Collegian Cayuga Community College Auburn & Fulton, New York
cayugacollegian@gmail.com
Vol. 63 Issue 15
Owasco water improves but still needs more
CAYUGABRIEFS Bookstore hours for Assessment Day March 8th Store manager, Julie Dyson, announced that bookstores on both the Auburn and Fulton campuses will be closing at noon on Wednesday, March 8th for Assessment Day.
The source of CCC Auburn campus’ drinking water has been plagued by toxins produced by blue-green algae.
6th Annual CCC Poetry Contest
By Zak Haines, associate editor PHOTO BY ZAK HAINES
The 6th Annual Poetry Contest for students attending CCC at either the Fulton or Auburn campus is underway! There are cash prizes for the top three poems, as well as publication in the CCC Creative Arts Journal Listen. Look for guidelines and submission instructions for the contest on page 3. “Based on past years’ contests, we’ve discovered we have an abundance of talented writers across the disciplines. Poems about chemistry, nursing, electronics, and criminal justice are just as welcome (if not more so) as poems about love and flowers,” said Katie Stout, CCC English learning specialist.
Town of Owasco supervisor, Ed Wagner, answers question from Inside Government host, Guy Consentino, last week in CCC’s television studio on the Auburn Campus. Inside Government is on Access Channel 12 in Cayuga County on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-7:30 PM and streams live on YouTube.
Are you on the Fall ’16 Dean’s List? SEE LIST ON PAGE 4
CCC Lady Spartans contribute off the court By Nina Weslowski, contributing writer
Join the staff of The Cayuga Collegian Just email: cayugacollegian@gmail.com
March 7, 2017
How a basketball team performs on the court is often covered in newspapers, but did you know CCC’s Lady Spartan Basketball team has done some good work off the court? Lady Spartan, Danni Vuillemot, has participated in community service projects around Auburn. In December, Vuillemot says CCC’s women’s basketball team along with CCC’s men’s and women’s soccer teams went to Willard Memorial Chapel in Auburn to set up decorations for Christmas. She says although not everyone on each team participated, it was good for the ones who did. “It was really cool to help with things around our town. Even if it was only little things like decorating for Christmas, they still appreciated what we did for them and were able to help out,” explained Vuillemot. “It’s good to see that our community and teams are getting together and involved. Cayuga Community College tries to do as much as possible when it comes to charity work and giving back.” Vuillemot says although this year the only
CCC sports teams at Willard Chapel in December. teams that have done something like this are the basketball and soccer teams, she hopes to see the others teams contribute as well. Vuillemot is also on the women’s softball team and says she plans to try and get the team to do something like this again. “I think the more we do things as teams, the better our bond and teamwork will be. It’s important to stay together and be able to work together efficiently on and off the field.”
Since last year, drinking water in the town of Owasco and many neighboring areas has been affected by the growth of blue-green algae in Owasco Lake. This algae is known for producing a toxin that in large doses can be fatal. Residents and officials still have plenty of questions regarding the quality of drinking water coming from Owasco Lake. Recently, Ed Wagner, supervisor from the Town of Owasco and CCC professor, was invited to appear on the public affairs program produced by Telcom students in the college’s television studio called Inside Government to give an update to the community. CCCC Foundation executive director and former Auburn mayor, Guy Consentino, is the host of Inside Government. He asked Wagner for not only a town government update, but an update about the water situation. Wagner confirmed that the New York State has guaranteed to pay $150,000 to be split between the City of Auburn and the Town of Owasco to study the toxin problem in the lake and to figure out what implementation process to put in place. “Once we find out what we’re going to do then we need to come up with the design and that hasn’t been figured out yet,” Wagner explained. He says an additional $2-million of State money has been set aside for the design and construction of the solution once it’s been determined. However, he feels that $2-million is on the low end of a budget needed to complete the project. Wagner says he hopes the State will play a bigger part in providing the infrastructure to increase the quality of drinking water coming from Owasco Lake because the local taxpayers cannot foot the bill alone. Wagner says the town is looking to the future and has embarked on another water quality improvement project to replace the 75-year-old steel water storage tank on Melrose Road which needs a lot of work. He says just to paint the tank would cost the town $150,000. “We’re building a brand new tank in a different location. It’s on Town Hall Road. It’s a blue tower and it looks like a silo,” he said. Wagner says the town will be tearing down the old tank this summer. Wagner also gave an update on the effort to add 180 homes in the Town of Owasco at a cost of $6-million dollars to a sewer district to potentially keep waste, specifically phosphorous, from septic tanks in the area from leaching into the water table and lake. Wagner says experts say 15 percent of the phosphorous in the lake comes from septic systems. He says taxpayers are already sharing the cost of the sewer system expansion and by adding 180 more residents will help lower an individual’s cost. He reports the expansion is nearly completed. Wagner also says taxpayers showed overwhelming support at a recent public referendum for a $2-million sewer system upgrade which includes upgrading the main sewer interceptor. Inside Government is on Access Channel 12 in Cayuga County on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-7:30 PM and streams live on YouTube.
THE OFFICIAL STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER OF CAYUGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE