Oct. 30, 2012

SPECIAL EDITION TUT TUT

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october 30, 2012

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INSIDENEWS

INSIDEOPINION

INSIDEPULP

ONLINE

Stocking up Off-campus residents make

Cautionary tale SU officials made the right

Batten down the hatches Make it through Superstorm Sandy and other

Monumental moment The Syracuse men’s soccer team looks to continue

preparations for Superstorm Sandy. Page 3

decision to cancel classes on Monday and Tuesday. Page 7

winter storms with The Daily Orange Storm Survival Guide. Page 8

its surprise season in the Big East tournament, where the Orange has its first-ever conference tournament home game. See dailyorange.com

RAINED OUT Superstorm causes SU to cancel classes

By Evan Bianchi, Casey Fabris and Jessica Iannetta

S

THE DAILY ORANGE

yracuse University canceled classes for part of Monday and all of Tuesday to protect students from strong winds and heavy rain associated with Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy.

Kevin Quinn, senior vice president for public affairs, said the emergency preparedness committee began monitoring the storm’s progress on Friday. Senior staff met with Chancellor Nancy Cantor on Monday morning and made the decision to cancel classes.

“Part of the reason we made the decision was we are going to get some rain, but really the decision was for the safety of campus community members with focus on the wind,” Quinn said.

As of press time Monday night, the National Weather Service reported

SEE CANCELLATION PAGE 2

FORECAST

Showers will peak into the early hours of Tuesday, with heavy rain, a northeast wind 33-36 miles per hour and gusts as high as 49 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.

Showers are likely throughout the day with an east wind of 23-25 miles per hour and a southeast wind of 11-18 miles per hour by nightfall.

Showers should continue through Wednesday with an 80-percent chance of precipitation and a south wind of 7 miles per hour.

chase gaewski | photo editor The streets near Syracuse University are deserted Monday night as campus prepares for the arrival of Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy.

Buses continued to run, although the university canceled classes for part of Monday and all of Tuesday due to heavy rain and wind.

Faculty, alumni reflect on cancellations from ’98 storm

By Jessica Iannetta ASST. NEWS EDITOR

When strong winds began shaking Lawrinson Hall, Tony Kudner thought a tornado was coming.

Kudner, then a freshman production and theatrical design major, ran into the room next door and saw

his friend, who had “had a couple beers,” holding onto the window and screaming as the wind rushed in.

“That’s when everyone realized the difference between it being a thunderstorm and it being something more serious,” he said.

The Labor Day 1998 storm caused

the cancellation of classes for a day, injured two people and caused widespread damage on the Syracuse University campus. Trees were uprooted, roads were closed and windows were shattered in Day and Lawrinson halls, causing water damage.

South Campus was hit the hardest

by the storm, which caused power outages in all the apartments and tore the roof off 12 Slocum Heights apartments.

The cancellation of classes for part of Monday and all of Tuesday in response to Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy is the first time

SEE 1998 PAGE 6

2 october 30, 2 01 2

news@ da ilyor a nge.com

Dear readers, With classes canceled on Monday afternoon and Tuesday due to Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy, The Daily Orange dedicated Tuesday’s print edition to coverage of cancellations and storm preparations in the campus community. Planned content that is not in the special edition is online at dailyorange.com. We thank you for reading and will resume normal publication on Wednesday.

Sincerely,

Mark Cooper

EDITOR IN CHIEF

@amy_kee

Sandy vs Syracuse classes … Sandy wins. Let’s go for round two, knock out Wednesday as well as Tuesday #frankenstorm

@BaltimoreLuke

You know you’re dealing with a historic storm when Syracuse cancels classes for Hurricane Sandy. There’s no such thing as snow days there.

@JesseCuse

Starting to get very nervous about #Sandy not so much here in Syracuse but back home on Long Island. Hope everyone is staying safe & dry.

@AnthonyAdornato

Power just went out mid movie at Shoppingtown.

Longtime professors react to cancellation compared to past storms

By Levi Stein STAFF WRITER

Syracuse University’s longtime faculty members, many of which were also present for some of the university’s past closures, feel the university made the right decision in canceling classes for Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy.

SU sent out a campus-wide email informing students that classes on Monday after 1:40 p.m. and all classes on Tuesday were canceled.

