Mornings on the Hill for Sept. 9, 2020

FORD HATCHETTE: Hi there and good morning thank you for joining us for Mornings on the
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Hill i’m Ford Hatchette.
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SAMANTHA CROSTON: and i’m Samantha Croston it’s Wednesday September 9th and we’re coming
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to you live from the NCC News Studio in Newhouse 2.
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Our top story this hour, Syracuse University is beginning its second round of mandatory
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testing for students this week.
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Our Rob Flacks joins us live.
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ROB FLACKS: Good morning Samantha.
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I’m here on the Syracuse Quad as you can see behind me, students are already lining up
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to get their COVID-19 testing that’s part of the second round of mandatory testing that
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started at 10am today and every day this week and that’s going to get those testing numbers
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for COVID 19 dashboard up from previous weeks as Syracuse enters its third week of classes.
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Students are required to take the now second round of COVID swab testing.
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Volunteer swapping stations have been set up on the quad and South Campus as Syracuse
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expands its pool saliva testing program through the week.
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Students say the testing makes them feel safe.
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STUDENT; I feel a lot safer on Syracuse’s campus, especially with New York being so
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strict
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FLACKS: That sense of safety also comes from comparing SU’s response to those of surrounding
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univerisites.
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STUDENT: In Cornell, they have more like parties and they didn’t care about the mask, the test,
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so they didn’t control the certification as well.
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FLACKS: SU’s current COVID 19 dashboard reports only two active cases with 20 students in
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quarantine.
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That’s with trace amount of COVID 19 found in Ernie David and Sadler residence halls.
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Rapid testing at both locations found no active cases.
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This COVID-19 testing site behind me might be the one place on campuse where students
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won’t have to wear a mask – at least temporarily.
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They’ll be asked to take it off as they perform their mouth swab and today the first students
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who will be doing that is those from the Ernie Davis and Sadler Hall residences.
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That’s because trace amounts of COVID 19 were found in the wastewater treatment.
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SU’s COVID response manager AJ Florkowski says SU is working with Onondaga County to
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monitor wastewater off campus as well as a dorm room style lockdown such as Ernie Davis
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he says is possible.
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AJ FLORKOWSKI: There’s factors that go into that as well as far as like what the level
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is of the hit that comes back off the wastewater testing.
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If it’s a very high level, maybe it is something similar to Ernie David.
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If it’s a very low level like Sadler and maybe it’s response similar to what we saw at Sadler.
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FLACKS: He says the biggest risk to Fall 2020 semester is complacency.
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FLORKOWSKI: I think is going to be one of our biggest enemies.
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I think you know we are doing pretty well right now I think if we continue to do that,
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the fear of complacency I think will set in at least from perspective and those are me.
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You know we just have to stay vigilant, we have to stay on top of it.
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Realize that at any moment, we, you know, could hit a spike and that’s spike in testing.
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FLACKS: He says he needs volunteers, right now Syracuse University is working with upstate
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medical hospital and that means that turnaround times on testing could be as little as one
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day but Florkowski says that number wouldn’t hold if a large spiking cases happen he’d
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need to mobilize people as soon as he could get them and that’s why he says students should
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pick up any hours they can get in order to get those testing in.
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He says that students should get that and as soon as they can and students can go and
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even get extra credit for their assignments as well as college credit through the arts
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and health school if that’s where they are a student.
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HATCHETTE: Thanks Rob yeah SU received a bit of a scare last week after traces of COVID
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19 were found in the wastewater of two dorms but that sewer surveillance isn’t just for
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su’s campus it’s being used across onondaga county and has become a crucial tool in fighting
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the virus it’s a strategy that was originally used decades ago to track and slow the spread
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of polio but now the new york state health department has partnered with syracuse-based
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quadrant biosciences to expand the testing to three new areas monitoring different wastewater
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facilities has helped isolate positive cases up to 10 days before someone exhibits symptoms
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and a plan announced by county executive ryan mcmahon in april.
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MCMAHON: So we’re tracking it we we see it we see COVID and oak orchard we know that
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it’s in clay right across campus students are limiting the spread of cobia 19 by social
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distancing and wearing masks
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CROSTON: but reporter sarah al-shaye tells us that for one SU student what was supposed
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to protect her from getting sick got her sick
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DIDIER: it’s not something that will just go away and the doctor told me that my mom
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told me that it just wasn’t gonna just go away so i had to go get it looked at.
