SA holds Town Hall ahead of Board of Trustees report

By Roxanne Boychuk

staff writer Syracuse University’s Student Association hosted its second town hall of the semester on Wednesday evening to discuss issues like on-campus housing affordability, university sustainability goals and the range of tuition’s academic coverage at SU.

SA President David Bruen and SA

Comptroller-elect Dylan France — both of whom currently serve as undergraduate student representatives on SU’s Board of Trustees — must draft and submit a spring semester report to the board by April 21. SA’s first town hall meeting of the semester on March 28 covered similar campus issues.

Bruen said it’s imperative to report students’ concerns to the Board of Trustees because of its power to control campus activity and the operation of SU’s respective departments.

“The board is basically the only body that’s really required to exist at the university, and then everything flows from them,” Bruen said. “They create — in conjunction with the chancellor and administration — the educational mission and the fiscal policies of the university.”

Several students expressed concern over the current shortage of SU’s trolley drivers.

On April 6, SU’s Office of Parking and Transportation Services announced delays and cancellations for the university’s Blue and Orange trolley loops for the rest of the semester as a result of the shortage.

Bruen attributed the deficiency to the COVID-19 pandemic, which previously impacted the university’s transportation services via the Centro bus system, and pointed to alternate forms of transportation.

The city of Syracuse is one of the most popular locations for Veo, an electric scooter and bike rideshare service, but it doesn’t operate on SU’s campus because it hasn’t established an official agreement with the university. Bruen said the disconnect makes it harder for students to access Veo and for company officials to monitor activity for safety.

Bruen said a partnership between Veo and SU, with the condition of regulations like vehicle speed limits, would allow the scooters and bikes to be available on campus and benefit complaints about a lack of transparency with campus safety officers. students looking for affordable and sustainable transportation options.

Students also discussed what an “ideal” residence hall should look like. After several attendees discussed quality issues with current on-campus housing and a lack of noticeable renovations in established residential halls, the group called for improvements like increased accessibility for people with disabilities and more laundry rooms.

SA representative Adam Baltaxe pointed to the Psi Upsilon fraternity chapter’s house, located between Watson Hall and the Life Sciences complex, as an optimal place for a future residence hall to be built because of its proximity to main campus.

Students also brought up concerns about dorm appliance quality and housing prices. SA representative Aidan O’Connell said the fact that many students end up on South Campus is unfair, because South Campus housing costs more than North Campus housing.

Yasmin Nayrouz, Vice President of University Affairs, added that affordable housing should be prioritized for sophomores, not just freshmen. As a result of overenrollment, nearly 200 sophomores were relocated after initial housing selections for the fall 2022 semester. rmboychu@syr.edu ing in political science, said swatting incidents like Sunday night’s case at SU could cause a state of panic among students and create an unsafe feeling around campus.

In terms of SU’s costs, one attendee said lab fees and textbooks for classes should be included in tuition. France said campus bookstores and libraries are separate businesses from the university, which poses an issue as to who would support students for these expenses.

Regarding campus sustainability efforts, France highlighted SA’s Carbon Neutrality Referendum that called for SU to shift its carbon neutrality goal from 2040 to 2030. During SA’s spring election, nearly 93% of participating students voted to support the referendum.

Bruen said SA will release further sustainability progress updates “very soon.” SA’s final cumulative report of student feedback will be recorded and communicated to the Board of Trustees in May to encourage changes in the coming year, he said.

“(Law enforcement) is obviously going to respond to every single thing if there’s going to be a report, but if it happens multiple times, you may feel like they’re going to have a lax response and be like ‘Ah, it’s probably just another phony fraud thing,’” Schechter said. “When the real thing actually happens, they may not be prepared for it.”

Akosua Danso, a first-year student from Kansas, pointed to the unnecessary panic her parents would experience in the event of a falsely reported shooting because of their distance from campus. She drew a connection between Sunday’s false report of a shooting and the idiom of “the boy who cried ‘wolf.’” She said she fears cases of swatting could discredit actual emergency threats like a shooting by spreading out law enforcement’s resources.

Similar concerns are circulating at other universities in the Northeast after having also experienced incidents of swatting this week. Harvard University and the University of Pittsburgh both experienced cases of swatting on Monday, and both received student from page 1 covid-19 longer be a condition of enrollment at SUNY schools, the updated policy still requires students enrolled in programs, courses or internships held at third-party locations to comply with the location’s vaccination and testing protocols.

In the release, SUNY referenced the U.S.’s declining COVID-19 infection rates and the high vaccination rate in the state of New York. Samuel Gorovitz, philosophy professor and former dean of SU’s College of Arts and Sciences, said the decision is based on scientific evidence.

“The SUNY decision is justifiable based on the most recent science, especially given that their policy explicitly allows for more stringent requirements under certain conditions,” Gorovitz said.

The changed policy also notes that certain employees, students and volunteers at healthcare facilities, which include SUNY healthcare facilities, hospitals and medical schools, may be subject to mandatory COVID- 19 vaccination.

Syracuse’s SUNY Upstate Medical University requires mandatory health clearance forms for new students, requiring proof of immunity from the COVID-19 vaccine series, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and proof of three Hepatitis B vaccinations. The website has not been updated since SUNY’s announcement on Tuesday.

