Feb. 14, 2022

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MONDAY

feb. 14, 2022 high 16°, low 9°

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

S • Comeback complete

N • New leadership

Two new leaders in the Onondaga County Legislature are working to overhaul key policies in the legislature, including ethics policies and the spending of the county executive. Page 3

A career-high 31 points and a late jump shot from Teisha Hyman lifted Syracuse to a come-frombehind, two-point victory over Pittsburgh on the road. Page 16

Valentine’s Day Guide 2022 Pages 8 and 9

Adding up

city

Lead in city linked to race, income By Kyle Chouinard asst. news editor

source: syracuse university business, finance and administrative services

Undergraduate students at Syracuse University each paid a total of $1,671 in fees, divided by four categories, in the 2021-22 academic year By Danny Amron, Francis Tang the daily orange

Graphic by Morgan Sample design editor

A

ll undergraduate students at Syracuse University paid $1,671 each in required fees in the 2021-22 academic year. Four categories are included in SU’s “miscellaneous

fees” under the university’s cost of attendance website for undergraduate students: health and wellness, internet and cable service, co-curricular and undergraduate activity. The former two are paid semesterly while the latter two are paid annually. For the 2021-22 academic year, the university charges a $399 health and wellness fee and a $220 internet and cable service fee per semester. Students pay a $222 cocurricular fee and a $211 undergraduate activity fee for the entire academic year. SU’s internet and cable service fee and the co-curricular fee for the 2021-22 academic year are the same amount compared to the previous two academic years. The university’s health and wellness fee, however, has increased twice over the past three years to get to the current year total of $798, from $768 for the 2019-20 academic year and $782 for the 2020-21 academic year. SU’s undergraduate activity fee rose by $2 in the 2020-21 academic year and remained the same in 2021-22 as well, according to student bills. The Daily Orange analyzed how these categories of fees compare to those of SU’s peer institutions that provided similar data. The D.O. examined eight of large private universities with similar fee descriptions — see fees page 4

The Syracuse Common Council passed a lead ordinance in 2020 which goes into effect in 2022. The ordinance requires city inspectors to test all properties for lead-related hazards. Before the ordinance, exposed lead paint was not considered a code violation in the city. In 2020, Onondaga County’s Census Tract 54, located southwest of Syracuse University’s campus between Brighton and McLennan avenues, was 78% Black and in 2019 had a median household income of just over $29,000. The tract also has the highest rate of children with high levels of lead poisoning in the city. The relationship between income, race and the prevalence of lead in children’s blood can be seen throughout the city. An analysis conducted by The Daily Orange found a strong link between median household income and the area’s rate of high lead levels in children’s blood. In 2020, the percent of tested children in Onondaga County with blood lead levels greater than five micrograms per deciliter was on average 59.3% higher in census tracts below the median income than those above the median. While 6.4% of children tested in the tracts with the highest income had high lead levels in their blood, 10.2% of children in the city’s least income tracts had high levels of lead in their blood. Of the 16 census tracts with the highest rates of high lead levels in children’s blood, 15 had a median household income below $40,000. In Syracuse, the percentage of Black residents in a census tract is also highly correlated with the rate of elevated levels of lead in children’s blood. Of the four census tracts with the highest rates of blood lead levels for children, three had a population that was more than 70% Black. Only six census tracts had no children with high levels of lead in their blood, all of which had a population that was less than 35% Black. In a lawsuit filed against Syracuse landlord John Kiggins, whose company EndZone Properties currently has five active lead infractions in Syracuse, New York State Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a statement see lead page 4


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