Suggested increase of security cameras prompts privacy concerns

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The Campus Personal Safety Committee is discussing the possibility of increasing security camera usage across the campus. Currently, cameras are installed when the University Police Department believes there is a need for them, such as after a swastika was drawn on the gazebo. (Annalee Bainnson/Assoc. Photo Editor)

The Campus Personal Safety Committee is looking to install more cameras across Geneseo to improve security. Students and faculty are concerned about the impact such an initiative will have on campus life. 

The implementation of increased cameras has repeatedly been discussed during committee meetings, according to University Police Chief Thomas Kilcullen. The college currently deploys multiple overt and covert surveillance cameras, according to the Campus Personal Safety Committee Surveillance Camera Audit for 2015-16. Kilcullen said that the department has four covert cameras and does not deploy overt cameras. 

The University Police Department places cameras around campus on an ad-hoc basis when they are believed to help solve a case or in response to an individual’s expressed safety concern. Depending on the nature of the case, UPD will decide to alert the public through signage that a camera is present unless they deem conducting a covert operation is necessary. 

UPD has used cameras in the past to protect individuals from being victimized and in bias or hate related circumstances, Kilcullen said. After a swastika was drawn on the gazebo, for example, UPD placed a camera nearby the structure in hopes of catching the offender. 

Cameras were also used in Niagara Hall during the 2014-15 academic year after an individual pulled a fire alarm when there was no emergency. The Campus Personal Safety Committee has asked to use cameras due to the damage and theft from vending machines as well.

Kilcullen believes that if cameras were permanently placed around campus, they could aid in the department’s criminal investigations by documenting the exact time in which an incident occurred. Additionally, Kilcullen said that permanent cameras would deter crime on campus—citing SUNY Cortland as a campus where cameras have been effective in this regard—in addition to providing more eyes around the college. 

“For the police department, it’s a force multiplier,” Kilcullen said. “You have more eyes out within the community, and the cameras don’t take a day off or a vacation. You can’t expect a human to work 24/7, 365 days a year, so I see a lot of benefits.”  

Dean of Students and Director of the Center for Community Leonard Sancilio said that he believes the college has not prioritized the issue of security cameras in the past due to the campus’s safe environment.

“Because we’re a small liberal arts college and because of the community we’ve established, the need for cameras was never seen to be that important,” Sancilio said. “And I say that because we’re one of the last, if not the last, campuses that armed their police. So I think that there’s just that historical culture of Geneseo being that safe community where certain things aren’t needed.”

Student Association President senior Michael Baranowski is unsure how effective increased cameras on campus would be in preventing individuals from committing crimes. In addition, Baranowski is concerned about the balance between maintaining student privacy and keeping the campus safe.  

“We should be able to walk around campus not worrying that someone’s going to be watching our every move, and we should feel free to act as individuals,” Baranowski said. “At the same time, with this rise in bias related incidents, is it more protective for the students to have these cameras up? I would say yes.”

Vice President for Student and Campus Life Robert Bonfiglio is concerned about the potential implications that would arise if the college increased its camera usage. 

“It’s my personal opinion that community is a very strong value here, and communities are built when trust exists,” Bonfiglio said. “I’m not sure whether or not the presence of cameras on campus would impede the development of trust or not.”

Bonfiglio added that Geneseo wants to build socially responsible students and he hopes students feel comfortable coming forward and alerting the administration and UPD if they see something suspicious. Physics major sophomore Kaila McKiernan said that some students may not feel comfortable reporting on their peers, and the use of cameras could be an effective alternative method for gathering information.

“In an ideal world, people would report what they see, but a lot of the time if it’s one of their fellow students, peers or someone they know, they might feel uncomfortable going to the police, and that’s where these cameras can help,” McKiernan said.

Governor’s office cuts funding for EOP, prompting restorative efforts

Over $5 million from the New York State Educational Opportunity Program’s funding has been cut in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s current budget plan. 

EOPs are state-run programs that provide higher education opportunities to students who have faced adversity while in high school, influencing their academic performance. SUNY’s EOP program specifically focuses on helping residents of New York State—who have not necessarily satisfied all of the general admission requirements due to various economic circumstances—earn a degree from one of its institutions. 

Services provided by Geneseo’s EOP department include available counselors, stipends to help pay for textbooks, summer programs to acclimate students to the college and available tutorial programs. Geneseo currently has 163 students participating in its EOP.

SUNY Student Assembly Director of Legislative Affairs Rey Muniz III, who works to create connections between the Student Assembly and government officials, said in a phone interview that he believes funding will be restored to EOP during budget negotiations with the Governor’s Office, the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate. Muniz said the Governor’s Office cut EOP funding as a leverage technique to be used when negotiating with these legislative bodies.

“I think that the governor has every expectation that the legislature will restore those funds, and I hope add funds to the overall EOP program,” Muniz said. “What, in particular, those funds are designed to leverage could be any sort of thing.”

Assistant Director for Geneseo’s Access Opportunities Programs Gabriel Iturbides said in a phone interview that students in EOP and those who work for EOP have had to consistently fight for funding to be restored. Iturbides said that this year Geneseo hopes to bring 45-50 students to Albany to speak with legislatures who support and do not support increased funding for EOP. 

“We feel pretty confident that it will be raised a little bit,” Iturbides said. “I think a lot of it has to do with the Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie, who has been probably the biggest supporter of our program as of late … it’s a program I know he holds close to his heart.”

In a public statement provided in an email, Heastie states that EOP is one of his priorities because it has allowed talented students to pursue a college education and to join the middle class. 

“It is essential that we maintain our historic investments in opportunity programs so that everyone who wants to go to college has the chance to do so,” Heastie said. 

Student Association President senior Michael Baranowski expressed concern about the impact such cuts will have on the college if funds are not restored. 

“The program itself provides a lot for students who have been disadvantaged throughout high school,” Baranowski said. “To take it away means that some people are not going to have opportunities to come to Geneseo anymore and that’s not something that the state should be interested in.” 

Iturbides said he will continue to fight for increased funding for EOP because the program enhances the college campus and the state, as students who become successful often remain in New York State and become tax payers themselves. 

Muniz echoed this sentiment and explained that the Student Assembly will also continue to advocate for funding for EOP because of the opportunities it provides for accomplished students.

“Not only are these folks coming from at-risk situations at home, not only are these people generally individuals who would not have been able to afford higher education otherwise, but they’re graduating at higher rates than their peers and their GPAs are higher on average than their peers,” Muniz said. “This program helps a group of folks who really need it and we absolutely are going to do everything we can to ensure that we not only see a restoration of the program, but that we see an overall increase in funding.”

New York State should reform solitary confinement laws

Solitary confinement is an unfortunately common method of punishment in the United States’ prison system. Such a form of punishment is particularly harsh in New York State due to the lack of legislation dictating how long someone can be held in solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is unequally distributed among the prison population and often leads inmates to experience detrimental psychological effects. Reforming solitary confinement in New York will help reduce inequality in prisons and improve prisoners’ mental health.

Individuals in solitary confinement spend 22-24 hours each day locked in a cell the size of an elevator, either alone or with another person, according to the New York Campaign for Alternatives to Isolated Confinement. Those held in solitary confinement are typically allowed one or two hours of exercise alone and are not allowed to participate in prison programs, receive therapy treatment or have phone privileges.

Prisons often disguise the practice of solitary confinement by using different terms to describe the same practice, such as segregation or restrictive housing. Prisons that implement solitary confinement do so disproportionately among inmates.

Inmates with untreated mental diseases, inmates who are Muslim or those who have reported rape or abuse by prison officials are often held in solitary confinement. Transgender individuals are also placed in isolated confinement for their own protection to deter harassment in prisons

Such a practice, however, can result in a severe psychological toll on an already vulnerable group of individuals. Transgender advocates explain that putting someone in solitary confinement can cause increased risks of suicide or self-harm among transgender inmates.

