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SU senior Gianni Villegas is an aspiring rapper and has been creating music since sophomore year. For Villegas, making music has helped him be his true self. Page 7
City and county officials discussed how to address lead poisoning in Syracuse at a forum on Tuesday night. Mayor Ben Walsh was in attendance. Page 3
The D.O. football beat writers break down the opening five games of the season and look ahead to the rest of the year during SU’s bye week. Page 12
Joining forces
SU adds hires for collaborative research clusters
commencement
SU details 2020 weather plans By India Miraglia asst. news editor
illustration by william mooney contributing illustrator By Ashley Clemens and India Miraglia the daily orange
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yracuse University is in its second round of a campuswide hiring initiative to increase collaboration between faculty and support research at the university. The university approved a total of 53 hires across seven academic and research areas as part of its Cluster Hires Initiative in November 2018. Faculty hired are put into clusters, which are multidisciplinary groups that combine people with similar research interests. Now, SU is looking to expand the initiative. Three more clusters have been proposed, bringing the total to 10 if approved, and the university will also add to the faculty hired through the initiative. “At this point we are asking our faculty, working with their chairs, (assistant deans of research) and deans to propose
positions,” said John Liu, vice president for research, at a Monday information session on the initiatives. Chancellor Kent Syverud announced a plan in February 2019 to hire 200 faculty over the course of five years through the Cluster Hires Initiative and the Signature Hires Initiative. The amount of hires between both initiatives will change as clusters and positions are proposed, said Christina Leigh Docteur, director of proposal support services, in an email. Thirty-three hires were approved in May 2018 as part of the Signature Hires Initiative, a push to find individual faculty in specific research fields. As of Tuesday, 25 signature hires have been completed and eight are in the process of being filled. Fourteen cluster hires have been completed. One cluster currently in the process of hiring is BioInspired Syracuse: Institute for Material and Living Systems, an expansion of SU’s Syracuse Biomaterials see faculty page 4
on campus
SU surveys students on 3-year housing requirement By Gabe Stern
asst. news editor
Syracuse University sent a survey last week gauging student opinions on campus housing. One question has sparked concerns among past and current Student Association leaders. The survey contained a question asking students if they would support a three-year live-on policy if the oncampus residential experience was “transformed to meet the needs of
contemporary college students.” SU currently requires students to live on campus for two years. In interviews with The Daily Orange, current and former Student Association leaders expressed concerns over the effects that the potential policy would bring, citing financial inaccessibility, negative mental health impacts and an overall decrease in the student experience. “We don’t think that a three-year housing requirement is beneficial to
the student body,” said current President Mackenzie Mertikas. Ghufran Salih, a former SA president, detailed difficulties that came from living in residence halls her freshman and sophomore year. She downgraded her meal plan during her sophomore year, and at points struggled to get by with food, she said. She was often one of the few students of color on the floor of her dorm and found more comfort living in her off-campus house. Salih described liv-
ing on campus as an “uncomfortable, restrictive environment.” “A three-year housing requirement would unambiguously hurt students in so many different ways,” said former SA Vice President Kyle Rosenblum. The survey included more than 100 questions in total. It asked for student feedback on current dormitory conditions, satisfaction with current on- and off-campus living situations and how the university see housing page 4
Syracuse University ’s 2020 Commencement will be held at the Manley Field House in case of severe weather. The university officially announced on Sept. 19 that commencement will be held on the Quad to accommodate for renovations to the Carrier Dome. If the ceremony is required to move indoors due to weather, transportation will be provided from Main Campus to Manley, a multi-purpose arena near SU’s South Campus. Commencement 2020 would be split into two separate ceremonies if moved to Manley, one with five schools at 9:30 a.m. and the second with seven schools at 1 p.m on Sunday, May 10. “The ceremonies would be identical with the exception of only recognizing those schools and colleges in attendance,” according to SU’s Commencement 2020 website. Seating on the Quad will hold the same number of people as Dome seating did. Tiered and floor seating will be available on the Quad. Both Communication Access Real-time Translation and American Sign Language interpretation services will be provided. The ceremony ’s sta r t time may also be changed in response to weather conditions. Commencement could begin as early as 8:30 a.m. or as late as 2 p.m. as part of the severe weather plan. Commencement is traditionally held in the Dome, but the building will close temporarily beginning in March 2020 for renovations. The Dome is currently undergoing renovations to its roof as part of a $118 million renovation plan. SU also plans to install a vertically-hung scoreboard before the 2020 football season and a new sound and lighting system. The Dome opened in 1980, and Commencement has been held there every year since 1981. In recent months, some SU parents have expressed their concerns over having Commencement on the Quad on social media. Chancellor Kent Syverud said at a University Senate meeting on Sept. 18 that he had heard from “a lot of people” about graduation see ceremony page 4