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SARAH AL-SHAIKH: Riley Didier had a fever at the end of her first week back on campus
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her first thought was covet 19 but once she got a rash on her ear she knew it was something
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else so i ended up going to urgent care and they said that i had cellulitis riley says
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she was surprised to find out the masks she’s been wearing to
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help her not get sick ended up being how she got sick.
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DIDIER: it was too tight and it rubbed the back of my ear and i had a sore on the back
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and then it just got worse.
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AL-SHAIKH: Riley says she’s only going to be using disposable masks from now on to not
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risk getting another infection but with so many masks to choose from which one is best
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according to the CDC’s website you should wear masks with two or more layers of washable
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breathable fabric that cover your nose and mouth and don’t have gaps for riley after
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two weeks of antibiotics her and her ear are back to normal her advice to other students
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if they feel some discomfort on the back of their ears
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DIDIER: Disposable switch it out every day or a couple times a day.
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AL-SHAIKH: In Syracuse New York sarah also mornings on the hill.
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HATCHETTE: Hard to believe your mask can get you sick thanks sarah su students will now
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be given the opportunity to work in collaboration with the department of public safety to offer
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their feedback and recommendation for their current initiatives the student association
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will be working with a local non-profit group interfaith works central new york to conduct
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daily zoom and weekly daily and weekly zoom sessions discussing topics ranging from race
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to COVID 19.
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CROSTON: As the protest in rochester played out this past weekend our Maya Locket was
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on the scene and maya joins us live now to provide an update on the movement.
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Maya?
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LOCKETE: Thank you.
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There’s just been a major announcement in rochester just a few days after the protest
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mayor Lovely Warren has just announced that the entire rochester police department’s command
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staff is resigning including the chief of police.
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Rochester is only an hour away from Syracuse so it hits home for a lot of students here
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have gathered six nights in a row in Rochester n New York after the story of daniel prude
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who died after being restrained by Rochester police department officers in March was released
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on September 2nd
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PROTESTER: This is a human being with a spirit and a soul and a mind and a body and then
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to see them put a bag over his head and to see them laugh it’s just so invading.
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LOCKETE: People from all over came to Rochester to fight for equality and justice for Daniel
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Prude.
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PROTESTER: if we don’t make a change things won’t change but many believe that there will
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not be any change if people do not understand the purpose of the black lives matter’s protest
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but they don’t understand how to walk they’re not empathetic and put themselves suppose
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they were on the other side of this face how would they feel if it was their son.
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LOCKETE: After several days of tense demonstrations protesters have found different ways to protect
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themselves protesters are having to use leaf blowers to blow away the tear gas that will
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be released on them.
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PROTESTER: i can’t understand why they would think they have to use such unnecessary force
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against people with umbrellas.
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LOCKETE: Protesters plan to continue their fight until justice is served for Daniel Prude.
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Just thinking about daniel and his family and that they’ll never get to see him again.
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For mornings on the hill i’m maya lockett.
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LOCKETE: When i went to rochester i was able to see the pain in the community that they
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are dealing with there and organizers made it so known that they just wanted a peaceful
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protest to get their voices heard in the community and one thing that stood out to me were the
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amount of mothers that were there that were fighting for justice for daniel prude but
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also trying to prevent this from happening to their sons and the protesters the protesters
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made it known that they will not stop fighting for justice until everyone who is responsible
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for the death of daniel pruitt is held accountable.
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Thank you i’m maya lockett and this is mornings on the hill.
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CROSTON: this past friday residents at day hall got a scare when a package was discovered
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in the mail room with a racial slur written on it
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dps chief bobby maldonado released a statement yesterday saying the writing did not come
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from day hall and that the package likely arrived on campus with the slur already written.
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Day hall was the subject of multiple incidents of racist graffiti last year sparking the
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not again su movement its freshman residents had a lot to say about the package.
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STUDENT: More than anything it’s just why do these things keep happening as freshmen
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we should all like be very like welcoming and like have like a strong community so yeah
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it’s just a little frightening.
