Off Campus: Top Featured

After lowering canine euthanasia rates, Syracuse tackles pit bull population
By Christine Oser
January 5, 2018 - 11:04pm
Groups like Second Chance Canine Adoption Shelter and Cuse Pit Crew are working to break down pit bull misconceptions and stereotypes.

The snow had not yet hit, but the sky was blanketed with gray clouds and the crisp December wind was unforgiving on the face. Despite the chill, Freya, a red-colored pit bull, relentlessly chased a red ball three times the size of her head in her play yard. While Freya was happy to be outside with her favorite toy, her tail wagging as she threw up gravel and dirt, the Onondaga County Department of Correction sat just on the other side of the chain-linked fence.

The Festival of Trees lights up the holiday season
By Chunzi Shi
December 2, 2017 - 2:19pm
The 32nd annual festival at the Everson Museum of Art is held from Dec. 1 through Dec. 10. This year's theme is tradition.

The Festival of Trees is a holiday event held by the Everson Museum of Art Member’s Council in Syracuse. Volunteers of all ages donate their decorated Christmas trees, wreaths and gift items to be displayed at the museum. Attendees have the opportunity to purchase their favorite trees. This is the festival's 32nd year of operation and all ticket sales support the museum. Its theme is tradition.

Near Westside Initiative faces uncertain future, partners continue green revitalization
By McKenna Moore
November 14, 2017 - 4:47pm
After 11 years of funding, Syracuse University will be pulling its support from the Westside Initiative, an organization committed to revitalizing the neighborhood

When the Near Westside Initiative was founded in 2006, Syracuse University played a large role financially and administratively. Now, SU is pulling its support from the cooperative revitalization effort and taking its funding with it. This could limit future residential rehabilitation and revitalization plans that can be done in the Westside neighborhood. 

Independent candidate Ben Walsh wins Syracuse mayoral election
By McKenna Moore
November 7, 2017 - 2:48pm
Democracy in Action students cover Election Day across Central New York

Ben Walsh, an independent, has won Syracuse's 2017 mayoral election. With 96 percent of districts reporting, Walsh defeated democratic candidate Juanita Perez Williams to become the first independent mayor elected in Syracuse since 1913 on Tuesday. Walsh won with 54.4 percent of the vote while Williams trailed with 37.9 percent.

Nonprofits on Syracuse’s West Side to send donations to Puerto Rico this month
By McKenna Moore
November 7, 2017 - 12:55pm
Syracuse is home to nearly 12,000 people of Puerto Rican descent that, along with other Syracuse residents, are working to gather and deliver donations to the island after Hurricane Maria.

Nearly six weeks after Hurricane Maria decimated the island of Puerto Rico, the effects of the storm are still being felt on the island and in Syracuse. The city is home to nearly 12,000 people of Puerto Rican descent, according to the U.S. Census. These ties to the island have made Syracuse a hub for relief efforts. 

Nojaim Brothers Supermarket owner hopes to bring food service jobs into Syracuse
By McKenna Moore
November 1, 2017 - 3:30pm
The owner of the supermarket wants to work with the Syracuse City School District to bring jobs back to the Near West Side by using Nojaim Brothers Supermarket's building to house the district's soon-to-be-outsourced food services.

Following the closing of Nojaim Brothers Supermarket in October, which resulted in the loss of approximately 50 jobs, owner Paul Nojaim plans to put the building that housed the store to good use. He said that he put his building in a pool to be considered as a location for the central kitchen that will hold Syracuse City School District’s outsourced food services.

In an effort to deter crime, security cameras will be installed in University Neighborhood
By Gabriela Knutson
October 20, 2017 - 1:34pm
A group of landlords, alumni and student organizations teamed up to fundraise $94,000 to monitor the University Neighborhood in hopes of deterring and solving more crime.

Syracuse University’s eastern off-campus neighborhood will soon have security cameras.

The $11,000 security cameras will be scattered around Euclid Avenue between Comstock Avenue and Westcott Street.

“National Grid finished putting up all the mounts like a week or two ago and the final step is this private company that is going to go install the cameras,” said Ben Tupper, a local landlord involved in the effort, adding that the cameras should be up by mid-November at the latest.

Syracuse mayoral candidates share plans to bring jobs to the Near West Side
By McKenna Moore
October 13, 2017 - 1:45pm
Juanita Perez Williams, Ben Walsh, Laura Lavine, and Howie Hawkins explain how they plan to bring jobs back into the city of Syracuse if elected this November.

The main candidates in Syracuse’s mayoral race have similar plans for getting residents of the Near West Side back to work. After the announcement that the Nojaim Brothers Supermarket will close in October, putting approximately 50 people out of work, jobs are an even more contentious issue than before.

SUNY-ESF professor conducts conservation research in the Galapagos Islands
By Shweta Karikehalli
October 12, 2017 - 10:44am
Professor Margaret Voss works with professor Stephen Teale to preserve the endangered Darwin's finch while continuing her work as a professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

One sunny afternoon, Margaret Voss examined several bird nest boxes with her colleague in the backyard of his home in Fabius, New York.

“They’re home to any species that wants to move in,” Voss said as she unscrewed the small wooden door to a box. As they peered inside, they commented on the appearance of the nests briefly before moving onto the next one. The scene unfolded like any two bird enthusiasts enjoying a day outdoors.

Muslim Syracuse residents reflect on returning to a country more divided after taking the hajj to Mecca
By Alexis Jones
September 27, 2017 - 9:49pm
After taking the hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, Syracuse Muslims describe how they feel about the United States' current political climate and the American Dream.

Amina Foco was standing at a cashier’s desk in a Saudi Arabian mall when the gates of the store came falling down suddenly. The strangers to her left and right stopped what they were doing and everyone in the mall began to form lines.

The call for prayer had just gone off during Foco's trip to the mall in between the prayers and activites scheduled during her pilgrimage to Mecca, which Muslims call the hajj.