free
THURSDAY
sept. 28, 2017 high 62°, low 44°
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 • Eating better
P • Fitting in film
Syracuse University students who take classes at Syracuse Stage now have the option to use their meal plans to get food from a grab-and-go cart at the Stage. Page 3
The annual Human Rights Film Festival will take place this weekend with the theme of “belonging.” The festival will feature five different films. Page 9
dailyorange.com
S • Searching for first
Ice hockey head coach Paul Flanagan has placed second in six College Hockey America tournaments. This year, he’s looking to win his first championship. Page 16
on campus
Out of
OPTIONS Nojaim Brothers Supermarket in Syracuse’s Near Westside has provided healthy, affordable food options to the impoverished neighborhood for nearly 100 years. Earlier this month, the store’s owner said it would close. molly bolan contributing photographer
The closure of a Near Westside supermarket threatens residents’ access to healthy food By Jordan Muller asst. news editor
B
usiness at Nojaim Brothers Supermarket on the Near Westside seemed to continue as normal one Saturday afternoon earlier this month. Customers, a few in electric mobility scooters, carried out bags of groceries. Some walked in from the public housing development across the street. Others smoked cigarettes and chatted in the parking lot. The store was busy, but shelves inside were about halfempty. They won’t be fully restocked.
When customers clear out the remaining groceries, Nojaim Brothers Supermarket — which has supplied fresh produce and healthy food to the Near Westside community for nearly 100 years — will close its doors. “This store for me is everything,” said Lillian Martins, a Near Westside resident who has shopped at Nojaim Brothers for 23 years. “I pray to God it won’t close. The community here depends on this store.” In a letter to employees earlier this month, Paul Nojaim, the store’s owner, said the supermarket was “unable to remain financially viable,” Syracuse.com reported. see nojaim page 6
syracuse mayoral race 2017
Candidates explain public health policy goals By Jordan Muller asst. news editor
The Syracuse mayoral candidates discussed public health issues affecting the city at a public forum in downtown Syracuse on Monday night. At the forum, hosted by Upstate University Hospital and Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner’s End the Epidemic Task Force, the mayoral candidates laid out their plans to tackle HIV/AIDS, lead poisoning and the opioid epidemic. The four remaining candidates — Juanita Perez Williams, Howie
Hawkins, Laura Lavine and Ben Walsh — generally agreed with one another on how to handle the three issues. Before the forum, experts gave brief speeches about Syracuse public health problems and took questions from the audience. Here’s how the candidates said they would tackle health issues:
Opioids and drugs
The four candidates agreed the city needed to improve its handling of the opioid epidemic. Perez Williams, the Democratic Party candidate, said as mayor
she would launch a public service announcement campaign to destigmatize the use of opioids and encourage addicts to seek help. Perez Williams said the campaign would tell the stories of how people got addicted to the drugs. She said opioid addiction was a mental illness and that the city needed to combat the problem with positive messages. Lavine, a Republican, said families need to know about the dangers of drugs. Public education and safety campaigns could help parents learn what teens could be
doing with drugs. She, like the other candidates, said addiction to drugs was a medical problem that needed to be destigmatized. Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, said the next mayor should combat “social determinants” such as homelessness, joblessness and poverty that he said lead to drug use. Walsh, an independent, said families need to be educated about drug use. Walsh also said he would look at what other communities are doing to combat opioid and drug see candidates page 8
Expelled student sues SU Lawsuit alleges sexual assault proceedings were “flawed and biased” By Rachel Sandler
senior web developer
A former Syracuse University student has filed a complaint against the university claiming he was unfairly expelled for sexual assault. The lawsuit, which was filed in July, was first reported by Syracuse. com on Wednesday. Neither the plaintiff nor the woman who accused him of sexual assault are named in the lawsuit. They are only referred to as “John Doe” and “Jane Roe.” The account contained in the lawsuit is only from Doe, who maintains his innocence. Doe claims in the lawsuit that SU committed “impermissible gender bias” against him during the investigation into the incident, and proceedings that found him guilty were “flawed and biased.”
Important changes are coming in #TitleIX. We urge increased due process protections for BOTH accused and complainants/ survivors. Tweet by Engel & Martin LLC, the law firm representing “John Doe”
In response to the lawsuit, Sarah Scalese, associate vice president for university communications at SU, said in a statement: “The University’s process to adjudicate sexual assault allegations is fully guided by federal and state law. Per University policy, and to ensure due process, we don’t comment on the specifics of any pending litigation.” According to the complaint, John Doe and Jane Roe exchanged texts and made plans to meet at a fraternity party on the night of Sept. 13, 2016. They started kissing and eventually left the party together. Both were drinking alcohol, and one witness said they were both intoxicated, “but not to the degree of being unable to stand or speak; they weren’t stumbling.” In Doe’s room, the pair had “rough” but consensual sex twice, Doe claims in the lawsuit. Roe told investigators she did not remember much of what
see lawsuit page 8