By Victoria Costa
Oswego, N.Y.– City Historian Mark Slosek and a group of volunteers are working on a project that commemorates World War I. The group wants to refresh and improve monuments with the help of the city Veterans’ Council, Oswego American Legion, and Oswego Department of Works.
The local and county veterans’ groups will assist in identifying World War I veterans graves. On Memorial Day 2018, the graves will be marked with a flag and traditional poppy flower.
On November 11, 2018, Armistice Day, the group wants to encourage the clergy to give “Promise of Peace” sermons and to encourage community “Bells To Ring” at 11AM to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the war.
“We hope this will help people remember and help our youth remember what an important event World War I was,” Slosek said.
The group received a favorable recommendation from members of the Common Council when they presented the plan.
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Funnelle Hall’s Renovations
Located in the heart of campus, just steps away from the Marano Campus Center and Cooper Fitness and Dining, lies the nine floor building Funnelle Hall.
Built in 1965, Funnelle is home to over 400 SUNY Oswego students.
SUNY Oswego announced they will be doing major renovations to the building, starting at the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester. Students living in Funnelle Hall will need to relocate once construction is started.
Renovations will be finished for the 2020 Fall semester.
According to Funnelle Hall RA Charlie Chapman, he doesn’t see the construction being an issue for students.
“I don’t think it will be too hard on them. They’ll probably just move out, they’ll probably have the same roommate. They’ll just be somewhere else, depending on where they have classes it might be a further walk but it should be fine,” said Chapman.
Student Jason Lin has aspirations about what the renovations will consist of.
“I think for Funnelle Hall they should renovate the kitchen area, and the lounges to make them more modern and more spacious for people to hang out in,” said Lin.
For the students moving to new dorms, once the renovations are done they will likely be able to relocate back to Funnelle, and enjoy its updates.
This project is expected to be a great improvement for SUNY Oswego, and will surely put the “fun” in Funnelle.
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New Residence Hall Door Policy
OSWEGO, NY— Oswego Residence Life and Housing has registered a new door access policy. On-campus students are only allowed to enter their own residence hall. For students who live on campus, This has limited who can access the building, but that is just the beginning of the new policy.
“It’s just a first phase, so whether it be the student’s petition or students that have emailed, this won’t be the final change” said Shaun Crisler, Service Assistant Vice President of Residence Life and Housing. This step is to see the responses not only from students, but from the whole campus community.
Tylissa Cortis, who is currently staying at the Village responded, “Living in The Village I go from dorm to dorm to dorm with the tunnel system, so I’m less exposed to the elements when I miss the bus. Now I can’t do that.”
Residence Life and Housing is now working on the feedback and adjusting from it. Crisler is glad with the responses he’s getting, but he wants to remind everyone that not all policies are perfect. Crisler said, “Anytime you have a policy it is typically never perfect, but what you have to be open to is feedback”
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New York: The First Tuition Free State in the Nation
by Stefanie Sciolaro
OSWEGO, NY- – On April 8th, Governor Cuomo announced that all public 2 and 4 year universities in the state of New York will offer a tuition free scholarship. The Excelsior Scholarship will allow middle class families, who qualify, to be exempt from paying for college tuition.
In order to qualify, a family’s adjusted gross income must be under $100,000 in 2017. By 2018 that number will go up to $110,000, and by 2019 the amount will increase to $125,000. These incomes will include all student, parent, or spouse incomes within the family.
Students must be enrolled full-time, already have 30 college credits, and continue to complete 30 credits per year, which includes summer sessions, while in college. Transfer students will be eligible if they, or once, they’ve met the 30 credit requirement. If the student loses the scholarship, for now, they will be unable to regain it, though there is an appeal process being put in place.
Once students who are receiving the scholarship graduate, they will be required to stay New York residents for the same amount of time they had received the scholarship in college. Christopher Britts, an education major at SUNY Oswego, is apprehensive of where the state’s getting the money to fund this and what the resident restriction entitles.
“Are my taxes or other college expenses going to go up?… Will they decrease the PELL or TAP grants we get? Because if so and I don’t qualify where does that leave me?… What if I get a job in Cali or Jersey, I have to say no? If so, I’d rather have the loans, then at least I’m free.” says Christopher.
Graduate students are not eligible for the scholarship, nor are students who have already completed an undergraduate degree and are pursuing a second.
Families will still be responsible for other expenses such as room and board, meal plans, and books, but the hope is for the Excelsior Scholarship to help relieve some of the burdens that families face in trying to pay for student’s college education. Financial aid will not be effected if a student receives the scholarship.
Christopher is also a team leader for Mentor Scholar, an after school program helping children with homework, and says this scholarship is good for younger children as well.
“Yes the scholarship needs adjustments and clarification but it really does give them a future to look forward to. Many of these kids come from low income families who before now, college was probably never an option…well now it is. As a future educator and current college student thats a beautiful thing to see.” Chris said.
This scholarship will go into effect and be available to students for the Fall 2017 semester. For more on the Excelsior Scholarship visit http://www.ny.gov, for SUNY (State University of New York) information visit https://www.suny.edu, and for CUNY (City University of New York) information visit http://www2.cuny.edu.
