SUNY Plattsburgh’s independent student newspaper since 1997
FRIDAY, OCT. 2, 2020
CARDINALPOINTSONLINE.COM
VOLUME 103 - ISSUE 5
SA struggles to engage students BY ADEEB CHOWDHURY Staff writer
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Students held a demonstration outside of the Angell College Center last Friday after the Louisville grand jury’s decision to not charge officers for murder after Breonna Taylor’s death.
Demonstration, virtual space held for Breonna BY ALANA PENNY FUSE Editor
After more than 100 days of protests and months of investigation into her death, the two officers who shot Breonna Taylor in her home, were not charged with her death. One of the officers was charged with endangering Taylor’s neighbours by recklessly firing his gun. The
GEO hopes for study abroad BY EMMA VALLELUNGA News Editor
When the thought of traveling seems more like a daydream to most people right now, SUNY Plattsburgh’s Global Education Office is helping students plan for their future when the fate of study abroad and international student admissions programs feels unknown during the COVID-19 pandemic. GEO Coordinator of Study Away Brooke Layhee said all study abroad programs were canceled for this semester due to the pandemic. Only three students are currently studying out of New York state on national student exchange programs in New Jersey, Florida and Hawaii. ABROAD l A4
grand jury made their decision Sept. 23 and protests in Louisville have been taking place since. Last Friday the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion held a virtual processing space for students, faculty and staff. Attendees were put into Zoom calls based on their racial identity, black, indiginous and people of color or people of whiteness, and
then separated students from staff. At the end, everyone met on Rugar Street to show solidarity and support for BIPOC students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the Plattsburgh community. Rebecca Coolidge, a senior social work major and intern for the Center for Diversity Equity and Inclusion, facilitated the students of whiteness group. There were
about six students in the group. She said the groups were split to allow students of whiteness to process their emotions surrounding Taylor’s death and the outcome of the trial without hindering their BIPOC peers’ processing. This is so that in the future, they can support their BIPOC peers without inflicting anymore trauma on them. They opened the group
meeting by listening to a poem by Aja Monet, a contemporary poet, called #SayHerName. Assistant Professor of political science John McMahon said the poem brought up the idea that white people’s freedom is ‘tied up’ with black people’s freedom.
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It was evident from the start that SUNY Plattsburgh’s Student Association Executive Council’s meeting on Sept. 28 would take a more somber tone than usual. Throughout almost the entire meeting, members reflected on and discussed a clear shortcoming of the SA this year — encouraging student engagement and participation in college events amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Coordinator of Activities Lauren Safford began by asking what events students want. She pointed out that the Activities Coordination Board Committee, which she oversees, has been struggling to devise events that will attract participation from the student body. SA Adviser Jacob Avery agreed, pointing out the SA had hosted eight events so far this year, four of which had zero students attending. Events like Coffee House have not enjoyed much success recently, signifying that new events and ideas are needed to energize the student body. ENGAGE l A5
CAs, CDs keep campus housing programs alive BY NICKIE HAYES Staff Writer
A pandemic like COVID-19 is something that constitutes a great feat for community advocates and community directors who are trying to create new programs for students living on campus. Samuel Rivera, a senior nutrition major with a minor in chemistry, is a CA for Mason Hall. He said because of COVID-19, he has not had as many opportunities to connect with residents since the start of this semester. Rachel Green, a sophomore education major concentrating in English, lives in Hood Hall. She said that CAs, CDs and staff have tried to make everything feel as normal as possible. The programs in each hall vary depending on what the CDs and CAs come up with in team meetings and through brainstorming sessions. In Mason Hall, CAs have
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done virtual events. However, they have made it interesting by doing karaoke, trivia and a photography bingo. Photography bingo was the first activity of the semester in Mason that was not fully online. The students went around campus, taking pictures and figuring out the clues of what places they had to find. Rivera said it was like a scavenger hunt bingo. “We are just trying to make some of living on campus resemble what it normally is,” he said. Rachel Gamache, a second year graduate student, working toward her masters degree in speech language pathology, is the CD for Kent and Macomb hall. In Kent and Macomb, they have made a semesterlong Olympic Games program for their residents. Specific to Kent and Macomb Halls, each activity within the program a student attends, participates in, or possibly wins, earns a cer-
tain amount of points. The point system in their program model allows for students to win larger than normal prizes at the end of the semester. Some of the programs will be held in person and outside. They will follow the campus guidelines like social distancing. Programs held in person and inside are regulated by the set maximum occupancy for the area, and there is a maximum of 10 people who can be at a program in general. Green said in Hood Hall her CA provided an online monopoly program for her and the other residents, and the basic floor meetings have also been online. Rivera said this year, they do not have a spending budget for their programs, like they usually had in past years because of COVID-19. He explained that it is on a per-request basis. Gamache said there are resources on campus that CAs and CDs can
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use when creating their programs that have been previously purchased in the past as materials. Green said because she is in a suite, she can still have normal interaction with the four other students, and it
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makes residence life on campus a little easier. The main difference for her from last year to this year overall is to be more mindful. HOUSING l A4
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