Happy Earth Day 2016

Oneonta NY- Shanna Smith

Outside a typical dorm.

In this picture you can see the beautiful plants, trees, and green grass outside what we like call a typical residence hall. We celebrate earth day by making sure that the campus is clean, and there is no litter or unwanted items on the grounds.

When I spoke with students on the campus they said that they like to preserve energy by turning off lights, using special light bulbs, and making sure that they reuse plastic bags if they are happen to give them to them. A lot of people including faculty on this campus show appreciation to the earth by not printing out the papers students need in class. What they do instead is post what is needed online, where the students get the information but the paper is not being wasted. Because why not save trees!

As a reporter for this article, I have learned that SUNY Oneonta is a campus that is up on the times with helping the earth. We as a whole are doing everything we can to make sure that our campus is clean, and healthy for all!

Oneontas take on Earth day

ONEONTA NY-- CAITLIN LAWLER

On Suny Oneonta's the school tries to implement the idea of reduce, reuse and recycle as much as they can.  In many dorm buildings they put up flyers, posters etc. and even have recycle bin's in each dorm room.

Earth Day is every April 22nd and Suny Oneonta kids celebrated by cleaning up around campus, and even around the town of Oneonta.  One Oneonta student Melissa Litterello states  "On earth day I like to go to table rock and just be thankful for all my nature surroundings that we have, whenever I see someone liter is breaks my heart because some people are so unaware of why it is so important to keep our earth clean."

Knowing that students actually do care, and take the time to reduce, reuse and recycle shows that the flyers and effort that the school puts in to make sure there students go green is actually working.

Great job Suny Oneonta on keeping not only your campus a safe community, but also keeping the world a better and cleaner place.

Oneonta High School's Take on Bullying- By Alex Kaufman (Oneonta, NY)

   Bullying is still existent through different methods and various extremities.  Unfortunately, resulting consequences have been disheartening and incredibly harsh.  Recently, a teenager in the state of Delaware was killed in a high school bathroom; this is a depressing case in which bullying has gone way too far.  Going down to Oneonta high school appeared to be a smart move in order to localize a serious occurrence.

   Katie Miller, an Oneonta High School teacher, is content that the school does not have many outstanding situations regarding bullying.  "I feel like in Oneonta we are actually pretty fortunate.  I don't see a lot of bullying and you can definitely feel the vibe whether it's actual bullying and kids being friendly with each other, or something more serious."  The sympathetic and concerned person that she is, Mrs. Miller has been a major advocate in the Rainbow Club which focuses on uniting students and resolving their problems in a healthy, effective manner.

    On an even brighter note, compared to other places, Oneonta does not encounter any drastic forms of harassment and/or verbal/physical abuse.  This student has given us some very powerful and inspirational words: "There's no bullying here.  I just moved here from Arkansas and I had friends back from my hometown that actually committed suicide.  People joke around, but there's not any serious bullying."  It's a remarkable realization that other students would torture their peers so much to the point where that person cannot take the torment anymore.  On the other hand, it's wonderful to see that Oneonta is a family and the kids stick up for one another.

   Who needs bullying?  Let's put an end to it!

AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMING TO ONEONTA 

By Zach Vaccaro

ONEONTA NY— In a town where most properties only house students for a part of the year it’s easy to see how properties are quickly rented out and turned over.  “Its hard to find a place to live”, says Adrian Martinez of Oneonta. “All of the rentals are taken up by students, so for us locals it’s hard to find an affordable apartment” he also stated.  With prices sky high not many can afford a one-bedroom apartment.  Well someone hears you Adrian.

           

Housing Visions was granted $6.85 million by NY States Office of Homes & Community Renewal.  “This Housing Visions project will address critical needs in Oneonta,” said Gary Herzig, COO of Opportunities for Otsego. “We have a severe shortage of affordable housing for working families and a list of abandoned properties that grows longer every year. Throughout the planning process, I have found Housing Visions to be a reliable partner with a genuine interest in the future of the Oneonta community.”

