free
MONDAY
sept. 14, 2020 high 62°, low 42°
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 |
C • Road trip
N • Wildfire watching
Four friends are converting a school bus into a temporary home for summer 2021. They plan to travel across the U.S. and Canada. Page 7
SU students from California have watched from Syracuse as a record-breaking set of wildfires destroys West Coast communities. Page 3
dailyorange.com
S • Trying to adapt With no fans allowed at Syracuse sporting events, local restaurants and businesses have altered their game day routines for limited customers. Page 12
Newhouse dean takes helm during pandemic Mark Lodato aims to further student success, increase diversity as dean
A
s dean of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Mark Lodato wants to lead with empathy. Lodato assumed the role of Newhouse dean on July 1, becoming the successor of former dean Lorraine Branham, who died in April 2019. He was previously the associate dean of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. “Being a student today is more difficult than ever before,” Lodato said. “I think I’m doing the best I can if I’m relating and I’m trying my best to understand what those students are going through.” With a student body facing the uncertainty of a pandemic and grappling with a nationwide reckoning over racism, Lodato aims to be an approachable and understanding leader. While transitioning into the position during the pandemic was challenging, Lodato’s colleagues said he took it in stride. Hub Brown, associate dean for research, creativity, international initiatives and diversity at Newhouse, said Lodato adapted quickly during the leadership transition period and clearly laid out his plans for the school. Many of those plans included expanding diversity and inclusion initiatives in Newhouse,
MARK LODATO was named dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in July. He previously served as associate dean of ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. will fudge staff photographer
Brown said. “He is someone who has absolutely hit the ground running,” Brown said. “He’s really forward, he’s got great ideas that really dovetail with the future of
our school.” As dean of Newhouse, Lodato will manage the school’s financial resources and oversee curriculum and enrollment. He will also report to Interim Provost John
Liu and serve on the Chancellor’s Council and the Academic Deans’ Cabinet. The talent at Newhouse and the school’s wide-ranging curriculum led him
see dean page 4
city
on campus
SU Ambulance takes precautions Activists seek reforms to citizen review board By Sarah Alessandrini asst. news editor
Syracuse University Ambulance’s headquarters used to be a place where members could socialize or relax between classes. Now, the space is largely empty, with furniture removed and few people allowed in the building at once to accommodate social distancing. But despite the altered environment, SUA continues to operate this semester, offering emergency medical transport to students for no out-of-pocket cost. “SUA is a very social organization, which is great,” SUA manager Paul Smyth said. “But with the pandemic, you have to alter those practices slightly to keep everybody safe.”
SUA is a student-operated organization that allows students to gain voluntary medical transport experience. This semester, the organization has implemented safety procedures to protect SUA members and patients from the coronavirus. Student SUA members now have to sign in and out of the headquarters and record their temperature before entering. While students previously chose their shifts each week, they now follow a fixed schedule to help with the university’s contact tracing efforts. Although some student members have chosen to study remotely this semester, SUA hasn’t seen students working fewer shifts, Smyth said. The organization is still in the process of recruiting members for the academic year, he said.
Leaders in SUA spent the summer developing contingency plans for fall semester. Not knowing whether students would return to campus made planning more challenging, Smyth said. SUA has also altered its protocol for responding to emergency calls. Dispatchers now screen patients for COVID-19 before the crew arrives, and a team member asks the patient the same screening questions upon arrival. When an ambulance crew previously would arrive on the scene of an emergency, two or three members would approach the patient, and one would ask questions while the other checks for vital signs, Smyth said. “That really changed for everyone across the country and across the world,” he said. see ambulance page 4
By Sarah Alessandrini Asst. news editor
Activists in the city of Syracuse are calling for the expansion of the Syracuse Citizen Review Board, an oversight committee that reviews complaints against the Syracuse Police Department. Fifteen advocacy groups, including Last Chance for Change and Black Lives Matter Syracuse, presented nine demands to Mayor Ben Walsh and the Syracuse Common Council in June to reform SPD. One of the demands is to give the Citizen Review Board the power to discipline officers. When addressing the groups’ other demands in July, Walsh
deferred to the Common Council to pass legislation that would strengthen the CRB. As activists continue to push to strengthen CRB, here’s an explainer on what the board is and why community members are working to increase its oversight over SPD:
History and structure
Syracuse established the CRB in 1993 to address police brutality. The city disbanded the board in 2010 and reestablished it in 2011 with the power to subpoena officers, witnesses and any other evidence for hearings. The board consists of 11 members. The mayor, the district councilor or the councilor at-large see review page 4