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STUDENT: I thought with the rise of like the not again su movement people that were attending
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syracuse were a lot more racially sensitive about things like this so it’s surprising
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to see something like that happening again saying quote hate does not belong at syracuse
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university
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and coming up on mornings on the hill student clubs are still recruiting new members this
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year just not in person and it’s just gonna get hotter so you have to stick around for
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the full weather forecast and so much more coming up on maureen’s on the hill welcome
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back and for those of you looking for today’s forecast our sierra rider is live out on university
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avenue to tell us what to expect sierra what’s it looking like out there
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hi samantha and ford if you are just getting out the door you can ditch that jacket because
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it is going to be hot and humid today it’s already at 75 degrees and the temperatures
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are just gonna keep going up so let’s take a look at the forecast take a look at the
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temperatures today it is 90 humidity with a slight wind coming out of the east the high
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will be 86 degrees around 4 pm this afternoon it will cool down to near 72 degrees later
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this evening your sunset tonight is at 7 20.
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so what’s going on tomorrow well starting your thursday off with high 60s but that won’t
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last for long by the late morning temps will reach 79 degrees with sunny skies overhead
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still increasing to 82 degrees in the afternoon so not quite as hot as today but you will
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still feel it
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and now on to the rest of the week look at those numbers it is cooling down for us lows
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in the 50s on friday with a high of just 70 degrees still mostly sunny skies so that’s
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good news and then on to your weekend we have a high of 77 on saturday with some slight
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cloud cover rain sun on sunday with some showers that’s cutting your way 70 chance of rain
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in the morning and that will fall to a 50 chance in the afternoon
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a igh of 74 and a low of 59.
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so a temperature check right now it’s 75 degrees but it’s going to keep increasing it i might
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have to go back to the studio and join you guys my air conditioning pretty soon back
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to you.
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as we mentioned before many campus services are not quite the same as when you departed
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campus last spring for instance counseling services at the barn center there are a few
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new guidelines in place to keep you safe now one of the biggest changes is that drop-in
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appointments are not available this semester additionally initial appointments will be
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done over the phone or zoom for in-person visits a wellness triage will be required
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mass and social distancing are required at all times in the building and a new coven
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19 grief and loss group counseling session is available to students for the latest information
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on changes at the barn center you can visit their twitter at bulsu and call the number
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on the screen for an appointment the syracuse student activities fair was held last week
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and it looked a little different than usual
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instead of the one day fair on the quad featuring hundreds of organizations this year’s virtu
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this year’s fair was virtual with around 50 clubs represented on each day associate director
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of student activities tim johnson says this year will look a little different we made
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sure that all of our student orders when they registered updated all the information about
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meeting times contact and all that so if a student group can’t go to something um they
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can definitely register that group individually and jump into their own meeting times so the
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last thing i’ll say think in all the programming throughout campus like yes as students you
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know really give it a chance to work i think it could be a really great space to still
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have some interaction and some fun i’m a little concerned about like being able to connect
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with people like virtually in clubs but i think i think it i think everybody’s learning
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i think it’ll work out in the end student club organizers say that the virtual format
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well it’s not ideal it did bring in some new club signups but they still prefer the in-person
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fare
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coming up on mornings on the hill syracuse football chapel hill syracuse football kicks
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off their regular season this weekend in chapel hill we’ll take a look at how the orange are
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getting prepared.