In addition, placing transgender inmates in isolated confinement could increase the cases of sexual assault. Nearly half––49 percent—of the sexual misconduct cases reported in prisons are initiated by staff members, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2009-2011 study. An increased surveillance of inmates by the very individuals likely to commit sexual harassment or assault is not beneficial or safe for transgender inmates.

Isolated confinement can also cause severe psychological damage, largely due to a lack of human interaction. Such notable effects of remaining in solitary confinement include hallucinations, panic attacks, paranoia, violent fantasies and increased rates of suicide.

NYCAIC noted that from 2014-15, 40 percent of suicides in NYS occurred in solitary; however, only 9 percent of individuals in prison are housed in solitary confinement. These extreme psychological ramifications poignantly demonstrate why this practice in prisons should be reformed immediately.

In order to make such reforms, NYS should adopt the standards created in 2010 by the American Bar Association, which describe specific methods of reform related to solitary confinement. Such reforms include evaluating which prisoners are placed in isolated confinement, restricting how long someone can be held in isolated confinement and monitoring inmates in order to prevent detrimental mental health effects from occurring.

In order to implement such a change, students need to become better versed in this issue. After tabling in the MacVittie College Union and speaking with students about the conditions of solitary confinement for a class on mass incarceration—HONR 207, The Morality and Politics of Mass Incarceration in the Black Lives Matter/Orange is the New Black Moment—my group and I found that most students were unaware of the terrible conditions and effects that inmates in solitary confinement suffer.

I urge the Geneseo student body to conduct research about this issue and to try to implement change in NYS to reform the conditions of solitary confinement. Whether such a change comes from signing a petition demanding that Gov. Cuomo change state laws, volunteering for organizations such as the ABA or becoming more involved in local politics, any step will help raise more awareness about this issue.

Every individual has the right to be treated equally and to live in an environment with conditions that promote positive physical and mental health—including prisoners—and students have the responsibility to advocate for these affected inmates who lack a voice in our government.

Smith donates presidential papers, letters to college

Senior lecturer in English at the University of Rochester and former presidential speech writer for George H.W. Bush Curt Smith ’73 will donate copies of presidential speeches, letters and other materials related to his work as a speech writer for Bush as well as manuscripts and papers pertinent to the 17 books he has written and other documents that were useful during his career. These various documents will be available for student use and will be stored in the Archives and Special Collections Display located in Milne Library, according to Special Collections and Reference Librarian Elizabeth Argentieri.

Students will gain a lot from interacting with these historical documents, according to Director of Special Development John Linfoot.

“It’s an opportunity to see something that is not necessarily in the daily public domain. Here’s a person who was closely involved in President Bush’s White House, and there’s a lot to be said of how anybody in public office communicates with the public,” he said. “When a person helps frame the message or communication of the president, that’s important.”

While working for President Bush, Smith explained in a phone interview that he focused on writing speeches that were not overwhelmed with facts and statistics, but instead used more stories and anecdotes to convey specific messages.

“We’re human beings. We communicate story to story and so this is how we relate,” he said. “So I always try to make my speeches anecdotally heavy as opposed to fact heavy.”

Smith said he was most proud of the speeches he wrote that moved Bush emotionally.

“The ones that I’m proudest of were the ones that moved him the most,” Smith said. “And I could always tell which one moved him, because they were the ones that moved him emotionally, moved him to tears.”

Smith explained that one of his favorite speeches he wrote for Bush was given in honor of the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

“Almost three times in that speech, if you look at the tape now, Bush came very close to the edge of really starting to cry, but he came back, and it was very difficult for him,” Smith said. “But the point is, he did get through. And it was in many ways his most impressive speech.”

Smith also had the opportunity to work with past speech writers for former presidents and said he learned a lot from these individuals that helped him while working in this position.

Smith has given back to Geneseo in many ways, according to Linfoot. Smith donated several of his books to Milne Library and also supports two scholarships. One scholarship is the Howard and Helen Smith Memorial Annual Scholarship, which honors his grandparents and is given to a student from Wyoming County who is dedicated, self-disciplined and has a desire to learn. The second scholarship is Mel Allen Annual Scholarship in Communication, which is given to a student who requires financial support and participates in communication activities outside of the classroom.

Smith explained that his studies at Geneseo inside and outside the classroom have taught him valuable life lessons.

“I found that at Geneseo I could learn a great deal in classes, but also a great deal, perhaps even more, outside of classes,” he said. “The atmosphere at Geneseo encourages learning for yourself and to be ambitious and to see how far you can push yourself in the respective field of your choice. I was able to do things perhaps that I wouldn’t have been able to do at a larger school.”

Discriminatory acts spur investigation by University, New York State Police

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The campus community has experienced multiple incidents of discrimination following the presidential election, including swastika graffiti in Nassau Residence Hall, offensive text messages and voicemails that were received by students and inappropriate messages found in the key-card access labs of the Geography Department. President Battles held a discussion called “Campus Convening” on Wednesday Nov. 16 to discuss the college’s values and how such offenses are not tolerated.

Geneseo has seen an increase in incidents deemed discriminatory, prompting a response from campus administrators and an investigation by the University Police Department and New York State Police. The first episode occurred on campus after a Residence Assistant reported graffiti in a Nassau Residence Hall common area, which included a Swastika with the word “Trump!” written underneath it. The University Police Department, New York State Police and the State Division of Human Rights are still investigating the graffiti incident and have not determined whether it constitutes a hate crime, according to Chief of the University Police Department Thomas Kilcullen.

“SUNY Geneseo’s police are taking the lead on this investigation, with some assistance from New York State Police and the State Division of Human Rights. The resources that the state has contributed to the investigation indicates the governor is serious about dealing with the situation,” Kilcullen said. “There are campus police investigating the situation by talking to people and figuring out what happened. We have a tip line for students to call in if they have any information or see anything else happen.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo started to create a toll-free hotline on Wednesday Nov. 16 so that discrimination cases can be reported, according to an article in the Livingston County News.

New York State considers the swastika a symbol of hate and its placement in a public area is a crime, according to Vice President for Student and Campus Life Robert Bonfiglio.

“To draw a swastika in a public place like that is a crime in New York State. That doesn’t fall under the hate crimes law—that falls under a different law in New York State,” he said. “To prove something is a hate crime, you have to prove that the crime was committed against a particular person and it was committed against a particular person because of who they are. That’s what the police are investigating.”

The college and University Police Department did not initially break the news of the graffiti incident to the public, according to Bonfiglio. The Livingston County News contacted the college asking for a statement from the administration, and the college is unaware where the news source originally received their information, Bonfiglio added.

Further discriminatory cases on campus include offensive text and voicemail messages that have been sent to students, which refer to these individuals’ race and religion, as well as the occurrence of inappropriate post-election incidents in the Geography Department’s key-card access labs.

The inappropriate text and voicemail messages are not believed to be connected with the swastika incident, according to Kilcullen.

Bonfiglio believes the election climate may have caused some students to feel unsafe on campus.

“I think that there were some things that were said during the election campaign by both candidates that people found troubling, but certainly some individuals feel that one of the candidates made statements that made them feel particularly personally vulnerable,” Bonfiglio said. “I think that you can be supportive of a candidate and ignore those kinds of statements or you can take those kinds of statements very seriously and very personally, and so there is a certain accountability that comes from making statements like that. People have to be prepared to be held accountable for those.”

Battles, cabinet members and student campus leaders hosted a Campus Convening event on Wednesday Nov. 16 in order to discuss the swastika graffiti and inappropriate phone calls and voicemails, as well as to reaffirm the college’s values.

Battles began the discussion by condemning the swastika graffiti.

“This is a deeply offensive act, one that is an affront to our value of inclusivity in which we work hard at fostering a diverse campus community that is marked by mutual respect for the unique talents and contributions of each individual,” Battles said. “I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, this senseless act, which runs completely counter to the core values and welcoming environment of Geneseo’s inclusive community.”