Monday and Tuesday’s closures are one of few closures due to weather in SU history.

Previous instances occurred in March 2011 and March 1993 due to snow, and September 1998 due

CANCELLATION FROM PAGE 1

light rain and 23-miles-per-hour winds.

Quinn said the university did not want students to be injured by “tree branches or other flying debris” while walking to classes tomorrow, given the severe wind, which also played into the decision to cancel classes.

SU canceled classes starting after 1:40 p.m. on Monday and all classes on Tuesday, as well as all campus events and University College classes. Classes held off site in Washington, D.C., and New York City were also canceled.

Currently, Quinn said, classes are expected to resume on a regular schedule starting Wednesday. But, he said, the university will continue to monitor the situation.

The State University of New York College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry canceled classes starting at 2 p.m. on Monday until 11 a.m. Tuesday, said Claire Dunn, director of communications at ESF. Offices at ESF operated with limited staff after 3 p.m. on Monday and are scheduled to reopen at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

SU last canceled classes on March 7, 2011, due to snow.

All “essential campus services,” including dining centers, the Schine and Goldstein dining centers, the Department of Public Safety and Health Services, are operating on a regular schedule. E.S. Bird Library closed at 1:30 p.m.

Monday.

If a power outage occurs, the university will issue an Orange Alert to inform the campus community of what to do, according to the campus-wide email.

Quinn said the university is keeping an eye on the “utility situation” and is prepared to address any power-outage issues.

to a severe storm.

“It’s always hard to speculate and know exactly what the weather will do,” said Marjorie Devault, professor and undergraduate director of sociology of 25 years. “Obviously this kind of weather event doesn’t happen very much, so I feel that SU is making the right precautions.”

Devault was on leave for the 1998 storm, but recalls immense power outages and heavy damage.

“Syracuse is using an abundance of caution,” said Arthur Paris, an associate professor of sociology. “I think Syracuse understands the

But some students worry a loss of power could pose an academic problem.

“One professor maintained a Tuesday deadline for an online submission, which I honestly find ignorant to the potential for losing power,” said Matt Wood, a fifth-year architecture major.

If the storm is as bad as predicted, Wood said he hopes students stay inside and take proper precautions.

“As rare as a hurricane is in Syracuse, we don’t need any heroes,” he said.

Though most students are celebrating the cancellation of classes and are glad the university is erring on the side of caution, some said they aren’t sure Syracuse will actually be affected by the superstorm.

“I feel like it’s just a situation like where it snows in Atlanta and everybody freaks out,” said Stephanie Shaw, a senior English and textual studies major.

Shaw said she doesn’t necessarily think people are overreacting, but that they’re trying to brace themselves for a storm more typical in the Caribbean than this far north.

But she did say she was excited for the days off and said it reminded her of her childhood, when kids would sleep with their pajamas inside out, hoping for a day off from school.

For Jennifer Osias, this “experience” couldn’t have come at a better time.

“I was so happy,” said Osias, a senior political science and international relations double major. “This just made my week from Hell so much better.” ebianchi@syr.edu @evanbianchi

intensity of this storm and is looking out for the best interest of its faculty and students.”

Paris has been a part of the faculty since 1988 and remembers the few other times SU canceled classes.

“It’s a unique situation when severe weather affects the area,” he said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

History professor David Bennett voiced his concern about the storm and his sons living in the harder-hit Washington, D.C. “People should get home safely and SU is allowing ample time for staff and faculty to do so,” Bennett said. “Schools and government

have closed in other cities and this storm has the potential to be quite violent.”

Given that the storm is predicted to be severe, political science professor of 35 years Jeff Stonecash thinks the university took a wise step.

Stonecash said he found similarities between the 1993 storm that brought 36 inches of snow and Superstorm Sandy, as the two had such an effect on the city.

Said Stonecash: “It really takes a lot to shut down the city of Syracuse, and this is one of those times.” ldstein01@syr.edu

List of cancellations in the Syracuse community caused by Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy:

E.S. Bird Library

Bird Library closed Monday at 1:30 p.m. The library will begin functioning normally Wednesday morning, unless further cancellations occur.

