A3 Oswego State planetarium entertains public with astronomy
Friday, Sept. 29, 2017 VOLUME LXXXVI ISSUE XIII SINCE 1935 www.oswegonian.com
Department of Education amends sexual misconduct rules in Title IX Alexander Gault-Plate News Editor aplate@oswegonian.com The federal Department of Education amended the laws that make up Title IX regarding sexual misconduct and how schools are required to investigate and discipline students involved. The new guidance, which is currently represented as a placeholder policy until Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos can design a permanent solution, requires a higher burden of proof against accused students, and allows schools to design their own methods of how the process is handled. One of the changes to the laws is in a footnote in the new guidance document sent to Title IX coordinators.
“The standard of evidence for evaluating a claim of sexual misconduct should be consistent with the standard the school applies in other student misconduct cases,” the new guidance document said. DeVos said she believes the process needs to be more equitable and fair to those accused of sexual misconduct. “This interim guidance will help schools as they work to combat sexual misconduct and will treat all students fairly,” DeVos said in a statement. The Department of Education also rescinded a document that set guidelines for Title IX under the Obama administration, commonly referred to as the “Dear Colleague letter,” as well as a series of
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Photo provided by Gage Skidmore via Flickr Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced changes to the Title IX laws on sexual misconduct investigations.
Blue Route bus catches fire None harmed as bus ignites near Onondaga Hall Alexander Gault-Plate News Editor aplate@oswegonian.com A Centro “Blue Route” bus caught fire on Monday morning on Iroquois Trail in front of Onondaga Hall. The bus, which had been running its usual route through campus, was carrying approximately 10 students when the engine compartment at the rear began smoking. The students and driver evacuated, and emergency services responded. Matthew Prawel, an Oswego State senior, was on the bus when it caught fire. “You could smell the burning and the bus immediately filled with smoke. We were all off immediately,” Prawel said. “You could taste it and everyone was coughing.” The cause of the fire was mechanical in nature, according to University Police Chief John Rossi, however, the fire is still undergoing investigation. “Everything was going as usual and then I heard this loud pop, and immediately I started smelling this terrible, burning-plastic type of smell,” said Kira Wilson, an Oswego State senior. Centro’s vice president for communications and business planning, Steven Koegel, said that, while this is not something anyone would want to happen, he was happy that the emergency procedures worked as they should.
Emma Hanlon | The Oswegonian The bus caught fire on Iroquois Trail at 10:55 a.m. Monday morning, prompting a response by emergency services.
“We’re just very fortunate this afternoon that everyone is safe,” Koegel said. The bus’s fire suppression system, which is meant to notify the driver of a potential fire and contain it if possible, activated at 10:55 a.m., and emergency services responded to a call made at the same time. The flames spread faster than the bus’s suppression system could handle, so the responding fire departments had to douse the flames with fire hoses. The bus was towed away after the flames were extinguished. The procedure for a bus catching
fire involves the driver quickly evacuating all riders off the bus and doublechecking the bus to ensure nobody remains onboard. According to those on the bus at the time, after it was made clear that something was wrong, riders were evacuated very quickly. According to Wilson, it took only about 10 to 20 seconds for everyone to be off of the bus after it began filling with smoke from the engine compartment. “We’re always concerned about the safety of our passengers,” Koegel said.
Oswego State begins process ALANA organizations hold annual march to increase diversity on campus Students marched down Bridge Street to promote unity Alexander Gault-Plate News Editor aplate@oswegonian.com
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Oswego State announced that Isiah Brown had been appointed to the position of Diversity and Inclusion Fellow as part of its Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Plan on Sept. 14. The Diversity and Inclusion Fellow is a new position at Oswego State to fit with the newly released Strategic Diversity and Inclusion Plan, which lays out goals between 2017 and 2022 to increase representation of diverse populations at Oswego State. The plan is available on the Office of Diversity webpage. “The objective of this plan is to provide a proactive, thoughtful and participatory approach to strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion
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throughout our college community,” said Oswego State President Deborah Stanley in the introduction to the plan. Brown said he sought the position because he has been involved with diversity throughout his career. “I thought that this would be an opportunity to take a dive into that area,” Brown said. The plan categorizes diversity along many different lines as well. It details how the fall 2016 incoming class had students from 14 other states and 18 different countries. That class also had 49.6 percent of its members from culturally diverse backgrounds. The document states that this is a 153 percent increase in diverse students from 10 years prior. The Diversity and Inclusion Plan
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Alexander Simone Staff writer news@oswegonian.com Anyone traversing Bridge Street, Downtown Oswego at 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 was met with the single, unified sound of the seventh annual African, Latino, Asian and Native American Peace Walk. This was appropriate, since “unity” was the theme of the day and ALANA Week as a whole. The goal was not just to forge relationships within the organizers of the event, the Black Student Union and the Latino Student Union, said Elaine Flowers, the former president of BSU. The broader goal was to increase the bond between the organizations, ALANA and the entire campus community. “We [make] it known that we’re very inclusive,” said Flowers, now a graduate
student at Oswego State. “Even though we’re called the Black Student Union, we’re not just only for black people.” In the two-plus years she has worked on the ALANA project, involvement has increased steadily, Flowers said.
“The crowd keeps growing. The support keeps growing,” Flowers said. “Everything is more organized. The little things just keep increasing.” Magdalena Rivera, student involvement
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Alexander Simone | The Oswegonian Students from multiple ALANA organizations marched down Bridge Street towards campus, with a police escort.
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