President of the Student Association senior Michael Baranowski urged event attendees to reflect on the discriminatory actions and to stand together as a community.

“We must hold our heads up against such injustice, and then with the eyes of millions upon us, we will change the narrative and show them what Geneseo really stands for,” he said. “Show them the community, family and home each and every one of us knows Geneseo to be. Take a stand against injustice, continue this open and understanding dialogue and remember that we are a part of the same family.”

Editor-in-Chief Emma Bixler and Associate News Editor Malachy Dempsey contributed reporting to this article.

Election results prompt mixed response from campus community

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Republican nominee Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Pence won the 2016 presidential election. Republicans also now have control over both bodies of Congress. Students, faculty and staff reacted differently to the election outcome. Some members of the campus are glad more Geneseo students exercised their right to vote, while others question the role millennials had in this election. (AP Photo/John Locher)

As election results were announced in the early hours of Wednesday Nov. 9, Geneseo students, staff and faculty responded to the outcome and assessed the impact of student voter turnout with mixed emotions. Donald Trump and running mate Gov. Mike Pence won the United States’ presidential election, and Republicans now have control over the House as well as the Senate.

In Livingston County’s local elections, Greg McCaffrey was re-elected into Livingston County’s district attorney’s office, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer won in New York and Republican Congressman Chris Collins won in New York. In addition, Republican Charles A. Schiano won a seat on the State Supreme Court, Republican Catharine M. Young won the 57th Senate District seat, Republican Patrick M. Gallivan won the 59th State Senate District seat and Republican Joe Errigo won the 133rd Assembly District election.

Members of Geneseo faculty and staff supported widespread student participation in the election, despite some of their criticisms in the U.S. voting system.

Associate Dean of Leadership and Service and Campus Voter Registration Coordinator Thomas Matthews commented on the Geneseo Taskforce of Voter Registration and Engagement’s initiative to increase voter registration among Geneseo students in order to encourage civic engagement.

“It’s a bigger issue about students becoming active in their community as citizens of our democracy,” Matthews said. “For all its bad points, it’s still what we have as a way of life and we hope that students are going to make the changes that are needed.”

One thousand two hundred and five individuals were registered as on-campus voters this year and 984 students showed up to on-campus polling, according to the Voter Taskforce.

The college has become much more outspoken about promoting civic engagement, according to adjunct lecturer in English and Languages and Literatures Wes Kennison ‘79. Students are also becoming more involved in local politics than they have in the past, especially due to the controversy over the Social Host Law, Kennison added.

“Students would complain to me about that, and I would simply say, ‘If you feel aggrieved, then you do exactly what people have always done: register to vote, run for office, get involved,’” he said. “The thing about Geneseo students now is that you guys are actually organized well enough to do that. In my era, we would think that was a really good idea and then not quite get around to it.”

Assistant professor of English Gillian Paku, who moved to America from New Zealand 17 years ago, spoke about the difference between the U.S. Electoral College system and New Zealand’s proportional voting system.

“Whether or not you actually form a coalition, if you’re in a government made up of proportional representation, the assumption is that you are going to have to respect other views,” Paku said. “Here, I think it’s astonishing—given the size of the population and the range of lifestyles that people are living—that it all comes down to a choice of two and the whole thing is win or lose. I think it pushes the political rhetoric to the extremes because the sound bites in the headlines play better if they’re extreme.”

Paku emphasized the importance of civic engagement despite the limited choices available in the U.S. presidential elections.

“Across the country, I think it’s really important that students appear to have shown up and, whichever way it was, that they cared,” she said. “The fact that they cared means that their concerns will be listened to more than if they didn’t vote. I’m super excited for any student to get out there and exercise their right.”

Geneseo’s international students also criticized the U.S. party system. The small number of parties cause less representation, according to international student English and Arabic double major junior at Paul Valery University in France Lucia Gonzalez.

“The electoral system is really different. For example, here you only have a two party system. There’s a third party, but it’s clearly a minority,” Gonzalez said. “Whereas in Spain, for example, there are a lot of parties, and I think that they represent more different concerns of the people. You have a right wing party and also a left wing. But then you have more variance.”

Gonzalez also commented on how the U.S. electoral system may discourage some individuals from voting because they are not voting directly for a candidate. Gonzalez stressed the importance of participating in elections, however, despite this aspect of our voting system.

“I think that voting is really important. First, I come from a country where you couldn’t vote because we had a dictatorship until 1975,” she said. “People died for our rights to vote, so we have to use it right. In the U.S., you only have to vote once every four years—it’s not really a strong [responsibility] that we have to do. And I think that it’s a right that we have to try to express.”

President of Geneseo College Democrats senior Kelsey Van Etten said that she and fellow club members were shocked by the results of the presidential election. Van Etten added that she is unsure the millennial vote impacted the election significantly.

“I know that millennials in general did go out and vote … I’m not sure that it was enough of an impact to cancel out the older generation,” Van Etten said. “I hope that they had some sort of an impact.”

If millennials solely voted, Clinton would have won easily, according to an article published online at Bloomberg.com. The article goes on to say that not enough millennials voted in swing states, causing Trump to win the majority of votes in those states.

In regard to the local election, Van Etten believes that students did not focus on local politics as much as national politics. This is consistent with past elections, she added.

“I always find that students and millennials don’t really know a lot about local politics,” she said. “They focus on the [presidential candidates] and they don’t really focus on the congressmen or the locals or anything.”

President of the Geneseo College Republicans senior Adam Dohrenwend does not believe that the outcome of this election will have any significant impact in individuals’ private lives.

“I don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference in our personal lives. I think people get really worked up,” he said. Dohrenwend went on to express his discontent with Trump’s rhetoric, calling it “shameful.”

“I think a lot of the things he said are indicative of an unfortunate part of our history and our populous,” he said.

International relations major junior Holly Drasser believes that Trump’s presidency will have a positive impact on the country.

“I really believe that his thought process, just because he’s a businessman, is going to help the economy,” Drasser said in a phone interview. “We have always had a history of having a politician be the president of the United States, and I think that having a different view on things and having his experience and career in the economy and in the financial system is a benefit.”

Communication major senior Nick Wood believes that Trump’s presidency will reflect racist and xenophobic values. He hopes U.S. citizens unite after this election and show respect for one another.

“We’re still a country of people who want to be part of the world and respect people,” he said. “So the best thing we can do is to keep showing that—keep showing respect for people, stand behind people, stand behind each other, keep preaching love instead of hate and open your mind.”

Editor-in-Chief Emma Bixler, Managing Editor Nicole Sheldon and Associate News Editor Malachy Dempsey contributed reporting to this article.

Open Student Forums provide feedback for Director of New Student Programs

The Search Committee for the new Director of New Student Programs held Open Student Forums for the position’s final four candidates over the past two weeks. The position is supervised under the Dean of Academic Planning and Advising and is responsible for preparing the college’s orientation program, directing students to resources on campus and planning activities with other departments.

Many students who attended these forums served as Orientation Advisors or will serve as Student Orientation Coordinators, according to search committee member senior Andrew Arcese.

The first student forum was held on Oct. 26 for candidate Andrew Fulton. Fulton spoke about his experiences as the Associate Director for the Office of Student Activities at Manhattanville College, including his “work with commuter students, planning opportunities for students to explore the surrounding area and supporting activities that encourage student growth outside of the classroom.”

Students also asked Fulton questions at the forum. One student asked specifically about his ideal office environment.

“I want to help make a friendly environment. But a lot of it is me asking student employees for their point of view, because you all know what your peers are going to like much more than what I will, as much as I like thinking I’m that young,” he said.

At the second student forum on Oct. 27, candidate Karen Violanti asked questions to student attendees to get to know the Geneseo campus climate. She asked attendees what first year students do in order to effectively adjust to the college environment. Arcese commented that first year students often struggle with homesickness and suggested that staying longer at Geneseo can help overcome this condition.

