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Friday, Oct. 18, 2019 VOLUME LXXXIV ISSUE XVI SINCE 1935 www.oswegonian.com
City of Oswego pollution proposal to ban public vaping, styrofoam
Preacher disrupts campus Crowd forms, University Police responds Alexander Gault-Plate, Ben Grieco, Julia Tilley, Stephen Novak
news@oswegonian.com
Sierra Davis | The Oswegonian Vaping is one of the bans being proposed in the city of Oswego, along with smoking.
Peter Wendler Staff Writer news@oswegonian.com
CONTENT
Mayor Billy Barlow and the common council of the city of Oswego are moving forward with plans to ban styrofoam containers and restrict the public use of tobacco and vaping in the Port City. The proposed bans will attempt to decrease pollution levels and make public areas more accessible to citizens. The proposal, known as the “Keep Oswego Clean Initiative” bans “the use of expanded polystyrene containers,” in the city of Oswego, as well as, “cigarettes, cigars, pipes or any form of tobacco products in or on any city-owned parks, beaches, pools, recreation centers, playgrounds, outdoor sporting arenas, outdoor stages, parking garages or the sidewalks immediately adjoining the parks outdoor recreation areas, parking garages and public places.” Barlow, who proposed the initiative, said the new laws will “protect our environment by preventing litter, eliminating smoking from public spaces and city events.” Barlow feels litter, and more specifically
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smoking, inhibits people’s ability to enjoy public spaces. “As a waterfront community, I believe we have an even greater responsibility to be environmentally conscious and protective,” Barlow said. Under the proposed laws, any business that serves its customers products in styrofoam containers would be fined “not more than $100 for a first violation,” and “a fine not exceeding $200 for a subsequent violation.” Styrofoam was banned particularly because it was found to be “a significant portion of the trash polluting local waterways.” Violators of the proposed smoking and vaping ban will be fined $100 to $150 for their first offense and up to $200 if caught in violation a second time. If a smoker is caught violating the initiative three times they could face fines of up to $250 and “imprisonment of not more than 15 days.” Businesses and Oswego State students had different views on the styrofoam ban. Dunkin Donuts employees were unpleasantly surprised by the change. Employees from the restau-
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On Wednesday, Oct. 16 traveling preacher and YouTuber Jesse Morrell brought his sermon to the Oswego State campus. Speaking from the Hewitt quad in the center of campus, Morrell’s speech amassed a crowd of students, many who responded negatively to the preacher, resulting in an intervention from University Police after half of an hour. Provocation reportedly started when Morrell saw Jade Laplante and Sarah Novak, two women who are in a same-sex relationship, kiss in front of him, which drew his resentment. Laplante is a junior Human Development major, and she says that Morrell targeted them when he noticed they were walking while holding each other’s hands. Laplante said that Morrell yelled “You better be sisters or good friends,” which she and her girlfriend responded to by kissing.
He began to shout at them more, enraging both Laplante and Novak, who turned to leave. Morrell began to step towards them. That was when Ariel Gutman-Gates, a friend of Laplante and Novak, saw what was happening and began yelling back at Morrell. “Ariel is sort of a hothead sometimes, so he charged towards this guy and starts yelling at him,” Laplante said. “A crowd started forming because of the argument.” The crowd formed and began to shout over Morrell, limiting his ability to speak and causing an onlooker to call University Police. Gutman-Gates approached Morrell at various points throughout his sermon, trying to persuade him to leave the campus. “It started off really small, then he started screaming more and more, then I got more combative with him in the sense that I didn’t want anyone else getting involved with the guy,” Gutman-Gace said. “I know I can control myself, I’m not going to touch the guy, but I don’t
know about other people.” University Police responded to the crowd after an onlooker called them, and officers eventually asked Morrell to get the appropriate permits or he would be unable to continue his demonstration. “We received a complaint that there was a ministry person in the quad and we went there to see if he had the permits to be there,” said University Police chief John Rossi. Morrell did not have a permit from Campus Life, so he was asked by UP to either leave or go the Campus Life center in order to receive the permits required. Campus Life has a minimum processing period of three days for any permit requests, so Morrell was unable to continue speaking on Wednesday. Laplante and Novak both said that they felt that UP did more to help Morrell than they did to help them. “They could have told him that he needed a free speech permit to speak here and left it at that,” Laplante said.
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Ben Grieco | The Oswegonian Traveling preacher Jesse Morrell’s words were combatted by an impromptu protest, where students banded together to show support.
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