Hate Group Condemned
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SINCE 1916 NEWS SPORTS ALSO INSIDE ... SEVOR WINS SENATE VICE- PROFILE: NICO SOLABAR- OPINION: ‘SOCIAL NORMS’ A SHAM PG. 5 CHAIR PG. 3 RIETA PG. 9 ENTERTAINMENT: NYSWI Hosts Albany Book Festival PG. 6 LIFE : Inside @AintDatUA PG. 7 ALBANY STUDENT PRESS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018 ISSUE 4 ALBANYSTUDENTPRESS.NET STUDENT ASSOCIATION HATE GROUP CONDEMNED PHILLIP DOWNES / ASP A student tears down a poster from the group Identity Evropa, which has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. By JANE LEONHARDT & PHILLIP “FREEDOM OF SPEECH? NOT IN NEW and the Anti-Defamation League. thing, so I just felt incredibly angry.” DOWNES YORK,” alongside an image of New York Their following is small, consisting of On Wednesday, SA passed a resolution Gov. Andrew Cuomo. only about 300 members nationally, but denouncing the postings and the group re- University at Albany’s Student As- Another showed a young blonde-haired, large enough to be actively involved during sponsible and called on university adminis- sociation passed a resolution Wednesday blue-eyed girl holding an American flag the riots in Charlottesville, NC last August. tration to do the same. formally denouncing the white nationalist with the caption, “Thank you Customs and The posters sparked unrest among Senators-at-Large Alline Alvarez and group Identity Evropa after at least 25 unap- Immigration enforcement.” students and were removed not long after Alexia Holden drafted the proposal which proved posters and stickers from the group The posters were not approved by the first popping up by students such as Jamus had 11 co-sponsors. were found across campus. university. Socker, a member of the UAlbany College The resolution passed unanimously. On Sept. 15, students reported seeing Identity Evropa, the organization respon- Democrats. “We want that group to get the message several posters from the neo-Nazi group sible for the postings, often target college “I felt shocked, shocked that this group that they’re not invited here,” Holden said. hanging on the Academic Podium and on campuses to spread its message. would be bold enough to post its propagan- It is unknown whether the posters were Western Avenue. The group has been identified as a hate da on our campus,” Socker said, “I knew placed by a student or an outside entity, One sign had a message reading, group by the Southern Poverty Law Center what the group stood for prior to this whole however, the senators worry this is an See HATE GROUP page 2 POLICY University Issues New Tailgating Policies By PHILLIP DOWNES The university paid two claims “total- ing less than $2,500,” according to Jordan The University at Albany recently took Carleo-Evangelist, director of media & action to reform its tailgating policies for community relations for the university, as a football games. result of students sitting on vehicles. According to the university, the new “Being completely surrounded by drunk regulations are oriented to, ”improve the fan and high young individuals was a situa- experience while also focusing on the safety tion that could have been avoided if proper and well-being of our campus community security was put in place,” wrote one person and guests.” who attended the event in a letter to UAl- Problems with tailgating are nothing bany president Havidan Rodriguez. new. Last year, Rodriguez assembled a team to In May, the Albany Student Press review the events in the Dutch Quad park- highlighted several concerns pertaining to ing lot, where much of the tailgating before raucus crowds damaging vehicles during games takes place. homecoming last October. Several notable adjustments have been JOE HOFFMAN / ASP See TAILGATING page 3 A board with the new tailgating rules hangs in the Dutch Quad parking lot. BYLAWS ELECTION Bylaw Changes Now Null Campus Push for Voter Registration By CHAD ARNOLD a conference to gain a two-week prior ap- By PHILLIP DOWNES Hispanic or Latino. proval from the senate before departing. “Currently our country is in an interest- The Student Association has work to do. The change came after SA leadership A coalition of various offices, student ing state, so I want to make sure that by Rather, re-do. attended a diversity conference in New leaders and organizations across the the time the elections come around, I can That’s because the organization’s failure Orleans during Mardi Gras, spending $500 University at Albany are aiming to bolster have my say and hopefully make a differ- to display the most current version of its on Uber rides to and from their hotel room voter registration ahead of the Nov. 6 mid- ence,” said Julia Wilkeyson, a political bylaws on its website has nullified any in French Quarter. term elections. science major, was passionate about her changes made to