free
MONDAY
april 20, 2015 high 62°, low 49°
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 |
N • Fun in the sun
Members of the Syracuse University community gathered in Thornden Park on Sunday afternoon for Earthfest, which featured speakers and performers. Page 3
O • Virtual value
Business columnist Brian Cheung chastizes companies that don’t actively work on preventing hackers and their damaging and costly data breaches. Page 5
dailyorange.com
S • Row row row your boat
P • Who is Syracuse?
Syracuse women’s rowing often finds its athletes by asking around on the Quad. The roster, though, has become more competitive in recent years. Page 16
Freshman Jenn Castro, known for her school spirit, always dresses up in SU gear and arrives hours early to football and basketball games. Page 8
Seedat elected president of SA’s 59th session Community attends 1st conference Students, faculty and administrators discuss issues at Cuse Conference By Katelyn Faubel staff writer
AYSHA SEEDAT AND JANE HONG receive a phone call early Friday morning notifying them that they had been elected Student Association president and vice president, respectively, of the 59th Session at Syracuse University. logan reidsma asst. photo editor
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Tatiana Cadet, another student who had been campaigning as a writein candidate, said she hopes Seedat will fulfill her role as SA president. “It’s more than just a name or a resume builder. It’s easy to assume that once elected the work is done,” Cadet said. “I just hope she follows through with what she addressed in her campaign and takes it a step further with what (the other write-in candidates) addressed as well.” news@dailyorange.com
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ROCKING THE VOTE
VOTES
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Here’s a breakdown of how each major candidate fared in last week’s election.
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Aysha Seedat said she woke up Thursday morning and prayed. She was hoping the day would go well. It did. Seedat was elected Student Association president for the 59th Session after a total of 3,426 votes, or 24.1 percent, were cast by the Syracuse University student body. Write-in candidate AJ Abell came in second place, followed by write-in candidates Safet Mesanovic, Tatiana Cadet and Jesse Nichols. Seedat will serve as president for the 2015–16 academic year. Seedat received a phone call around 12:45 a.m. Friday from Janine Bogris, vice chair of elections for SA, who thanked her for running a clean campaign and then notified Seedat and her running mate, Jane Hong, that they had been elected. After being told of the victory,
dent will follow through on improving the campus. “Aysha and Jane’s dedication has really become clear, not just over course of election but also in general with their experiences in SA,” said Nichols, a write-in candidate. Nichols added that the campaign was still a victory for him in that he was able to meet more SA members who can continue to help him to implement change within Hendricks Chapel.
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asst. news editors
screaming and hugging ensued. Current SA President Boris Gresely stopped by the house for a few minutes to congratulate Seedat. Following about a 15-minute celebration in the house on the 800 block of Ackerman Avenue, supporters demolished a television and set off fireworks to show their joy. The 24.1 percent voter turnout falls short of the 31 percent turnout set last year, which stands as a record in SA elections. Seedat, a junior policy studies major, and Hong, a junior broadcast and digital journalism major, ran on a platform of “Safety and Support.” “We’ve really tried to represent the student body in our experiences that we’ve had and through talking with students over the course of the campaign,” she said. Write-in candidates who lost to Seedat said following the announcement of the results that they are hopeful that the newly elected presi-
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By Justin Mattingly, Sara Swann and Lydia Wilson
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NICHOLS
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CADET
MESANOVIC CANDIDATE
434 ABELL
SEEDAT
Sunday’s first ever Cuse Conference was a “landmark event,” Chancellor Kent Syverud said. “I’ve learned that this is a student-powered university like no other I have ever seen and that is the strength of this place,” he said during the event. “The communication between all of our niches has at times become old-fashioned and frayed. This is a problem and this is an opportunity for our students to show them we’re moving forward.” The Cuse Conference, held Sunday, worked to bring students, faculty and administration together in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium to encourage open dialogue of important issues on the Syracuse University campus. The event was started by the Student
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SA surveyed students to decide the eight most important issues to be discussed during the Cuse Conference sessions
Association and done in partnership with the Residence Hall Association, Graduate Student Organization and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Undergraduate Student Association. Through a poll conducted by Student Association, students listed issues they felt needed to be discussed by members of every part of SU. Eight issues were chosen by SA to become discussion sessions during The Cuse Conference. The eight sessions on campus issues included: Student-to-Student Accountability for Sexual Consent, Imaginary Borders: Campus vs. Community Safety, 21st Century Values and Traditions in 20th Century Institutions, Restructuring RSO system and Student Engagement, Multidisciplinary and see cuse
conference page 4