Construction has begun all over town on 7 properties all over Oneonta, thanks to Opportunities for Otsego and Housing Visions Unlimited , INC. , of Syracuse. On track to being completed by spring 2017,the project includes houses and an apartment complex.  Oneonta Heights will feature (42) one-bedroom units; (8) two-bedroom units and (10) three-bedroom units. All units will have washer/dryer hookups.

Finding a decent place for a decent price is near impossible.  With the proximity of two colleges comes the price gauging.  Apartments that would normally be rented to locals for affordable rates are about double the monthly rate for students. Could this be due to the town zoning laws that are harbored to benefit the many large rental companies in town? Or is New York just an expensive place to live? 

The answer is both.  New York, having some of the highest property taxes in the country, has some of the highest rental rates per square foot as well. Housing Visions is doing their part to combat the sky high rental prices. 

A Work of Art

Samantha Butcher - Oneonta, NY

Many schools across the nation have been faced with budget cuts. Some programs that are not making the cut are those in the arts. These programs include art, music and theater among others. This has become a major issue for many students, professionals and teachers. While some schools have made these program cuts, others have held on as much as possible. 

Not only are middle and high schools facing these budget cuts but colleges and universities are now in the mix. The arts have become a major area of study and many have argued cutting them will limit children and student's creative abilities. 

SUNY Oneonta Fine Arts Center
Photo via SUNY Oneonta website

“Through music and art is where we really learn how to express ourselves and we really learn how to invest our time into something positive,” said Jimmy King, a music industry major at SUNY Oneonta.

The affect these programs have had on students is undeniably apparent. Many professionals have fought to keep these programs thriving because of their influence. 

"I think a lot of it's getting cut and the budgetary restrictions on the way the arts are being programmed in high schools and middle schools and elementary schools has a big impact on the way kids learn, the way they're encouraged to be creative, the way they're encouraged to interact with other people, the way they learn to communicate," said SUNY Oneonta associate theater professor, Andrew Kahl.  

SUNY Oneonta Music Department 

While the cuts start at the intermediate elementary and middle school levels, arguably the greatest affects will be on those entering college and the work force in these career paths. Luckily, SUNY Oneonta has been fortunate enough to save their programs thus far. 

"I think that cutting the programs is a mistake especially here because we have such dedicated professors and such eager students to learn," said Kat Ricigliano, a Mass Communication and Theater duel major at SUNY Oneonta. 

While budget cuts are often uncontrollable it is difficult for many to understand why the arts are the first to go. This question has many wondering and trying to figure out the next steps to take to save their favorite subjects.  

SUNY Oneonta students in guitar lessons 

Walking for a cause: SUNY Oneonta student fashion show

Jimmy Laurenzo - Oneonta, NY

     When you think of Alumni Field House on the Suny Oneonta campus, athletics come to mind. You may be surprised to learn that the venue also played host to the student fashion societies annual spring fashion show. The show put on full display the hard work of student designers, models, and event coordinators.

The Site of the Fashion Show, Alumni Field House

     The event gave students the opportunity to gain hands-on and practical experience for the real world after graduation. Students take on different roles that they are interested in. Students interested in being designers are given creative control to design outfits for their models. Carefully planning out seams and color ways for a look that would fit the theme of their line. Designer, Leslie Santane, told us just how valuable the event is, "Ultimately this helps with your experience because you understand what it's like to work under pressure and then you're able to create a portfolio which then you can use in your professional career."

 
    Models then must prepare for the runway, making sure that they are physically and mentally prepared to make the walk. Meticulously prepping their hair, makeup, and walking technique they prepare for the runway. Model Stefanee Sherman gave more insight into the process, " it's surprising how much work goes into it," chuckled Sherman, she continued, " It gives you an appreciation for just how much goes into a show for a model. You can't just go out there and wing it, you really need to be prepared." 

