Bradley Hoppenstein
The Chainsmokers - Dont Let Me Down (Official Instrumental)
updated
Beginning July 6, funds from supercard FOOD and PLUS accounts will be merged into a new single-option called ‘CUSE Cash. Per the Housing and Meal Plan website, ‘CUSE Cash can be used at nearly every point of sale on campus – whether it be the Stadium box office, campus cafes, concession stands, dining locations, and more.
Interestingly, SU’s Dining Dollars are not going away either. However, where students were formerly able to replenish those Dining Dollars, now the only way a student can get Dining Dollars is to purchase a meal plan that includes them. Once that money is gone, students can then only add funds to the new ‘CUSE Cash option.
‘CUSE Cash account balances will carry over from fall to spring semesters, but not year to year. On the contrary, funds for faculty and staff accounts will rollover into the following year.
Students can begin to sign up for meal plans for the 2021-22 academic year starting May 10. ‘CUSE Cash is officially launching on July 6, but its use will most likely be fragmented in the summer months, with ‘CUSE Cash getting its real test when students return to campus in August.
“Today is another day we can take a step back to the normalcy of before,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing by Biden administration officials.
However, at Syracuse University, the Stay Safe Pledge that each student agreed to still requires students to wear a mask on campus at all times – indoors and outdoors, vaccinated or unvaccinated.
SU has been administering vaccinations on campus for about a month now, with some students now asking the University to relax the Stay Safe Pledge in accordance with the new CDC guidance.
“My comfort level is still to wear a mask around other people, regardless of if you’re outside or if you’re vaccinated,” said Noa Getzug, an SU junior.
The University has made no comment on this latest update from the CDC, but it continues to urge students to get vaccinated when they can, especially with it now a requirement for the Fall 2021 semester.
The CDC is still urging Americans to continue wearing masks indoors, noting that we’re still seeing about 50,000 COVID cases a day here in the U.S.
SU has received an initial allotment of 1,600 shots of the single-dose J&J vaccine from New York State and Onondaga County, per an email from the SU Public Health Team.
It was just yesterday morning that Gov. Cuomo’s opened vaccinations to all adults in New York State, but SU requested vaccines and permission to distribute from the state weeks ago.
The University emailed students earlier this week asking them to pre-register for their shot from the Barnes Center if they are interested in getting vaccinated on campus. On Tuesday, Barnes Center staff began contacting students who pre-registered, with shots beginning this morning in the Barnes Center.
As of now, SU has not made any announcements regarding a vaccination requirement for the Fall 2021 semester.
The 1,600 doses from the state and county are seen as a starting point for the University’s vaccination efforts, with more doses likely to come from the state in the coming weeks.
Students who receive a vaccine on campus are not required to submit documentation to the Patient Portal, while the University requires those who get their vaccine off campus to provide proof of their vaccination via the Patient Portal.
These updates come just a week after the State opened up shots to adults 50 and older, and weeks ahead of President Biden’s target of shots available to all adults by May 1.
These latest updates in eligibility also open the door to colleges and high schools vaccinating students on campuses. Ryan McMahon, Onondaga County Executive, said at his press conference on Monday that the County will soon be reaching out to local high schools to vaccinate students. As for Syracuse University, it put in a request with the State to be activated as a vaccination site weeks ago, but is still awaiting a response.
Michael Haynie, Vice Chancellor of SU, said in a Q&A earlier this month that the University is ready to vaccinate students, noting it has already installed the equipment necessary and the Barnes Center staff has already been trained on COVID-19 vaccine protocols.
In the meantime, SU is encouraging students to get their shots at sites such as Onondaga County’s OnCenter and State’s Fairgrounds - even lending campus trolleys as shuttles to and from the OnCenter this week.
With the door about to open to those ages 16 and up for vaccinations, there’s also been recent speculation of a future Syracuse University vaccine requirement for the Fall 2021 semester, especially with Chancellor Kent Syverud recently saying in an email that SU is “planning for a fully in-person semester this fall.” The University has not made any official announcements, as it continues to urge students to follow the Stay Safe Pledge and get vaccinated if eligible.
After the first game was only open to last year’s season ticket holders, the University is opening up tickets for this Sunday’s women’s lacrosse game to first-year and transfer students.
Under the approved plan by the State, students need a COVID test 24 hours before the game, and another upon arrival at the stadium.
Once a negative test result is confirmed, students can then go to their pre-marked, SU designated, socially distanced seats, with no more than four students sitting with each other.