“I’m an RA and a lot of my students have dealt with [homesickness] and my advice usually is to actually stay here more, instead of going home for a weekend or for fall break,” he said. “I didn’t go home, I just stayed and tried to force myself to acclimate, and it worked for me. I just always think of that and tell students that—if you’re struggling—you have to stop thinking about home.”

“You can also think of a place where you have two homes. That’s kind of a cool place to get to,” Violanti added.

The third student forum was held on Tuesday Nov. 1 for candidate Katie Buckley. Buckley spoke about her experience as a Residence Coordinator at the Center for Residence Life at Rochester Institute of Technology as well as her experience in providing academic support as the First-year Experience Coordinator at the Office of Student Retention at SUNY Brockport.

“When students start to freak out and the midterm grades come in, they don’t know what to do and they don’t want to talk to faculty,” Buckley said. “Typically, [my office will] be a safe space where they can come and talk about their grades. And we’ll have the tough conversations—like this major may not be the major for you—and so on and so forth.”

Orientation Advisor sophomore Emilios Papas asked Buckley about her thoughts on having the Office of New Student Programs become involved in other areas of the campus besides orientation. Buckley responded by suggesting Orientation Advisors become more involved in residence halls and talk to students in order to prepare them for midterms.

The final student forum was held on Wednesday Nov. 2 for candidate Hannah Ramsey. Prior to applying for the job at Geneseo, Ramsey worked in various orientation positions for various schools in the area. Ramsey was involved in the NODA organization, which focuses on orientation and transition of new students into colleges and universities.

At the forum, Student Orientation Coordinator junior Mary Panzetta asked Ramsey what she would do to assist transfer students. Ramsey suggested to not force social interactions with new students in new environments.

“I think the trick that I’ve learned is to be a little bit more relaxed and not forcing social interactions. A ‘coffee house vibe’ has been really successful,” Ramsey said.

The Search Committee for the new Director of New Student Programs will decide who will be elected to this position as soon as possible. They are looking for someone willing to engage with Geneseo students, according to Arcese.

“We are looking for a candidate who has done orientation before and understands what it’s about,” Arcese said. “Obviously, if they’re not from Geneseo, they don’t exactly know the Geneseo student body, but we’re looking for a candidate who would be able to get to know the student body and tailor to our needs.”u

Associate News Editor Malachy Dempsey, Assistant News Editor Mike Powers and Assistant News Editor Zainab Tahir contributed reporting to this article.

Black Lives Matter Panel discusses Civil Rights, Black Lives Matter movement

The Department of History held a forum called “Black Lives Matter Panel: an Intergenerational Panel on 50 Years of Struggle,” on Tuesday Oct. 25 to discuss the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter movement. Members of the panel included Rochester native, Black Lives Matter activist and member of Building Leadership and Community Knowledge in Rochester Chanel Anita Snead; Mississippi native, field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and life-long activist Dorie Ann Ladner and Mississippi native, field secretary for SNCC and organizer for the Birmingham Campaign Colia L. Liddell Lafayette Clark.

Professor of history Emilye Crosby facilitated the discussion and first asked the panelists how they each became activists.

Ladner became involved in the Civil Rights Movement after she saw the photograph of Emmett Louis Till, an African American who was killed for allegedly flirting with a white woman at the age of 14.

“I saw a photograph, and they say a picture is worth a thousand words,” Ladner said. “Once I saw that photograph, I started on my journey to justice,”

Ladner added that her family played a significant role in her becoming an advocate for black rights.

“I had been trained in my home to stand up for my rights by my mother and her family. And my mamma’s family were very independent people in Mississippi,” she said. “My mother instilled in us to stand up for justice when we were small kids, not to let anybody—white or black—harass us or torture us or do anything to make us feel belittled.”

Clark’s family influenced her activism because she “grew up in this household of people who were fresh out of slavery.”

“I am a natural person to come into the movement like Dorie because my experiences, not just my lived experiences, but my oral traditions, my culture, all built me,” Clark said.

Snead became involved in the Black Lives Matter movement after she heard of Michael Brown’s death in August 2014.

“I was moving through life thinking I was on the right track, that I would work hard and get what I needed to get. I didn’t realize that there was so much struggle happening everywhere around me,” Snead said. “I made a decision to put myself in it. I made a decision to use my privilege to fight for other people.”

The panelists were also asked to give advice to the younger generation on how to advocate for black lives effectively. Ladner stressed the importance that youths have in raising awareness and protesting.

“Youths, young people and young ideas are very important because, as you can see in our waning years—with wear and tear physically and emotionally—we have been through a lot,” Ladner said. “We keep doing whatever we can. But young people are born to create revolutions and keep them going. The future is always in the young people.”

Attendees had the opportunity to ask questions during the panel discussion as well. Students asked the panelists whether there was a more effective method of activism and how to consolidate peaceful and violent activist methods.

Snead explained that organizations that support the Black Lives Matter movement vary in regard to their goals and methods because of the multiple ways racism impacts the black community.

“I think that there’s going to be many organizations that have many different goals because white supremacy and racism is coming at the black community from all angles,” she said. “I think that there needs to be unity with those goals … but there’s still going to be multiple organizations and multiple barriers.”

Clark closed the discussion by urging Geneseo students to take part in advocating for black lives.

“You people on campus have got to understand that you live in a world of change and it will not be a white one. You better damn sure get together and work it out,” she said. “This is not a time to play; it is a time for you to set that extra time aside, begin to set up work study groups, coming together to try and find out what is this nation.”

Staff writer Maya Lucyshyn contributed reporting to this article.

Three students arrested in marijuana bust valued at $30K

The Geneseo Police Department arrested four individuals for trafficking marijuana in Livingston County on Tuesday Oct. 25. More than 8 lbs of marijuana were confiscated, an estimated value of over $30,000. Three of the individuals arrested are Geneseo students.

The students who were arrested include junior Ada Song, junior Ryan Lum and senior Tyler Vandyke. Ze Hoa Lin was also arrested, and is believed to be an acquaintance of one or more of the students, Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty said in a phone interview. All of the individuals have been charged with Felony Criminal Possession of Marijuana in the 2nd Degree and class A misdemeanor Conspiracy in the 5th Degree.

“The conspiracy charge means that you agreed to do something or had a part in the action involved. So all four of these individuals were charged because they had knowledge that this was going to occur and they had some part in the action,” Dougherty said. “The felony charge for the possession comes from the weight of the marijuana. So the felony is the most serious of the two charges.”

Vandyke is suspected to be involved in the conspiracy to a lesser degree, Village of Geneseo Police Chief Eric Osganian said in a phone interview.

The United States Postal Inspection Service alerted the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office last week that three suspicious packages were being sent from California to Geneseo, which prompted a week-long investigation. The agency decided to check the packages because of their scent.

As a result, the Livingston County Drug Task Force carried out a search warrant at 21 Orchard St. and found $10,450 in U.S. currency and $2,925 in Canadian currency. The Task Force is still investigating the connections that the defendants have with California and Canada, according to Osganian.

The Task Force is in the process of obtaining search warrants for each of the defendants’ phones and a rental car, which was going to be used to transport the drugs elsewhere, Osganian said.

All of the individuals arrested have made bail, so the Task Force has not had to rush to obtain further evidence, according to Osganian.

“Right now, all of the defendants made bail, so there’s no per say felony hearing where there has to be an urgency to produce evidence,” Osganian said. “They’ll have court dates down the road, so I think the urgency of getting those search warrants isn’t as immediate as it would be if they were still in jail, where we would want to...provide as much evidence as we can so that the court would either have cause to keep them in jail or to hold onto the bail.”

The Geneseo students who were arrested are allowed on the Geneseo campus, Osganian added.

Dougherty said he would like to work to keep Geneseo drug free in the future by catching more serious drug crimes.

