SUNY Plattsburgh’s independent student newspaper since 1997
FRIDAY, NOV. 6, 2020
CARDINALPOINTSONLINE.COM
VOLUME 103 - ISSUE 10
Quarantine buddies lend helping hand SUNY Plattsburgh faculty volunteer to connect with quarantined students BY DREW WEMPLE Staff Writer
AUDREY LAPINSKI/Cardinal Points Photo Illustration
Commencement moves online BY EMMA VALLELUNGA News Editor
The entire SUNY Plattsburgh class of 2020 will not have the opportunity to walk across a stage, reach for a diploma or turn over a tassel. Just like their May counterparts, seniors graduating this December have mixed feelings about their commencement moving online due to COVID-19. President Alexander Enyedi announced the decision Oct. 26 via email, explaining December’s graduation ceremony will become virtual and air live Dec.12 at 10 a.m. “The ongoing challenges associated with COVID-19 are simply too great. We waited as long as we could, but circumstances have dictated this outcome,” Enyedi
wrote. “This is a difficult decision as it was for our May graduates. I know how important this day is to all graduates and their families, as well as so many of you who have invested in their lives. As a first-generation college student, I especially recognize how important a milestone this is. We are looking at ways we can make this ceremony special to them and their families.” Although disappointed, most graduating seniors understood why the decision had to be made, as COVID-19 cases on campus and in Plattsburgh began to rise last month. Senior human development and family relations major Willa Whittmore said she was impartial to
the decision. “I’m really just over everything when it comes to the pandemic in itself,” Whittmore said. “I feel like it’s gone on so long that it was almost expected. I kind of saw it coming. I guess with all the restrictions that we would’ve had to have in place anyway, it’s probably just for the better.” Despite the pandemic, senior Ethan King was hoping things would’ve gotten better by the time graduation came around, but ultimately, the reality of an actual ceremony wasn’t in the cards. “It just didn’t happen for us, and things just didn’t get any better, so we have to unfortunately live with that,” King said. “To me, it’s not the biggest deal in the
world. I’ll still have the satisfaction of being a graduate and an alumni and getting my diploma, but it still kind of stinks that we weren’t able to have that full graduation experience that past classes had.” Although they understood why, some seniors like Milissa Dame expressed frustration with how the college expressed the decision and wished there could’ve been more of a discussion between the administration and the students about other options. Dame even considered starting a petition but said she didn’t want to seem ungrateful to the college for trying to do something special for graduating seniors. GRADUATE l A2
This semester, SUNY Plattsburgh faculty are helping students in more ways than usual. With COVID-19 cases on-campus, some have volunteered to assist students. They’re called quarantine buddies, and they’re advisers, directors of various departments and other campus coordinators who took the time to provide isolated or quarantined students a resource for important information and a friendly connection. “The planning of the quarantine buddies program started back in early April,” Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Special Programs Michele Carpentier said, “and we activated in late August once students returned.” The idea was for a faculty or staff member to form a relationship with quarantined students and give them someone to talk to, according to Carpentier. Some of the buddies opened up about why they volunteered to be a part of this program and what their experience has been like. “My job is already so student-oriented, plus I was missing interac-
tion after working from home,” quarantine buddy and Coordinator of Extended Time Testing for Student Accessibility Services Laura Cronk said. Cronk has had three buddies so far this semester since August. “My first buddy had come in two weeks early to quarantine,” Cronk said. “I maintained normal contact, reaching out through email and text. I’d ask them how’s it going [or] if they needed anything.” Cronk has taken on a different type of role compared to her first. “They’ll contact me and ask me to get stuff from the mail center,” Cronk said. “After I checked with Michele to make sure I could pick up packages, I’ll pick them up and drop them off at the front desk attendant.” Even though Cronk, like most of the buddies, hasn’t met her buddy in person, she still found a way to establish a personal connection with her latest buddy. Cronk will add handwritten notes to the packages she delivers that read, “You’re doing great!” or “Hang in there!” “I want to make everyone feel welcome and comforted,” Cronk said. BUDDY l A2
SA Students buy finalizes bus tickets for spring end of semester budget, fees BY ASHLEY ST. JOHN Staff Writer
BY ADEEB CHOWDHURY Staff Writer
The Student Association Senate meeting Oct. 29 saw significant revisions of the SA budget for the upcoming spring semester. Most of these adjustments stemmed from the need to address the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, in particular the decline in club activity and the strain on students’ personal finances. Newly SA treasurer Saugat Gautam presented the revised budget, projecting a spring expenditure of $402,864 — a drop from the fall expenditure of $426,564.
Many SUNY Plattsburgh students rely on the school-provided bus transportation each semester to travel home and back. Regular travel companies such as Greyhound and Amtrak are not providing transportation like usual due to COVID-19 concerns, but SUNY Plattsburgh will be providing a few charter buses to give students an option to get home if they need it. Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of Special Programs Michele Carpentier sent out a notice in the Student Digest that any student who needs a ticket should reach out to her to get a count of how many people are interested. Carpentier said about
100 students are registered for the buses so far this semester. “We’ve had very little response from the Student Digest,” Carpentier said. “Even though we put it in there twice.” The busing system will be a bit different than past years. The $110 ticket for this semester that went on sale Oct. 30 is only a one-way ticket, rather than a round-trip one. “We’re really discouraging people to come back,” Carpentier said. “We urge them to go home and stay home [to prevent the spread of COVID-19].” Carpentier also said the buses will be making five stops on their way downstate; Penn Station with a stop in Newburgh, Junior’s Restaurant in Brooklyn, Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, Walt
ZOE NGUYEN/Cardinal Points
Whitman Mall in Huntington and Roosevelt Fields Mall in Garden City. The buses that usually seat 56 people are now limited to 26 people each, so an extra bus is being added in anticipation the buses will fill quicker. Carpentier said they usually have four full buses, which would hold about 200 students, to
travel down to bring students home. While on the bus, students can take off their masks while seated, but if they choose to get up out of their seat, they must wear their mask. There are some mixed feelings in students with the idea of riding in a bus for such a long time. Senior Cole Charette used these charter buses as
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a way home and back to Plattsburgh during his first two years at SUNY Plattsburgh. “I think they’re doing a pretty good job planning out the safest ways to get kids home,” Charette said. “Some students don’t have the privilege of having their own car, so this is their best option.”
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