Models walking the runway at the student fashion show

     Then there are the event coordinators who ensure that all of the pieces of the show come together to make a successful event. Despite being unseen they are among the most important. Staging, lighting, sound, model management, and countless other behind the scenes tasks fall onto the lap of the events coordinators in order for the show to run smoothly. It seems to be paying off big as the audience members raved all show long. Oneonta resident, Tina Denu, stated, " It was great everyone looked and presented so well, I was very impressed."

     The event is about so much more than just the outfits. It symbolizes something much bigger. The national issue of budget cuts to different art programs. The arts have always been staple courses on college campuses across the country. In the past decade budget cuts have ravaged art programs across the country and this fashion show is a way for Oneonta students to take a stance. Despite being a national issue, it hits home to many involved in the show. Model, Tiffany Rosenthal took her own personal experience and spoke passionately about the subject, "I’ve just found out that one of my favorite professors has gotten cut from his job, he’s been here 18 years. He’s brought in so much to this program, he’s brought in art conferences every year, and I really think it’s unfair that someone who’s dedicated so much time is no longer here."

     

Model, Tiffany Rosenthal

     Many others at the event stated how art programs have been formative in their education and also their personal lives. Model, Stefanee Sherman said, "For me like art got me through high school and art is the reason I’m here. And I’m losing my photo teacher who’s somebody who’s influenced a lot in where I’m going with my major and he’s helped me a lot throughout the two years that I’ve been here." This powerful sentiment goes to show just how important the arts are for schools across the country.

The student fashion society annual spring fashion show proved to be much more than just glitz and glam. The event was a chance for students to demonstrate real world applications for the art of fashion while simultaneously taking a stance on the national issue of budget cuts to the arts. This student event was successful in more ways than one.

Students Come Together to Preserve and Protect the Environment

Clark Poccia--- SUNY Oneonta

It is important to understand that the world is an imperfect place. People need be mindful that the environment is extremely important to protect and preserve. There are clubs and organizations on SUNY Oneonta campus that help to protect and preserve the environment.

One club on campus is the Environmental Activism Club. An environmental science student and club member, Kelsey McKeighan speaks about ways the campus is attempting to protect the environment.

“The water refilling stations that they have on campus now.” Kelsey states, are an important addition to Oneonta campus.

She says, “In addition to having the typical water fountain they also have a fountain that pours strait down so it encourages students to use reusable water bottles. It also has a number on the top that states the amount of water bottles that were saved from landfills by using the refillable filling stations.”

Little additions to campuses around the world would eliminate tons of plastic each year from landfills.

Another member of the Environmental Activism Club, Grace Maecker, also talks about ways the campus has become more environmentally friendly.

“There is a storm water retention basin behind Golding Hall. The environmental club planted a whole bunch of plants down there to help filter the water and collect pollutants.”

According to Oneonta Campus Connection the Environmental Activism Club is tasked with “enhancing awareness within the campus and surrounding Oneonta community about environmental issues that affect all living beings on Earth. These range from fossil fuel extraction (fracking, tar sands), climate change, deforestation, and waste. In addition, they organize actions on campus and in the local community aimed at mitigating humanity's effect on the natural world.”

While the Environmental Activism Club is definitely helping Oneonta’s campus immensely, there are still environmental problems on campus that can be improved upon. 

     

Kelsey McKeighan states, “One major problem on campus is the landscaping that they have. All of the bright red mulch that is on campus is filled with really bad chemicals and pollutants that can pollute nearby bodies of water.”

The world will never be a perfect place, but it is important to realize what is harmful and what is not to our environment.

SUNY Oneonta has undoubtedly taken big steps in the right direction of environmental protection. Every year clubs like the Environmental Activism Club will continue to make Oneonta’s campus a better place.

