by Jamie Aranoff

Oswego, NY- 11 new lactation rooms are being added to the Oswego State campus this semester, providing nursing mothers a place to comfortably and privately pump breast milk for their children.

“It started with a nursing mother who had no official place to pump for her newborn,” Campus Planning Coordinator Linda Paris said.

The 11 lactation rooms are dispersed throughout campus and are located inside certain academic buildings, residence halls and rooms in the Marano Campus Center. “The rooms have been transformed from storage facilities and offer mothers a quiet environment with at least two different types of chairs and work surfaces,” Paris said.  

According to the New York State Department of Health, employees have the right to pump breast milk in the workspace, and should have a private place to do so. Prior to this year, there were no official spots on campus for mothers to pump their breast milk.

“Before having these dedicated spaces, you might be lucky enough to have an office where you could pump in, but if not, you might be pumping in your car,” Paris said.

The collaboration of working mothers and the Campus Facility Project was one that took over a year and a half. For working mother and professor Dr. Kristen Eichhorn, the project was more than just getting a lactation sign outside of a storage closet. The initiative was about taking the needs of mothers and working together to be part of something larger.

“Working together to create the spaces for women was more than just that, it was about working with a team to better the community,” Eichhorn said.

Scales Hall, Tyler Hall, and Wilbur Hall will be the next three buildings on campus to receive a lactation room in the coming months.

By Fan Shi

OSWEGO, NY– SUNY Oswego’s career services held a graduate school fair and career fair to help students prepare for their December graduation and some international students were searching for a promising future.

International student Zhixing Zhai said that he is nervous for graduation and hopes to find an opportunity that will allow him to stay in the United States.

“You can see a lot of opportunities and chances here because there are so many universities. But you are not sure which one you are going to get in eventually. And this process made me very stressful,” Zhai said.

Other international students said they are struggling to find jobs. South Korean Senior Soyoung Moon said she finds it is difficult to accomplish a perfect resume.

“The resume structure between our country and the United States is very different.” Soyoung said.

SUNY Oswego career services offers help to students trying to put together a resume. They have a resource room where someone works with students in resume writing, guiding them towards internships and doing the same with job opportunities. Some of their other services include taking professional photos for LinkedIn profiles and helping students plan their future.

SUNY Oswego director of Career Service Gary Morris said they are improving their services for international students.

“We have some staff members who are kind of specialize to the systems we can give advantage to the international students. We try to stay a breath of the changing landscape of visa. We explore different products and software online like going global that details information that literally hundreds of countries out there to help our professional staff and our students staff better understand and be sense to the culture differences in different countries,” Morris said.

For more information on SUNY Oswego’s Career Services, visit https://www.oswego.edu/career-services/.

By Chelsey Moore

OSWEGO, NY– The College Community Orchestra and dancers from both SUNY Oswego and the community will come together this Sunday, December 3, for a Winter fine arts performance.

The College Community Orchestra and dancers from the community will be performing Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sleeping Beauty Waltz.’ The dancers range from ages 4 to 21 years old. The Orchestra will also play other popular and classical selections.

SUNY Oswego Music Professor and Orchestral Director Dr. Juan F. La Manna said they wanted to give the “talented dancers both in the college and in the community” a chance to perform. 

The “Sleeping Beauty Waltz” will be performed in Tyler Hall’s Waterman Theater at 3PM this Sunday, December 3. Admission is free. For more information, contact the SUNY Oswego Music Department by email at music@oswego.edu or by phone at 315-312-2130.