The Oswegonian 2-9-18

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A6 Smoking ban to be revisited this semester

Friday, Feb. 9, 2018 VOLUME LXXXVII ISSUE XVVIII SINCE 1935 www.oswegonian.com

Safety inspections commence Resident assistants look out for fire safety violations Jordan DeLucia Copy Editor jdelucia@oswegonian.com With the beginning of every new semester comes fire safety inspections in all residence hall rooms a nd , s o me t i me s , c o n f i s c a t i o n o f personal belongings. Oswego State junior Julie Loney previously had a foldup table taken from her room by a resident assistant over the Thanksgiving break room checks in the fall of 2016. She and her roommate were issued a citation for

a violation of the school alcohol policy and were ordered to take the InShape class at Mary Walker Health Center as a disciplinary action. This happened during an inspection done to ensure no hazards would cause problems while the building was mostly vacant over break. Loney said she and her roommate only used it twice, never for irresponsible activities, so the consequences were a bit overdone. “I think it was harsh for just the first time, because we didn’t even really know that they were going to take it and claim it to be alcohol paraphernalia,” Loney said. “We could have totally

Alexander Gault-Plate | The Oswegonian Every residence hall has smoke detectors in each room and fire pull stations in every hallway at intervals of a few feet.

played it off and said that it wasn’t.” Seneca Hall’s assistant hall director Adam Cesarini said he typically sees more confiscations and fire code violations reported in the inspections done after students leave for Thanksgiving and spring breaks, as many people simply forget to remove any prohibited items from their room. So far in the current academic year, Cesarini said resident assistants have most commonly had to confiscate vape pens and e-cigarettes. “I don’t think students fully understand that they are allowed to have those items, but they’re not allowed to use them,” Cesarini said. “We don’t confiscate them unless we see them being used in the residence halls.” Cliff-Simon Vital is a second-year resident assistant in Funnelle Hall and said that in his experience, he very rarely has to confiscate items from students during room checks. He and other resident assistants have sometimes seen violations, like candles and microwaves, upon casually entering a student’s room during the week. “We see a bit more of those violations just when we do rounds or walk into a resident’s room,” Vital said. “I, personally, don’t see a lot of that stuff, but that just means we have a good floor.” Resident assistants can sometimes

Oswego County Opportunities gets state grant for local homeless Kassadee Paulo Asst. News Editor kpaulo@oswegonian.com According to the Housing and Urban Development 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, out of every 10,000 people in the U.S., 17 were experiencing homelessness. The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently granted Oswego County Opportunities $385,000 to aid the Homeless Services for Rapid Rehousing and Permanent Supportive Rehousing programs. OCO, located in Fulton, New York, offers many programs to help the communities of Oswego County. Homeless Services help families and individuals who are in danger of losing their housing or have already lost it. “Homeless Specialist assists families/households by assessing needs and strengths, planning goals, researching to locate housing/prevent eviction, advocate for families,

supporting families to maintaining housing and monitoring progress in retaining housing,” according to the OCO webpage. OCO received the performancebased grant from HUD last year as well, but must reapply each year, said Patrick Waite, senior director of programs services. “We also received, a year ago, funding for permanent supporti ve ho u s i ng , a nd t h a t i s a s s i s tance to keep someone in housi n g ,” W a i t e s a i d . “ H U D r e a l l y focuses now on permanent housing, as opposed to transitional or sheltering somebody.” The Rapid Rehousing program works with families and individuals who do not have permanent housing to get back on their feet. HUD provides other organizations like OCO’s Homeless Services with grants for this program. HUD is a federal department with the mission to “create strong,

See HOMELESS, A5

See RA, A6

Taco Bell passes first hurdle on road to Oswego Fast-food chain’s local owner eyes former Ponderosa location Alexander Gault-Plate News Editor aplate@oswegonian.com

CONTENT

Plans to build a Taco Bell in Oswego moved one step forward, passing the City of Oswego Planning Board on Tuesday night. Holding its monthly meeting at 6 p.m., the planning board approved the site plan for the fast-food restaurant, as well as its plan for off-street parking, and provided three favorable advisories to the zoning board. The company behind the proposal, Hospitality Services Inc., which owns Taco Bell locations across the state, will have to bring its proposal to the zoning board in two weeks before beginning any construction at the location, the former Ponderosa Steakhouse building on George Street, on the east side of the city. The location is

Rachel Futterman | The Oswegonian

Weekend Weather in Oswego FRIDAY

See TACO BELL, A6

Calendar...................... C2 Classifieds................... C6 Crossword................... C6 Contact Info................ A2 Laker Review.............. C1 News............................. A1 Opinion........................ B5 Sports........................... B1 Sudoku......................... C7

Rachel Futterman | The Oswegonian

Sports

B1

Taylor Woods | The Oswegonian

HIGH: 33° LOW: 28°

B6

Taylor Woods | The Oswegonian

Image from AMC

SUNDAY

HIGH: 35° LOW: 28°

Laker Review BREAKING BAD

Opinion RIGID POLICY

100 POINTS

HIGH: 25° LOW: 23°

SATURDAY

C2

Extended Weather Forecast on Page 2

Weather forecast provided by Robert Robak from WTOP-10

Oswegonian.com A.P. BIO SHOCKS

WEB

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