In an effort to keep students safe on and near campus, Student Association members announced plans to create a new mobile app or website that would make phone numbers for shuttle services and campus police available in one location.

The plan was discussed at an SA meeting on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Schine Underground. Discussion also included online access for students to The New York Times.

“What we’re hoping for is that it will be a quick and easy way for students to figure out what their options are to get home and what their options are when they need to call DPS,” Department of Public Safety Advisory Board member Belen Crisp said. “If they forget the number, they can hop right on to this app or link and see their options.”

Crisp said the new technology will allow students to find the nearest bus routes based on the user’s current location. She said she hopes students will take advantage of this resource when it becomes available. An official launch date has not been established yet.

Crisp has also been working with DPS officers to establish meetings on the first and third Sunday of every month between DPS, SA members and students.

“Everyone is welcome to come,” she said. “All students who are interested in talking about safety can definitely reach out to us and come to those meetings.”

These twice-a-month meetings are not yet official, Crisp said, but she will keep the student body updated on when and where the meetings will be held.

SA President Dylan Lustig commended Crisp’s efforts to address student safety during the meeting. The next DPS advisory board meeting will be held Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. in the Office of Student Activities lounge in the Schine Student Center, Crisp said.

Later in the meeting, three new members were added to the SA Finance Board, which had four open seats. Four candidates applied for the spots on the board, but only three were selected. Positions opened up, Lustig said, because previous members decided not to return for the fall semester or graduated.

Lustig stressed that the three new board members must bring themselves up to speed on finances so they can be well informed about their positions and make wise decisions on spending the SU student fee.

“I think in general these Finance Board members need to know what they’re doing before they come in,” he said. “The assembly is pretty harsh on candidates in general and they expect them to know what’s going on.”

Lustig said the addition of new members will not affect the Finance Board’s daily operations. SA Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo’s recent efforts to make the budget request process for student organizations online have made operations smoother and more environmentally friendly, Lustig said.

During the meeting, Lustig also announced online access to The New York Times is now available to SU students through the university’s readership program.

“I think getting this news electronically will be huge for our students,” he said. “Hopefully people will utilize this resource and become more informed. That’s the hope.”

Students can access the newspaper by creating an online account. They can go to nytimes.com/passes and create an account with their SU email. Students can log on each day and take advantage of one of the 650 available online passes for a period of 24 hours before access is deactivated. Students can renew access daily, Lustig said.

Lustig cut Monday’s meeting short so SA members could attend a candlelight vigil for Remembrance Week, an event held in honor of the 35 SU students who were killed in the Pan Am 103 bombing in 1988.

In other business, members of the Academic Affairs Board discussed during an SA cabinet meeting on Sunday increasing student printing quotas. The next SA meeting will be held on Monday in Maxwell Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

Published on October 23, 2012 at 1:55 am

Contact Anna: aegiles@syr.edu