The 56th student senate met on Wednesday, Nov. 13 to discuss current events.
Student Association (SA) President Manuel Tejada brought up the “Lets Talk About It” event happening this coming Saturday. He encouraged everyone to bring people out to the program.
SA Vice President Zachary Rousseas spoke about how he had attended a meeting with town officials this past week and that he had expressed student concerns about Plattekill Avenue safety. Rousseas said he told the officials how serious SA is about the call for lighting on Plattekill, calling the increased lighting simply a “band aid” for a larger problem, stating that it will not end rape culture by itself.
The SUNY Assembly Conference was held in Rochester, N.Y. between Nov. 8 and 10 and was attended by several SUNY New Paltz student assembly members. Rousseas, who attended the conference, said that doing so made him proud to be part our student assembly, calling the other schools “very conservative” and said that only SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Purchase realized the importance of social justice.
An SA member met with University Police Chief David Dugatkin about the number of police officers trained in handling sexual assault. Dugatkin said there were many officers trained in sexual assault handling and said that the public isn’t supposed to know what exactly the department is doing for security reasons. The senator said she got the feeling they didn’t like that senate was getting involved.
In terms of food news, there is talk of something similar to a Panera Bread being put in Wooster Science Building. Sodexo wants to put working groups together as a way of asking students what they want so they can implement the changes. Suggestions included chain restaurants like Dunkin Donuts.
According to a recent study students want healthier food options. Sales at “Salad Toss” have been down recently and as a result, Sodexo officials felt this to be untrue. A senator explained how students need more healthy options besides salads alone which she felt was well accepted.
Yet another racially offensive posting was found in Gage Hall yesterday. Someone wrote a note in Gage Hall on a white board stating “Nigger* Alert.” The discussion was motioned to be moved until next week.
* Editor’s Note: The New Paltz Oracle does not condone use of this derogatory language. In accordance with Associated Press Style, this word was printed because it was “essential to the story” in that it provided facts related to the incidents described in the article.