On Nov. 20, two separate teams of scientists in Wisconsin and Japan reported that they had converted human skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells, a breakthrough that could potentially end the ethical debate about the procedure.

The destruction of human embryos has made stem cell research one of the most divisive issues in American politics and has led to passionate controversy between those who believe that an embryo has the rights of a human being and those who favor research and believe in the potential for stem cells to one day treat or cure conditions such as Alzheimer's and paralysis. more

Election 2008 - Candidate Spotlight

Last Tuesday marked the second time the president of the United States has attempted to commission a peace treaty between the government of Israel and the Palestinian authorities. The political conflict in the land now known as Israel is almost a century old, but can be traced back to biblical times. more

On Nov. 5, thousands of college students, including 20 Fredonia students, wore green hard hats and gathered on the lawn around the Capitol to demand that the government take action to change the way energy is produced and used in America. The rally was part of a larger event Nov. 2-5 entitled "Power Shift," the first ever youth summit to sound the alarm about sustainability and climate change. click to read more

In what some called a politically motivated move, Kelly Gunio and Nicole Guarino were each found guilty of one charge of violating campus posting policy at a SA supreme court hearing Monday Nov. 12. click to read more

The removal of the four-foot walls around the dining area of the Williams Center is the first step in a series of renovations to the building planned this summer.

Chuck Notaro, executive director of the Faculty Student Association (FSA), said that the walk-in serving area in the Williams Center will be almost doubled and there will be an addition of a separate espresso bar and a "feature food" stand serving specialty foods and drinks. click to read more

Members of SA debated a new policy regarding events calendars for the spring semester at the General Assembly meeting on Thursday, Nov. 15. click to read more

When asked how often people try to steal from members of the Fredonia Credit Union using identity theft, Ray Lindquist, manager of the credit union, said it happens all too often.

On Monday, Oct. 29 members of the Fredonia Credit Union received a fraudulent email from an unknown source posing as the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) informing members that there was something wrong with their credit union Visa check card and that they had to disclose card information in order to fix it. click to read more

Each year speakers and events are chosen to educate and enlight students based around a particular theme. The Convocation Committee is a group of faculty and students that are in charge of developing this theme. click to read more

The class withdrawal fee suggested to be discarded for all students at Thursday's GA meeting.

Plans to put pressure on the administration to get rid of the course withdrawal fee were presented last Thursday, Nov. 8 at the Student Association General Assembly meeting. click to read more

As the political buzz around health care continues to grow, a Congressional bill to expand a federal children's health insurance program has people talking about how much the government should be responsible for.

The bill would increase funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), a subsidized health insurance program by $35 billion to provide $60 billion over five years. This would provide health insurance for an additional 10 million children in the U.S. click to read more

The Student Association is the student government of SUNY Fredonia. All 130 campus groups are either acknowledged, chartered or constituted within SA and have to comply with SA regulations in order to receive funding for events and activities....click to read more

SOURCE: freerepublic.com

After facing an uproar regarding a new policy to allow illegal immigrants to obtain New York State driver's licenses, Governor Eliot Spitzer's revisions to the plan have done little to appease the concerns of government officials, ranging from county clerks to Senators and presidential candidates.

Under Spitzer's original plan, DMVs would no longer require a valid social security number upon issuing a license. The policy would also have removed the visa expiration date from New York State licenses, which appear on the licenses of those who have temporary legal status.

The new version of the law...click to read more

Tuition for SUNY campuses across the state could begin to increase as early as next year, as the SUNY chancellor, presidents, and board of trustees put continued pressure on the New York State legislature to adopt a rational tuition plan.

The rational tuition plan, which has continued to receive a great deal of attention in Albany will raise SUNY tuition annually in relation to inflation rates. The proposed plan would be the first major change in tuition policy in recent memory and would allow the SUNY board of trustees rather than the New York State legislature, to set tuition across the state....click to read more

On Oct. 9 two civilian women were killed in Baghdad when their white Oldsmobile was riddled with automatic gunfire from private American security guards. The shooting was the latest in a series of incidents involving Blackwater U.S.A., a private company contracted by the U.S. military to provide thousands of soldiers for the purpose of policing the streets of Iraq.
Federal investigations into Blackwater's practices lead to the Oct. 24 resignation of Richard Griffin, the State Department official responsible for its oversight.
Griffin's resignation came after...click to read more

Dan Wills, who runs a business roasting and distributing coffee beans to a number of cafes throughout Chautauqua and surrounding counties, said he is skeptical of the fair trade movement and the many organizations that promote fair trade regulations.

