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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 |
dailyorange.com
P • Finding independence
N • Biking city
Two SU architecture students created a mirror-covered installation on display in Bird Library. It took more than a year to create the project. Page 7
Syracuse has installed a bike path on Waverly and Comstock avenues. The new route connects SU’s Connective Corridor to the city’s Eastside neighborhood. Page 3
S • Solo shot
Noah Singelmann scored his first career goal in the 98th minute of overtime. The fifth goal of the game for SU men’s soccer broke a streak of three straight ties. Page 12
city
Students react to Barnes Center at The Arch
Experts debate I-81 grid option By Abby Weiss staff writer
The Barnes Center at The Arch offically opened on Friday after 18 months of renovations to the existing Archbold Gymnasium structure. The Arch features several exercise rooms and a multi-activity court. will fudge contributing photographer
First impressions By Daily Orange News Staff
O
n most days, Liam Petri, a sophomore at SUNY-ESF, can be found doing circuits at Syracuse University’s newest gym. Petri started going to The Barnes Center at The Arch in mid-July to “get back on the grind.” He uses it for physical therapy every week, he said. He went after class last Friday to the third floor gym, his favorite spot to exercise. He added it’s become part of his weekly routine. Now that the entire center is open to the public, Petri and his three roommates have new plans. “We’re going to go downstairs. We’re going to do rock
climbing for a bit. We want to try out the esports room,” said Petri. “We’re going to have a playdate. A whole playdate at Archbold.” The Arch fully opened Friday after 18 months of construction as a multi-floor consolidated health and wellness complex. Renovations to Archbold Gymnasium, the original structure, cost $50 million and added about 7,000 square feet. Archbold was built in 1908 and previously renovated in 1989. The Daily Orange spoke with more than 100 Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF students on campus about The Arch’s opening. Whether students said they were excited about pet therapy or rock climbing, a majority agreed that see the arch page 4
Syracuse University and SUNYESF professors disagree on the environmental impact of the community grid, a proposed replacement option for Syracuse’s failing Interstate 81 viaduct. In April, the New York State Department of Transportation released a report endorsing the community grid. Under the proposed grid plan, the existing viaduct would be torn down and traffic would be redirected through city streets. As part of its report, NYSDOT analyzed how the grid and its construction would affect the environment in Syracuse. The report concluded that the grid was the most environmentally-sound option for the I-81 replacement. Lemir Teron, a SUNY-ESF assistant professor of environmental studies, said NYSDOT’s report failed to address environmental justice enough in its analysis of the grid’s environmental impact. The report has a section on environmental justice, which concludes that adverse effects to environmental justice communities could occur related to construction and traffic noise levels. While the report highlights topics like noise impact and air quality, the review does not consider the livelihoods of people living near the construction project, he said. “We need to be very intentional on the front end about how these impacts will be mitigated,” Teron said.
see grid page 4
city
Syracuse nonprofits look to improve representation in census By Marnie Muñoz
contributing writer
The Central New York Community Foundation awarded a non-profit $15,000 earlier this month to support efforts to increase Syracuse representation in the 2020 census. The grant, awarded to Interfaith Works, is one of five recent donations from the Community Foundation, Syracuse’s largest charitable donor. All of the grants are meant to improve census outreach to undercounted groups, such as children, older adults and
new United States citizens. Interfaith Works has focused much of its approach on including these groups. “Our goal with that really is to help populations that are hard to reach and hard to count become more educated about the census,” said Lori Klivak, Interfaith Works’ director of senior services. Census data is used to distribute more than $675 billion in federal funding to local municipalities and to allocate proportional state representation in Congress. New York state lost two congres-
sional seats from the 2010 census. Small subdivisions in Syracuse, or census tracts, are notoriously unresponsive, according to Center for Urban Research at City University of New York. Groups like the Community Foundation and Interfaith Works are aiming to change that. “It continues to look like population is declining in Syracuse, and from everything we can tell, the population is actually increasing,” said Robyn Smith, the Community Foundation’s director of strategic initiatives. “We just want to make sure that those
numbers are accurate.” Undercounted communities depend more critically on federally funded programs because of barriers they face, Klivak said. For Klivak, having representatives who reflect the needs of refugees is a part of teaching refugees about community engagement. Because of this case, workers at Interfaith Works prioritize building mutual trust between the two groups, she said. “The challenge and the reward will be in seeking out those people and figuring out how to support
them so that they can be counted as well,” Klivak said. Twiggy Billue, president of Syracuse’s national action network, pointed out that both work and incompatible public transportation have previously prevented people from participating. “I can well be off (of work) at five,” she said. “But if there’s no bus that’s bringing me home from Buckley Road to the City of Syracuse, I might not get here in time to see a census worker.” The upcoming census will be
see census page 4