Election 2016: Oneonta Students Unsatisfied

By Aaron Kriever

(ONEONTA, N.Y.)  The 2016 Presidential election is one of the most interesting - and from a certain point of view, dangerous - elections the United States has seen in decades. Donald Trump has sealed the deal to be the GOP Presidential Nominee, while the Democratic Party is still battling it out between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. The students of SUNY Oneonta have multiple views regarding the election, but some of them are less invested than others.

Courtesy of CNN

"I did not vote in the primary, but I will vote in the general election," said senior Jennifer Magnatta. "I don't actually know who I'm going to vote for yet, I have to look into it more because I don't know that much about it unfortunately."

One problem a lot of Oneonta students have is with the issues with actually voting. While many students are not from the Oneonta area, absentee ballots are still available. However, this does not address the problem of leaving registered Independents boxed out of the primaries.

Logan Williams, a registered Independent, dislikes the voting process and being unable to have his voice be heard.

"There's really no benefit to being Independent," Williams says. "Even when you get to vote in the general election, you can vote for either side, but the same thing happens for the Republicans and Democrats. They (Reps and Dems) can also vote in the primary whereas I cannot."

Courtesy of CNN

"Politics is messed up right now," Williams concluded.

Tom Capone took it a step further, explaining that he wanted a candidate from a Third Party to become President. The two major examples of Third Parties are the Libertarian Party and the Green Party.

"I'm hoping that over the summer a Third Party jumps in, because I'm not behind Trump, Hillary, or Bernie," Capone said.

Courtesy of blog.oneonta.edu

Once the primaries are finished, the students of SUNY Oneonta will have concrete options. Whether they choose to vote for Trump, Clinton, a Third Party candidate, or not vote at all, is up to them.

Students Voting in 2016 Presidential Race

BY Kyle Kocan -- (Oneonta, NY)

With all of the news surrounding the 2016 Presidential Election and Primary voting, whether it be about Bernie vs. Hillary or just straight up about Donald Trump.  Some students have never even been out to vote in the past elections and never even had registered to vote.  SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick student voting location for the Presidential Election of 2016 will be at the Foothill Performing Arts Center located at 24 Market Street in Oneonta NY.  One SUNY Oneonta student, Dylan DiLuccio, who is a political science major said "I have not yet registered to vote and don't plan to for this election either."  Another SUNY Oneonta student, Nick Taylor, stated that "I do not want to be apart of America's downfall."  As Nick does not believe any of the candidates are good at all and feels as if his vote would not matter at all. 

Front of the Foothill Performing Arts Center

Many students are in the same spot at Mr. Taylor as they do not relate with any of the candidates who are running to be the president of America.  So students may not even want to register for this year's election even though they may have turned eighteen over the summer and now are the right age in order to vote.  But with this year's election candidates some students may feel as if voting is not important at all.   Some students like Tomas Cooper who is a senior Business Administration major has his own views for the upcoming election.  Mr Cooper said that "I like some of the stuff Bernie has to say, but also like what Trump is going to do with Wall Street...I really have no opinion on Hillary because I have not followed her thoughts as close as Bernie and Trump."

Bernie Sanders Presidential Sign 

With the New York Primaries finishing up last week with Hillary winning the democratic side while Trump was the winner on the republican side.  Many people believed that Bernie should have won because of how he won all of upstate New York with a significant margin than Hillary but Hillary won New York City and had more delegates which resulted in her winning.  Where as Trump dominated NYC as well as upstate New York to lead him to winning the New York Primary.  With all of this it looks like as if it will be Trump vs. Hillary in the 2016 Presidential Election which is sure to be an interesting one for all of America.  For MCOM 256 I'm Kyle Kocan

Aerial Shot of the SUNY Oneonta Campus

High School Bullying

By Nick O'Connor-- (Oneonta, New York)

In Delaware, a teenage high school student was killed in the bathroom of her high school. The reasoning behind what had happened is thought to be the handy work of bullying. With SUNY Oneonta being right down the road from Oneonta High School, one can only wonder if anything is going on next door.