Syracuse City School District

All after-school activities for Syracuse public schools were canceled Monday. Athletics, Say Yes to Education and Parent University classes are included in canceled activities.

Student Association

SU’s weekly Student Association meeting was canceled for Monday night. The next meeting will take place at its regular time next Monday, Nov. 5.

Campaign for Syracuse University celebration

The Campaign for Syracuse, a fundraising initiative of Chancellor Nancy Cantor, was originally scheduled to host two V.I.P. Celebration events this Friday. The volunteer leadership summit, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Hendricks Chapel, and the cocktail reception, scheduled for 4 p.m. at Goldstein Auditorium, have both been canceled.

LIME discussion

LIME: An Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue Group canceled its discussion about the regional consequences of a nuclear Iran, originally scheduled for Monday at 8:45 p.m. in the Hall of Languages, Room 102.

Syracuse Planning Commission meeting

The second October meeting for the Syracuse Planning Commission has been postponed to next Monday, Nov. 5.

Visiting Artist Lecture Series

The College of Visual and Performing Arts has canceled Tuesday night’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series class.

Art Open House for freshmen

VPA’s Art Open House, originally scheduled for Monday evening, has been rescheduled for next Monday, Nov. 5, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

All essential services on campus, including dining centers, health services and public safety will remain open, according to an SU emergency notice.

cffabris@syr.edu @caseyfabris jliannet@syr.edu @JessicaIannetta —Staff writer Dara McBride contributed reporting to this article.

DAILYORANGE.COM

NEWS

TUESDAY

october 30, 2012

PAGE 3

the daily orange

STORM BRIEFS The tri-state area of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania has been facing the destruction of Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy.

Other East Coast states have also been strongly affected. It is estimated that the country could be left with $20 billion in damages. Number of power outages for select states reflect those reported to directly by utilities. As of press time Monday night, 11 states had reported over 2,100,000 customers without power, according to an Oct. 29 Christian Science Monitor article.

New Jersey Coastal city Cape May, N.J., began seeing surging waves on Monday morning. Water flooded some roads and officials believe that conditions will become worse heading into Tuesday.

Casinos on the boardwalk of Atlantic City, N.J., have been boarded up as the superstorm approaches. Most of the city was put under water, leaving thousands without power and stranding some in submerged homes.

There were 606,671 power outages reported as of Monday night.

New York New York City shut down its public subway system, railroad and bus services on Sunday at 7 p.m. In a 10 p.m. press conference NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked city residents not to call 911 unless it was a life-threatening emergency, as NYC was receiving 10,000 911 calls per half hour. About 375,000 people were ordered to evacuate lowerManhattan. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the shutting down of major bridges, schools, airports and the New York Stock Exchange. The Holland Tunnel and Hugh Carey Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel were also closed. As of 10 p.m., there were 1,374,312 outages reported across the state as of Monday night.

Pennsylvania The forecast of Superstorm Sandy puts the eye of the storm over southern Pennsylvania tomorrow afternoon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Philadelphia has closed down its mass transit system in precaution. There were 26,615 power outages reported as of Monday night.

North Carolina The U.S. Coast Guard is searching for two crew members 90 miles off the coast of North Carolina who were forced to abandon a tall ship.

The other 14 members of the crew were successfully rescued. There were 6,466 power outages reported as of Monday night.

—Compiled by Evan Bianchi, asst. copy editor, ebianci@syr.edu

lauren murphy | asst. photo editor Customers walk through the empty aisles of the DeWitt Wegmans as area residents and students prepare for the coming storm. At Tops Friendly Markets on Nottingham Road in Syracuse, employees said the storm brought in more business than ever before in store history.

Off-campus residents take precautionary steps

By Casey Fabris and Dara McBride THE DAILY ORANGE

As Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy headed toward Syracuse on Monday, Syracuse University students living off campus and area residents prepared for the storm.

Landlords renting to SU students had been contacting their renters about storm preparation and Tops Friendly Markets, a local supermarket, had seen an increase in business as students and residents stocked up in advance of the storm.

The university sent a campus wide email informing students that all classes would be canceled beginning after 1:40 p.m. Monday and all day Tuesday.

