FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023
VOLUME 108 | ISSUE 4
SUNY Plattsburgh’s independent student newspaper since 1997
Student Association special elections The Student Association held a special election Feb. 23 to fill the four senator positions that opened up after previous members graduated or stepped down from their roles last semester. Candidates running were Saanvi Moryani,
Dhir Jain, Carter Mosher, Sumeet Vishwakarma, ShiVear Parker, Arshita Pandey, Dipekshya Karki and Kaddie Carter. The four candidates with the most votes are Mosher with 131 votes, Karki and Pandey with 118
votes each and Vishwakarma with 108 votes. Elections were conducted through a Google Form that Board of Elections Chair Mary Stockman and Dean of Students Steve Matthews emailed to the student body at 8 a.m.
Carter Mosher
Dipekshya Karki
Arshita Pandey
Sumeet Vishwakarma
Carter Mosher is a junior from Johnstown, New York, majoring in marketing and international business. Mosher served as senator of public relations and social media manager for the 58th and 59th legislations of the SA. “I love the SA and Platts and I hope to earn the opportunity to serve you all again!” Mosher’s special election bio reads.
Dipekshya Karki is a first-year computer science major. In her bio attached to the special election form, she calls herself a “very self-driven individual who is willing to go above and beyond” to be involved in SA meetings and activities. Karki’s bio also states that she believes she is “open minded to new possibilities and inclusion on our campus.”
Arshita Pandey is a second-semester first-year majoring in finance. Pandey is an international student from India. She is also vice president of the Desi club. Pandey’s bio states her goal as an SA senator is to “positively represent” Desi and LGBTQ+ communities on campus. It also states her favorite place to explore in Plattsburgh is downtown.
Sumeet Vishwakarma’s special election bio states he is a “people person” who understands the importance of interacting with the student community. Vishwakarma sees himself as dependable, “emotionally resourceful” and capable of maintaining, improving and repairing relationships in a team. Vishwakarma’s bio also states he loves taking on new projects.
SUNY Plattsburgh celebrates women BY ALEKSANDRA SIDOROVA
News & Managing Editor
SUNY Plattsburgh celebrated International Women’s Day Wednesday, March 8, with presentations and talks centering women, guest speakers and students alike. The Alumni Conference Room at Angell College Center welcomed Maria Holderman, a fourthgeneration teacher and a journalist who, in the 1990s, uncovered human trafficking in Romanian orphanages through more than 1,000 articles and 50 documentaries on the is-
sue. Twenty years later, she wrote a book on her findings and experiences, called “Children of the Decree,” published in February last year. The specific decree Holderman is referencing is Decree 770, passed in 1967 by the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu, which abolished abortions and contraceptives with the goal of 2 million children being born. Born the same year, Holderman herself is part of the generation of “children of the decree.” The decree resulted in more than 10,000 women’s deaths,
an increase in children being put up for adoption and human trafficking in orphanages. Holderman investigated the disappearances of children in Romanian orphanages by posing as someone looking to adopt a child. After publishing her materials, Holderman faced lawsuits and death threats, causing her to leave Romania on a one-way trip to Vermont. Once her book was out, so many victims of the trafficking reached out to her that she will be publishing a second edition to include all the new
details the testimonies revealed. She said the former minister of justice Valeriu Stoica and former president of Romania Emil Constantinescu, who served from 1996 to 2000, both remember her for her work, albeit by her pen name Dana Achim. “Be the change you want to see,” Holderman said as part of her presentation. “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” Holderman’s work started with visiting prisons to rehabilitate incarcerated individuals and seek out underreported stories. Her first press campaign em-
phasized the unfairness of a young woman having to serve a prison sentence of three and a half years for stealing food to feed her child, and eventually, Holderman was asked to personally bring the subject of her campaign home. Besides the impact one woman could make, Holderman spoke on the power of reading — her love for reading gave her the ability to think critically in a time of censorship and lack of information on the outside world. Another event featuring women’s voices was Fuerza: The BIPOC Stu-
dent Union’s fourth annual Womxn Empowerment Panel focusing on leadership, allyship and sisterhood. Seven female students were chosen to be panelists for the event: Marileana Rodriguez, Abieyuwa Uzamere, Djeneba Sy, Angelina Rodriguez, Kaliyah Green, Alexa Santos and Phardia Desir. The panelists defined what womanhood means to them — confidence, support and being able to speak about their feelings and goals without backlash.
WOMEN > 3
Provided by Shelby Disla
(From left to right) Glendaliz Espinal, Marileana Rodriguez, Abieyuwa Uzamere, Djeneba Sy, Kaliyah Green, Angelina Rodriguez, Alexa Santos, Phardia Desir and Shelby Disla. Marileana Rodriguez, Uzamere, Sy, Green, Angelina Rodriguez, Santos and Desir spoke as panelists for Fuerza’s annual event, with Espinal and Disla as the hosts.
OPINION Squishmallows: Yay or Nay?
SPORTS Glorious Cardinal Hockey victories
ARTS & CULTURE Artist feature: Emily Lord
THIS WEEK IN PHOTOS Champions
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