In response to recent crime near campus, Student Association members have created a new advisory board to improve communication between students and Department of Public Safety officials.

“We are trying to form a way students can directly communicate with DPS about their concern about safety and everything that’s going on right now,” said assemblymember Belen Crisp, who is spearheading the initiative.

The new board was announced at an SA meeting on Monday night in Maxwell Auditorium. The board plans to arrange for a DPS officer to be present at every SA meeting possible so students have a way to speak directly with officials and report problems more quickly and efficiently to DPS, Crisp said.

The new initiative comes after two robberies and one attempted robbery were reported to DPS officers this weekend.

“I think in general DPS and the Syracuse Police Department have stepped it up a lot and it’s really unfortunate to see crime continue,” SA President Dylan Lustig said.

The meeting also focused on how campaigns will influence students during the SA presidential elections this fall. This year, SA will add a polling station in E.S. Bird Library to allow students to vote in person.

Due to this new polling station, a bill was proposed at Monday’s meeting that would prohibit presidential candidates and their supporters from campaigning within 100 feet of a polling station on Election Day, among other guidelines.

Board of Elections and Membership Chair Jennifer Bacolores said presidential campaigning is also prohibited in the SA office.

Bacolores said campaign regulations are much stricter this year due to issues with questionable campaigning last year. Last year, she said, there was a lot of “gray area,” and presidential candidates were unsure of the limits of certain regulations, but “crossed the line anyway.”

Both Bacolores and Lustig have said several times that they aim to ensure this fall’s elections are fair. If candidates or assemblymembers violate any of the new regulations, they could be suspended, Bacolores said.

Monday night’s meeting started off with an announcement from Lustig criticizing a recent editorial column by The Daily Orange that critiqued SA’s latest transparency initiative. SA Director of Technology Ross Lazerowitz is putting together a new software that will allow assemblymembers to discuss their latest initiatives and upload official documents to a website that students would be able to view, but not comment on.

“This website is innovative and it’s something that’s been talked about on a national level,” Lustig said.

The editorial said the website would “close an avenue to hear students’ opinions” because there would be no option to comment on content posted on the website.

Lustig said the editorial bothers him, and that the contact information of SA members will be available on the site.

An official completion date has not been set for the project, but Lazerowitz said it would not be operational until next semester.

In other business, two SU students faced off in a heavily contested election for the last general assembly seat in the College of Arts and Sciences. Freshman political science and Middle Eastern studies major Lara Alkarim won the election. She said one of her initiatives is providing more welcoming services for incoming students at the start of the semester.

Published on October 9, 2012 at 1:52 am

Contact Anna: aegiles@syr.edu