them. The trip was lambasted as a “waste UAlbany is a diverse campus with a motivations as a voter. A total of 11 revisions have been made of money” by Anna Agnes, a former SA broad spectrum of ideologies and values. The UAlbany College Republicans is a since the bylaws were last updated on the senator who sponsored the highly contested According to official demographics for political organization on the university’s site in February 2018. legislation, which was initially vetoed by this semester, there are 13,598 undergrad- campus that allows students to be active as The most notable adjustment: the organi- former SA president Jerlisa Fontaine. uate students on campus. Nineteen percent republicans and meet others, according to zation’s check on conference line spending. The senate voted to override the veto of the undergraduate population is Black Alexander O’Leary, the group’s president. Approved by the SA senate in March, the several weeks later, but - in order to comply or African American and 17.5 percent is O’Leary explained that the group bylaw requires any member of SA attending with its own bylaws - must now pass the NULLIFIED See page 2 See TURNOUT page 2 PRINTED BY THE TIMES UNION, ALBANY, NEW YORK — A HEARST CORPORATION NEWSPAPER TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2018 EDITOR: PHILLIP DOWNES ALBANY STUDENT PRESS [email protected] UNIVERSITY HALL NEWS 2 HATE GROUP Continued from Page 1. attempt by the hate group to gain more on,” Alvarez said. of international students and UAlbany welcome, University President Havidán Ro- followers. UAlbany is a diverse campus with 48.2 maintains a position supporting DACA, dríguez said. “We will accept nothing less.” Both Sen. Alvarez and Sen. Holden hope percent of the 13,598 undergraduates with a notable population of “dreamers” to create an open conversation between SA enrolled being being non-white students, enrolled. Nicholas Sherman contributed reporting and the student body regarding Identity according to an official university report. ”We are committed to fostering a climate for this article Evropa. A total of 5.2 percent of the undergradu- that celebrates our individual differences “Students need to know what’s going ate population falls under the classification and in which everyone is welcome and feels NULLIFIED Continued from Page 1 share of technical difficulties, SA SA has a choice: attempt to legislation pertaining to its bylaw is funded by the $110 per semester controversial bill, and 10 oth- has had the ability to upload rel- pass the 11 pieces of legislation revisions all over again. student activity fee, as a result. ers, all over again. evant documents to the site since again or move on entirely. “It’s certainly unfortunate that SA’s department of Informa- Here’s what you need to know. early last semester. The prospect of re-doing nearly this bylaw has been overlooked in tion Technology is currently in In March, Joel Duran, SA’s for- three months of work does not the years previous,” said Nicholas the process of updating dead The Bylaw mer director of Information Tech- sit well with Brandon Holdridge, Pepe, SA vice president. “It was a links, outdated code and ensuring nology, told the Albany Student SA’s current senate chair. mistake on the behalf of the Stu- everything on the site is uniform, SA’s senate chair is tasked with Press he had the ability to upload Last year, Holdridge served as dent Association, now the Student according to Royce Lobban, the updating, archiving and ensuring information and documents to the chairman of the Rules Committee Association has to make up for department’s current director. the most updated version of the site, and he was just waiting on and personally oversaw the now that mistake.” “As of right now, I would give body’s governing rules is dis- then senate chair Jarrett Altilio to nullified revisions. it about a month from now for the played on organization’s website. send such documents to him. In May, he ran for his current The Website website to start having relevant in- Failure to do so within one “Yeah, that’s something I just position on a platform of adhering formation on there,” said Lobban, calendar week of any changes to haven’t sent over to him,” Altilio to the bylaws. Now Holdridge is SA’s failure to update its web- who explained it’s just a matter of the bylaws, “will result in all the said at the time regarding senate hoping to find a way to “overrule site has plagued the organization referencing relevant documents legislative and executive actions voting records, which are also the bylaw” to salvage last year’s for several years. and putting it on the site’s server. towards the affected legislation(s) required to be displayed on the SA work. Senate voting and attendance Lobban also hopes to roll out being nullified,” according to the website, according to the bylaws.