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Before this season’s first expected snowstorm, meet the Syracuse startup company that is using technology to change the way people plow their driveways. Page 3
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This weekend marks the one year anniversary of Glazed & Confused, a doughnut bakery and coffee shop, opening in downtown Syracuse’s Armory Square. Page 7
Technology columnist Eamon Gallagher argues that YouTube’s education initiative has potential benefits, but won’t fundamentally change the education landscape. Page 5
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For more than 40 years, Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim has kept organized by writing his schedule on the pages of small pocket-sized notebooks. Page 12
on campus
Hendricks pantry expands outreach By Mary Catalfamo asst. digital editor
New SU diversity officers discuss plans for student, faculty engagement Story by Diana Riojas digital copy chief
Illustration by Sarah Allam
illustration editor
S
yracuse University has appointed diversity officers in four of its schools and colleges since the summer, all of whom are being led by interim chief diversity officer and School of Social Work chair Keith Alford. Alford and the four appointees said they will use a bottom-up approach to assess the concerns of students, faculty and staff regarding issues of diversity and inclusion. The diversity officers said they are trying to create open dialogues about diversity on campus. For Alford, this means holding a lunch series where he will sit with four to seven students from different cultural backgrounds and discuss how their schools and colleges can improve issues affecting students from underrepresented groups. “I’m hearing from people who literally are walking on campus, taking classes, working on projects,” Alford said. “I want to be able to use quotes from these students and highlight their experiences.” Alford has also been holding meetings with the diversity leaders, where they can discuss initiatives they want to bring to their colleges. The diversity officers were appointed after the spring 2018 Theta Tau videos controversy. Protests erupted on campus in April after videos surfaced showing people
see officers page 4
Syeisha Byrd, director of Syracuse University’s Office of Engagement Programs who took over as head of the Hendricks Chapel Food Pantry at the beginning of the semester, said she wants to generate greater awareness of the pantry, increase donations and community outreach and reduce the stigma surrounding the pantry. The Hendricks Chapel Food Pantry is located on the second floor of the chapel. The pantry — which averages seven visitors per day, Byrd said — provides free food and personal care items to students who suffer from hunger and food insecurity, which is a lack of reliable access to a sufficient amount of affordable and nutritious food. Byrd took over the pantry when its founder, Ginny Yerdon, retired earlier this year. “I want a student to walk in there and not have their head hung low because they have to use the pantry,” Byrd said. She has been working with students who volunteer at the Hendricks Chapel Food Pantry and with an organizer from the nearby University United Methodist Church to implement new initiatives and fundraisers. She volunteered at UUMC about two weeks ago. “They have a really well-run food pantry,” Byrd said. “I just wanted to see what their system was like.” Galyn Murphy-Stanley, outreach coordinator for UUMC, said their connection to the food pantry in Hendricks was established by student volunteers who worked at both pantries. Murphy-Stanley see pantry page 4
student association
Student liaison aims to improve GSO-SA communication By Gabe Stern staff writer
Obi Afriyie served as parliamentarian for Syracuse University’s Student Association for two years. Now a graduate student, he will work as a liaison between the Graduate Student Organization and SA to improve communication between the two government bodies. Afriyie, a GSO senator and graduate student in the School of Education, described the relationship between SA and GSO as “disconnected, but improving.” His new role
as liaison is intended to open more streams of communication between the two organizations, GSO president Jack Wilson said. Afriyie said the disconnect between the two student bodies stems from the fact that many graduate students aren’t as aware of SU’s culture in the same way undergraduate students are. “SU students view grad students as those TAs that are always in line at Recess or the TAs who don’t answer their emails,” Afriyie said. “They don’t know what it’s like to be a graduate student. The university doesn’t
NOV. 5 Date Obi Afriyie first proposed GSO’s safety awareness initiative
offer a lot of support for them.” Unlike Afriyie, most graduates spent their undergraduate years at different universities, he added. He also said graduate students often don’t know many of the services available to them, such as the Slutzker Center for International Services and the LGBT Resource Center. Afriyie attends multiple SA meetings per month, reports back to the GSO and selects initiatives that he wants to work on with SA. The relationship between the two organizations is improving, but in “baby steps,” he said. He’s struggled
to quantify improvement between the two organizations because it’s too early in the year to see the effect of his role, he added. “I think that there just hasn’t been a lot of effort on the part of both the (GSO) senate and (SA) assembly to interact with each other,” Afriyie said. “A lot of times the only people who really ever interact are SA president and vice president, and then, like, the GSO president.” Torre Payton-Jackson, SA’s public relations co-chair, said that her only source of communication with see sa page 6