SYRACUSE, NY—
Olga Rodriguez: You started this paper with the purpose of strengthening the Hispanic and Latino community. How has this community responded to CNY Latino?

Hugo Acosta

Hugo Acosta: It has responded in a way positively.  Our population is growing, particularly in Central New York. Our population isn’t as concentric as modern metropolitan areas however it is growing so that it is not just middle class or below residents in Syracuse for example, but we also have professionals now, we have people in the political arena, business owners, people in the health industry, and different sectors that are giving a more positive image to our community.

Rodriguez:  You mentioned people in the political arena, who would you consider to be the most influential Hispanic in this community?

Acosta: We used to have an individual from Syracuse, Fernando Ortiz; he used to be the commissioner of economic development in the city. He passed away over six months ago.  He was a very strong leader.  We also had Bea Gonzalez who had different positions in SU.  She used to be the president of the common council. She also ran for the mayor of the city, a very influential, very key person also in the political arena and not just Latino.

Rodriguez: What kind of stories is CNY Latino covering that mainstream media is not?

Acosta: Well, sometimes we try to always lead community-related stories.  The local mainstream media, the big guys here, only cover those stories unless there are controversial issues, so we try to cover a lot of the local events that happen in the community.  What the famous Spanish action league is doing here.  Very often we try to cover minor community-related events, or we try to cover celebrations, sad news, like the death of Fernando Ortiz.  We cover what’s going on with social or cultural related organizations that have something to do with the Latino community here in Syracuse.

Rodriguez: What do you think are some of the biggest issues that Hispanics are dealing with right now?

Acosta: Well right now I would say job placement.  I was surprised to find out that most of the Spanish population comes here for job placement. There are more opportunities to work here than other places; at least that’s what I have been told from those coming from NYC and the east coast, New Jersey and places like that. Especially middle-grade type of jobs.  Educated-jobs type of thing.

Rodriguez: You’ve said that part of the purpose of CNY Latino was to help others learn about the Hispanic community and culture. What can somebody who is not Latino learn by reading your paper?

Acosta: So our publication is not only a communication tool for our culture but for people of other cultures. For example, American population frequently subscribes to us and may read about issues that affect us from an ethnic background.  Kidney failures and stuff like that is stronger

The War Memorial, located in Downtown Syracuse.

Around the country, hometown fans seem to fall in love with their team’s old arena.  Los Angeles fans love Dodger Stadium.  People in Boston love Fenway Park.  And basketball fans in Philadelphia love the experience of the old Palestra.  But here in Syracuse, the old arena downtown has fallen out of favor.  The War Memorial Arena, once the center for downtown entertainment, has become an afterthought.

The CEO of the OnCenter Complex, Terri Toennies, said she has been doing her best to change the public perception of the arena.  She, probably better than anyone else, knows changes and repairs have to be made on both on a large and small scale.  When asked about something as simple as the restrooms, Toennies expressed concern, “A lot of issues sometimes when we over capacitate to six thousand plus people, we have that many people running, it is kinda tough sometimes to keep all the restrooms from overflowing and having issues,” she said “And that’s bad.”

The main problem: the multiple needs for the arena means the price for repairing the building continues to climb.  The auditorium of the arena needs to be painted, and that costs one hundred thousand dollars.  The glass and dasher system for hockey games is a one hundred and fifty thousand dollar repair.  The zamboni machines for the ice are 16 years old and cost ninety thousand a piece.  The new video scoreboard will cost over seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars.  These projects and the list of others total a budget sheet that reads over twelve million dollars.

Toennies and are her staff have a five year plan to try and turn the place around and fill it with new and exciting events, but they also understand that it is going to take a lot of hard work to get that plan rolling.  County funding is very difficult to come by as it took months to strike a deal for the scoreboard.  So the OnCenter and the Syracuse Crunch, the main users of the arena, need to find other ways to raise funds.  Danielle Goss, the Director of Operations at the War Memorial, while hoping for the legislators to provide chunks of funds, realizes other plans like adding a dollar to each ticket is a more realistic fundraiser.

