At Monday night’s Student Association meeting, a new initiative to increase safety awareness, which would cost SA $1,450, was presented to the assembly by Graduate Student Organization liaison Obi Afriyie.

The initiative would request that both SA and GSO split the costs of promoting the “LiveSafe” app through signs and business cards, which would cost $1,450 from each student organization.

The Department of Public Safety is using LiveSafe, allowing for communication between Syracuse University safety officials and students.

Afriyie said the idea was proposed to help improve off-campus safety for students living near SU.

Initially there was a plan to expand the Blue Light Alarm System on Euclid Avenue, but Afriyie said not many students have used that system, and getting clearance to install more lights would take years.

Fifty street signs would be put up around the University Hill area, including in dorms and off-campus apartments, pending approval.

Fifteen thousand safety cards would be put in student mailboxes and campus buildings with a graphic of the LiveSafe app, a contact number for DPS and the logos of SA, GSO and DPS.

SA Public Relations Co-Chair Torre Payton-Jackson was opposed to splitting the costs of promotion. She said DPS should fund the entire $2,900 initiative itself.

“DPS, if they are really concerned about our safety, will pay for the signs,” she said. “… We had nothing to do with this at all. Most undergraduate students live on campus and most graduate students live off campus, so I feel like this is more of a DPS-GSO thing than a DPS-GSO-SA thing.”

Afriyie did not agree, saying that SA should fund half of the initiative because it’s important for SU students. Even though the message may not reach all undergraduate students, Afriyie said that, if it even reaches 10 people, the cost is worth it.

He added that he’s been on campus for five years and SA has never used its whole budget.

No motion was made on funding the initiative.

Other business

SA is partnering with the New York Public Interest Research Group and Orange After Dark to provide shuttle services Tuesday during congressional midterm elections from noon to 8 p.m.

Shuttles will run every hour from College Place and every half-hour from Goldstein Student Center. Additionally, an election watch party sponsored by the three organizations is scheduled from 8 p.m. to midnight at Schine Dining Center.

Published on November 5, 2018 at 11:25 pm

Contact Jaspreet: jgill01@syr.edu