“Believe me, I would like to be taking heroin and cocaine and any type of drug off the street, and I would encourage anybody who has that kind of information to come forward,” Dougherty said. “As the Drug Task Force, we want to look into all types of drug offenses. So if someone has crimes that they feel are more significant or drugs that are more dangerous, and has more information on where we can find those illegal drugs, I will happily take that information.”

No court dates or convictions have been made public at this time.

Geneseo Student Television faces budget setbacks, seeks department support

Geneseo Student Television has been unable to broadcast live for over a year after Campus Auxiliary Services forgot to include a station for the organization. GSTV has lost commercial-driven profit as a result, which has caused Student Association—the organization that funds GSTV—to cut GSTV’s budget, GSTV Treasurer senior Amanda Mclean said.

“All SA organizations are supposed to have some form of income, whether it’s through fundraising [or otherwise], and as an organization in the past we used to do a lot of commercials,” Mclean said. “That was probably our biggest source of income.”

GSTV’s main source of income for this year will be from the DVDs it produces for Orchesis and Musical Theatre Club twice a semester. It is estimated the organization will make $600 in revenue.

“It’s not as much as we’ve made previously. So [SA] really can’t do much to help us unless we’re able to get an income too, because the income is factored into our budget as well,” Mclean said.

SA has cut GSTV’s budget from $3,300 in the 2015-16 year to $2,789 for the 2016-17 academic year.

General manager of GSTV senior Daniel Foley said he believes GSTV offers a beneficial, hands-on learning experience, which should be considered more important than the revenue it generates.

“I didn’t know this was about making money. It shouldn’t really be about that,” Foley said. “It should be a learning experience for everyone that’s involved in it. So not giving us the money when we need to keep everything up-to-date counteracts what we’re trying to do.”

Geneseo’s student-run newspaper The Lamron—also SA funded—saw a slight budget increase this year. SA allocated $6,221.50 for The Lamron for the 2015-16 academic year and $6,357.10 for 2016-17—in addition to its annual income of about $20,000—bringing total current expenditures to about $26,357.

Geneseo’s radio station WGSU-FM (89.3)—academically affiliated with the communication department and licensed by the Federal Communications Commission—receives its budget from the Office of the Provost, rather than SA, WGSU-FM (89.3) Faculty Director and lecturer of communication Michael Saffran said.

WGSU’s budget for the current academic year is $11,030, not including personnel services such as salaries for the faculty director and a summer student employee, Saffran said. WGSU has no current outside revenue, according to Saffran.

While students involved in The Lamron and GSTV receive a stipend, WGSU’s student executive council is awarded academic credit for their work at the station.

Because SA funds GSTV and The Lamron, they offer an independent media voice to the campus, Saffran explained. Conversely, WGSU is managed and overseen by the communication department and has a strong academic mission, Saffran said.

Foley said he would like GSTV to become affiliated with the communication department, so the organization can begin using their recording studios in the future.

“I’ve raised the issue to Dr. Herman … I’ve told him that this club really should be working in there, that we should have a faculty adviser that is in charge of that whole studio and that can help us out,” Foley said. “He’s told me it’s something that they’ve been looking into, but obviously it’s not going to be something that any of us are going to see before we leave.”

Currently, the communication department has one adjunct lecturer—Barry Chow—who specializes in television production. Associate professor and Chair of the Communication Department Andrew Herman said he does not expect Chow to step in as GSTV’s faculty adviser since he does not work at the college full-time.

The communication department has asked the Office of the Provost for three years to hire a full-time professor to specialize in television production, but this request has been denied due to lack of funding from the state, Herman said.

Executive producer of GSTV junior Alexandra Lovric said that she thinks having a faculty adviser from the communication department would be beneficial for the future of GSTV.

“After four years, we leave and we have to pass on our knowledge to the next generation of GSTV members. When we’re not getting a ton of interest and people aren’t really devoted to the club, it’s really hard to pass on that knowledge,” she said. “It would be really nice to have someone who would always be there knowing everything and helping everyone out. I think that would help with interest and help us get the spirit back in the club.”u

Editor-in-Chief Emma Bixler contributed reporting for this article.

Office of the Dean rebrands to improve quality of academic advising

The Office of the Dean has been renamed the Academic Advising Office. The office will focus on advising and registering Geneseo students and accommodating students with disabilities. Celia Easton will serve as the dean of academic planning and advising. Assistant Provost for Curriculum and Assessment Savi Iyer has assumed the office’s former responsibilities that dealt with policy, curriculum and assessment, according to Easton.

One of the primary functions of the Academic Advising Office will be to keep students on track to graduate, Easton said.

“What we’ve kept downstairs in Erwin 106 are face-to-face kinds of things for students: Are you registering for classes? Are you getting all of your work done to finish your degree?” she said. “The degree audits are here and we work with students who are struggling a little bit to help them with academic planning.”

The Academic Advising Office will also work with the Office of Disability Services in providing assistance for students with disabilities, Easton said. In addition, the Academic Advising Office will also work with the Office of New Student Programs.

Easton explained that the responsibilities of the Office of the Dean were broken down to improve the quality of academic advising.

Geneseo students have perceived academic advising negatively in the past, according to Director of the Office of Institutional Research Julie Meyer Rao. Rao explained that the results of the 2014 National Survey of Student Engagement—administered to freshman and seniors—showed that students rate Geneseo’s academic advising lower than the national average.

“There were questions like ‘Has your adviser informed you of important deadlines, helped you understand rules and policies, made you aware of academic support options, helped you when you had academic difficulties?’ and on all of those items Geneseo’s average score was significantly lower than that for the public master’s colleges, which was our comparison group for this portion of the survey,” Rao said.

Easton hopes to enhance academic advising by improving communication between students and faculty. She added that the office may begin to use peer advisers, as well.

“We’re hoping to tap into student leaders to do some better trained academic advising,” she said. “Student leaders are always stepping up and helping students learn how to get on KnightWeb and do registration and things like that. But I think that there’s more we could tap into there.”

The Academic Advising Office will also look into alleviating students’ concerns about the general academic advisers that undeclared students are given.

“One of the things I think students would like to see is something that’s a little bit better focused for students who haven’t chosen a major yet,” Easton said. “The advisers that they get assigned to might be able to help them with general education and things like that, but they aren’t really equipped to help [students] think through what different majors would be.”

In addition, Easton will be conducting a listening tour to gain feedback from the Geneseo campus community. She has attended four department meetings and will meet with the Academic Affairs Committee of the Student Association and the Inter-Residence Council in October, as well as the Student Association in November. She added that she is also willing to receive feedback from other student groups.

Easton said faculty members have addressed their concerns in regard to the number of students they are advising and the lack of communication between advisers and students.

“Faculty are wishing to have more meaningful conversations with students, but it’s hard when all you’re doing is trying to put a schedule together last minute,” she said. “So I think we’re going to help faculty find some ways to communicate with students about preparing for an advising appointment earlier and help students understand what they can expect of a faculty adviser.”

The Associate Dean for New Student Advisement Peter Corrigan said that he hopes that the quality of advisement improves with the renaming and reorganization of the Academic Advising Office.

“The way we were organized before, we weren’t able to do any long-range planning. We were so busy dealing with the day-to-day that we didn’t really have the opportunity to do any planning,” he said. “I think now with Dr. Easton we’re doing more planning, and I look forward to doing more of it still. We were so transactional before, and now I think that there’s a greater opportunity for us to do something transformational.”

Lack of European studies classes impacts academic opportunities on campus

Following the retirement of Emeritus professor of history Helena Waddy and the temporary leave of assistant professor of history Margaret Stolee, the future of Geneseo’s European Systems track in the international relations major as well as the Central and Eastern European studies minor remains in jeopardy. Both the European Systems track and Central and Eastern European studies minor are interdisciplinary, relying on the European history courses that Waddy and Stolee taught as part of their course requirements. Professor and chair of the history department Joseph Cope said that the department requested the search of another historian that would have been conducted during this academic year, but the Office of the Provost denied that request. Cope added that the history department might look into temporarily hiring another historian in the spring semester.

Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Schacht said in a phone interview that when making hiring decisions, the Office of the Provost looks at a variety of factors.

“We look at the department’s needs, the college’s needs, the strategic plan and the budget,” he said. “We also take history of searches in the department into account … We look at a number of factors in making a decision about the searches that go forward in any given year.”

Cope said that the lack of funding by New York State has contributed to the inability of the college to hire more professors.

“This is symptomatic of the structural problem. The state of New York has stopped investing in higher education, which means that we have fewer resources to hire faculty,” he said. “We don’t have a predictable stream, so if one faculty member retires, then that faculty member is going to be replaced right away. We can’t do that anymore, which means that these kinds of situations happen.”

According to the coordinator for international relations and lecturer in international relations and political science Jeremy Grace, many international relations majors are disinclined to complete the European systems track because of the difficulties that arise in scheduling.

“We only have three courses that are being offered this semester in Europe, whereas every other track has at least anywhere from seven to probably 15 courses,” he said. “If you don’t schedule properly, you won’t be able to get into those courses, and you won’t be able to complete the track. So I think that dissuades some students who might otherwise do it.”

Grace said if fewer courses are offered for the European Systems track, it’s possible that it will not be feasible in the future.

“This is obviously a real problem for us because we need to offer the track. It’s an important track and we’ve got to make sure that the track remains viable in the future,” he said. “If all the courses disappear—if we get down to any fewer courses than this—I think we have a real problem, and we may not be able to keep the track.”

International relations and philosophy double major senior Aaron White said that he is currently struggling to complete the European systems track and believes that the college needs to hire another historian to make completing such a track easier.

“I think it’s a matter of hiring a historian who specializes in European history,” he said. “Which is pretty crazy because the fact that we’re going to a college that doesn’t offer any modern European history is pretty outrageous.”

Coordinator of the Central and Eastern European studies minor and coordinator of the German minor Cynthia Klima said that the lack of modern European historians is affecting the Central and Eastern European studies minor as well. Klima explained that two course requirements and three credit hours were cut out of the minor.

“I really want the Central and Eastern European studies program to survive because I’ve had students who have [graduated with] that minor and they’ve gone on to other things … We’ve got students working in the state department, we’ve got students working in the Peace Core and such,” Klima said. “I don’t want that to stop because those are good connections to have, and it carries the name of the school into some really important areas.”

Klima added that there are a substantial number of students in international relations, history, history education, languages and literatures and the Central and Eastern European studies minor who must take these European courses to complete course requirements.

“The lack of courses has a ripple effect because these students need these courses to fulfill their majors and minors, and they’re nonexistent,” Klima said.

Fatal accident results in loss of former Geneseo HR director

The Geneseo Police Department, the Geneseo Fire Department and the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office responded to a two-car motor vehicle crash on Sunday Sept. 11 on Avon Rd. Donald Lackey—Geneseo’s former human resources professional—was pronounced dead on scene. According to Village of Geneseo Police Chief Eric Osganian, the vehicle driven by 28-year-old Michael Bellonte from Avon, NY was going south on Avon Rd. when it hit Donald Lackey and his wife Nancy Lackey’s vehicle, which was also headed south on Avon Rd. Due to the impact of the collision, Lackey’s vehicle landed against a metal fence outside of the road. Osganian said Bellonte is believed to have been speeding, which may have caused the severe collision.

The crash occurred on the Lackeys’ 51st wedding anniversary.

Both Bellonte and Nancy Lackey were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital to treat minor injuries from the crash, including bruises and lacerations. It is anticipated that Bellonte will be charged with fleeing from police and punching the sheriff’s deputy.

According to Osganian, Bellonte’s mood was erratic after the collision.

“You don’t know what was going through his head and why he was trying to leave. After he was secure, he calmed down,” Osganian said. “His mood prior to punching the deputy was up and down. He would be calm, then he would be excited. We don’t know his history—if he’s on a medication that causes mood swings or if it was the accident itself that caused him to just want to leave the scene.”

After the sheriff’s reconstruction unit finishes their examination, the Livingston County Coroner’s Office will take Lackey’s body to a medical examiner’s office for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

Osganian stated that the police department originally withheld the names of the victims out of respect for the family.

“We wanted to make sure they had time to notify the rest of their family members before we actually made a broadcast,” he said. “I think most of the community that knows Don that came by the accident knew that he was probably going to pass, but we didn’t want to officially put it out. We wanted to give some time for the family to do their notifications.”

Investigations of the accident are ongoing. Osganian noted that a blood sample of Bellonte’s will be taken and the results will be sent to the Geneseo Police within one to two months. In addition, the Livingston County District Attorney’s office obtained search warrants to access Bellonte’s cell phone and the black box data for both vehicles.

Livingston County District Attorney Gregory J. McCaffrey emphasized the importance in obtaining the black box data over a phone interview.

“This case, and in every other case, is all about gathering information and trying to get as many facts or information as possible so we can get it right,” McCaffrey said. “In any car accident, what becomes important is where vehicles were travelling, how fast they were travelling, any kind of possible mechanical failure and any kind of breaking or lack of breaking or acceleration.”

McCaffrey also stressed the necessity to look at all possible evidence in order to have a full understanding of the accident.

“Even if you look back at someone’s computer or somebody’s phone, generally there’s a lot of information,” he said. “You can locate somebody that way, you can see their activity, who they were talking to and when they were talking to them. There’s just a lot of information we want to get out there and have as complete a picture as possible.”

According to Osganian, Bellonte will be officially charged when all of the evidence from the accident has been gathered and examined.

Lauderdale expands counseling services to accomodate student needs

Lauderdale Counseling Services will begin the search for three new counselors this semester in order to meet the needs of the increasing number of students who require counseling. In addition, Lauderdale plans to increase the number of group sessions available, increase counselors’ presence on campus, hire a new crisis hotline number devoted to counseling and adjust its crisis service hours. Lauderdale’s extended services resulted from its inability to meet all students’ needs at the end of last semester. Many students who required counseling services were placed on a waiting list and referred to off-campus services unless they were experiencing severe trauma or were found a threat to themselves or the campus.

According to staff psychologist Gene Griffing, the new group sessions Lauderdale plans to implement will focus on six specific areas: coping skills, LGBTQ issues, a bereavement group, self-compassion and expressive arts, Recognition, Insight and Openness (RIO) and mindfulness.

The number of weeks counseling groups will meet and the size of these groups will vary, Griffing said. Clinical Director for South Village Counseling Services Dr. Beth Cholette stated that group counseling will last longer than individual appointments, typically lasting an hour and a half compared to 45 or 50 minute individual sessions.

Cholette believes that there are many advantages to group sessions. “Groups generally meet weekly as opposed to most of our individual work [which meets] biweekly. So one advantage is you get to meet with a counselor every week,” she said. “We’ll also have a variety of groups so they won’t necessarily all be disclosure oriented.”

Lauderdale will also increase counselors’ contact with students, faculty and staff.

“We’re planning on having counselors out on campus, hopefully a couple of hours each week with different little points for people to be able to check in and consult,” Griffing said. “So it wouldn’t really be counseling, but it’d be … real quick check-in sessions.”

Griffing added that faculty and staff can come to counselors with concerns about specific students and their conduct and behavior.

Protocol is the additional crisis hotline that Lauderdale plans to hire. This service will allow students to talk to a counselor at any point during the academic year. According to Cholette, the current hotline available after hours is called Nurse Advice Line, which is mainly used for medical care and is not a distinctive mental health program.

Lauderdale’s crisis service hours will be adjusted from two hours in the afternoon to one hour in the morning and one in the afternoon in order to accommodate for students who need to be seen earlier in the day. Students can call the counseling center when they are experiencing a crisis and based on the level of urgency, they will either have a brief counseling session over the phone or meet with a counselor in person. According to Griffing, with the new hires Lauderdale hopes to expand the amount of time devoted to crises care as well.