Even though Syracuse planned for 900 students to go to the game last weekend, only about 250 actually attended. Under New York State policy, indoor venues can host up to 10% of their capacity. For SU’s Carrier Dome, this means its maximum number of fans this season could be about 4,900. However, the University has not made any public announcement of a plan to increase the number of fans who can attend future games in person.
For the foreseeable future, Syracuse is offering a variety of virtual sessions, including virtual tours of the campus and its schools. Still, for those involved in the process, the new experience leaves much to be desired.
“We’re trying to tell them what’s so great about Syracuse...it won’t be as good as it could be, but I think it will still mean something,” said Brycen Greco, a student tour guide at Syracuse.
Even with the University doing all it can to help prospective students, it seems that the virtual admissions process still cannot match the in-person experience of the past.
In another effort to extend a hand to prospective students, Syracuse announced in February that it has waived SAT and ACT scores for the 2021 application year, with no disadvantage to students who are unable or choose not to submit these test scores.
“[COVID] did make the situation harder because I wanted to visit again,” said Peter Kucharczuk, a first-year student at SU. Even though Kucharczuk was applying to schools last year, he got a glimpse into the COVID restrictions that would soon plague the college admissions process.
Even with the U.S. rounding a corner in the pandemic, it seems the best colleges and universities can continue to do is continue with the virtual process until it is safe to be face to face again.
The new policy, effective immediately upon its announcement on Friday, states that colleges and universities testing at least 25% of those on campus will now pause in-person activities if the positivity rate reaches 5% over 14 days, as opposed to the previous guidance of 100 cases in over 14 days. For Syracuse University, this means the decision to halt in-person activities is likely at the University’s discretion, not the State’s.
At a time when an in-person pause was looming for SU, and Chancellor Syverud’s recent email confirming that, the University got a significant break. Under the new guidance, the number of cases that would require SU to go on pause increases from 100 to roughly 880.
The State also shifted what qualifies as a 14 day period with the new policy change. The period now adjusts each day, rather than resetting at the end of each 14-day window.
“We don’t see transmission in the classroom…we see transmission from large parties,” said Dr. David Larsen, Associate Professor of Public Health at Syracuse University. “This is just an advancement and better understanding of the science,” he said.
Later on Friday, J. Michael Haynie, Syracuse Vice Chancellor and an at-large leader of the University’s COVID-19 response, showed optimism in the community and reminded it of the crucial guidelines to keep all safe and healthy throughout the semester.
With some tweaks to its safety measures from last semester, SU has been able to accommodate more in-person classes for this semester. Some new measures include weekly COVID-19 testing, as opposed to the random sampling method of last semester, enhanced contact tracing, and minor amendments to the Stay Safe Pledge.
However, even with many students and professors back in the classroom, things still do not exactly feel normal again.
“The place it’s been more of an adjustment than I anticipated was my in-person classes...some nuances go out the window between the masks and social distancing...definitely more body language is required,” said Eric Grode, a Newhouse undergraduate and graduate professor.
Grode is splitting his time this semester between hybrid format undergraduate classes and in-person instructed graduate-level classes, and he says that both methods of instruction still require some adjustments for both students and professors.
Even with the University’s expansion of its resources, including transforming the Carrier Dome into a classroom for some large lectures and as a study space, students also seem to agree that this new in-person experience is not exactly what they imagined.
“It’s definitely not normal...it’s harder to communicate with your classmates and get to know them...and even collaborate on some assignments,” said Syracuse first-year student Phoebe Gullingsrud.
Even with a steady increase in cases of COVID-19 since students returned to campus, Syracuse University is still hoping to give students a safe in-person experience, even if it continues to be different than what many imagined.
Rave Guardian, which protects over 1,200 colleges and universities across the U.S., offers many of the same features as the Department’s previous app, LiveSafe, but the University says it offers better integration with the campus’ Orange Alert System, making way for more improved features in the future.
“We’ve been working with Rave Mobile Safety, which is the company we have the Orange Alert System through...and with our contract expiring with LiveSafe it just made sense to make the switch now,” said Christine Weber, DPS Public Information and Internal Communications Officer.
Though both LiveSafe and Rave Guardian are now connected to the Syracuse Department of Public Safety, starting February 26th LiveSafe users will have more limited functionality in the application, as the University will be dropping its support.
“Even if you still have [LiveSafe], you’ll still be able to call 911 or use their safety timer, but you won’t have all of the extra resources that connect you with DPS that you have in the Rave Guardian app,” Weber said.
Rave Guardian is free to download on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store by searching for “Rave Guardian.” Users do not need an account to register, only their phone number. Weber also added to expect more information to come from the University to make all on campus aware of the change.
For more visit www.thesideline.news
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein
Created/Produced by Bradley Hoppenstein