Many area landlords said they were emailing renters on Monday with advice on preparing and dealing with the storm, such as stocking up on water and nonperishable food items, and removing objects from front yards that may become loose and cause damage.

Erin Kane, associate vice president of public relations, said the SU

Office of Housing, Meal Plans and I.D. Card Services is encouraging students to stay inside and use common sense as the storm looms, and resident advisers will still be in direct contact with students.

Kane said SU’s Emergency Preparedness Committee met early Monday and would speak again by phone later in the day.

Campus Hill Apartments, which has more than 250 units in more than 50 buildings in the area, sent out a basic email reminding tenants of utility and emergency numbers.

Shaun Janis, communications assistant at Campus Hill, said Monday that he had heard people mention the storm in the office, but had not heard tenants express extreme concern. Janis said the email is something that would be sent out when any weather-related risk to property comes up.

An employee at O.P.R. Developers, which rents houses along Livingston, Comstock and Euclid avenues, among other places, said the company had a full maintenance staff on call

SEE PREPARATION PAGE 5

Students studying in D.C. experience storm’s effects

By Debbie Truong STAFF WRITER

As Syracuse braced for Hurricaneturned Superstorm Sandy on Monday evening, students located elsewhere in the Northeast had already begun to experience the heavy winds and rainfall.

The 77 students enrolled in Syracuse University’s Washington, D.C., semester appeared out of harms way.

Classes that operate through Max-

well’s Washington semester were canceled both Monday and Tuesday, said Ryan Williams, director of the international relations major in Washington, D.C. Williams corresponded with students via email throughout the day, and no one had indicated any trouble, he said.

“No one’s told me they’re in any kind of danger,” he said.

The public transportation sys-

tem and federal government, which many students in the program intern for, had also shut down, said Jack Donisch, a junior international relations and public policy major enrolled in the program.

Donisch said he went to the local drug store and all the bottled water was cleared from the shelves. In addition to bottled water, Donisch stocked up on canned goods and filled pots with water as a precau-

tionary measure.

Under g r adu at e st udent s enrolled in the Washington, D.C., semester are housed in the same apartment building, located about a block from the university’s Greenberg House.

Though electricity was currently running on Monday, students enrolled in the Washington, D.C., semester were anticipating outages

SEE EAST COAST PAGE 5

news@ da ilyor a nge.com

october 30, 2 01 2

PREPARATION FROM PAGE 3

checking beforehand for tree branches and outside property that could cause damage.

In an email, O.P.R. Developers also encouraged tenants to move items out of their basements to prepare for the possibility of flooding.

“Any kind of snow storm is crazy, but not as bad as this.”

Carol Dwyre

TOPS EMPLOYEE

Melissa Woycechowsky, property manager for Responsible Property Management, said she spoke with tenants and advised them to stock up on supplies and keep animals indoors.

She said when the warnings became more serious on Monday morning, people were given a short time to prepare.

“I don’t expect we will need to board up windows, but you never know,” Woycechowsky said.

Many students and residents used the short time to prepare to stock up on supplies at the Tops Friendly Markets, located at 620 Nottingham Road in Syracuse.

On Monday morning, the parking lot was nearly full, shoppers were hustling around the store with their carts and lines stretched into

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

the aisles.

Several shoppers described the scene inside the store as chaotic. Groups of shoppers decided to divide and conquer the store, shouting to one another what they’d picked up.

Questions like, “Could we just live off of cheese?” and “Are we going to get enough Vitamin C?” could be heard throughout the store.

Carol Dwyre, a Tops employee, said that on Sunday, the store did the most business it had ever done in its entire history.

“Any kind of snow storm is crazy, but not as bad as this,” she said.

Dwyre said the store is stocking up on ice and also contacted manufacturers of several different brands to get extra shipments of water.

Joe Vanhorn, produce manager at Tops, said the water bottle aisle was somewhat empty on Monday, but a delivery came in that day as scheduled.

After SU announced it would cancel its classes, Vanhorn said, Tops began to fill up with shoppers. Most were buying 24 packs of water, but he also said some were stocking up on alcohol.

“Everybody is grabbing everything,” he said. “It’s worse than when a snowstorm is forecast.”

