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Tyler Hall Reopening and the Shift of Buildings
Reported by: Brian Doolittle
Tyler Hall, the home of the Theater and Art Departments at SUNY Oswego, has been closed for the past two years for remodeling. Shifting from Tyler Hall to Hewitt-Union was definitely a challenge for the Theater Department.
Theater student Taylor McCown spoke about how the Waterman Theater was the main theater where plays and musicals were at. She spoke about how shifting to the Hewitt-Union Ballroom was a challenge because they had to build their own stages when performing shows in there compared to Waterman Theater that had the stage set; just needing to set up the sets.
Instructor Greg Brewster has been associated with Tyler Hall ever since he was a student at SUNY Oswego. He spoke about how he went there as a student with lighting and sets in shows and he returned to Oswego with teaching in the same field.
Brewster also had some involvement with the remodeling of Tyler Hall. He spoke about where different things were going to go, such as lighting, and speakers in the theater itself.
Everyone in the departments are definitely interested in seeing the different changes that Tyler Hall’s going to offer. Taylor spoke of how there’s supposed to be an extra row in the Waterman Theater as well as different extensions to make shows a lot more interesting. She said that although most of the Theater Department will be returning to Tyler, the Costume shop will be temporarily remaining in Hewitt-Union for a while.
Tyler Hall will be reopening this summer to begin the Fall 2016 semester.
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Fitzpatrick Nuclear Plant New Ownership
by Ilyssa Weiner
Scriba, NY- Exelon Generation, owner of the nation’s largest nuclear energy fleet, has officially taken ownership and management of all operations at the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant.
“We look forward to bringing FitzPatrick’s highly skilled team of professionals into
the Exelon Generation nuclear program, and to continue delivering to New York the environmental, economic and grid reliability benefits of this important energy asset,” President and CEO of Exelon Chris Crane said.
According to a press release, Entergy, the FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant’s former owner, has transferred the plant’s operating license to Exelon as well as its decommissioning trust fund and liability.
Joseph Pacher has also been named the new site vice president of the plant. Pacher was the former site vice president at R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant in Ontario.
“Joe knows the Exelon Management Model well and led Ginna during its transition into
the Exelon Generation fleet in 2014,” Exelon’s Chief Nuclear Officer Bryan Hanson said. “We are confident that his leadership will ensure a smooth transition for employees and the community, as FitzPatrick continues to deliver safe, clean and reliable electricity to the regional power grid.”
FitzPatrick’s former site vice president, Brian Sullivan, was retained by Entergy as part of the original transaction agreement.
Entergy and Exelon announced the $110 million transaction back in August 2016 after the Clean Energy Standard (CES) was adopted in New York State. The CES has saved the $3 billion nuclear plants contribute to the state’s economy annually as well as the 25,000 jobs in nuclear plants throughout the state. It has also spent millions of dollars in energy infrastructure investments. Without the CES, the FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant would close and other upstate nuclear plants would also be at risk of closure.
Exelon does not have an immediate changes to staffing at the FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant, which normally employs about 600 people.
The FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant generates carbon-free electricity for more than 800,000 homes and businesses. Exelon Generation operates two other nuclear energy facilities in upstate New York including Nine Mile Point, which is right next to FitzPatrick.
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Cuban Filmmaker visits Oswego
Oswego, N.Y- Oswego State is receiving bigger name-speakers as years go on, especially for the media. The newest name on the list is Miguel Coyula, one of biggest filmmakers in Latin America. Along with him was actress Lynn Cruz who presented workshops for an audience interested in directing and acting.
Coyula is known for his political-heavy films such as Nadie (No One) and Memorias del Desarollo (Memories of Overdevelopment.) He presented screenings for both films and a Q&A session for each film.
In Cruz’ first workshop, she showed students how Coyula creates effects for his movies. Stop-motion style, Miguel adds images from magazines or other sorts of things into backgrounds of a film shot. Her second event was a presentation on the difference between acting in theatre and film. Oswego State professor Ulises Mejia, who organized the event, was present to translate what she said to the audience. Cruz says directors should learn about their actors on both the personal and work level in order for acting in a movie to feel more genuine. She also loves to co-direct with Miguel. ”I don’t only work as an actress but also behind the camera. I’ve discovered in my opinion that the actor’s role is more difficult,” Cruz said.
Coyula believes the film industry in Cuba is changing instantly because of the country’s westernization. “Directors aren’t working as independently as before, most films are now commercialize. The film industry began so filmmakers can only work as independently. But now that’s all changed,” Coyula said.
At the end of the event, Coyula showed a snippet of his current movie in production, Blue Heart.