"I figure even though with these non-profits, someone involved has got to be getting rich," Wills said.

Fair trade came about in response to the formation of the...click to read more

An investigation continues for the attempted murder of Richard Nickerson, a man whose brother was murdered just a year ago in a double-homocide. The single shot fired at Nickerson's residence Saturday night caused a wave of panic for many Fredonia students who were out that night....click to read more

Chief Justice Jacob Amankwaah announced that four groups had been given community service after committing statute violations including the Computer Science Club, Sigma Kappa, the DV Film Club, and RAC were all issued four hours of community service.

Melanie Smith, a sophomore political science major, was appointed to the elections committee.

The executive elections will decide the executive positions of president, vice president and student comptroller. The debate is Nov. 8 in The Spot and the elections are Nov. 13....click to read more

A new piece of legislation passed this summer by the New York State Assembly is the first law specifically designed to protect students and their families from abuses and conflicts of interest in the student loan industry. The Student Lending Accountability, Transparency and Enforcement (SLATE) act is a result of New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's investigation into the student loan industry. Since February it was revealed that a number of financial aid directors had been involved in revenue sharing agreements with banks and lenders. ...click to read more

Aside from the breakthrough in diversity among candidates and the political application of YouTube and MySpace, the 2008 presidential election cycle marks an unprecedented change in the primary calendar. In the past few election cycles, states have begun moving the dates of their presidential primaries earlier and earlier. So far 2008 has confirmed the trend that has raised the eyebrows of politicians, voters and political pundits alike. In the past the primary season...click to read more

The meeting started with announcements that there will be a senior class "200 days until graduation" happy hour at 9 p.m. on Nov. 7 at Old Main Inn. There will be a $2 cover charge that will act as a second fundraiser for the senior challenge. Pat Newell, adolescence education and history major and senior class president, said that the last senior challenge fundraiser was a success....click to read more

Campus administrators, distinguished alumni, former professors and community members found their way into the President's Conference Room on Oct. 10 for the first of four College Council meetings of the 2007-2008 academic year. The College Council is a group of 10 university officials who meet four times a year to assess...click to read more

A proposal to build a new electric energy plant in neighboring Erie, PA has garnered criticism from concerned residents along with Fredonia professors and student activists. The power plant, to be built by Erie Renewable Energy LLC, would burn 80,000 rubber tires a day in order to generate and sell electric power. The tires will go through a process called 'gasification' ...click to read more

Even after Fredonia expanded its parking lots, many students still partake in the early morning scramble to find a parking spot. Drivers wait in lines of cars for people leaving class and/or zip through narrow lanes of the parking lot to find a space. "I'm usually kind of annoyed if I can't get a spot near Houghton but it's not a huge travesty if I'm a couple minutes late to class," said junior physics major Trevor Findley. There are 3,306 parking spaces in over 30 parking lots ...click to read more

Private lenders, financial institutions and the federal government have begun to take action to moderate what The Wall Street Journal has called the worst housing slump in 40 years. A number of factors have contributed to an excess supply of housing and an increase in mortgage foreclosures. ...click to read more

Fredonia implemented a new policy this year known as Freshman Forgiveness which allows students to apply to have poor or failing grades excluded from their GPA. Freshman Forgiveness is the third installment Fredonia's Academic Forgiveness Policy ...click to read more

Since Charles Darwin's Origin of Species was published in 1859, revealing his controversial theory of evolution, the debate between creationism and evolution has raged on. Kenneth Miller, a biology professor at Brown University, has been at the forefront of this debate for the past 25 years. On Sept. 26 he gave a lecture entitled, "Evolution and Design: At the Crossroads of Science and Religion" in Rosch Recital Hall ...click to read more

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has begun an investigation into the privacy and security policies of Facebook, the social networking site that now has an estimated 15 million users and whose CEO recently turned down on offer of $1billion from Yahoo for the site. According to a Sept. 24 press release from Attorney General's office, Cuomo is investigating Facebook over representations the company makes about safety measures ...click to read more