Danielle Croft, a senior history major, and Ryan McKennan, a senior psychology major, said they wanted to come to the store to stock up on food in case they lost power. The two both live off campus and said they were somewhat worried about a power outage since the houses

National Grid: (315) 453-0664 (local), (800) 867-5222 (report an outage) Red Cross of CNY: (315) 234-2200 Central New York Water Authority: (315) 475-7601 Syracuse Department of Public Works: (315) 448-CITY (2489)

are older and there are a lot of trees near the power lines.

But some Syracuse residents thought rushing to Tops to stock up for the storm was an overreaction.

“At first I thought they were making too much of it, but my husband talked me into coming for some basics, like snacks and things,” said Barbara Richards, a Syracuse resident.

After seeing the crowds at the store, Richards said she began to rethink whether everyone was overreacting, as she originally had thought.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” she said.

Richards said she was buying about twice as many groceries as she normally would and was buying extra ice to fill up coolers in case her family lost power.

When many shoppers entered the store, they were shocked to see just how many people were in the store.

Ilyse Shapiro, a junior marketing major, said she waited in line for about 10 minutes, which “wasn’t bad,” but was longer than she usually waits at Tops.

But Shapiro said she was surprised by SU’s decision to cancel classes.

Said Shapiro: “They’ll cancel for wind and rain, but not for blizzards?”

5

EAST COAST FROM PAGE 3

@caseyfabris

later in the evening.

“My lights just flickered, so hopefully that’s not a bad sign,” Donisch said.

Kristen Donnelly, a senior international relations and economics major, said the brunt of what had been forecast had yet to hit the D.C. area as of Monday afternoon. Donnelly said she hadn’t seen any flash flooding or severe damage, but said rainwater began to accumulate at about 5:30 p.m. Monday.

In Maryland, Courtney Haupt, a graduate student studying magazine, newspaper and online journalism, was left stranded at home after visiting for the weekend. She realized Sunday that it would be unsafe to weather the conditions and make the drive back to Syracuse.

While Haupt hasn’t been ordered to evacuate like residents in Ocean City, Md., weather forecasters have anticipated Superstorm Sandy to bear down hard in areas north of Baltimore, where Haupt lives, she said.

Haupt described Superstorm Sandy as “more intense” than the two previous hurricanes she has experienced.

Said Haupt: “The wind is really bad. There’s a bunch of trees in front of my house and they’re bending over.”

dkmcbrid@syr.edu

dbtruong@syr.edu

@daramcbride

@debbietruong

cffabris@syr.edu

dailyorange.com

6 october 30, 2 01 2

news@ da ilyor a nge.com

1998

FROM PAGE 1

since Sept. 7, 1998, that classes were canceled due to a storm.

Kenneth “Buzz” Shaw was chancellor at the time of the 1998 storm. Shaw said he slept through the storm, which occurred on a Sunday night, and awoke to reports of the storm and the damage it had caused.

When Shaw arrived at the university, he said the atmosphere was “eerie,” and that the amount of fallen trees and other destruction made campus look like it had “been through a war or something.”

“We made the decision to cancel classes because people were too upset to do anything,” he said.

Because the university had endured other emergency situations, like the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing, procedures were already in place to deal with the storm, Shaw said.

The university first focused on the safety of the campus community and relocating people whose housing was no longer livable. The focus then turned to cleaning up the damage. SU was able to get FEMA grants to pay for much of the clean up, he said.

But getting the university back to normal was a long process, he said.

“My wife and I walked around campus a lot that (first) day,” Shaw said. “Then we started picking up the pieces.”

While dealing with the aftermath of the storm was difficult, Shaw said, people were great about handling it.

“A lot of people stepped up and put in extra time,” he said.

Mark Owczarski was one of those people.

Owczarski, a university spokesperson, said the hardest part of the job was notifying students of the canceled classes.

“We couldn’t tweet or Facebook or text message back then,” he said. “I look back and think, ‘How did we survive without it?’”

Instead, the university relied on “old-school communication” methods such as email, said Owczarski, now director of news and information at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He recalls driving Shaw and his wife to the Syracuse television stations and the Syracuse PostStandard so they could be interviewed about what was going on.

Even though the trip was only to downtown Syracuse, it took “forever” to get there because of all the fallen trees and closed roads, Owczarski said.

