April 29, 2019

Page 1

FREE

MONDAY

april 29, 2019 high 54°, low 42°

t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |

P

N

dailyorange.com

Saba, Adult Mom and Whethan brought crowds to University Union’s Mayfest concert. The festival featured carnival food, performances and outdoor activities in Walnut Park. Page 15

Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh has created a board to develop solutions to the city’s rising deer and tick populations. The board aims to stop the spread of Lyme disease. Page 3

S

Shannon Doepking is in her first season as head coach of Syracuse softball. She’s trying to build a winning program with her four core values. Page 32

Learning activism

student association

Incoming leaders prepare for roles By Abby Weiss staff writer

Students in professor Biko Gray’s “Black Lives Matter and Religion” class decided to focus their semester-long activism project on SU’s Department of Public Safety, including the department’s policies and services. molly gibbs photo editor

D

ozens of students plan to walk to the chancellor’s office on Tuesday. They won’t march. They won’t shout or protest. They just want to talk. Students in professor Biko Gray’s “Black Lives Matter and Religion” class hope to present Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud with their semester-long project on student demographics and the Department of Public Safety’s current policies and services. The class wants SU to create a Student of Color Advisory Board that would be independent from DPS and be able to review complaints made against officers, several students said. Gray, a professor of religion, gave his class a choice: create an abstract campaign or a real one. The class decided to build a campaign around DPS’ policing after the Feb. 9 assault of three students of color on Ackerman Avenue. Students at the house party where the assault occurred said four unknown white people approached the porch of the house. A man yelled a racial slur at a black student

Students build campaign to address DPS policies for class project By Casey Darnell asst. news editor

after which a fight broke. The Syracuse Police Department arrested a 15-year-old girl on Apr. 11 in connection with the assault. The girl struck students with a pellet gun, SPD said. Students circulated statements on social media in February that criticized DPS and SPD’s handling of the assault. SPD has repeatedly said the attack was not racially-motivated. One of those statements was branded with #jSUtice — pronounced “justice.” An Instagram account soon folsee class page 4

lowed, with anonymous testimonies about on-campus safety and a survey gauging students’ opinion on DPS. All of this work came from Gray’s students. They set up meetings with DPS Chief Bobby Maldonado and interim Chief Diversity Officer Keith Alford to discuss how students of color feel on campus. During their meeting, Maldonado told them an external review of DPS isn’t necessary because the department doesn’t receive complaints, several students said. At the Feb. 18 forum organized in response to students’ concerns, Maldonado said he wouldn’t oppose a review of DPS. Sarah Scalese, senior associate vice president for university communications, said in a statement to The Daily Orange that Maldonado told students DPS is awaiting a final report on re-accreditation from the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. DPS is also in the process of receiving accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law

Mackenzie Mertikas and Sameeha Saied, incoming Student Association president and vice president, will use the summer break to meet with administrators and plan initiatives. SA recently passed legislation that allows the president and vice president to be sworn in during the spring semester to ease possible limitations on their preparation over the summer. Mertikas and Saied will spend the summer working on initiatives related to student relations with Department of Public Safety, financial accessibility and mental health services. Saied said the opportunity to officially operate as vice president over the summer will make the preparation much easier. Mertikas and Saied will be sworn in during an Assembly meeting. “The summer is very much a transition period, but now I’ll be able to start initiatives during that time rather than in three months,” Saied said. Mertikas wants to create a good relationship with the DPS, she said. She plans to work with it to make sure it addresses student suggestions and concerns that emerged after the Feb. 9 assault of three students of color along Ackerman Avenue, she said. Students have criticized DPS for mishandling the assault and its communication after the incident. At a February forum held to discuss the Ackerman assault and police response to such events, students asked for an external review of DPS. Financial accessibility was a major concern for students during Mertikas’ campaign, she said. She plans to work with the Office of Student Employment Services to look into increasing SU job opportunities for students, she said. see leaders page 4

city

How families, students coexist in University Neighborhood By Patrick Linehan staff writer

A horn echoed through Erika Barry’s house on Buckingham Avenue at 3 a.m., waking her family. The snow plow blared its horn for five minutes to signal that someone needed to wake up and move their car. The car was parked on the wrong side of the street, and the plow couldn’t pass through. “There’s no one coming,” Barry recalled yelling in December 2017,

as her kids began to cry. “They’re not coming.” Barry knew that the car belonged to a Syracuse University student who had left for winter break. Homeowners represent a small portion of Syracuse overall, with just 38% of people living in homes they own, according to data from the United States Census Bureau. That number is a little more than half the national average for homeownership, according to the first

If I’m going to live in Syracuse, I want it to be in this neighborhood. This is my neighborhood. Annabel Hine Otts

university neighborhood resident

quarter 2019 census. Most renters in the University Hill area are studying at SU, but some homeowners hold out, finding different reasons to live among the sea of students. Turnover for student renters creates two separate communities within the same eight-block neighborhood east of campus, existing with little interaction. University Neighborhood spans from Euclid Avenue to E. Colvin Street and east of Comstock Avenue. Students liv-

ing off campus may not know who lives next to them, and families don’t know who they share a street with. Joseph Personte, director of SU’s Office for Off-Campus and Commuter Services, said he encourages students to get to know their neighbors. Annabel Hine Otts, a long-time resident of University Neighborhood, said that isn’t reality. “They are their community, probably multiple communities, and see neighborhood page 4


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.