By: Zoé N. Conde Velázquez / ANLS
Here are the articles you might have missed last week:
This past week, the Hermandad de Empleados Exentos No Docentes (Heend) denied accusations that they had rejected the University’s new offer to raise the tuition waiver for their children, spouses, and members of the union group to 75%. The president of the group, Jannell M. Santana Andino, declared that they were hesitant towards the UPR administration’s new plan, which combined the tuition waivers with other student aids, because the administration had not mentioned the idea in previous meetings.
On Thursday, Ryan Sánchez, a student from the Ana G. Méndez University (UAGM) in Gurabo, won second place in the 800m competition during the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League in Sweden. The 20-year-old student competed against 10 other participants and won, securing his pass to the Bislett Games in Norway.
The Senate referred a sexual harassment case at the UPR campus in Cayey after a professor alleged being a victim of the administration when she reported a colleague’s inappropriate behavior in 2016. Two and a half years after the incident, Carmen de Lourdes Cáez Rodríguez, the complainant, is jobless, but the defendant is suspended with permanence at the University. The senator Zoé Laboy Alvarado raised concerns in a public hearing on April 2 on how this case was handled.
The Heend denounced a possible conflict of interest within the contract given by the Puerto Rico Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority (Aafaf) to the company Doing Business in Puerto Rico (DBPR). The president of the employee syndicate said that the possible conflict arises because the president of the Governing Board of the UPR, Walter Alomar, is part of the law firm DBPR Legal LLC hired by the Aafaf, who are responsible for making the tax plans of the University.
The University of Sagrado Corazón dedicated their 80th graduation ceremony to Keylla Hernández Ramos, distinguished journalist and former student. Hernández Ramos was one of Puerto Rico’s most loved television reporters who worked for WAPA TV. On December 2018, she passed away after battling with lung cancer for many years.
A group of students of the UPR campus in Río Piedras assured that the rector, Luis A. Ferrao Delgado, said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not order the closing of the student residency. It was the first time Ferrao Delgado mentioned this after continuously declaring in the past that it was FEMA who ordered to close Torre del Norte.
For this week’s opinion column, the anonymous author talks about the service students with special needs receive in the University. The author talks about the struggles students must endure and surpass to enforce their rights.
