Express Service stops within NY, NYC, NJ, and Long Island are and the efficiency of the service as a whole. One Senator voiced that she has ridden the service before and stops were no where near her home town. Making these stops in more areas would convenience students and possibly up the amount of students who ride with the service. In regards to safety and efficiency, another Senator said “ Students wouldn’t mind paying that price if they’re getting good service… I never really feel safe on the bus”. The possible partnering of transportation services with the D- Bus was also brought up as an alternative option of transportation. The D-Buses assists student, predominantly during the weekends, in local transportation. These buses are not utilized as much during the week days, therefore, it would be a great option as far as an additional regular form of transportation is concerned. The guest speakers took all of this feedback into account and specified that they would look into the idea of partnering with the D-bus, explore more direct routes for the College Express Service, and address all comments and concerns as far as transportation needs, safety, or efficiency. If you have any feedback, comments, or concerns in regards to traveling options offered by SUNY Oswego or are interested in taking a van training certification class, please contact Kathleen Evans at kathleen.evans@oswego.edu or Michael Flaherty at michael.flaherty@oswego.edu.
The Director and Assistant Director of SAPB, then, came up to discuss and advertise their need for extra hands from 4pm to 9:30ish during the upcoming Spooktacular Casino Costume Party. The Senate brought up the question of if one were to help work the event, if it could fulfill the GST community service requirement. The Assistant Director stated that it may be a possibility but she was unsure and would look into it for students. At the event there will be prizes handed out, music, food, a gift card given to the best costume, and much more. If anyone is interest in helping set up for the event, or interested in going but have further questions please contact SAPB at sapb@oswego.edu.
Later on, President Emily Nassir spoke in regards to Executive Reports. She confirmed dates and focuses for upcoming meetings: faculty assembly, Presidents Council, etc., and spoke in regards to electing the Constitution this year. Results will be available Friday. She stated that November 11th will be the Veterans Open House and November 17 will be the 1,000 Words Event. On the topic of OzFest, there will be a new way set up this year in order to gain insight directly from the students about what they’d like their experience to be. Instead of only having the online survey, that includes what artists students wish to have come, the theme of Senate on Tuesday will be to physical gain insight into what students want: what artists, food, overall experience, etc.
After the President spoke, Matthew Peters, the Director of Finance, briefly stated that all is well and normal as far as finances is concerned. WTOP10 has received all of the bought materials for the studio’s upgrades. The main focus as of right now is finalizing the audit for the year.
To close all important information for Tuesdays meetings, the President Chief of Staff announced that the final Homecoming Meeting was held and the schedule of events has been almost completely, if not so already, finalized. The events sheet scheduling was discussed and will be released soon. The theme days were also discussed: Monday, Tuesday, and Friday have been confirmed but Wednesday and Thursday had still been up in the air. Themes for those days were voted on during the meeting and will be enacted accordingly. The list of Monday-Fridays Themed Day’s will be distributed throughout campus shortly.
On that note, the meeting was coming to a close as Vice President Dalton Flint confirmed that from now on the Student Association meetings of the Senate will commence at its regular time, 6:00pm, and regular place, Lanigan 105, as there has been some previous issues in scheduling meetings. With that he took a final roll call and the meeting came to a close for this week.
-
Student Association Update: February 15th
The Student Association held their weekly meeting of the Senate Tuesday evening, marking the third one of the Spring semester. The number of senators required for the meeting to start was met, and following the approval of the meeting agenda and minutes, the meeting was well under way.
New Student Association Vice President, Shelby Gallaro had an exciting first meeting in her new position as she controlled the meetings agenda due to the absence of new SA President Emily Nassir, due to her attendance at a conference in Boston. After calling the meeting to order, Gallaro introduced the first guest to the Senate of the evening, the SUNY Oswego Counseling Center. The Counseling Center presented at the SA meeting, to introduce themselves and explain the services they offer on campus. Located in the Mary Walker Health Center, they are dedicated to getting students the best care and help they can. The Counseling Center helps students deal with everything from short term grief to personal issues one might be having in a relationship or at home. They also informed senators of their hours of operations, 8:30am-4:00pm Monday through Friday, and their crisis hotline, which allows students to talk to trained and professional counselors if they need help when the center is not open. The Counseling Center also explained their confidentiality policy which guarantees students that the information they talk about/reveal will be kept confidential, unless the information could potentially harm that person or others around them. They have been working with faculty and residence hall directors to train them and provide them with the ability to recognize when confidentiality needs to be broken. The Counseling Center is just one of the many resources available to students on campus to allow students to get the help they need.
The second guest to the Senate was the Future Alumni Network (FANS) on campus, who attended the meeting to inform senators of the program “Love a Donor Day”. This day allows students and the university to give back to those who have made donations to SUNY Oswego in the past year. FANS revealed that over $5.2 million was received in donations last year, which was a great help due to the fact that only 20 percent of the school’s costs is funded by the government. Senators were given the chance to write postcards to the donors thanking them for their support and donations which allow SUNY Oswego to be as great as it is.