But the “big story” of the 1998 storm was the destruction of several married student apartments on South Campus, displacing many families and married couples, Owczarski said.

Many of these people were temporarily relocated to various hotels near SU, he said, and it took a while to rebuild the apartment buildings, one of which was damaged beyond repair.

But the storm’s destruction brought the campus community together due to the “burden of shared experience,” said Jacob Bendix, associate professor of geography at SU. The cancellation of classes was tough, though, Bendix said, because classes were only canceled for a day, but many faculty members were unable to get to campus for several days due to road closures and fallen trees.

“But the university didn’t want students just sitting in their dorms with nothing to do, so they started classes again,” he said.

Bendix lived in DeWitt at the time and said he had to take back roads to work, but otherwise didn’t experience much trouble.

The strong winds also destroyed many trees on campus, permanently changing the campus landscape, he said.

daily orange file photos (Above) Students wait in the lobby of Lawrinson Hall for permission to return to their rooms during the 1998 Labor Day storm.

Students reported that the storm’s strong winds shook the 20-story tall residence hall. (BELOW) A tree outside the Hall of Languages was destroyed during the storm. The storm caused widespread devastation on campus, and classes were canceled.

These strong winds caused many students to think a tornado had hit campus.

As Kudner and his roommate ran down 16 flights of stairs to the Lawrinson Hall basement, the two got off on various floors to warn students of the coming storm.

“We just got off at different floors and were shouting ‘Tornado!’” he recalled. “People were coming out of their rooms, half asleep in their pajamas. We just kept telling people to get to the basement.”

Despite the danger the storm brought, Kudner remembers lighter moments too.

“I remember my roommate performing CPR on a girl’s teddy bear that had fallen out the window,” he said with a laugh.

Justin Brody lived on the second floor of Day Hall at the time and said he also remembers being told to go into the basement of the residence hall.

He described the scene in the basement as “crazy” and recalls people being injured by

broken glass and girls screaming.

The next day, campus was “pretty beat up” and trees were down everywhere, Brody said. For the then-freshman finance major, the storm was quite an introduction to SU and college life.

“We were two or three weeks into school and there was this huge tornado storm,” he said. “It was crazy.” jliannet@syr.edu @JessicaIannetta

OPINIONS

TUESDAY

october 30, 2012

PAGE 7

the daily orange

IDE AS

gener ation y

Election deserves insightful discussion, not endless memes

C

an we be serious for a second?

I’ve had enough of Big Bird. I don’t need any more binders full of women. I’m up to my eyeballs in clever Internet memes and I’ve seen every conceivable parody video of some Mitt Romney look-alike rapping about the 47 percent. Horses and bayonets, we get it. Malarkey.

OK. You’ve tweeted your clever tweet. Let’s move on.

There are actually some important issues at stake in this election, but let’s not have that interrupt the ongoing attempted sketch comedy show that’s airing on every possible medium of communication in the universe.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and place for cutting satire and social commentary, but when the pointed jokes start outweighing serious discussion and discourse, I think we’ve got ourselves a problem. It’s starting to distract.

Yes, nobody’s ever going to confuse Mitt Romney with a blue-collar man of the people and President Barack Obama sure did blow it in the first debate, but with the election a week away, isn’t it time to take a look at the stuff of consequence for half a minute?

All these jokes are funny, but I think they’re clouding our collective vision.

Even Obama is getting involved in the months-long open mike night, which is disappointing because he’s somebody I support. Cracking “Sesame Street” jokes and diagnosing people with “Romnesia” (did Milton Berle write that one for you, Mr. President?) is beneath the office he holds.

It’s a device that also conveniently serves to draw attention away from the Benghazi catastrophe — people seem content accepting his B-movie Western sheriff line about “hunting down those responsible and bringing them to justice.”

Satisfied just as long as we get another Tumblr website with funny pictures of Mitt Romney and Muppets.