And the Crunch, while they understand that the arena is old and in desperate need of repair, want to stay in Syracuse.  Last year they signed a ten-year lease to stay and play at the War Memorial that will keep the team in town until at least the end of the 2018-2019 season.  The Vice President of the Crunch Jim Sarosy said it was very important for the Crunch to stay in Syracuse because of the incredible support the team receives.  He said the team is working with the OnCenter to improve the fan experience while at the War Memorial.

Danielle Waugh (DW): Coach Boeheim, thank you for being with us for five questions with CONNECT.

First I wanted to ask you: to people outside of the Syracuse area you are the most recognizable person, you’re essentially the face of our area. So how does that affect you, and why?

Jim Boeheim: Well that’s pretty sad. Oh I don’t know, I think people have followed our basketball program for a long time. So I think when you go outside, people tend to identify with Syracuse through our basketball program because we’ve had so many teams and so many games on television I think.

DW: Outside from being the basketball coach here, you’re also really involved in our charities. You’re involved in Coaches vs. Cancer and you also started the Jim Boeheim foundation. How has that affected you and why are those things so important to you?

Syracuse Men's Basketball Coach, Jim Boeheim

Boeheim: Well I believe you have to give back to the community. Our community has supported our basketball program as well as any community in the country. So in turn for that we have to give back, and Coaches vs. Cancer and the Kidney Foundation and Make a Wish are some of the vehicles we’ve used. With our own foundation we’ll be able to give to a lot of different local groups because we’ll be able to raise enough money hopefully to give back to several different groups. Some of it will be cancer related and some just to help kids in Central New York.

DW: On a more personal note, how would you describe yourself as a father?

Boeheim: Well it’s a lot of work, I know that. I have an older daughter, 24 years old, who was really pretty easy and not a hard child to raise. Now I have three that are 11 and twins that are ten and it’s a challenge. I know see how being a parent is much more of a challenge than I originally thought it was with my first daughter. But it’s fun, it’s a lot of activities and a lot of good things that go on every day and a little bit of craziness.

DW: You’ve been here for a while. You went to school here, you played basketball here in the 1960s. How have you seen our school, but also our community, change over time?

Boeheim: Well I’ve always loved the community and the school. I came here in 1962 as a player and I never left. I stayed as an assistant coach and was able to get the head coaching job. I love Central New York, I think the people are great. I think the people really care about the community. I think people are willing to get in and get involved in work and with charities. Everything we’ve ever done we’ve had support. People have supported us 100 percent. It’s a great place to live. I believe that.

DW: What about you, how have you changed since back in the 1960s?

Boeheim: Well, I’m a lot older, a little slower, more aches and pains. But you know, in coaching the thing I think is you start over new every year, you really do. So in a lot of ways it feels like your first team. You know, this is a brand new team this year, we’re 0 and 0, where are we going to go? So you really kind of start from scratch every year. And it kind of makes it almost seem timeless, it doesn’t seem like you’ve been coaching a long period of time. It kind of seems like this is your team, this is the year. So from that point of view I feel very similar from when I first started coaching.

DW: Even though so many people know your name and even though you’re so recognizable there has to be something people don’t know about you. So what would people be the most surprised to know about Jim Boeheim?

Boeheim: That’s a tough question. Um, I don’t know. I watch a lot of soap operas, the night time soap operas–Grey’s Anatomy and shows like that. You probably wouldn’t think that. But I do I watch a lot of television to kind of get away from the game. I like movies, old movies. I don’t get to many movies now because the only movies I get to are kid’s movies, but I like old movies and television. I don’t think people know that much. I like to fish. I don’t get a lot chances, but I do like to fish when I get the opportunity and hopefully some day I’ll get a little bit more opportunity.

