Letter to the Editor

Editor,I am writing in response to the concerns stated in last month’s issue pertaining to the closing of the lounge after 5p.m. on weekdays. I first want to commend The Chronicle for continuing to be the voice of the students. The Chronicle accepts a lot of responsibility by doing so, it is not an easy task to verify sources and facts and I continue to appreciate the paper’s ability to be the proper voice of our students.To reiterate, the decision to change the hours of the Student Activities Building 2nd Floor lounge back to 5p.m. on weekdays was not made by one person alone. Kristie Damell Assistant Director of Student Activities, the past Directors of Student Activities Dean Zennabelle Sewell, Susan Heim Director of Housing and Residential Life, Director of Security William Joseph and Michael Sachs Dean of Campus Life were consulted prior to OSA making the final decision.The lounge being opened past 5p.m. has only occurred for the past year or so, and when I came to campus last fall I saw no need to change it. However, recent security concerns such as non-registered students using falsified student IDs or IDs from other students to gain access to the lounge after hours, minor vandalism, inappropriate sexual behavior, foul language being used towards Office of Student Activities student staff members, disrespectful behavior during OSA office hours, SGA being criticized for conducting an approved emergency Senate Meeting in the lounge, solicitation as well as over 40-50 students being in the room at one time rendered us to go back to the previous hours. I have also received several complaints from student leaders and random students this semester that the lounge is not welcoming. On the first day of classes, I personally witnessed about a dozen students who purchased food from Dining Services on the first floor, came up stairs and left complaining about the room being too loud and very “exclusive”. This is unacceptable at an institution of higher learning such as NYIT and as an Administrator I need to ensure that student space is made available to all students.I agree with the issues raised by Anthony Allen and Paul James and while the decision was swift it was not irresponsible. Their concerns for those with night classes is just; however, it is our understanding that one of the authors does not have any night classes and the other may only be slightly inconvenienced. Regardless, we are working actively to address this concern. Also, since the Spring OSA and SGA made several attempts to address the issues with the assistance of Paul James to no avail. The main issue is really a lack of space.The Office of Student Activities is committed to working with our student body to provide the best collegiate experience possible. Therefore, along with Dean Michael Sachs, Office of Campus Life and William Joseph, Director of Security we have made recommendations to address the need for a secure student space where proper identification will be required. We hope to implement it as soon as possible.Our doors are always open to our students and we hope that they feel free to speak with us on this or any other concerns pertaining to the Office of Student Activities. To this day, the authors have not shared these suggestions with us directly.We wish everyone good luck on Finals!Dennis Camacho, Director of Student Activities