UBSPECTRUM.COM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017
FROM SA TO SCHUMER P.4
VOLUME 66 NO. 32
UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY P.4
BASEBALL SEASON PREVIEW P.8
BUGGIN’ OUT UB student reports cockroaches in Sweethome apartment SARAH CROWLEY SENIOR FEATURES EDITOR
Michael Juszczak saw cockroaches crawling inside his sink, over his stovetop and across his kitchen counter in his University Village at Sweethome apartment. Juszczak, a freshman finance major and member of the men’s soccer team, and his three roommates first noticed the cockroaches in October 2016. He and his roommates told Sweethome officials about the problem and an exterminator tried to get rid of the cockroaches with pest control spray. The cockroaches returned within a few months and are still present. Others in building four, where Juszczak lived, have also seen cockroaches but did not want to speak with The Spectrum. Juszczak is no longer living at the apartment, but still pays $679 a month because he cannot terminate the lease with American Campus Communities, the company that owns University Village at Sweethome. Em-
ployees at Sweethome were unable to comment because of company policies and referred all questions to their media contact, Gina Cowart. Cowart is out of the office for the week and did not answer in time for print. “I was hoping that over winter break they would take care of it, since no one’s living there and they have a month to do what they need to do,” Juszczak said. Juszcack checked for the cockroaches again earlier this month and saw they were still crawling around his apartment. He commutes every day from his parents’ home in Buffalo for his morning practice and classes. Juszcack’s roommates are from Sweden, Vancouver and Rochester, so they don’t have the option of living at home. All three of them still live in the Sweethome apartment. Juszczak said he spoke to an attorney for roughly three hours a week “dealing with the issue.” He has tried calling the Erie County Health Department to see if the building can be deemed “uninhabitable,” which he said would be his best chance at
ending the lease. Juszczak and his other roommates first asked to move to another American Campus Communities-owned property, like the Villas at Chestnut Ridge or the Villas on Rensch, but he said the process took too long. He said he has not dealt with the same person at American Campus Communities throughout the process. Juszczak spoke to an attorney at the Sub GRAPHIC BY PIERCE STRUDLER Board I, Inc. (SBI) Legal who told him to either “stop paying and see what they do” or take the matter to a small-claims court. John Sorgi, market development representative for Erlich Pest Control, has been involved with exterminating for eight years. Sorgi said cockroaches, like bedbugs, are considered “nuisance sanitation pests” and are not known for carrying diseases. “If you have anyone with breathing problems, then there’s something that could cause asthma or something... what they’re secreting in their fecal matter is what the problem is,” Sorgi said. “So in urban areas where you see more [cockroaches], you’ll have higher numbers of asthma or breathing problems in kids.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
Weber is the new Black Dr. Scott Weber discusses his transition into vice president of Student Life HANNAH STEIN SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
Dr. Scott Weber loves backcountry hiking and making gallons of his own maple syrup. He listens to Fleetwood Mac while rowing and plans to climb Mt. Vesuvius when he visits Italy this semester. But when Weber isn’t at the top of a mountain, he’s on campus. The Spectrum sat down with Weber in his Capen office full of family photos and artwork of inspirational quotes. Historical books on ancient Rome were stacked on his desk while he sipped a glass of soda. Weber, vice president of Student Life, discussed his transition into his new role and his plans for the university. He said he has always been “student centric” and he feels he is a natural fit for the job. But he said he still has “a lot to learn” in his position. Weber assumed his new position as vice president on Jan. 3. President Satish Tripathi offered the position to Weber once former vice president Dennis Black resigned after being investigated for hundreds of thousands of dollars of expenditures during his time at UB. Weber joined UB as faculty in 1983 and served as vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Education in 2010. He was later
ANGELA BARCA, THE SPECTRUM
Dr. Scott Weber sits in his Capen office. Weber sat down with The Spectrum to discuss his new role as vice president of Student Life.
promoted to senior vice provost for Academic Affairs. He said he wasn’t anticipating this job and has no set contract stating how long he will be in this position. Weber said he worked closely and had a “very good” relationship with Black. “We did a lot of work together and we had a lot of joint programs together, we met regularly, had lunch together regularly,” he said. “It was a pretty close, professional relationship.” Weber said he does not know Black’s current status. He emailed Black about his new position and Black wished him well.
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“I do think [Black] interacted extremely well with our students and I hope to be able to emulate that in this process,” Weber said. “I hope that students see me as an advocate for them as part of upper level administration and you’ll have to make the verdict later.” For many, Black was considered as the “face” of UB. Weber hopes to be “one of the faces” of UB, but he said Tripathi should be in the forefront.
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Parking problems persist Students say overcrowded campus is cause for lack of parking
SARAH CROWLEY SENIOR FEATURES EDITOR
Nick Pariso said the campus is significantly more crowded this year. The lines for food in the Student Union are longer, it’s difficult to walk the hallways without feeling cramped and on-campus housing is limited. But worst of all, he said, there are no parking spaces. Student parking is so limited that Pariso, a sophomore finance major, has paid more than $500 in parking citations over the last two years. He parks in faculty lots and carpool spaces and said if he were to look for spaces in student lots, he would be late to class. Jacob Sobilo, a sophomore electrical engineering major, said it might be because UB has the largest freshman class ever. UB admitted 3,995 freshmen this past fall, a 12 percent increase from 2015’s freshman class. The university has acknowledged students’ frustration with parking, but students feel the university should create more parking space. In 2015, there were 1,000 parking spots left at noon on Wednesdays – the campus’ busiest day – said Maria Wallace, director of Parking and Transportation. Her advice was for students to arrive to campus earlier. Pariso said he thinks the solution is to look into adding a parking garage or reduce restrictions for certain lots, rather than encourage students to live on-campus. “There’s not enough housing on-campus,” Pariso said. “When you have to subsidize housing at the Villas on Rensch for freshmen students because you don’t have enough room in Richmond, I mean come on, that is an issue.” Sobilo said he has also noticed limited space on campus. “On a whole, I just think it’s ridiculous that a state-funded university can’t accommodate parking for everyone,” Sobilo said. “This school just overcrowds in general – like dorms get bunk beds now, which is ridiculous. I’m 6’6”, 20-years old, I’m not sleeping in a bunk bed.” Alex Stojanovski, a junior engineering major, commutes from Lancaster and said the parking situation is “frustrating.” He’s never had a parking ticket, but he’s skipped class and gone home because he didn’t want to “deal with parking.” “The solution is a proper allocation of funds,” Stojanovski said. “We don’t need a painting on the side of Greiner Hall or Alumni before we take care of the bare necessities.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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