DW: Coach Boeheim, thank you for being with us, this has been 5 Questions with CONNECT.

CONNECT Reporter Tyler Condit interviewed Producers Melanie Diaz and Alex Zuckerman about their experiences on the show.

CONNECT Reporter Teddy Goldberg interviewed Producers Robin Clutters and Jessica Shaw about their experiences on the show.

Written By Danielle Waugh
Produced by Danielle Waugh

Syracuse University student, Dan Fitzpatrick, sits awaiting Kuehner's election results as the ballots are counted.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – “Wow,” Kevin Kuehner said as the election results come in on television. He sat at a table in the corner of the Republican Rally site, surrounded by friends, family and supporters– all wearing the same “Kuehner for the County” campaign sticker.

This was Kuehner’s third time running for the same office: County Legislator for the 16th District of Onondaga County. Each time, he’s run against the incumbent, Sam Laguzza. And each time, Kuehner’s lost marginally.

Kevin Kuehner

The Campaign Strategy
The first two times he ran for County Legislature, in 2005 and 2007, Keuhner ran a traditional campaign. He knocked door to door, put up campaign signs and targeted people living in the residential areas of his district. But Kuehner had several obstacles: he was running against a 20 year incumbent, and a Democrat in a largely democratic district.

This time would be different.

“I’m changing the rules of the election,” Kuehner said in mid October. “Rather than knocking on doors of people that don’t vote anyway, I’m trying to bring new people into the process and I’m going to steal the election.”

Kuehner’s plan was to campaign on Syracuse University’s campus, rally for student support and register student voters. College students typically turn out in small numbers for local elections. They are a demographic that Sam Laguzza did not target. “I’ve been to SU, I’ve been to Le Moyne, I do all that stuff,” Laguzza said. “You can put it in front of them, but you can’t make them eat.”

But Kuehner was about to serve the first course.

Campaign Season

Kuehner started his college campaign with the Syracuse University College Republicans. He came to one of their weekly meetings in mid September.
“I told them the voter turnout is so low, that a number of students can turn this election if they chose to. And I asked them to do it,” Kuehner said.

Although they had never met Kuehner before this meeting, some of the College Republicans took to his cause.

The students passed out campaign information and a campaign item designed specifically for students: a drink koozie that reads: “Sometimes Local is the Answer, Vote for Kevin.” Together, the student campaigners registered 280 new voters in the 16th District.

“I would have liked a lot more,” Kuehner said on the October 9 deadline to turn in the new voter registration forms. “I’m a little surprised. I thought it would be easier to get the students registered to vote.”

After registering new voters, Kuehner had to get those students to actually come out and vote. He launched a campaign online; creating a Twitter account, Facebook page, and campaign website that was targeted to students. As students joined his Facebook groups or accessed his website, he created a data base with their email addresses.

Days before the election, Kuehner sent out a mass email to 736 students, inviting them to a forum on campus called “Kevin Kuehner Addresses Student Issues.” Of those 736 invited, zero showed up. “It’s OK, I’m going to keep trying,” Kuehner said, visibly disappointed.

Election Day
“The epicenter for this race is Bird Library,” Kuehner said. “Bird library is the voting booth at which I will either become a County Legislator or I will not. And that’s because for a majority of the students, that’s where their voting booth is.”

But on November 3, Bird Library was quiet. There were no lines, not the turnout Kuehner needed to steal the election.

According to data he obtained from the Board of Elections, Bird Library had about 80 students vote—the same number as 2007, when Kuehner didn’t campaign on campus.

The final count: Sam Laguzza 1,135 votes. Kevin Kuehner, 398.
One of the student campaigners was with Kuehner as the results were coming in.

“I think the simple thing is students are lazy,” said Syracuse University Student Daniel Fitzpatrick. “And it’s not that they didn’t vote for Mr. Kuehner, it’s that they didn’t vote at all.”