These changes have been implemented in part due to the continuous increase in the number of students who have requested counseling services from Lauderdale. Lauderdale experienced a 4.6 percent increase in total appointments last year, with a total of 2,657 appointments last year compared to 2,511 appointments the year before.

Griffing commented that the issues counselors see are also becoming more complex. He stated students commonly seek counseling for anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and depression.

“More and more we’re seeing students who are showing up to campus who are already taking medications for things that are just way more complicated than just simple college adjustment,” he said.

Education major sophomore Kaylan Ruiz hopes that the changes that Lauderdale is implementing will serve to accommodate more students.

“I know students who have required counseling, specifically one who could not get an appointment last year,” she said. “I think with these changes Lauderdale will be able to meet more of students’ counseling needs to prevent such a situation from occurring again.”

Campus community gives feedback on Strategic Plan

The Strategic Planning Group and the Budget Priorities Committee are asking for feedback from students, faculty, staff and alumni on its Strategic Plan. This document outlines where Geneseo should be in terms of learning, access and success, advancing the public good and resilience and sustainability by 2021. The SPG and BPC are asking for feedback in regards to the objectives of those four focus areas as well as the prologue, statement of mission, vision and values. The committees will be taking feedback until May 16. According to the Geneseo website, however, this document is expected to be modified during its implementation over the next five years.

The SPG asked for feedback from the college in March by hosting public forums and sending out polls. According to student representative and Student Association President senior Andrew Hayes, the feedback SPG received allowed it to focus on certain areas it didn’t realize was necessary, such as student advising, revising the mission statement and sustainability.

Hayes stated that he hopes the feedback will allow the Strategic Planning process to be all-inclusive. “We really want all of the people that are going to be interacting with Geneseo to buy in, in a sense to participate and want to be part of Geneseo with this plan,” he said.

Student representative and SA Director of Business Affairs senior Daniel Martin said he focused on the advising system while working on the Strategic Plan. “I know advising has always been an issue in the sense that there’s not much actual advising, more of a check,” he said. “So I really wanted to push to get the relationships between advisor and student more present, whether that means more conversations about good classes to take and longer checks, or if it means that the advising’s done by a few people and then the professors are just resources for those students.”

Martin also said the plan outlines goals to increase online learning and international opportunities for students. “There’s Digital Geneseo—how we want to use digital learning technology in and outside the classroom. There’s also an inclusive part of it—how we want to interact with the community and the college all in one,” he said. “And there’s also an international aspect of it—working with our international students and working to expand our school across the nation and the world, really, through our students and through our alumni base.”

Committee member and associate professor of English and film studies Jun Okada said that  since President Battles joined Geneseo, the SPG has been much more focused. “She has a very specific charge for us as the group for the Strategic Plan,” she said. “Everything having to do with the budget, enrollment, obviously the curriculum, diversity, international programs—everything.”

According to Okada, reaching the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan will require more time or funding. College Senate Chair and associate professor of physics James McLean said funding will be determined by the Budget Priorities Committee.

“Especially with the not-so-great budget that New York state has handed us this year, it’s definitely going to be a zero sum game to a certain extent,” McLean said. “If we want to allocate money to project A versus project B, there’s some opportunity for new money. Maybe if we ask the foundation to use donations from alumni that might be possible.”

McLean said the committee has collaboratively made decisions and worked well together. “We’ve worked quite well, I think, especially considering it’s a pretty big group,” he said. “So a lot of times we’ve split into smaller sub-groups to discuss separate topics and then bring that back together.”

Okada said she has had a positive experience serving on the SPG. “Being on a college committee like this has been wonderful because I’ve learned so much about the school, the SUNY system and what I’m doing here in terms of teaching my students and how it’s relevant to the state of New York and education,” she said.

Martin believes that Geneseo will stand out as a university if it reaches the goals set out in the Strategic Plan. “To be able to see as a graduating senior where Geneseo wants to end up in five years—it’s great because I’ll be an alumni,” he said. “If we reach those goals, I think we’ll really set ourselves apart as a public liberal arts college.”

Students volunteer in Day of Service to give back to Geneseo community

Alpha Phi Omega hosted Geneseo’s fifth annual Day of Service on Sunday April 3. Geneseo students, students from various other universities and community members gathered together to work on various service projects throughout the day.

President Denise Battles gave a keynote speech to all of the participants before the Day of Service began. In her speech, Battles emphasized the positive impact community service continues to have.

“We all owe a great deal of debt to the caring, motivated individuals who chose to give back and make a difference in the lives of others,” she said. “And that’s really what you’re doing here today—making a good and lasting difference on the campus and in our local communities.”

Battles commended the amount of volunteer service that APO does for the community, citing the organization’s 8,800 hours in total service last year that amounted to a monetary value of $203,000.

Co-Chair of Day of Service Committee senior Amanda Armbruster said that 150 individuals participated in this year’s Day of Service. Organizations such as APO, Golden Key, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, American Red Cross Club, Geneseo Pride Alliance, Sigma Delta Tau, Dumbledore’s Army and Hippies for Hope hosted projects in Bailey Hall or in the MacVittie College Union. Participants could also go off campus to Temple Hill Cemetery to help clean the area.

According to senior Gina Suriano—who also served as Co-Chair of the Day of Service Committee—students from other colleges such as the Rochester Institute of Technology and SUNY Fredonia attended this year’s event. She added that she hopes that participation will continue to grow, with hopes that more organizations and individuals from all over will attend next year.

R.I.T. junior Brian Coren worked with Pride to design anti-bullying posters, which will be given to local schools. The posters included facts about bullying, consequences of bullying and methods to advocate for someone experiencing bullying. Coren noted that believes the project will raise awareness of bullying.

“I think it will encourage people to rally behind the common problem,” he said. “So, you’ll have more encouragement for people to stand up for each other; to stand by each other.”

The American Red Cross Club’s event had participants create care packages, which will be donated to Chances & Changes, an organization for people who have been affected by domestic violence. Junior Cailin Sofko said she hopes that the project will educate individuals on the organization’s important cause.

“Before we had done this last year, I didn’t even know about Chances & Changes, so I’m hoping it will make people know that they’re there and so if people are interested in that kind of thing—and I know we have a lot of women’s studies minors and stuff like that—then maybe they’d be interested in volunteering there,” she said.

APO hosted multiple service projects throughout the day, including “A Healthy Kitty is a Happy Kitty,” which had participants make toys and blankets for sheltered cats. Project coordinator senior Stephanie Newman explained that these toys will help improve the health of the cats by fostering social interaction and play that can also improve their physical health.

Students from SUNY Brockport also came to Geneseo’s Day of Service. Brockport junior Alex Williams helped with APO’s PB&J sandwich drive and noted that he loved the variety of service projects this day provided.

“I came here last year for this and fell in love because it was just so much service all at once and I got to meet a lot of cool people, including other brothers in my APO chapter,” he said.

Additionally, APO hosted “Cranes for a Cure,” which had students make paper cranes that will be donated to Cranes for a Cure and cancer patients. Project coordinator junior Amber Ho expressed hopes that APO’s Day of Service could continue to improve by attracting outside organizations and individuals.

“We struggled getting more people other than in our organization to participate. So, we definitely have been trying to reach out to other Greek organizations or even just clubs on campus, whether it’s to have them come in and do projects like this or actually run their own project,” she said. “We’ve just been trying to get more involvement, pretty much, and that’s always been the hardest part every year from what I’ve seen.” 

President Battles elected to ACE Fellows Board

President Denise Battles was elected to the American Council on Education’s Council of Fellows Board earlier this month. Battles will serve as Secretary on the board’s Executive Committee for the first year of her three-year term.

The American Council on Education represents the presidents of the United States’ higher education institutions. The organization has a membership of more than 1,700 institutions, both public and private.

