SUNY Plattsburgh’s independent student newspaper since 1997
FRIDAY, SEPT. 11, 2020
CARDINALPOINTSONLINE.COM
VOLUME 103 - ISSUE 2
Pi Kappa Phi, nine members suspended from campus following party BY FERNANDO ALBA Editor-in-Chief
DAKOTA GILBERT/Cardinal Points
A student checks in to her scheduled pool test at Algonquin Dining Hall during SUNY Plattsburgh’s first round of pool tests last Wednesday. SUNY Plattsburgh announced it would adopt pool testing when newly appointed SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras visited the campus Aug. 21.
Zero cases recorded after first pool tests BY DREW WEMPLE Staff Writer
SUNY Plattsburgh marked the launch of its COVID-19 pool testing last Wednesday. The college tested 449 students in Algonquin Hall in its first round of pool testing. Additional rounds were scheduled for Wednesday and next week. SUNY Plattsburgh adopted pool testing rather than individual testing because of the cost and efficiency of testing larger groups of students. One pool test can test samples of 10 to 25 students and costs less than the price of one individual sample test. SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi, alongside newly appointed SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras, announced the pooled surveillance testing back on Aug. 21 during Malatras’ first visit to SUNY
Plattsburgh’s campus as SUNY chancellor. On-campus students were notified of a time and day of their scheduled time to get tested in emails sent Sept. 1. The order for testing was determined by residence halls. Dr. Kathleen Camelo, director of the Student Health Center, clarified the order for testing with her following statement, “We just tried to pick the dorms that have approximately the same number of students so testing days would be equal.” Scheduled students then made their way to Algonquin Hall for the first batch of testing Sept. 2. Several greeters, some who were volunteers from Greek life, welcomed students as they arrived at Algonquin Hal and were there to make sure the process started as smoothly as possible. Greeters first checked Student IDs, asked if students if they had any symptoms such
as shortness of breath, fever, cough, etc., then asked if the students have engaged in any activity that might compromise their results, such as eating or drinking 30 minutes prior, teeth brushing or mouth washing within the past three hours and smoking or vaping. Students then hopped in a line that wrapped from the entrance to Algonquin Hall all the way into Little Al’s cafe. The line had markers that encouraged students to stay six feet apart. When it’s their turn, the student steps up to one of the testing stations. The stations were plastic folding tables that had an industrial sized bottle of hand sanitizer, half full test tube racks and a qualified nurse seated behind it. TESTING l A4
Dining prices raised Meal plans’ costs rise by 4% as three venues close in ACC BY EMMA VALLELUNGA News Editor
On-campus food and dining is different at SUNY Plattsburgh during the coronavirus pandemic. Some aspects have changed, some remain the same and some might never return. VENUES CUT IN HALF Before distance learning began last semester, there were eight dining venues on campus: Clinton Dining Hall, The Sundowner, Subway, Scoops, Griddles/ Sono, Einstein’s Bros. Bagels, Tim Horton’s and Samuel D’s. This semester, only four remain. The locations of Subway, Scoops and Griddles/Sono have JASON PARENT/Cardinal Points been closed. Colorful decals on the floor of the Angell College Center College Auxiliary Sermark where students should stand waiting in line to envices Director Dana Kellerter the Sundowner.
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man said this change was brought on by a few different factors, and the venues that SUNY Plattsburgh did close had been decreasing in popularity for a while. They were not closed solely because of the pandemic. “We track all the metrics of the students going in,” Kellerman said. “They were closed because of a decrease in attendance.” The Dining Advisory Committee is a subcommittee within CAS made up of a small group of rotating students, a few dining associates and campus dietician Jeff Vallee. The DAC gives feedback to CAS about which services are doing well and which ones are not. “The goal of the DAC is to find that really nice balance where it allows us to project the best cost at the greatest value in options,” Vallee said. But while Subway and Scoops have closed, the menus of Griddles/Sono are still available. Items like Griddles breakfast sandwiches, Sono bur-
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rito bowls and Scoops ice cream have moved to The Sundowner. Vallee said closing the venues and moving the items from one location to another evens out sales and traffic. “We’re not losing Griddles,” Vallee said. “We’re bringing the concept over to the Sundowner. I didn’t have an issue with that, and neither did the [DAC] students. The only thing we’ve really lost is Subway.” With fewer dining options, SUNY Plattsburgh, like many other SUNYs, had to raise their student meal plan costs by 4% due to COVID-19 and the rise in food costs across the U.S. by 4.1%. Kellerman said there are no plans to move any other dining venue into the space where Subway and Griddles/Sono used to be, also known as Burghy’s. It remains as additional seating in case of overcapacity in The Sundowner.
DINING l A2
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Pi Kappa Phi was issued a cease and desist activities order, and nine of its student members have been issued interim suspensions, Presid e n t Alexander Enyedi a n nounced to students via email last Friday. The cease and desist order came after SUNY Plattsburgh’s University Police became aware of and broke up a loud party the fraternity held at 5088 South Catherine St. Aug. 22 — two days before classes started. A cease and desist activities order prevents Pi Kappa Phi from functioning as a student organization. Despite that, some members of the fraternity allegedly broke the cease and desist order and conducted recruitments activities, some of which were prohibited even without the cease and desist order, according to University Police Chief Patrick Rascoe. Student conduct charges were then filed against nine members of Pi Kappa Phi and were also placed on interim suspensions. Student members of Pi Kappa Phi also allegedly violated local laws relating to alcohol, nuisance, hazing and endangerment, according to Enyedi’s email. The suspended students are not allowed on campus until further notice and cannot physically attend classes or go to campus facilities. “I am grateful for the work of University Police and collaborative work with the Plattsburgh Police Department over the past week in bringing these matters to court and the Office of Student Conduct,” Enyedi wrote. “We will remain aggressive about educating students and sharing the consequences. We take our responsibility seriously and we will not have a second chance to do this over.”
Email FERNANDO ALBA
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