I’m even growing tired of Jon Stewart. He’s normally a helpful voice that cuts through all the noise News Editor Editorial Editor Sports Editor Presentation Director Photo Editor Copy Chief Art Director Development Editor Social Media Producer Web Developer Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor Asst. News Editor Asst. Feature Editor Asst. Feature Editor Asst. Sports Editor

KEVIN SL ACK

world on a string and spin of the traditional media, but this year his “debate” with Bill O’Reilly was nothing more than a blatant attention grab disguised as a fundraiser for charity.

For all his rhetoric this year literally equating Fox News to a mountain of bull excrement, why lower yourself to the level of News Corp.’s chief bull colon pundit?

Because we’ve lost sight of what’s really at stake.

There are some big choices in this election, and we need serious people to make those choices. We need people who are informed on the issues and not just informed on what funny thing Stephen Colbert said last night.

The economy, women’s rights, any number of wars we may or may not be fighting at present and in the future — these are critical issues and we have before us two candidates who can take us in very different directions on those issues.

Let’s respect the system, respect the process and make an informed decision (unless you possessed all the originality, creativity and intellect to go out dressed as a cat this Halloween — in that case, please recuse yourself from this and all future elections).

Really, let’s just take this one thing seriously for one second, and then we can go back to being snarky and meme-y and obnoxious about literally every other thing that happens ever.

We can go back to acting entitled and cynical and above it all.

But for just one minute, let’s be citizens and strive for that moreperfect union.

Thanks.

Marwa Eltagouri Meghin Delaney Ryne Gery Ankur Patankar Chase Gaewski Cheryl Seligman Micah Benson Stephanie Bouvia Breanne Van Nostrand Chris Voll Casey Fabris Jessica Iannetta Meredith Newman Chelsea DeBaise Erik van Rheenen Jon Harris

Kevin Slack is a senior television, radio and film major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at khslack@syr.edu.

Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Photo Editor Asst. Photo Editor Design Editor Design Editor Design Editor Design Editor Design Editor Design Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Copy Editor Asst. Copy Editor

SCRIBBLE

SU prioritizes safety by canceling class University officials were wise in their decision to cancel classes for Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy.

The move acts as a precautionary measure for all students, staff and faculty. For some students, this is their first experience with a hurricane, and they may not have prepared adequately during the weekend. Canceling classes gives students, faculty and staff time to go to grocery stores and stock up on essentials.

Being prepared will help ease student anxiety when the strongest part of the hurricane hits Syracuse.

Some students may take advantage of the days off to get drunk, but others are legitimately worried and are using the time wisely to prepare.

Some professors live as far as an hour away. Canceling classes early means these professors can get home safely. It also means students who

Chris Iseman Sam Maller Lauren Murphy Allie Berube Allen Chiu Beth Fritzinger Elizabeth Hart Luke Rafferty Michelle Sczpanski Evan Bianchi Boomer Dangel Avery Hartmans Jacob Klinger Dylan Segelbaum David Wilson

EDITORIAL by the daily orange editorial board live on campus but reside nearby can take the time to travel home and be with their families before the worst of the storm comes.

The city of Syracuse can handle huge snowstorms, but it is not generally equipped to handle hurricanes.

Officials know how to prepare when snow is coming and are quick to clean up after a snowstorm to continue regular activity. But a hurricane is completely different.

Hurricanes are more likely to knock out power and cause trees to come down. Windows could also break and basement flooding is a bigger threat. By canceling classes, university officials give students and community members more time to straighten out problems before

t h e i n de pe n de n t s t u de n t n e w spa pe r of s y r acuse , n e w yor k

Mark Cooper EDITOR IN CHIEF

Laurence Leveille MANAGING EDITOR

General Manager IT Director IT Assistant Advertising Manager Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Representative Advertising Designer

Peter Waack Mike Escalante Alec Coleman Kelsey Rowland Joe Barglowski

Allie Briskin William Leonard Sam Weinberg Olivia Accardo

classes begin again.

But the cancellation of classes does pose complications for students and professors, though. Professors must communicate with students about their expectations for turning in assignments and about moving dates for exams and other assignments.

Professors also must remember students could lose power in their residence halls or apartments and may not be able to complete assignments on time. On-campus resources, such as computer labs and E.S. Bird Library, are closing down for the storm, which takes away resources students use to complete assignments.

Though it is too early at press time to see the damage the storm will cause the community, taking precautionary measures and keeping the community as safe as possible will always be a respectable decision.

