News Briefs: What SU news you missed over Winter Break
Off Campus Homicide Arrest
A Syracuse native was arrested on Dec. 12 in the homicide of Zavion Escobar, a 15-year-old who was shot and killed on Hope Avenue on Oct. 14. The homicide led to an off-campus pursuit of suspects by the Syracuse Police Department, and the chase’s proximity to the Syracuse University campus caused SU to issue an Orange Alert with a message to “shelter in place.”
Keary Moore, 21, was charged with murder in the second degree, as a result of an ongoing investigation, according to a Dec. 12 SPD release. SPD patrol officers stopped Moore around 2 a.m. on Dec. 12 for a traffic infraction. Moore provided a false name, according to the release, and was interviewed by SPD detectives in the Criminal Investigations Division. Moore was also charged with false personation and traffic violations, according to the release, and was being held in the Onondaga County Justice Center.
The investigation of the homicide will be continuing and more arrests are possible, according to the release.
Nu Alpha Phi
The two Nu Alpha Phi members charged with hazing after a fraternity pledge almost lost four fingers in March pleaded guilty in city court on Dec. 15 to a violation of hazing.
Jeffrey Yam and Tae Kim were charged in March with hazing in the first degree, a misdemeanor, and they both originally pleaded not guilty. At the Dec. 15 hearing, the charge was downgraded to hazing in the second degree, a violation. Prosecutor Peter Hakes cited the fact that neither defendant has a criminal record as well as the fact that Syracuse University has “addressed the conduct.”
Yam and Kim were sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge under the condition they stay out of trouble. Because the charge was reduced to a violation, Yam and Kim, who are no longer enrolled at SU, won’t have criminal records.
The Nu Alpha Phi pledge nearly lost four fingers due to frostbite after he was forced to do aerobic exercises as punishment for “failing to perform their daily duties properly.” Pledges were dressed in sweatshirts, pants, boots and no gloves, then forced to do exercises in the cold and snow. The incident caused the victim severe pain in both hands and he was treated for severe frostbite at Crouse Hospital, police said in March.
Nu Alpha Phi was suspended from the university. The fraternity is no longer listed on the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs website.
Park Point
Dominick Kelly, 27, was arrested by the Syracuse Police Department on Dec. 16 in the Dec. 14 robbery and stabbing of a Syracuse University student in the Park Point apartment building, according to an SPD release.
Kelly, a Syracuse native, was arrested on the 400 block of S. Salina St. and charged with burglary in the first degree, assault in the second degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, according to the release.
Kelly was awaiting arraignment at the Onondaga County Justice Center as of Dec. 16, according to the release.
Kelly had entered the student’s Park Point apartment at 417 Comstock Ave. through a window on the morning of Dec. 14. After the student woke to find the man in her apartment, a struggle ensued and the student was stabbed in the upper back with a knife, according to the release.
SU ambulance took the victim to Upstate University Hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries, according to the release.
The Department of Public Safety and SPD worked together on the investigation in order to arrest the suspect, according to an updated SPD release.
National Veterans Resource Complex
Syracuse University launched a design competition on Dec. 17 for the National Veterans Resource Complex, which would help “solidify” central New York as the “hub” of research and programming connected to veterans and military affairs.
Architect Martha Thorne will lead SU’s search for a design partner. Thorne is the dean of the IE School of Architecture and Design in Madrid and the executive director of the Pritzker Prize — the architecture equivalent to the Nobel Prize, according to a Dec. 17 SU News release.
Thorne will be collaborating with the NVRC Design Selection Committee, which is made up of SU faculty, staff and students and some design professionals, to have the architectural firms submit proposals, according to the release.
The NVRC will eventually serve as the home of SU’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families. It will also house SU’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, as well as many other programs, including the Air Force and Army ROTC.
The NVRC was part of a winning bid from the Central New York Regional Economic Development Council that won $500 million in state funding as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative.
The building of the ROTC is part of SU’s Campus Master Plan, the Fast Forward initiative that focuses on the improvement of SU’s infrastructure.
Mike Haynie, SU’s vice chancellor for veterans and military affairs, said in an interview with The Daily Orange that the creation of the NVRC is in a position to “jumpstart” the Campus Master Plan and added that the process will move as quickly as “that’s the nature of the (Upstate Revitalization Initiative) process.”
The NVRC would generate more than $300 million in regional economic activity over the next five years, according to the CNY Regional Economic Development Council’s proposal, and it projects to also increase occupancy rates in central New York hotels and lodging facilities.
The building is tentatively planned to be built on the western part of Waverly Avenue, closer to South Crouse Avenue than University Avenue.
The first round of firms will be selected and notified by mid-January. Then, on April 11, the finalists will hand in material from their basic design and in late April they will present their proposals to the selection committee.
The winning proposal and firm will be announced in May.
SU, SUNY-ESF Partnership
Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF announced several new agreements on Jan. 13 that will affect the academic and business relationships between the universities.
The business side of agreements includes an agreement that the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry — with transitional assistance from SU — will make health and wellness services available to its students from other sources at the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year, according to an SU News release.
The schools also announced a five-year services agreement under which SU will continue to provide recreational services, library services, student affairs/student activity services, disability services and information technology services to SUNY-ESF, according to the release. This agreement includes instructional services, allowing students from each school to enroll in classes at the other school, according to the release.
SU has agreed to assist SUNY-ESF as it begins to provide information technology services directly to its students, faculty and staff — a transition that will be completed over multiple years, according to the release.
On the academic side, SU Chancellor Kent Syverud and SUNY-ESF President Quentin Wheeler announced in the release a partnership that will allow both SU and SUNY-ESF to create new academic research opportunities and pursue joint projects.