OSWEGO, NY— Something on everyone’s mind: those cold Oswego winters.
It has been three weeks since the end of summer, and the cold weather is already creeping into Oswego. Many residents have started preparing themselves for the inevitable cold by wearing extra layers, like resident Azrien “Az” Wilson.
“Just a bunch of blankets, socks, sweats, kind of just taking care of myself. I’m not really worried about the room, as long as I’m warm,” said Wilson.
Other residents have been following suit and are starting to stockpile on winter clothes, including Ubong Udofa.
“Stocking up on my jackets, coats, and sweaters, sweatpants, my scarves, and my boots, too,” said Udofa.
With many residents being freshman and transfer students, it’s always good to know what tips and resources are available to help prepare for the winter weather from resident assistants, including Jessa Costa.
“We have heaters behind the desk that they can rent out, you can’t have them for too long but they definitely help temporarily in that moment,” said Costa. “Just make sure you’re bundled up, and hopefully the heating in the building is working well.”
Another good tip, don’t put any furniture in front of the radiator, because it will cause the heat to stay trapped.
For more information on further resources, talk to your resident assistant or hall director.
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Scales Hall Renovation
Reported by: Ilyssa Weiner
Scales Hall residents will be forced to move out at the end of the semester due to the hall’s renovation. Scales is the last residence hall in the Lakeside Community to be renovated after Waterbury reopened last fall.
Resident Assistant Gabby Green lived in Waterbury before it was renovated. She was initially worried about where she was going to live when Waterbury closed. However, she enjoyed the experience she had with it.
“That’s why I came here, to help people move out of this building and do it all again,” said Green.
The renovations to Scales will include new lounges, a new front desk and an elevator. Scales Hall Director Myles Clendenin is excited for the changes, but also believes the community aspect is what will stand out the most.
“It’s not just about how the building looks in the renovation. It’s about building that community, at the end of the day the students who make the make the community,” said Clendenin
Scales is currently home to about 150 students, consisting of international students only staying for the semester, new students and students who’ve lived in Scales for more than a year.
Senior Anthony Salvador has lived in Scales since his freshman year and will greatly miss the atmosphere of the old hall.
“I will definitely miss the old Scales to the point where I’m going to leave on the last day at ten A.M. when they kick me out,” said Salvador.
Those who are currently living in Scales since the beginning of the semester will priority in picking what dorm they want to stay in during the spring semester.
Scales Hall will reopen Fall 2017.
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Zonta Witches Ball Raises Funds to Fight Domestic Violence
OSWEGO, NY — The Zonta Club of Oswego has taken their celebration of Halloween to the next level with their second annual Witches Ball at the Lake Ontario Conference Center. According to the Witches Ball chairperson, Tammy Elowsky, the Zonta Club of Oswego serves as a service and advocacy group for women.
“Our friends of ours do a Witches’ Night Out, and they told me about their event. And I thought it was fantastic,” Elowsky said. “And so we decided to do a different spin on it and call it a Witches’ ball, some of the wizards are allowed to come. But we have all kinds of vendors and dancing and fun but it’s all for a great cause.”
The event had supported the Oswego County Opportunities’ Safe Services program to provide aid to survivors of domestic violence. Chairperson Elowsky strives for the Witches Ball to improve and evolve into a bigger and better event than ever before.
“So last year we had about 300 people that attended at our first year. We were absolutely amazed at that. We’ve outgrew our venue and we’ve come to the convention center this year,” Eloswky said. “And we’ve had more people, I don’t know what the final count is now. We’re obviously hoping to grow, looking for more vendors, whatever we can do to raise more money for this awesome cause.”
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Student Association Update: February 2nd
The Student Association held their weekly Senate meeting Tuesday evening. The second meeting of the semester began after the number of senators required to begin were met and the meeting’s agenda and minutes were approved.
SUNY Oswego’s Ecology Club was one of four guests to the Senate that evening, and began by requesting additional funding for the spring semester. The Ecology Club requested funds to help support the club’s growth. The funds would go towards the cost of gas, hotel stays, bird seed and feeders, as well as, material such as gloves and towels for their volunteer work in the community. The largest expense would be an end of the year trip to go whale watching. The funds requested include this trip and will help defer some of the cost to students. Three senators volunteered to write the bill for the budget, which will be proposed and voted on at a future meeting.
The second guest to the Senate was SUNY Oswego’s Table Tennis Club. They requested funding for the Women’s Team regional tournament trip, where 10 members will compete in the Great Lakes Regional Tournament. The tournament will take place the weekend of February 27th, 2016. The Table Tennis Club requested the funding to help pay for their travel expenses. The team’s entrance into the tournament came as a pleasant surprise to many. The bill for the budget will be written by three senators, and will be proposed and voted on later this semester.
The National Broadcasting Society was the third guest to the Senate and requested funding for a trip to the 2016 NBS Convention in Los Angeles. Last year was the first time the National Broadcasting Society attended the convention, and hope to send three students again this year. They requested funding to help pay for their travel costs. To help offset the total cost of the trip, they have also partnered with local restaurants, YoBerry and Fajita Grill in hopes of raising the rest of the funds for the trip. Three senators volunteered to write the bill for this budget that will be proposed and voted on, prior to the National Broadcasting Society’s trip.
The fourth and final guest to the Senate was the National Association of Black Accountants. In hopes of hosting a Business Gala this semester, they requested fund to help pay for the event. Funding was requested for catering, a keynote speaker, advertisements, and entertainment. The event will allow students, particularly business majors, to network, make connections and learn from successful businessmen and women who are working in the field. The bill for this budget will be written by three senators and proposed and voted on at a future meeting.
Following the guests, Student Association President Christopher Collins-McNeil, addressed the Senate for the last time in his executive reports. Collins-McNeil will be resigning his position after accepting a job with the Mosby for Mayor Campaign in Baltimore, MD. Collins-McNeil has been involved in SA since his freshmen year at SUNY Oswego. When he became SA President, Collins-McNeil revealed, he wanted to make his presidency about advocacy and feels he can respectively say he accomplished that task. Collins-McNeil requested his SA Presidency be assumed by Student Association Vice President Emily Nassir.
Nassir, when offered the position, accepted and upon swearing in, assumed the role of Student Association President. Nassir announced her first project as SA President was what she called, “SA Assembly;” a monthly meeting of both the Student Association Assembly board and representatives from student organizations. Nassir hopes these meetings will build a stronger connection between SA and the organizations they represent.
Senator Shelby Gallaro was nominated to fill the now vacant seat of SA Vice President. After a ballot vote, Gallaro was successfully voted in as the new Student Association Vice President.
Finishing off executive reports was Matthew Peters, Student Association Director of Finance. Peters announced that the OzFest Committee had met and discussed the 2016 budget for the end of the semester event. Peters stated that ticket prices for OzFest will need to drop, in order to draw more students to the event’s concert.
In committee reports, Senators Christ and Himberger nominated themselves for the position of Chair of the Involvement Committee. Senator Gallaro had been the prior chair, but due to her new role as SA Vice President, she had resigned. Following a ballot vote, Senator Christ was elected Chair of the Involvement Committee.
Hall Council Reports and General orders were suspended due to time constraint, so all general orders for this week were moved to next week.
Student Association meets Tuesday nights at 6pm, in Lanigan 106. All meetings are open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.