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good morning i’m josh miller with your orange sports update here on mornings on the hill
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college football is back for syracuse university this week the orange have been hard at work
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since june preparing for this season the biggest question for this team is if the offensive
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line can keep quarterback tommy devito safe while establishing a healthy run game head
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coach dino babers spoke about the group and what they need to do to be successful the
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offensive linemen work together all the time you know they’re like your left hand and your
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right hand working together and they really got to have a feel for each other if they’re
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really going to be above average so to speak top spot in the fbs for interceptions defensively
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it will be a transitional season for the orange as they have changed to a new defensive scheme
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under new defensive coordinator tony white the first test for this team comes this saturday
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at noon as the orange take on 18th ranked unc chapel hill down in north carolina the
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tar heels in orange last met in 2018 were the orange one in dramatic fashion in double
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overtime this year the orange are a 22 point underdog to the tar heels but are hoping to
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start the season off with an upset now over to matt majinski for a pro sports update on
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former s.u basketball player elijah hughes
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the nba decided to postpone the draft once again as coronavirus continues to alter sports
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schedules but for former syracuse basketball star eliza hughes draft knight can’t come
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soon enough the former star elected to fordog senior season on the hill and instead embark
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on his professional basketball journey i was able to speak with miami hurricane assistant
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coach chris caputo who talked about these skill sets a really good also a you know enough
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side mid-range post you up and you’ll get an offensive rebound so you know have a really
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nice package as a offensive player
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in the wake of several social justice movements across the country the acc has released three
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initiatives to be taken up by its member schools according to a press release from the acc
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the initiatives include mandatory diversity and inclusion training for student athletes
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and athletic department staff the acc’s committee for racial and social justice created the
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initiatives to move the conference towards its goal of creating meaningful lasting social
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change the conferences committee has also introduced a unity statement which will be
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read before all acc events the statement reads in part we the acc are committed to seeing
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each other as equals supporting each other and treating each other with respect and dignity
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at all times.
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and with the acc is committed to holding its fall season despite the pandemic steven shoemaker
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joins us live with how university club sports are fairing this semester.
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stephen: syracuse university has over 40 club sports teams but with everything going on
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on campus nothing is promised in the day and age
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of covert 19.
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the university is starting to allow larger public group gatherings to occur as they want
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their students to have the opportunities they normally would be having if not for the virus
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club sports like tennis baseball and softball have the green light to start practicing as
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they are outdoor sports that are distant from one another i was able to sit down and speak
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with ryan clark who’s one of the captains of the club tennis team he explained to me
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how they practice only twice a week and can have anywhere from 20 to 50 players on their
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roster they have a dozen outdoor courts so they are able to practice and be socially
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distant from one another all players are required to wear their masks at all times it’s nice
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to see that club sports are slowly but surely making their way back onto syracuse’s campus
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reporting live for mornings on the hill i’m steven shoemaker back to you guys in the studio.
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thanks steven returning to matt live once more for a look at syracuse’s local high school
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sports matt.
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new york state high school sports may look a little bit different this year the new york
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state public high school athletic association decided on a new start date to the season
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that new start date will be september 21st so teams will have a couple more weeks to
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get ready for practice but until then at 3 pm after in this afternoon there is going
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to be a meeting so they can discuss any other plans that may need to be taken in case there
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is going to be another coveted outbreak but until then high school sports are around the
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corner in new york state
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a new segment here on mornings on the hill game of the week we will pick a game for you
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to watch and recap it on our next show this first week’s game of the week was monday night’s
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byu vs navy college football matchup byu got started early and well they never really stopped
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starting off the action in the first quarter the run game was working for byu tyler algier
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gets the party started with a 34-yard rushing touchdown to put byu up seven not even three
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minutes later lopini katoa says hey i want my own katoa with his own 39-yard rushing
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touchdown byu of 14 in just the first quarter not only was byu’s offense clicking but its
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defense navy couldn’t get anything going offensively big stop here for byu’s defense on fourth
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down that set the tone early navy was held to only a field goal the entire game byu started
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to run away with this one zach wilson to gunner romney in well romney does the rest a 45-yard
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touchdown and things started to get ugly b-y-u would end up winning with a final score of
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55-3 the first win of the season for byu be sure to check out the new game of the week
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we stay on the gridiron as the nfl returns the returning super bowl champion kansas city
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chiefs take on the houston texans tomorrow night for some much-needed thursday night
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football have a different game you’re watching out for this week tweet us at mornings on
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the hill twitter with your can’t miss game
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a big step in getting ready for local elections is taking place today that story and more
