In a celebratory event held at Syracuse University’s Lubin House in New York City, both Kroft and Len Berman ’68, G’70 were inducted into the WAER Hall of Fame, joining the likes of Bob Costas ’74, Ian Eagle ’90, Lakshmi Singh ’94, Mike Tirico ’88 and several others. Both Kroft and Berman are accomplished alumni who began their long careers at SU and WAER.

John Nicholson and Steve Kroft

“Steve and Len represent the best of Syracuse University and the rich tradition of WAER,” said Joe Lee, the station’s director and general manager. “The Hall of Fame event gives us an opportunity to engage and celebrate our unequaled legacy of college broadcasting.”

Berman is an eight-time, Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and New York Times bestselling author with a career that spans more than 50 years. A six-time New York Sportscaster of the Year award winner, he is the creator of “Spanning the World,” a monthly collection of sports bloopers, and “Sports Fantasy,” a show that pitted regular viewers against sports stars, both of which aired on NBC.

Recalling how he got his start in broadcast journalism, Berman noted that he walked into WAER as an undergraduate wanting to be a disc jockey and ended up reading sports scores over the air on Saturday nights. He attributed his success, and the reason he was accepting an award, to what he called “The two pillars of my life”: WAER for guiding his career and his wife, Jill, and family for their unconditional support.

Kroft is widely known for his work on the nation’s most-watched television news program, “60 Minutes.” During his 28 seasons as a correspondent, he has won five Peabody Awards—two of which he earned in the same year; numerous Emmy Awards; and the DuPont Columbia University Journalism silver baton, television journalism’s highest honor, twice. Kroft has conducted interviews that are timely and widely debated, such as his exit interview with former President Barack Obama and a rare interview with Recep Erdogan, the president of Turkey, during policy disagreements between the United States and Turkey.

For the WAER and Newhouse alumni in attendance, the evening was one of reconnecting and reminiscing with a room full of talent. Adam Zucker ’98 served as master of ceremonies. Zucker is a studio host for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network, hosting “College Football Today,” “Inside College Football,” and “Inside College Basketball,” and providing in-studio updates during the NCAA Tournament.

Len Berman and Dugald Gillies

Dugald Gillies ’68 presented the award to Berman. The two had been roommates in Lawrinson Hall as undergraduates. During his career, Gillies worked in broadcasting in Buffalo and Syracuse, served as a public affairs officer in the Navy, and headed SU’s Paul Greenberg House in Washington, D.C.

Presenting to Kroft was John Nicholson ’68, who similarly to Berman and Gillies, was roommates with Kroft at Syracuse. Nicholson is a Newhouse professor emeritus who has taught and advised more than a thousand students, several hundred of whom got their start in news and sports at WAER. He is the founding director of the Newhouse Sports Media Center and has more than 50 years’ experience in news, sports, production and teaching.

Jack Myers ’69 underwrote the event. Myers is a board member emeritus of the Newhouse School, author, founder, documentary filmmaker and leading media economist. He has advised hundreds of corporations on media and technology trends and is the recipient of a George Foster Peabody Award, as well as an Academy and Emmy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature.

About WAER
WAER is a commercial free, listener-supported public media organization licensed to Syracuse University. Founded in 1947, WAER serves the greater Syracuse area with NPR and local news, eclectic music and SU sports. WAER is staffed by full-time professionals who train, educate and supervise student volunteers interested in enhancing their academic experience in broadcast journalism and sports broadcasting. WAER content is available on 88.3 FM and HD, HD2, WAER.org and via mobile app for iPhone and Android operating systems.

Fewer plastic straws in use mean fewer plastic straws discarded.

The plastic straw ban sweeping the nation has come to Syracuse University. opted to eliminate plastic straws from all five of its residential dining centers (Brockway, Ernie Davis, Graham, Sadler and Shaw). Why? Mark Tewksbury, director of residential dining and Dome operations, notes: “It’s something easy to do that makes a big impact on the environment, so we decided it was the right decision.”

Paper straws are a sustainable alternative to plastic and will be available soon in all dining centers. Removing plastic straws in the dining centers may be trendy, but sustainability has long been incorporated into the department’s routine.

Food Services composts its pre- and post-consumer waste with the Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency OCRRA). Since the program’s inception in 2010, Food Services has composted nearly 3,900 tons of pre- and post-consumer waste. It’s a practice in which students can participate by sorting their leftover food scraps at the recycling station in each dining center. This, along with fruit and vegetable matter discarded during the food preparation process, is sent to OCRRA to be composted. Removing plastic straws from the dining centers will help make composting easier, as they are difficult to filter out of compostable waste when accidentally tossed into the composting bins.

