CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the service providing transportation for Impact Week was misstated. Janine Savage is working with the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Services, which offers transportation for community service. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Student safety continues to be a top concern for campus police as rumors spread throughout Syracuse University claiming local gang initiations are the cause of recent violence near campus, according to Student Association President Dylan Lustig.

“This rumor of gang initiation and gang activities is completely false,” Lustig said.

Lustig addressed the issue during Monday night’s SA meeting after speaking with officials from the Syracuse Police Department and the Department of Public Safety, who also said the rumors are “simply false.”

“Someone in my position has to take this very seriously,” Lustig said. “And make sure that if there are any threats to our students, that that gets handled and brought to the student’s attention.”

DPS officials said in an email that student parties near campus are what tend to attract nonstudents with criminal backgrounds. During the SA meeting, Lustig said in a situation like this, student safety is his top priority.

After addressing gang initiation rumors, Monday’s meeting continued with an update from Chief of Staff Janine Savage regarding a weeklong community service event — Impact Week — sponsored by SA.

“It’s an opportunity for students to bridge that gap with the community so that when they leave here, they don’t just think of themselves as Syracuse University students, they think of themselves as Syracuse residents,” Savage said.

As plans for Impact Week continue to unfold, one of the biggest issues organizers face is providing transportation for volunteers. Savage said she is working with the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service, which offers transportation to students, faculty and staff for community service, and  is also looking into using the Centro bus system.

The event is set to take place the first week of November and includes opportunities for students and SU organizations to volunteer with organizations like the Salvation Army and the Ronald McDonald House.

Additionally, SA clarified regulations regarding event funding for student organizations.

Funding is currently determined by a financial “tier system” that assigns each organization a certain level of funding based on factors like size and past success. A bill written by Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo spelling out how organizations can move up and down the tier system was approved at the meeting.

Director of Public Relations Colin Brown said the public relations committee is working to increase awareness about upcoming elections. One of the group’s potential ideas is putting mouse pads in campus computer clusters explaining how and where to vote.

Lustig said he is excited for elections this semester and hopes to keep candidates honest.

“We are always looking to make sure people are running clean campaigns,” he said. “So I think that’s going to be looked at a little more closely this year.”

In other business, three new members were elected into the general assembly. Two candidates were elected from the College of Arts and Sciences: Levi Stein, a sophomore policy studies major, and Sawyer Cresap, a freshman policy studies major. Anas Doulah, a junior civil engineering major in the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science, was also elected.

Published on September 25, 2012 at 2:38 am

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