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An SU professor who works for the Performing Restoration Shakespeare project brings adaptations of Shakespeare to the stage. Page 7
SU’s $62.5 million project to centralize resources for veterans is beginning to take shape on the corner of Waverly and South Crouse avenues. Page 3
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The ACC Network launched on Thursday, providing a chance to expand its coverage of the conference and Syracuse sports and increase revenue. Page 12
greek life
Fiji moves to former Theta Tau house
EArlY STArT
By India Miraglia asst. news editor
MACKENZIE MERTIKAS (LFET) AND SAMEEHA SAIED were sworn in as president and vice president, respectively, of Syracuse University’s Student Association in April. They used the summer to plan initiatives for the fall semester. corey henry photo editor
SA bylaws now allow leaders to start work over summer By India Miraglia asst. news editor
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ackenzie Mertikas and Sameeha Saied have used the summer months to get a head start on planning initiatives for the upcoming year as president and vice president of Syracuse University’s Student Association. Mertikas and Saied have enjoyed a jump start that no other SA leaders have gotten. A recent change in SA’s
bylaws allowed Mertikas and Saied to act in their full capacity as president and vice president starting at the end of the spring semester. Previous administrations could not be sworn in until August. The pair have been able to introduce themselves as SA’s leaders to people they work with and start organizing initiatives for the beginning of the fall semester – namely Mental Health Awareness Week, improving SA’s internal culture and working with the first-
[Theta Tau’s] actions are unacceptable in any time or context and are incompatible with the values of our fraternity.
year experience. “We’ve had such good communication over the summer,” Mertikas said. “We’ve been really talking to each other about how we want the year to work.” Elected in April, Mertikas and Saied ran a campaign based on five principles: diversity and inclusion, financial accessibility, accountability and transparency, health and wellness and community engagement. They will hold SA’s first meeting of the semester on Monday. see sa
Jared Bonina fiji president
leaders page 4
on campus
Bike-share program to operate on SU campus By Gillian Follett asst. copy editor
A new Syracuse bike-share program will begin to operate on the Syracuse University campus in the coming weeks. The program, called Syracuse Sync, is a collaboration between the city and Gotcha, nation-wide mobility service company that allows customers to rent electronic
bikes and scooters from one location and return them to another site. By using the Gotcha app, users can pay for their rental transportation by the minute or through a monthly or annual plan. The Syracuse program only includes electronic bikes. In the coming weeks, Gotcha plans to install bike hubs — sites where bikes can be rented and returned — in four locations on the SU campus,
said Gotcha’s CEO Sean Flood. The hubs will be located at the intersection of University Avenue and Marshall Street, outside of Bird Library, on Stadium Place in front of Lawrinson Hall and outside the Goldstein Student Center. “It’s almost effortless to bike between the campus and downtown, and I think we’re going to see more connectivity between the university and the city with the sys-
tem,” Flood said. SU was involved in the development of the Syracuse Sync program and worked with Gotcha and the city to create a system that would help connect the campus and downtown Syracuse, the CEO said. He added the close partnership between the university and the city, as well as their joint interest in introducing alternate modes see bike
Syracuse University’s chapter of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity is moving into 1105 Harrison St., the building that previously housed the now-expelled Theta Tau fraternity. Phi Gamma Delta, commonly known as “Fiji,” used to reside at 727 Comstock Ave. The Zeta Psi fraternity recently reformed at SU after being shut down in 2007. Fiji’s lease there ended on June 30, said Doug Golden, president of the fraternity’s House Corporation, in an email. “For the long-term stability of our undergraduate chapter at Syracuse, the move was a necessity,” he said. “Our previous housing situation was drawing to a close so to ensure our undergraduates had a place to call theirs to hold meetings and social events was our top priority.” Fiji entered into a long-term lease for the house, Golden said.
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Zeta Psi has leased the house on Comstock Ave. to other fraternities since its national chapter shut it down in 2007 following a series of offenses. SU has since invited the fraternity to return to campus, according to the Zeta Psi website. As of August, the chapter has been completely reformed at SU, said Lauck Walton, executive director of the Zeta Psi Fraternity, Inc., in an email. SU’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs lists Zeta Psi as one of the 16 Interfraternity Council fraternities active at SU on its website. Zeta Psi offered Fiji a short extension to continue living at the house on Comstock Avenue, but decided to look for a long-term solution, said Fiji president Jared Bonina in an email. “After evaluating a handful of available options, the property at 1105 Harrison seemed to fit our needs from a size and budget see houses page 4