SUNY ESF also still has not updated its COVID-19 vaccination information since the announcement. The website still lists SUNY Policy 3100, which requires all students accessing SUNY facilities to receive the COVID-19 vaccination series. ESF students were required to submit their vaccination prior to arrival on campus.

According to the release, SUNY’s Public Health Expert Advisory Committee – a group of physicians and experts in infectious disease, public health and neuroscience – made the decision to end the mandate. The group convened earlier this year to collect and review infection rates and vaccination data, the release said.

COVID-19 cases have been on decline in New

Haessig wrote that DPS constantly reviews available information from other universities’ swatting incidents to construct its procedure in determining the validity of a reported threat. DPS and other law enforcement partners’ assessment and response to a potential threat are working to be “quick and tactical,” Haessig added.

On March 31, Hochul announced a statewide “heightened monitoring” in New York, following an increase in swatting cases. The statement came four days following a school shooting in Nashville in which six people were killed.

That same day, New York’s police and education departments sent out a letter instructing school administrators across the state to review their safety procedures.

In addition to New York, at least three other states — California, Michigan and Vermont — dealt with false reports of shootings in February which created lockdowns and elicited a police response. Schools in Utah, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts also received hoax calls about shooting threats in the days following the March shooting in Nashville.

With continued reports of swatting across New York, Republican State Senator Mark Walczyk, who represents parts northern New York like Hamilton and Jefferson

York state. The state’s reported positive cases for the week of March 31 have decreased by about 72% compared to the week of March 31, 2022. Just under 80% of 18-34 year olds across the state have completed their primary vaccination series, according to the release.

As of April 6, the COVID-19 hospital admissions rate is around 22% of the total reported case rate in Onondaga County.

Syracuse University has continued to require full vaccination and boosters as soon as students are eligible.

“Vaccination is the single most important step that we can all take to protect ourselves, loved ones, our campus and community from severe COVID19 infection, hospitalization and death,” the SU Stay Safe website reads. “A widely vaccinated community safeguards the health, wellness and safety of our students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community.”

In August 2022, SU made masking optional on campus regardless of vaccination status. Students can still make appointments for COVID-19 testing services through the Barnes Center at The Arch and access testing kits at vending locations on campus.

“SUNY’s updated public health policy for COVID-19 is in line with other city, state, and national action to relax the mandate, and also provides campuses with protocols to keep campuses safe should there be any uptick in cases,” said Mantosh Dewan and Wayne Riley, co-chairs of SUNY’s Public Health Expert Workgroup and respective presidents of SUNY Upstate and Downstate Medical, in the release.

SUNY will continue to monitor and examine COVID-19 data and update its policy based on local conditions and requirements, the release reads. The new policy will also continue to require reports of the vaccination status of enrolled students to SUNY System Administration. The school system also reserves the authority to change its protocols at any time.

With SUNY’s decision contributing to New York’s transition to the “post-pandemic” world, Gorovitz said, it’s important for universities to learn from mistakes in dealing counties, introduced a bill which would raise the penalty for swatting from a misdemeanor to a felony, and increase jail time in state prison from up to one year to one and a half to four years.

Republican State Senator Jim Tedisco, a sponsor for the legislation who represents Saratoga County, wrote in an April 5 news release that he’s supporting the bill because of the fear and anxiety swatting spreads throughout the state for students, school staff and families.

“These contacts threatening violence in our schools is another form of terrorism which cannot be allowed to stand,” Tedisco said in the release.

Two other state legislators, Democratic Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon and Republican State Senator Joseph Griffo, who both represent parts of Utica and Rome, also drafted legislation which criminalizes threats of mass violence towards a school, college or university, place of worship, a gathering of at least 25 people and businesses.

In an email to The D.O., Buttenschon explained that the bills, A6383 and S1603, outline how false threats can be criminalized if made in writing, verbally communicated or expressed through any other means of communications.

Under the legislation, people aged 18 or older that make a threat of mass violence in the first degree would be fined $35,000 and sentenced to at least three years in prison, while people under the age of 18 would face a $35,000 fine and at least 10 days in a juvenile detention facility, she wrote.

Both Griffo and Buttenschon’s senate bills remain in the Senate’s Codes committees, according to the email.

“Our nation and state have seen an increase in mass violence and this legislation was created to combat this crisis,” Buttenschon’s office wrote. “I will continue to work with my colleague to stop this violence in our communities.”

Malinowski said that SPD continues to maintain constant communication with school principals and staff with New York state still on heightened awareness, but emphasized the dangers false reports of mass violence could have in the community.

“It’s no joke. I think some people think it’s funny because they’ll see it on YouTube and try to prank (their) friends,” Malinowski said. “It’s a serious offense, and it’s also where you can get the other person killed or an officer injured… There’s a lot of different pranks out there, but this wouldn’t be the one to play.” dcchiapp@syr.edu @DominicChiappo2 with past pandemics.

“We need to be respectful of history and what we can learn from history,” Gorovitz said. “And we need to be prepared for a future which is not post-pandemic, but is a future of preparedness and sophistication in handling the various pandemics that we will always have to confront.” kaluther@syr.edu @kendallaluther