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just ahead stay with us
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welcome back with just 55 days until the november election mornings on the hill political reporter
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ryan clark is live with us this morning and ryan
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today’s a big day in local politics isn’t it thanks ford well it certainly is because
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today marks the first day of new campaigns in onondaga county according to the onondaga
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county board of elections the final candidate nations have been finalized and will be being
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released by noon today after that announcement expect to see more campaign strategies and
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campaign promises released by those new campaigns within the next 24 hours or so there will
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be new nominations in the onondaga county government and it’s a big day for local politics
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with early voting slated to begin on october 24th the ballot will be finalized by the afternoon
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today the offices that will be filled include two new york state senate seats five seats
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on the state assembly and three town justices along with the already finalized congressional
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representative race of john catko and dana balter others include tax collectors country
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commemors and ward councillors but don’t forget about the town justices those are the only
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ones solely responsible for the local criminal mischief and locking down crime in your community
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and these nominations come just days before local polling sites are set to be released
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i talked to campaign and elections officials yesterday and they ensured me that local polling
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sites will be up and running as soon as possible to ensure that all syracuse residents have
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the right to vote and well that right to vote might be coming sooner than you think the
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elections officials confirm to me that they will be setting up polling sites as early
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as october 1st just three weeks ahead of now be on the lookout for more information from
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the board of elections within the next few weeks regarding early voting reporting live
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for mornings on the hill i’m ryan clark
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su students are back but for some businesses it’s still not enough marshall street one
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of su’s most popular destinations is open but this year the street looks a little emptier
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peter mavrokities the owner of acropolis pizza says that despite the return of students his
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business and others are struggling to get by i believe
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that every business in this street is thes same situation they’re all some place they
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close for three months they don’t even open some big places are open one day they close
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early you know it’s not easy marvel kitty says that if a vaccine
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isn’t found by the end of the year he may be forced to close down despite his business
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situation he still sees the silver lining it’s a sad story but you know you gotta look
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at this way the other people die and we’re alive and that’s that’s a blessing i’m saying
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that’s how i look it
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renovations have been ongoing at the shine center since last fall our xavier brown joins
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us live to tell us what will be different at the student center once the construction
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is completed the workers up here at the shine student center have been working since daybreak
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this morning construction here on construction here on
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campus has been going since may of 2019 and is about 70 percent complete at the moment
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so to be finished sometime in september i haven’t done but i really just go in there
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to buy food and there’s other options you know when the stock ends when all is and done
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the center will feature a better student experience i can wait really i’m not too anxious for
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it okay a few of these upgrades include space created to help students with disabilities
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affairs as well as a space for the lgbt community the aesthetic was also a focal point paint
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and natural light have started to be applied for the uh for the building to be more welcoming
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xavier brown reporting here for mornings on the hill
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student designers are making their impact on campus despite the pandemic our sierra
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williams is live to tell us more pop cycle has nine brands all found by students
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chief marketing officer jackson ensley says their ultimate goal is to make sure students
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work is public what we’re doing is we just want to kind of give give those young brands
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a platform to to meet new customers and get eyes on them that they wouldn’t have before
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so we really think that we’re doing a great job at that adora ellis has been with pop
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cycle for two years and has been able to create her own brand lave she says the recognition
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from pop cycle has been nothing but positive every time it leaves me speechless but it
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also like it makes me feel like i accomplished what i hope to when creating the piece like
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i wanted it to be a thing where people buy it and it sells out and they just love it
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or they always like inbox me like hey i love what i got from you so it’s just like a really
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it’s a priceless and unexplainable feeling whenever i do get it pop cycle co-founder
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ben goldsmith says they create clothing that incorporates quality style and comfort mainly
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for their biggest consumers students should shop pop cycle because they’re supporting
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their own fellow students and that’s a huge thing to do pop cycle launched their e-commerce
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website on monday evening that includes curbside pickup in syracuse cyera williams mornings
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on the hill back to you ford
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finally this morning the annual on-campus concert juice jam is going virtual this weekend
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the show will be headlined by rap star a boogie with the hoodie our lenox and beach bunny
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will also make appearances the concert will be pre-recorded and uploaded to youtube on
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sunday night students looking to virtually attend still need to rsvp with student activities
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in order to get the link university union who organizes the event will hold giveaways
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on the quad at lunch beginning today and running through saturday for anyone who has rsvp’d
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and that’s going to do it for us this morning on this wednesday it’s mornings on the hill
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i’m fort hatchet be sure to follow us on social media for the latest
28:03
i’m samantha crosston thanks for watching orange nation we’ll see you next wednesday
28:08
live at 10 a.m right here on otn.