American Sign Language club was the third and final guest to the Senate, requesting funds for their upcoming event in April. ASL is a newly funded club by the Student Association, and the club has been working hard to spread the word about this new club on campus. The goal of the American Sign Language club is to educate students on ASL, teach them how to speak the language, and make students more aware of their culture. They were requesting funds to help with an event taking place on April 18th on campus, which features comedian Keith Wann, who is a child of two deaf parents. ASL requested funds to help with the costs for refreshments, ticketing for the event to monitor how many people can attend, and interpreters for the event. They are also holding their own fundraisers at Fajita Grill and Friendly’s to help offset the cost of the event. Two senators offered to help write the bill for the budget, which will be proposed and voted on at a future meeting this semester.
With no public comment for the evening, the meeting moved swiftly into executive reports. Shelby Gallaro, SA Vice President gave SA President Emily Nassir’s report due to Nassir’s attendance at a conference in Boston. Nassir is currently and continuously working on her first project as President SA Assembly, which will be a monthly meeting allowing SA to talk with all the organizations on campus to grow a better connection and provide help if and when they may need it. Following Nassir’s executive report, Gallaro gave her first executive report as SA Vice President. She revealed that she is very excited and honored to be working with SA and the Senators and is looking forward to serving as their Vice President. Gallaro encouraged all senators to attend a workshop SA is holding on Friday in Marano 102, which will feature a former SA President who will share his experience in SA and offer advice to the senators. Finishing her executive report, Gallaro provided senators with information on SUNY Day, an advocacy day in Washington DC on capitol hill. This will give students the opportunity to address and meet their congressmen and congresswomen as well as the chance to network and promote legislative advocacy. Gallaro moved onto the Director of Finance report, but due to the absence of Matthew Peters, no report was given.
In committee reports, the Rules and Judiciary, Finance and Involvement committees informed the senators of their position in the Student Association. Rules and Judiciary serve SA by looking over the code, constitution and bylines as well as reviewing the elections of SA positions. Finance committee’s purpose is to review the funds requested from SA by student organizations, as well as keep tabs on the budget SA is allocated each year. Finally, the Involvement committee serves to inform students on what SA is and how they impact the decisions made on campus. The Student Association Involvement committee can be seen tabeling in the Marano Campus center several times each month.
Hall Council Reports followed committee reports, where representatives of several residence halls shared programs being developed or taking place in their halls. Johnson Hall revealed the are currently working on putting together a speed dating event for students in their hall. Cayuga Hall is currently hosting weekly/bi weekly movie nights, the first one taking place this Thursday night. Funnelle hall has decided to change their hall council meeting time in order to accommodate as many students as possible. The hall is also working on organizing and hosting a male beauty pageant. Oneida hall shared the last hall council report and reminded senators of their red carpet event taking place this Friday at 8pm. Students will be given the opportunity to walk down a red carpet, take photos with friends, and enter a bessed dressed contest.
There were no special orders for the evening, however, there were four general orders due to last meetings time constraints. The first order of the meeting was to vote on the proposed budget for Model United Nations, to provide them with funds to help them attend their conference and promote their new club. The bill for Model UN passed and these funds will help this new organization expand and help with their expenses for the semester. Ecology Club’s proposed budget was the second bill to be voted on for the evening. The club requested funds to help with the costs of their end of the year Whale watching trip, guest speakers that attend their meetings and bird feeders and seeds to maintain the ones currently in the Lagoon on campus. The requested funds was cut down prior to the construction of the bill, due to discrepancies with budgeting for their end of the year trip. Upon voting, the budget passed by general consent and the funds will allow this growing club with their costs for the semester. The third bill to be voted on for the evening was the budget for the Table Tennis Club. The Women’s team is expected to attend the Women’s Ping Pong Tournament in Ontario Canada. Funds were requested to help with travel and hotel costs.The budgeted bill was voted on and passed. This was an expense that the Table Tennis Club did not expect for the semester, but are extremely proud of the women’s team for making it into the tournament and are excited to see their teammates showcase their skills, hard work and dedication. Brothers and Sisters in Christ was the fourth and final bill to be voted on for the evening. The organization requested funds to help with costs for their trip to Basiccon in Rochester in April, a new banner that effectively promotes their organization and a new drum they use at their weekly meetings for worship. Students attending to trip to Rochester are required to pay a fee, however due to 38 students attending the conference, BASIC needed additional help with the hotel and travel fees. The budgeted bill was voted on and was passed with 22 senators in favor.
Tuesday night’s meeting came to a close following the passing of all the proposed budgeted bills. The Student Association has their weekly meeting of the Senate on Tuesday nights at 6pm, in Lanigan 106. All meetings are open to the public and students are encouraged to attend to express any views or concerns they may have.
