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WEDNESDAY
march 11, 2020 high 42°, low 33°
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 |
P • Hip-hop home
N • Next steps
dailyorange.com
Four SU students founded The Bedford, a music venue that hosts live music performances. The Bedford primarily showcases hiphop music and fashion. Page 7
#NotAgainSU organizers held a press conference Tuesday to reiterate the movement’s goals and answer questions about what comes next. Page 3
S • Keeping track
Quincy Guerrier logs his workouts in a notebook, accompanying him on a freshman season, in which he’s been the sixth man for SU men’s basketball. Page 12
coronavirus
on campus
SU suspends on-campus classes due to virus Freshman, Syracuse resident dies By Emma Folts and Maggie Hicks the daily orange
Syracuse University is suspending all on-campus classes until at least March 30 due to the spread of the coronavirus. The university will transfer all academic programs online at the end of the academic day Friday, said Chancellor Kent Syverud and Mike Haynie, vice chancellor for strategic initiatives and innovation, in an SU News release Tuesday. Coronavirus, also known as
COVID-19, is a respiratory disease that has spread to at least 97 countries, infected over 113,700 and killed more than 4,000 worldwide. There are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Onondaga County. There were 142 confirmed cases of the virus in New York state as of Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Twitter. Cuomo declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to reduce the spread of the virus. “Ultimately we believe that this is the right and prudent decision on
behalf of our students, but also our faculty and staff and the central New York community. It’s the right thing to do from a public health perspective,” Haynie said during a press conference Tuesday afternoon at the National Veterans Resource Center. The university made the decision after monitoring guidelines from New York state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization, Haynie said. SU is asking students to take all the belongings necessary to
continue their studies remotely when they leave for spring break, Haynie said. There’s a possibility that students will be away from campus for a period of time beyond the break, he said. “We will continue to work over the course of the coming weeks to evaluate the situation related to coronavirus and make subsequent decisions about whether or not we will resume residential instruction or continue in an online learning mode,” Haynie said.
see suspended page 4
coronavirus
Health experts discuss coronavirus at forum
By Sarah Alessandrini asst. copy editor
Helena Kibasumba Sekarore, a freshman at Syracuse University, has died, an SU official said Tuesday. Sekarore was a policy studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Dean of Students Marianne Thomson said in a campus-wide email. Sekarore was from the city of Syracuse and graduated from Nottingham High School, Thomson said. “Chancellor Kent Syverud and I express our sincere sympathy and condolences to Helena’s family and loved ones,” Thomson said in the email. “We send our thoughts and prayers to her family, friends, classmates, teachers and those in the greater Syracuse community grieving this loss.” Students in need of support can seek 24/7 counseling services at the Barnes Center at The Arch, Thomson said in the email. The Dean of Students Office and Hendricks Chapel also provide additional services. scalessa@syr.edu
SUNY-ESF
SUNY-ESF investigating bias incident in dorm By Michael Sessa asst. news editor
The forum, held in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, was hours after the university announced it will be suspending all on-campus classes through at least March 30 due to the coronavirus. emily steinberger design editor
By Marnie Muñoz asst. copy editor
Experts discussed concerns and misconceptions about the spread of the coronavirus at an open forum for Syracuse University community members Tuesday evening. The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, is a respiratory disease that has spread to at least 109 countries, infected over 113,700 and killed more than 4,000. There are currently no confirmed cases in Onondaga County. New York state reported 142 confirmed cases of the virus as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention. Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency Saturday in response to COVID-19’s spread. SU announced Tuesday that it will suspend all on-campus classes until at least March 30 in response to COVID-19. The university will transition to online classes beginning Friday. The COVID-19 situation rapidly developed in the United States through a series of structural flaws in national leadership, federal funding and the health system, said Dave Larsen, an associate professor of public health at SU’s David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. The U.S. government has operated on a see forum page 4
basis of panic in response to health crises over the past 20 years, Larsen said. Regular funding for health emergency preparedness continues to decline, he said. Of the CDC’s nearly $7 billion in federal funding for fiscal year 2020, about 35% is designated for preventing infectious diseases. Epidemic response teams from the National Security Council and Department of Homeland Security were dismantled in May 2018 and remain unreplaced, Larsen added. “So, our administration at the executive level then is gutted in terms of experts and systems to account for infectious disease,” Larsen said. “I liken this decision to
SUNY-ESF officials are investigating a flyer hung on a Centennial Hall door that said students inside were quarantined. No one is quarantined in the residence hall or any SUNY-ESF building, said Dave Amberg, interim president, in a statement Tuesday. The University Police Department is investigating the incident as an instance of bias targeting individuals based on race, Amberg said. “The college has zero tolerance for incidents of bias, racism and hate to ensure our entire campus community can live, study and work in an inclusive and safe environment,” Amberg said. Pictures of the flyer were posted to social media, Amber said. The see bias page 4