free
Monday
may 2, 2022 high 59°, low 48°
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
N • Eagle protection
C • Fashion forward
S • Hiltz heritage
Bald eagles are believed to have returned to Onondaga Lake for the first time since 1800, but the construction of a nearby trail threatens to disrupt the population. Page 3
Contrasting from the earthy tones in its Biotic Wonders show in the fall, FADS’s Abiotic Wanderers fashion show had dark, futuristic themes. Page 5
Owen Hiltz has carried on the family lacrosse tradition set by several of his family members including his uncles in Peterborough, Ontario. Page 12
Contested method
Despite not being admissible in court, the Syracuse Police Department conducted 84 polygraph investigations in 2020/21 Story by Kyle Chouinard asst. news editor
Illustration by Danny Khan design editor
D
etective Jeremy Merola has been conducting polygraph examinations with the Syracuse Police Department for 13 years. Last year, Merola conducted 24 polygraph tests for the department. Each test can take up to four hours. Polygraphs, colloquially referred to as lie detectors, measure physiological changes in a person while answering a series of “yes” or “no” questions, Merola said. Christian Hart, a professor and the director of the master’s in psychological science program at Texas Woman’s University, said the tests specifically measure heart rate, respiration and galvanic skin response. Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, as a part of his proposed city budget for fiscal year 2023, released “Activity Indicators” for SPD among other departments throughout the city. In 2020/21 the department conducted 84 polygraph investigations, the lowest number under Walsh’s administration. In 2018/19, polygraph investigations peaked during the Walsh administration, totaling 114. Today, polygraphs are not admissible in court but can be used throughout the investigation process. Most private employers are banned from using polygraph tests for preemployment screening or during employment due to the Employee Polygraph Protection act passed in 1988. Public employers such as SPD, however, still have the ability to run pre-employment polygraph testing on potential employees. Of the 24 tests Merola ran last year, he said 90% were pre-employment screening. Merola said 60% of the polygraphs the police department conducts overall are for pre-employment screening. The remaining tests were specific to criminal investigations. Organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union have previously taken issue with the legitimacy of polygraph testing. In 2018, ACLU Senior Policy Analyst Jay Stanley wrote that polygraph testing is “pseudo-scientific.” “You look at the internet, they say this thing is hocus
pocus,” Merola said. “And if I didn’t go through the course, and I didn’t have some of the significant polygraphs that I did, I wouldn’t believe in it, or at least have less of a belief in it than I do.” The ACLU has officially opposed the use of lie detectors since the 1950s. Citing a 2003 study from the National Academy of Sciences, Hart said that polygraphs were “far less accurate than the polygraphs examiners have claimed.” In the same article, Hart said some scientists have found the accuracy of polygraphs are closer to 75%. “So just by using a coin flip, you’re (at) 50% accuracy,” he said. “So 75%, it’s certainly considerably better than chance levels, but it’s nowhere near the perfection we would hope to see if a tool was used to make serious decisions about people’s lives.” Merola said polygraph examinations are only used as pieces of larger investigations. He called them just another tool in the toolbox. SPD typically requires investigators to exhaust all options before using a polygraph, he said. It would be “dumb,” Merola said, to use a polygraph toward the beginning of an investigation. “(A polygraph) doesn’t ever replace a good investigation,” Merola said. Merola argued that one of the largest factors in the accuracy of a single polygraph test is the skill of whoever is running the test. “If someone were to say to me, ‘Would you take a polygraph test?’ the first thing I would ask them is ‘Who’s doing the test?’” he said. The human element of the test, Merola said, reduces the overall accuracy and validity of polygraphs. see polygraph page 4
on campus
SU, faculty reach settlement in gender pay equity lawsuit By Richard Perrins news editor
Female faculty members at Syracuse University received notice from the Kings County Supreme Court over both email and mail in April that a class action lawsuit regarding gender pay inequity had been settled by the university. The lawsuit was settled in October 2021. According to a copy of the settlement agreement obtained by The Daily Orange, the total settlement fund for the lawsuit was $3,713,000. The court will hold a fairness hearing to determine whether or not
to approve the settlement on Aug. 10, before which members of the class need to opt in, opt out or object to the amount. “It’s amazing they settled at all, but the settlement is insulting,” said Deborah Pellow, who worked for 45 years as a professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs before retiring in May 2021. “I know, from my own experience – the inequity – and it’s astounding.” Pellow was not one of the five named plaintiffs. In 2017, the SU University Senate’s Faculty Salary Review Committee released a report that
revealed salaries for female faculty members were generally lower than for their male colleagues. The gap was especially noticeable in non-tenure positions. Female professors made 77% of what their male counterparts made, on average, while female associate and assistant professors made 83% of what their male counterparts made. Denise Heckman, an associate professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts’ School of Design, said the disparity has stuck with her, and the settlement won’t solve the issue. “It’s always on your shoulders …
this is my life. And when I retire, I’m not going to have the same money that someone else had just because they’re a male,” Heckman said. “You can’t really sweep something like that under the rug.” The court agreed to allocate $3 million for full-time tenured or tenure-track professors and associate professors, $340,000 for full-time tenured or tenure-track assistant professors and $300,000 for nontenure track professors and associate professors. The court allocated the remaining $73,000 for non-tenure track assistant professors. Salaries of staff members at SU
were not mentioned in the report or the class action. One third of the settlement will go toward attorney’s fees, according to the agreement. In the class action, the law firm Outten & Golden represented the plaintiffs, five of whom were named. All female professors, assistant professors and associate professors employed by SU between Jan. 8, 2014, through Oct. 1, 2021, may be entitled to be part of the settlement. In September 2018, almost eight months after the report, then-Provost Michele Wheatly said during a see lawsuit page 4