In a Common Council meeting, Mayor Billy Barlow’s proposal to increase the rental permit fee was approved; after a 5-1- 1 voting result.
Mayor Billy Barlow says the proposal will make the “landlords accountable and pressure them into maintaining their property and treating their tenants fairly.”
According to the proposal, the new fee is $150 dollars for a three year period, which is five times more expense than the current $30 fee. This new fee will become effective as of October 1st.
The last time the fee was increased was back in August 22nd, 2005.
The Mayor says they will be adding a new code enforcer next year; saying that with all of the new expenses and upgrades in the code enforcement department; he believes that it will improve the department and the inspection process.
Some property owners in Oswego have spoken out against the new proposal, saying it would have made more sense if the penalties for landlords that were in violation of the city code; were increased.
Mayor Barlow says there will be more amendments added to the city charter regarding code enforcement. He says this proposal is only the beginning of his campaign to crack down against negligent landlords.
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Town Hall Meeting
by Owen Marchand, WTOP10-TV
The November Town Hall meeting with President Stanley in the Campus Center’s auditorium attracted a group of students who were eager to ask SUNY Oswego’s president questions on different topics.
These monthly meetings are a great way for students to address any concerns or questions around campus with both President Stanley and fellow faculty members who attend the meetings.
Freshman Ethan Magram, Senator of the Student Association talked about how different campuses have insight on different demographics such as student involvement and asked, “how can we collect better data on students to figure out how they like things on campus, living here, and how they feel about activities such as clubs, etc.” Stanley and other faculty members chimed in by stating how last school year a committee was created to see what students think about. Jerald Woolfolk, Vice President of student affairs and enrollment, mentioned how auxiliary services and residential life do surveys.
Another student brought up the revival of the campus common hour and this was heavily talked about as it took a large point of interest. The common hour is an hour across campus where there are no classes or essentially any activities held. SUNY Oswego used to participate in the common hour, but it was later ended, brought back, and again taken away. The campus held the common hour between 12:45 and 1:00 however, it was voted to be suspended due to conflicts according to President Stanley. Many students and faculty appeared to be interested in bringing it back, however one graduate student at the meeting mentioned remembering how due to the common hour being during lunch time it made the lines at each dining hall very long.
One student simply wanted to thank President Stanley on her email sent regarding the recent presidential election as it brought out many mixed emotions among the Oswego community. President Stanley stated “No matter what happens, we stand together.” She was also amazed at the speak out regarding “The strength, depth of solidarity, humor, and hope for the future.”
One of the last questions for President Stanley was, “I chose this school because I have seen so many advances in the facilities, resident halls, Shineman, etc. How do you and the rest of administration see the future of this?” Stanley talked about how the school’s core values are how the student learns, and having a 24 environment on a campus where students live is also important. This is why many renovations have been made and there are still more to come. She also mentioned how important upkeep is.
The November Town Hall meeting was another success as each student who attended was able to get their questions and concerns addressed and get clarification on anything they were wondering.
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Trump administration announces new Title IX guidelines
Written by Erin Meyer
OSWEGO, N.Y– The Trump administration has announced new guidelines for colleges on how to comply with the Title IX program. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced her intention to rescind the Obama-era program, which protects people from sex-based discrimination in education programs or activities which receive Federal financial assistance, last week.
“This interim guidance will help schools as they work to combat sexual misconduct and will treat all students fairly,” DeVos said in a written statement. “Schools must continue to confront these horrific crimes and behaviors head-on. There will be no more sweeping them under the rug. But the process also must be fair and impartial, giving everyone more confidence in its outcomes.”
DeVos overturned past guidelines issued by the Obama administration in 2011 and 2014, including guarantees that assault victims are not denied access to education, and issued new guidelines for dealing with cases of sexual misconduct.
The announcement has been met with criticism from advocates for survivors of sexual assault. “It’s On Us,” an initiative to stop sexual assault on college campuses created by President Barack Obama in 2014, has created a petition to maintain current Title IX regulations.
It is currently unclear how these changes will affect the implementation of Title IX at SUNY Oswego, if at all. The campus branch has not yet commented on the announcement, though its page on the school’s website still reflects the standards put in place under the Obama administration.
For more information on Title IX and SUNY Oswego’s sexual harassment policies, visit https://www.oswego.edu/title-ix/.
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Oswego’s Unusual Winter
Winter may not be over yet, but just by looking around you would think it ended weeks ago. The few signs that remain of winter slowly melted away last week as temperatures soared into the 40’s. According to Dr. Scott Steiger the local co-op observer for the National Weather Service, we’ve only received forty-nine point one inches of snow as of February 29th.
An alarming seven feet below the average snowfall for this time of year. Though it’s not surprising that we’ve seen so little snowfall, through the winter months Oswego ran 2.9 degrees above average temperature-wise. January saw the worst of the effects of the warm winter at an amazing 6 degrees above average.
Students, either way, have taken advantage of the spring-like conditions and have used the time to spend their days outside. While others were left waiting for the snow that never came like Florida native Bruno Rojas. Bruno had this to say about the past winter in Oswego “There weren’t that many lake effect events in Oswego so you never really got to see…big snow storms, where you could just sit down you know in the snow and just kind of watch the really big snowflakes kind of fall really gracefully. ”
Many have expressed similar views, asking constantly where was winter this year? The answer? There was a strong Arctic Oscillation or AO, that was in its positive phase. When it’s in a positive phase we oftentimes see a lot of the cold air trapped up in Canada. It’s when it enters its negative phase that it starts to allow the colder air to funnel down into the United States. and that’s what allows for those cold Oswego winters that we all know.
While this was certainly an anomalous winter, it is part of a longer-term trend of winter warming across upstate New York. The trend becomes obvious on this chart from climate central, showing how Syracuse’s average winter temperatures have warmed 2.8° since 1970. While this chart is only for Syracuse, the changes can be seen all across New York as our climate continues to change.