Battles stated that the nominating committee of ACE asked her to serve on both the Fellows Board and in the secretary position. She added that generally the committee looks for someone who has been active in the organization, citing her past experience as chair of the Professional Development Committee, serving on the nominating committee and serving on the Fellows Board’s Executive Committee.

The Fellows Board Executive Committee consists of a chair, who is the head of the organization; the vice chair, who serves as the chair elect; the immediate past chair; and the secretary. Officer positions are each held for one year.

Battles will be responsible for recording minutes of the Council of Fellows Board and the Executive Committee meetings, collaborating with individuals in the ACE Fellows’ office and working with chairs of standing committees, including the Professional Development Committee, the Finance and Development Committee and Outreach and Engagement Committee. According to Battles, the board meets twice a year in person and there are often electronic meetings and conference calls.

The Fellows Program—which Battles will help oversee—consists of a class of 30–40 individuals who are placed at a higher education institution for a year. A fellow will shadow a member of the senior administration—such as the president, chancellor, vice president or provost—and learn about higher education.

Battles served as a fellow from 2000-2001 when she was a faculty member at Georgia Southern University. She visited approximately 12 institutions with other fellows to learn about higher education and shadowed former President of Auburn University William V. Muse. While shadowing Muse, Battles stated she worked on two projects that looked at how faculty can balance their responsibilities and strategies for a wireless campus.

As a fellow, Battles said she learned about the many facets of higher education institutions.

“You can get familiar with athletics. You can become familiar with student and campus life—student affairs. You can get familiar with development advancement and alumni relations,” she said. “You can immerse yourself in the operation side, the budget, the administration and finance side. So all of those are things I gained from my fellowship year.”

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Carol Long—who is on the ACE Commission on Internationalization and Global Engagement—stated that she believes Battles’ service as secretary on ACE’s Fellows Board will help make Geneseo more visible.

“I think any of us who are in these national organizations help to bring visibility to the campus,” Long said. “So when people are asked about Geneseo, they’ll remember that they’ve met Denise and that they thought highly of her.”

Battles said she hopes that her involvement with ACE has benefitted the colleges where she has worked.

“Being a part of the national conversation is something that I’ve really enjoyed and feel like I’ve benefitted from,” she said. “Hopefully, the benefit to me has been translated to the institutions that I’ve served.”

Salaries raise questions about tuition allocation

The salaries of New York State University Police officers have recently been criticized in regards to the amount officers earned last year and the extent of overtime wages.

According to the Democrat and Chronicle database listing state employees earning more than $100,000, 57 University Police officers earned six-figure salaries in 2015. Two of these officers are from Geneseo: Lieutenant David Schwan, who made $104,014.57, and Lieutenant Matthew Austin, who made $101,608.62.

According to Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Julie Briggs, those salaries most likely include overtime. Vice President for Administration and Finance James Milroy added that paying overtime is cheaper than hiring another officer.

“At the end of the day, what we wouldn’t do is go out and hire another police officer to cover incremental overtime because the cost of the officer—plus his fringe benefits—would be more than the overtime,” he said. “Overtime is to fill in for periods of emergency, periods of vacation leave—things like that—where we don’t have a full complement of employees because either there’s an emergency or somebody’s out on bereavement leave or on vacation or sick leave. We would use overtime to fill those slots.”

Brian Sharp’s article in the Democrat and Chronicle entitled “Watchdog: The rising stakes of campus police OT” examines the salaries of New York State University Police officers and emphasizes the lack of clarity in the salary data in regards to the portion that includes overtime.

“The issue here is cost, staffing decisions and the best application of resources, not to mention the amount of hours worked by people in high-stress jobs where the outcomes can have significant ramifications for themselves and the public,” Sharp wrote.

Briggs explained that salaries paid to all Geneseo employees are based on a grading system created by bargaining units and the New York State Department of Civil Service, which creates a specific salary range for professional employees and faculty members who work at the school.

According to Briggs, when hiring new employees, Geneseo looks at what it is paying current employees with similar experiences, jobs, grades and responsibilities. Briggs added that Geneseo looks at the external market to attract employees as well.

Geneseo works with seven different bargaining units, including the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, United University Professions, Public Employees Federation, Graduate Student Employee Union and three units with the Civil Services Employees Association.

Salary negotiations for Geneseo employees occur every four years between these bargaining units and the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations. Milroy said that Geneseo has had representatives on these negotiating teams, but currently have none.

“The salary negotiations really are up to the governor and the governor’s people who are negotiating those,” he said. “Then we’re sort of informed of them … They’ll tell us when the raises are supposed to hit and then we have to implement the salary schedule.”

The unions also meet with Geneseo to discuss labor management and internal issues. Past discussions have included changing the performance evaluation system for professional employees, the president’s strategic planning process and the cross training opportunities. Salaries are not discussed at these meetings.

According to Milroy, the salary increases at Geneseo have not kept up with inflation and this has caused a decline in buying power. Milroy added that tuition increases over the past two years have been used to pay for salary increases, however they were not intended for this purpose. 

“The tuition increase is established annually through the state budget process. In the last two years when tuition was increased, the governor also negotiated salary increases in those years and said, ‘Use the tuition money to pay for it,’” he said. “But the tuition was authorized in a five-year plan long before the negotiations were included.”

Milroy emphasized that the state legislature does not support the governor’s position and that he believes this money should go to improving students’ education.

Broomfield to explore dance, black masculinity through research fellowship

Assistant professor of theater and dance Mark Broomfield has been awarded a Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Career Enhancement Fellowship for Junior Faculty. For the six-month fellowship, faculty members on a tenure track line are awarded $15,000 to pursue research in an area of their choosing. Broomfield will use this six-month period from June–December to complete research for his book Passing for Almost Straight: The Politics and Performance of Black Masculinity On and Offstage and for his documentary film Passing for Almost Straight.

According to Broomfield, his research is a result of personal experience as a professional dancer. “The dance community is embracing the high percentage of gay men who are in the art form, but at the same time, even though that’s the case, it’s like a contradiction,” he said. “There is a quite a bit of homophobia.”

Broomfield explained that there aren’t any books explicitly devoted to black masculinity in dance, so he hopes to make such a contribution in that field. He added that the goal of creating a documentary—in addition to his book—is to provide a visual component by following the stories of two dancers to explore masculinity in dance.

“I think that dance—more than anything—really gets at the heart of what it means to perform masculinity,” he said.

During the fellowship, Broomfield will do research at the New York Library for the Performing Arts, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Library of Congress, Jacob’s Pillow and Duke University.

Participants in the fellowship also choose a mentor to help them with their research. Broomfield has chosen to work with University of Miami professor and director of Africana studies David Ikard, who has written multiple books on black masculinity.

“Because you choose a mentor, you’re able to expand those networks and those relationships really give you strong feedback on your work and life,” Broomfield said. “The whole idea of someone being a mentor is that they’ve been through it—they are leaders in the field—and so it’s an opportunity to gain from the insights.”

As part of the fellowship, Broomfield will be going on a Career Enhancement Retreat for four days in the summer with other participants. At the retreat, Broomfield will present his research and see other winners’ projects.

In order to apply for the fellowship, Broomfield wrote a personal essay, proposed a research project and submitted a writing sample. “You have to have a clear idea of what your projects are going to be,” he said. “They want to know who are we awarding this to and why are we awarding it to the applicant.”

Broomfield added that after his research is completed, his book and documentary will be shared with the Geneseo campus.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Carol Long—who wrote a letter of recommendation for Broomfield for the fellowship—emphasized that she feels Broomfield is an incredibly qualified candidate for the program.

“He comes at dance from many different directions and his research work is going to be very interesting about the representation of masculinity in dance,” she said in a phone interview. “He has very good connections with some of the dance companies he’s researching. I think, all together, he’s a really good candidate because I know that he’ll be able to do the research he’s proposing.”