Oswego senior goalie Angela Ponto recorded her 500th career save in a dominant 11-4 victory on the road against the Potsdam Bears. The Bears put the first goal on the board but the Lakers went on a quick 5 goal run and never looked back. The Lakers added 6 more before Potsdam could even score another goal, making it an 11-0 run until Potsdam scored the final 3 goals of the game. Ponto got her 500th save, and she finished the game at career save number 503, putting her 115 saves past the previous saves record holder. Ponto will keep adding to that lead in the Lakers’ next contest on Saturday when they travel to Oneonta. Game time is set for 1 pm.
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More Police Patrols In Oswego
OSWEGO, NY— City of Oswego Mayor Billy Barlow has proposed a $90,000 grant to increase police patrols within the Port City. The new patrols will be called “quality-of-life patrols” and will be conducted on foot by Oswego City Police Department every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. The proposal for more policing in the city comes after a recent increase in the number of night time disturbances reported to the Oswego City Police.
Some students from the SUNY Oswego fear the new patrols will be specifically targeting students. Julian Martinez, a junior finance major at SUNY Oswego said, “Why now? Why increase the patrols now? After all these years of having the college involved in the community what debauchery is occurring to make them increase the patrols?”
Martinez believed the patrols will be mainly focusing on student activity. He noted many Oswego State students are most active in the city on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. The same nights the quality of life patrols will be conducted.
Other students feel the patrols will help make the city a safer place for students. Senior, business-administration major Az Wilson said, “ It’s going to be better. It’s going to make the city a lot safer. I think it would help protect some of our students who go out on those nights as well.”
Mayor Barlow said the quality-of-life patrols are not meant to target students and he feels having police walking the streets at night will benefit the city, as well as university students. Barlow said he wanted “boots on the ground” to make sure city codes were being enforced and to ensure no large disturbances affected the city on its busiest nights.
Mayor Barlow also hopes the quality-of-life patrols will create a stronger relationship between the city police and the residents of the city.
Barlow said, “We know the relationship between police and public can be strained at times and I believe the best way to improve that relationship is to get the police out of the station, out of the cop car, walking in the parks, walking in the neighborhoods, and collecting data, but also forming relationships with our community members.”
Mayor Barlow said the Oswego City Police Department already has a good relationship with the community it serves, but more outreach can always be done.
The quality-of-life patrols have been funded for the rest of 2019 and all of 2020.
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I Am Oz Speaker: Winona LaDuke
by Eoin Gallagher
Oswego, NY- Environmentalist and former Green Party Vice Presidential candidate Winona LaDuke spoke to members of the Oswego State community on Mar. 28. Her talk is part of the “I Am Oz” diversity speaker series.
LaDuke spoke on current political issues Americans and Native Americans are facing as well as the role we have in society. She stressed the idea that college students have the opportunity to think critically.
“As college students you have the full opportunity to be critical thinkers and do good,” LaDuke said.
The biggest issue she discussed was climate change and the steps the government should be taking in order to be more aware of it.
LaDuke has an extensive background in the environmental field. She has put her knowledge to work by challenging government and taking on big oil companies, including her involvement in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. She is also the founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project.
LaDuke says the key to changing the Earth is think about what it will be like seven years from now. At the current rate, she believes it may be inhabitable by then. She challenged her audience at the end of speech to change the Earth.
“Let us be creative,” she said. “Let us do what the great leader Sitting Bull said, and let us put our minds together to see what kind of future we can make for our children.”
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Diversity Speaker Series: Kevin Powell
by Ilyssa Weiner
Oswego, NY- Writer and Humanitarian Kevin Powell spoke at SUNY Oswego’s Sheldon Hall Ballroom on Feb. 16 as part of the school’s “I Am Oz” Diversity Speaker Series.
Powell stressed the importance of education and history to his audience. His mother, who only had an eighth grade education, pushed him to do well in school.
“She kept saying to me when I was a child ‘You’re going to go to college. You’re going to go to college. You’re going to go to college,” Powell said.
Powell went to Rutgers University. However, his love for reading and writing came at an early age when his mother took him to the library.
“She allowed me to roam around the library,” he said. “That’s how I ended up falling in love with books and eventually decided as a young person I wanted to be a writer.”
After his time at Rutgers, Powell joined the cast of the very first season of MTV’s The Real World. At the time of taping, he and the rest of the cast had no idea how successful the show was going to be. Because of the show’s success, Powell was able to dig deeper into the world of pop culture.
“I love pop culture,” he said. “I think it’s a useful tool for reaching people and talking about serious issues.”
In 2011, Powell co-founded Building Knowledge (BK) Nation, a progressive non-profit organization focused on civil and human rights. The organization has worked on several racial profiling cases, including the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown cases, and was also a deep supporter for the recent Women’s March.
Despite being the co-founder of the organization, Powell doesn’t believe in titles beyond that.
“We’re all equals and all our voices matter in the organization and that’s how we operate,” he said.
Powell’s most recent book, The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy’s Journey Into Manhood, is available on Amazon.
Powell autographed copies of his latest book after his speech was over.
