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Split opinions A recent study found that college graduates are divided in their opinions on career services. See page 4
NEWS
Bid day
Follow the money
New members of Syracuse University sororities were awarded bids on Sunday. See dailyorange.com
A grant SU’s Whitman School recently received has stirred controversy among experts. See Tuesday’s paper
dailyorange.com @dailyorange jan. 30, 2017 • PAG E 3
DeVos nomination questioned By Kennedy Rose staff writer
J.R. MARTINEZ, the speaker at this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, addressed issues of racial inequality during his speech Sunday evening in the Carrier Dome in front of about 1,600 people. isabelle marmur contributing photographer
MLK speaker calls for continued activism By Sam Ogozalek asst. news editor
J.R. Martinez said that while he has seen progress with racial equality in the United States, he believes there is still a long way to go. Martinez, the keynote speaker for this year’s Syracuse University Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, addressed issues of racial inequality as he spoke in front of about 1,600 people crowded around tables set up inside the Carrier Dome on Sunday night for the university’s 32nd annual King celebration. SU Chancellor Kent Syverud, who spoke Sunday in a video shown in the Dome before delivering a short speech in person, said the event remains the largest
university-sponsored celebration honoring King in the U.S.
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Sunday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, held at the Carrier Dome, was Syracuse University’s 32nd annual King celebration
Martinez focused on his life story throughout his speech, recalling his childhood growing up in Hope, Arkansas and how he joined the U.S. Army after high school and was deployed to Iraq. In Iraq, a month into his tour, a Humvee he was driving struck a
roadside bomb. He was immediately transported back to the U.S., seriously injured. Throughout his speech, Martinez linked his own personal struggles mentally and physically following the bombing — and his eventual recovery — to issues he said people in the U.S. continue to face. He also spoke about the different examples of how he believes equality has improved in the country, pointing to the protests that happened Saturday night at John F. Kennedy International Airport in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration. “That is an example to me that makes me feel like we’re making progress,” Martinez said. Because we saw on the news the different
races and different cultures and different religions all there together.” But Martinez also said that people need to continue peacefully demonstrating to enact change. Syverud, during his prerecorded message at the event, asked that the university remain engaged on national issues, as he said SU did during 1965, when King gave a speech at the university. At that time, the country was embroiled in a civil rights movement led by King. “Our challenge today is how we build upon what Dr. King called Syracuse University’s ‘great and noble heritage’ at a challenging moment in our nation’s history,” he said. Syverud also asked the university community to make an
see martinez page 4
college of law
Clinic secures pardon for client from Obama By Thomas Beckley-Forest staff writer
Syracuse University College of Law recently secured a presidential pardon for a client of its Criminal Defense Clinic from former United States President Barack Obama, more than a decade after the client’s conviction. Lisa Jandro, the client, received the presidential pardon on Jan. 17 along with 63 other applicants nationwide from thenPresident Obama. Jandro was convicted in Hawaii on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering in 2000, and served 33 months in federal prison. Since then, she has been lawabiding and hardworking, giving her time to her community and various charitable causes, said
Todd Berger, the clinic’s director. “The case we presented was one of someone who had taken responsibility for her actions,” Berger said. “She had turned her life around.” The Criminal Defense Clinic operates as a functioning defense office largely manned by SU law students under the supervision of Berger and Practitioner-in-Residence Jason Hoge, both former defense attorneys. The clinic first learned of Jandro’s case from the Catholic Law School in Washington, D.C., something that might never have happened if not for the case of Tim Tyler. Tyler, a man arrested in 1992 for selling LSD through the mail and at Grateful Dead concerts, spent more than 20 years in prison despite a record of mental illness and a lack of violent conduct. His case became a rallying point for opponents of
federal drug laws, spurring a petition for Obama to grant him clemency that racked up more than 420,000 signatures on Change.org. SU’s clinic approached Tyler in 2013 to inquire about securing him a pardon or commutation, but he had just signed with Catholic Law School. Tyler had mentioned to his attorneys at Catholic Law School that SU was interested in taking his pardon case. When Jandro reached out to Catholic in 2013, Catholic referred her to Syracuse. “I told (Berger) it was a great case,” Hoge, who had previously done re-entry work as a civil rights attorney, said. “It’s a half-court shot, but we’re the only ones who can throw that ball. Because the clinic isn’t a private law office and doesn’t have a financial stake, we have every incentive to do this.”
After the clinic took Jandro’s case, Jaclyn Campbell and Rachel Morgese — both in the law class of 2014 — worked with Jandro to draw up the pardon application during their last semester of law school and submitted it in late spring 2014. Much of the extracurricular work for the clinic involved compiling character witnesses from various people in her life, Morgese said. The pardon lifts automatic bars for various professional licenses and can be included on job applications along with former convictions. “What makes re-entry work worth doing is that you encounter people who embody the word ‘redemption,’” Hoge said. “They rise from the ash like phoenixes. She was someone who had destroyed her life, and spent years clawing her way back.” tjbeckle@syr.edu
Educators have expressed skepticism with President Donald Trump’s recent nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. DeVos, who has advocated for school choice and voucher programs, was nominated by Trump in November and had her confirmation hearing in front of the United States Senate on Jan. 17. The hearing intensified what was already a controversial nomination, with Democratic senators and DeVos engaging in debate. Tatiana Melguizo, an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California, said she doesn’t think DeVos is qualified for the position. “I think she’s going to be appointed and that we’ll have to work with her,” Melguizo said. “We need to learn to work with her and just focus on what is better for the students in both lower and higher education.” Phone calls have overwhelmed see devos page 4
crime briefs Here is a round-up of criminal activity that happened near campus this week, according to police bulletins: DWAI A Syracuse woman, 27, was arrested on the charges of driving while ability impaired, aggravated unlicensed operation in the third degree and an unsafe lane change. when: Thursday at 6:08 p.m. where: 700 block of East Adams Street PARTY NUISANCE A Syracuse man, 20, was arrested on the charge of party nuisance. when: Monday at 3:15 a.m. where: 100 block of Redfield Place A Syracuse man, 22, was arrested on the charge of party nuisance. when: When: Monday at 3:15 a.m. where: 100 block of Redfield Place SOUND REPRODUCTION A Syracuse woman, 21, was arrested on the charge of sound reproduction. when: Monday at 2:30 p.m. where: 500 block of Euclid Avenue PROSTITUTION A Syracuse woman, 29, was arrested on the charge of prostitution. when: Thursday at 2:30 p.m. where: 1200 block of Carbon Street See dailyorange.com for our interactive crime map.