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TUESDAY

october

W

PAGE 8

30, 2012

the daily orange

S

the sweet stuff in the middle

urviving andy

hile Syracuse Orange folks are known for their ability to tough out the burliest of blizzards, hurricanes are another beast entirely.

Hurricane-turned Superstorm Sandy is sweeping our way and while there is nothing we can do to stop it, there are plenty of tips and tricks that can help students weather the storm.

—Compiled by The Daily Orange feature staff, pulp@dailyorange.com

Here we are now, entertain us Hurricanes bring with them an opportunity for thrilling excitement and perhaps even exhilarating fear. But it brings an opportunity for something else as well: being stuck indoors for hours at a time with no power.

Let’s face it. Things might get a little dull by hour three or four.

While safety should be the first priority, entertainment should be something kept in mind, Sandy style.

When it comes to power outages,

board games are an absolute must.

Playing them by candlelight only adds to the allure. Dust off that game of Risk you inherited from your parents when you moved out and get ready for some world domination.

You can try Monopoly, but here’s a fair warning: whoever is the banker is going to cheat, and he or she is going to win.

If you are so inclined and were able to get to the back aisle of Tops in time, you can even throw a drinking game

Pulp offers tips on how to keep Superstorm Sandy at bay

into the mix. Rules don’t have to be overly complicated. A simple “take a sip every time the power flickers” or “finish your drink every time a piece of foliage crashes” would suffice.

Water, water everywhere It’s one of every house renter and apartment tenant’s worst fears: walking through the front door only to see water everywhere. With Superstorm Sandy bearing down on Syracuse, the threat of flooding is very real.

But don’t panic.

Here are a few tips to keep your house from getting all washed up: 1. Keep your doors and windows closed. Obviously.

2. Turn off ESPN and tune in to the Weather Channel. Look for flash flood watches and warnings, and follow instructions.

3. Elevate anything you don’t want to get soaked. Laptops, game systems, you name it. If it won’t work wet, get it to higher ground.

4. Simple as it sounds, get the water out. If you have a water vacuum, it’s your best bet to remove whatever water is left from your humble abode. If you don’t have a water vacuum, borrow one, especially if your floor is carpeted. Not only will wet carpet smell terrible, but it could rot, too.

5. When everything’s dry again, Febreze it all. Water will get everything to smell musty, so air freshener will make your house breathable again.

Danger zone You can’t just wander around your apartment in the middle of a storm.

Sure, it’ll be boring if the power goes out, but there are some places to avoid while Mother Nature does her thing.

First and foremost, stay away from windows. With high winds, tree limbs and all kinds of debris will be flying all over. Keep curtains

illustrations by micah benson | art director

and blinds closed, and close all interior doors to knock broken glass down if a branch does come through.

As much as you want to watch the action of the storm, find a room with no windows and keep yourself safe.

Remember high school when severe weather drills happened? You were either ushered into a bathroom or hallway. While the bathroom might not be the most ideal place to spend a few hours, any enclosed space with no windows will keep you safe during the storm.

That being said, the basement, where there aren’t usually windows, is not a solution if there’s a chance of flooding. If the superstorm is heavy enough to cause flooding, it’ll flood the basement first.

If there are flood warnings before the storm, pull anything valuable out of the basement and move it to higher ground.

Better with the lights off Just because there’s a chance of a blackout in Syracuse doesn’t mean you’ll get stuck in the dark ages.

Now’s the time to try out all those crafty, creative ideas you’ve been posting on

Pinterest.

If you plan to rely on candles to get you through the night, take advantage of the opportunity to make your room, apartment or house look romantic.

Stick tea lights in Mason jars and place them throughout the house. Not only will the jar prevent hot wax from dripping everywhere, but the flickering light inside the glass casts off a nice glow. Just remember to leave the lid off — flames need air to breathe, too.

Glow sticks left over from your last neon party will do the trick in a pinch, but they will only last for so long. Instead, make your own: All you need is a few bottles of Mountain Dew, baking soda and peroxide. Drink most of the Mountain Dew, leaving only a few sips left at the bottom. Add a pinch of baking soda, three cups of peroxide, shake well and voila — your very own homemade glow stick.