Oneonta High School's faculty is well aware of what has happened in Delaware. They do know that a terrible event has occurred and each one of them try their best to prevent any bullying from happening in their school, which is an almost impossible feat. Katie Miller is a teacher at the high school. She has been teaching at this school for two years, the very same school that she attended when she was in high school. She is responsible for some programs that the school offers including the Rainbow Club. This club was created with great intentions, those of which are to create a safe space, and comfortable feel around their high school. Originally this group was intended to be specifically aimed at the LGBT community, because they felt they were the ones being targeted. 

We asked Katie about bullying and if she was ever bullied. "I was absolutely bullied in school, they used to call me a fat man, my mom told me it was because they had a crush on me, but I knew it was just boys being mean." Katie believes that students in her old high school today do not bully very much, and if they do it is certainly not to the magnitude other students may face in other school districts. One of her students,s who was asked to be unnamed, just moved to Oneonta from Arkansas. One of her friends committed suicide because of bullies due to the fact that she was gay, which shows the severity of bullying and the impact it can have on people. She said "it's nice coming to a school where everybody is mostly nice to one another."

The severity of bullying in this high school is nowhere near like it is in other schools. Another student who was asked not to be named said that her high school is a very safe environment. "The most we deal with are some cat fights between girls about boys. We rarely see people picking on others for things they can't control and for that we are very lucky." It seems as if the high school really strives to keep everybody involved safe with the programs they have in place. From MCOM 256, I'm Nick O'Connor

SUNY Oneonta: Greek Edition

COLETTE PASSAFIUME- ONEONTA,NY

Various sororities of SUNY Oneonta
Picture courtesy of SUNY Oneonta

    The media has always been known to be a powerful tool in addressing political, social and reform issues. The media breeds rumors, truths and exaggerations of facts. One topic the media portrays in a negative light consistently is Greek life. This can be shown in the upcoming movie Neighbors 2. In this movie, members of fraternities and sororities are depicted as people who only love to binge drink and demean others.
      Although the media effects societies perceptions of topics, one college's Greek community that defies societies stereotypes is SUNY Oneonta. With a total of eight fraternities as well as eight sororities, SUNY Oneonta fosters a safe and growing Greek life on campus. Greeks are aware of the stereotypes the media has of them and strive to defy these everyday. James Dipaoli, a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, believes "the biggest stereotype of Greek life is probably the heavy drinking. Everyone always thinks all we do is party and all we do is get messed up on the weekends and terrorize the town.” This viewpoint, along with one that Greeks only stay in the Greek community and feel entitled are widely believed across campus, but also nationwide. While people not involved in Greek life believe such assumptions it makes people blinded to the truth of what SUNY Oneonta's Greek community really is.

Relay For Life, an event Greeks attend for community service

       Joining Greek life at SUNY Oneonta has truly not only shaped my life, but the lives of others. With ongoing leadership opportunities as well as community service opportunities, Greek life's possibilities are endless. Jayna Nelson, a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority stated that she is “on the class of 2016 E-Board, I work at the Help Desk,  I am a member of Lambda Pi Eta and also a LEAD student.” All of these involvements, she said, have been because of the connections as well as motivation Greek life gives you to succeed.
 

Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority at their annual Philanthropy event

    Regardless of the letters one wears on campus, Greek life at SUNY Oneonta is all the same. Full of motivated, driven leaders who strive for greatness just as everyone else does. It is key to realize that the stereotypes society puts on Greeks are most of the time falsified accounts. No matter what you may perceive Greeks as, getting to know people in the Greek community instead of making assumptions will aid in the realization that Greeks at Oneonta are different than what they appear to be.
   The first step in making a difference is overcoming the negative stereotypes in front of you. The Greeks on SUNY Oneonta’s campus do so everyday by giving a new meaning to and defying what the media displays them as. Try to defy the stereotype you have of Greek life and become greater than an assumption.