Summer Sessions 2014 Check out course offerings at myOswego.oswego.edu
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SAT Changes
College aptitude exam to undergo alterations
Registration begins March 17 Earn up to 14 Credits
oswego.edu/summer
Friday, April 4, 2014
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THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF OSWEGO STATE UNIVERSITY • www.oswegonian.com
VOLUME LXXX ISSUE VII
Fourth straight on-time budget for NYS Budget includes increased STEM, scholar funding; Pre-K program funds New York state legislators have passed their fourth consecutive on-time state budget under Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The budget appropriates $138 billion for the next fiscal year. Including a 5.3 percent increase in school aid. Schools with higher-need will receive 70 percent of the $1.1 billion allocated funds. Higher education will see a total of $102 million going to opportunity programs at SUNY, CUNY, private and independent colleges. More funding will
be provided for STEM, as a new scholarship program is created with $8 million in funding. The scholarship will go to the top ten percent of high school graduates pursuing STEM careers who will work in New York for five years. The property tax reforms will provide $1.5 billion in relief through a new property tax credit. According to Cuomo’s office, the plan is to give local governments a reason to share services to lower the cost on taxpayers.
The budget has come under fire, though, as for the third straight year students in the SUNY system will see a $300 tuition increase. The Albany TimesUnion wrote a staff editorial pointing out that despite this increase in costs for students, the state budget provides no more funding to SUNY’s core budget than it did in 2012-13. The budget passed on Monday and will be in effect for 2014 until April 1, 2015.
Lily Choi | The Oswegonian
Swear-ins mark beginning of new SA era First week in office includes appointments, 2 bills I think it is important to make people realize that SA
Luke Parsnow Asst. News Editor lparsnow@oswegonian.com
is a great outlet if you want to see something change on campus.”
- Tucker Sholtes, new president of SA
Obviously, I wish more people voted, but I’m hoping that in the next few years there will be a larger voter turnout.”
-Neely Laufer, new vice president of SA
Student launches bike-share program
Tucker Sholtes and Neely Laufer were sworn into office as the new president and vice president of Oswego State student association last Friday. Laufer led her first senate meeting Tuesday under the new position. Traditionally, the new SA president and vice president are sworn in on April 1, but the two were sworn in early due to problems in scheduling for both of them. President Sholtes was competing at the Enactus National Exposition in Cincinnati, Ohio this week, so he was unable to attend Tuesday evening’s senate meeting. Vice President Laufer assumed her role as president of the senate and led through the meeting’s progression. “I think everything went very well
[Tuesday] night,” Laufer said. “I was somewhat nervous to lead my first meeting, but I think it was a successful meeting. I’m very pleased that during my first meeting we could pass two bills.” Along with the two bills, the senate decided who would be the next chair of rules and judiciary, which was Laufer’s former position. Senator Jillian Kranz was unanimously elected to be the position and becomes the senate pro tempore. “I think that Neely did a great job for her first meeting as vice president,” Kranz said. “I think she was probably really nervous, like anyone would be, but she got up there and ran senate with no problems. I was really pumped to be voted chair of rules and judiciary by a unanimous vote. I was happy to see that my fellow senators agreed that I was the best for
See SA, A3
Students forgo sleep to fight cancer
Armed with 15 donor bikes, program hopes to take on campus sustainability Ryan Deffenbaugh Editor-in-Chief rdeffenbaugh@oswegonian.com
CONTENT
Oswego State announced through its website this week that it has launched a new bike-share program, called the SUNY Oswego Bike Share Program. The program, founded by Alex Elkins, a senior technology education major and sustainability minor, allows students to rent a bicycle for up to a semester at a time. It will also run workshops to teach students how to do maintenance and repairs on their bicycles. Elkins races mountain bikes and works in a mountain bike shop in Rochester, so he said working on the program was a natural fit. “I want to give people the opportunity to be self-sufficient,” Elkins said.
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The program currently has about 20 bikes and will run out of the basement of Hewitt Union. Several of the bikes were received through donations, as well as bicycles recovered by the University Police. UP often finds bikes left behind by students at the end of semesters, and puts the bikes in holding for 90 days before handing them over to the bikeshare program if unclaimed. The program is backed by the Facilities, Design and Construction office. Elkins was first approached by Jason MacLeod, the graduate assistant for the office, to start the program last year. Campus sustainability coordinators Jamie Adams and Mike Lotito helped the program get traction by finding a location for it and helping with other start-up duties. Adams said that developing a bike-share program has long been a goal of the sustainability office. A previous attempt, called
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Maximilian Principe | The Oswegonian
Campus Cruisers, had been launched years earlier, but ran into issues with students damaging or losing bikes. One particular incident ended up with a bicycle at the bottom of Glimmerglass Lagoon. “There was a certain lack of responsibility from the students,” Adams said. “It was a great idea that was just sort-of mismanaged.” Elkins said the new program aims to combat those problems by putting more personal responsibility on the student taking the bike. Students applying for bikes will have to fill out a safety waiver and sign an agreement of responsibility for losing or damaging the bike. The program is free to students for now, but Elkins said he’d like to add a security deposit that students can get back after returning the bike in good condition.
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Shinnell Burroughs | The Oswegonian
Relay for Life, an overnight fundrasing event, was held in the Campus Center Arena last Satuday, March 29. More than $29,000 was raised from the 600 participants. Check out the story on page A3 and go to Oswegonian.com for a photo gallery from the event.
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Tasigh Greenidge-James | The Oswegonian
WEB Maximilian Principe | The Oswegonian