Look Inside: A3 SUNY Oswego professor hired by St. Bonaventure
Friday, April 23, 2021 VOLUME LXXXVI ISSUE VI SINCE 1935 www.oswegonian.com
Hart Hall’s IST course halted SUNY Oswego sees decline in international students
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Tomas Rodriguez Staff Writer news@oswegonian.com
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Together and apart, two words that altogether reflect just how SUNY Oswego has been able to foster a sense of community for its international student population even during these pandemic times. While international student enrollment has decreased at SUNY Oswego, Associate Provost for International Education and Programs Joshua McKeown said that in the fall, SUNY Oswego housed about 160 international students, which is lower than the usual number by almost 100. “SUNY Oswego is definitely down in its enrollment of international students but not down as far as some of us thought it might be,” McKeown said. “In the fall semester, we had to work really hard to make sure we were following protocols. We did have international students returning in the fall semester and even more in the spring semester, but there were just tremendous campus protocols for quarantines or testing.” But that was not the case for all students. In fact, there were three subdivisions within the SUNY Oswego student
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Photo from Flickr SUNY Oswego has seen a dramatic decrease in the enrollment of international students in the past academic year.
*Last updated April 22*
**Positive rate over a seven-day average**
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SA special election determines next President
population this year, students who were at home in their native countries, students who were elsewhere in the U.S. and students who were on-campus. Among those on-campus were new foreign exchange students. “Those internationals who chose to come to campus told us this was the better option for them than staying in their apartment in Paris or Madrid or wherever they’re from because they knew that the life at SUNY Oswego would be better and richer than what they had where they were,” McKeown said. “Our town, our region, our state, our country are made better because of that diversity and that viewpoint from other countries. To the extent that international students are educated here, many [choose] to stay here and start careers here, start or bring families here. It makes our communities stronger, more entrepreneurial, more vital and more competitive.” While SUNY Oswego relies on local rules and regulations when receiving international students, the case differs if it were to send students abroad. In fact, when it comes to sending students to other countries, SUNY Oswego must be on par with SUNY standards. The most popular study abroad destinations for SUNY Oswego students include Spain, France, Italy and the U.K., which are all labeled “Level
4” per the Centers for Disease C ontrol based on their COVID-19 health risk. That label comes partly due to the fact that the aforementioned nations have not met vaccination thresholds or are still in lockdowns. “Within SUNY we have discussed this, we’re going to have to make sure students preparing to go abroad really understand the risks that they’re taking,” McKeown said. “In the past, there were always risks to traveling abroad, including health risks, but this vivid pointing experience that we’ve all just had, we need students to really verbalize and understand that ‘I may get to my study abroad destination and have to quarantine for 14 days,’ and make sure students understand the potential outcomes of traveling today.” Similar to study abroad programs, international programs on-campus have experienced collateral damage from that shortage in the international student population. The current circumstances have brought Hart Hall’s IST course to a stall. One of the contributing factors, Provost for Undergraduate and Special Programs Rameen Mohammadi said, had to do with running the program in the fall at one-third of its expected capacity.
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Dylan McGlynn Staff Writer news@oswegonian.com It took a bit longer than anticipated, but the SUNY Oswego Student Association has named its next president. Takayla Beckon, winner of SA’s special election, has been declared president of the Student Association for the 2021-22 academic year. Beckon received 90 votes in the special election, which was held from April 8-9. That total represented 62.07% of the overall tally, as Alanna Hill, the opposing candidate, received 37.93%. “First of all, I would love to thank everybody who helped me get here,” Beckon said. “I didn’t get here by myself. I got here because of the people who believed in me.” She said that, as president, her goals include “bringing a vibrant community within the new normal.” She also stated that she hopes to be a point of contact for the student body. “I feel like I can help the students in this position by being a resource,” Beckon said. “If the students need me, I’m there. But I’m also going to have projects of my own, projects with my team and with other faculty members.”
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Beckon said that she hopes to connect with alumni as well, as she desires to involve as many people as possible in her pursuit of “moving the community forward.” The special election was not the first time that the two candidates faced off, however. SA held its initial presidential election from March 1112, but voter participation among the SUNY Oswego student body was startlingly low. Only 79 votes were cast in the original election. That figure was a far cry from the election of 2020, which saw 848 students cast a vote. Even in 2020, 848 was considered low at the time. In the 2019 election, SA saw 1,498 votes in total. Due to the tremendously low turnout, it was decided that the results of the election were unsatisfactory. This led to the establishment of a special election, fronted by SA’s Supreme Court Chief Justice, Matthew O’Donnell. “79 people voted in total, and I didn’t like that number,” O’Donnell said. After meeting with SA President Lizeth Ortega-Ramirez and Vice President Asheem Calixte, it was decided that a special election should be held.
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