In addition to the composting program, Food Services takes a number of steps to reduce waste:

• provides reusable water bottles to all first-year students to deter use of disposable cups: students can use the water bottle to take a drink to-go from all dining centers or receive 20 percent off their fountain beverage from a University cafĂ© or food court.
• implemented reusable to-go containers in all five dining centers in 2009; in the 2017-18 academic year alone, students reused nearly 50,000 containers;
• incorporates energy- and water-saving equipment with each dining center renovation;
• buys products in bulk, where possible, to reduce material waste;
• sources locally produced products, whenever possible, from nearby vendors such as Upstate Farms, Paul deLima, Hofmann Sausage Co. and Byrne Dairy;
• donates leftover food from events to the Syracuse Rescue Mission;
• and partners with Red’s Best, a seafood wholesaler in the Northeast that guarantees the fish caught will be purchased; this balances the supply-and-demand gap that typically drives fishermen to throw out fish that aren’t in high demand; Food Services’ sous chef Adam Harvey has created a flexible list of recipes tailored for the variety of fish purchased from Red’s Best.

SU and SUNY-ESF students pitch in, too, by partnering with Food Services to reduce waste. The Food Recovery Network is a student-run organization where students volunteer to collect unused food from all five of SU’s dining centers, Schine Dining and the Trailhead Café at SUNY-ESF. This food is safely packaged and delivered to local agencies in the greater Syracuse community that serve populations in need. Students make the rounds five days a week, up to four times per day. More than 70,000 pounds of food have been redistributed since the program’s inception in 2014.

To learn more about Food Services’ efforts to reduce waste and increase its sustainability practices, check out or visit .

Diners at its locations in Schine, Goldstein and Kimmel Food Court can expect to win prizes ranging from a free slice to a whole pizza, along with coupons, giveaways, and even a visit from Otto! For your chance to grab a slice with Otto, visit Schine Dining this Thursday between 11:30 a.m. to noon or Goldstein Dining from 6:30 to 7 p.m.

The Tomato Wheel’s hours are:

Schine Dining: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Goldstein Dining: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Kimmel Food Court: 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. (until 3 a.m. Fridays)

An artisan pizza shop operated by SU Food Services, The Tomato Wheel serves handmade pizza wheels, twists, garlic knots and pizza by the slice, including vegan and gluten free options. Replacing the Sbarro pizza chain, The Tomato Wheel provides SU Food Services with flexibility, allowing them to implement changes, try new menu items and respond instantly to feedback.

Diners are encouraged to make suggestions to a manager or email mealtalk@syr.edu with recipe ideas or comments. The Tomato Wheel opened in June of this year.

Diners can expect to see menu options like pesto with roasted veggies or Sriracha chicken pizza, Buffalo wing twists, and spinach and artichoke or Philly cheese steak wheels. The Tomato Wheel will also offer made-to-order mini pizzas, including gluten-free and vegan options.

With a modern look and an authentic, home-cooked flair, The Tomato Wheel’s goal is to satisfy the more refined palette of today’s food lovers. Replacing the Sbarro pizza chain, The Tomato Wheel will provide Food Services with flexibility, allowing them to implement changes, try new menu items and respond instantly to feedback.

Sue Bracy, director of retail and catering operations for Food Services, is excited about the change. “Students want to see fresh-made foods, unique recipes and variety,” says Bracy. “We had a very positive longtime partnership with Sbarro, but our students wanted something different. With the opening of our own eatery, we are able to tailor the menu to our specific customers here at Syracuse University.”

Diners will even get to see the action front and center, with a new pizza prep table incorporated into the service line. Looking to increase transparency and provide opportunities for a relationship between the diner and the server, The Tomato Wheel’s menu is designed to suit the taste buds of the students, faculty and staff. Feedback is encouraged, either by face-to-face conversation with a server or manager or by emailing mealtalk@syr.edu.

Renovations at the food courts will take place this summer. The Tomato Wheel has opened at the Schine Food Court, with the locations at Goldstein and Kimmel to be completed by the end of August. A grand opening will take place after students return in the fall.

Diners at Ernie Davis, Shaw, Graham and Sadler dining centers now have the option to choose food from a certified gluten-free service line. The fifth and final dining center, Brockway, will join the certification this fall semester pending an upcoming renovation, although it continues to offer gluten-free menu items. Mark Tewksbury, director of residence dining and Dome operations, says, “The campus dining centers serve 11,000 meals per day and our food is made fresh daily. Making sure that it is nutritious, delicious and safe for all students is a top priority.”

Recognizing that celiac disease and gluten intolerances are on the rise, Food Services has offered a gluten-free menu in its dining centers for years. Jamie Cyr, director of Auxiliary Services, explains why he encouraged Food Services to take this extra step toward certification. “The number of students entering college with food allergies has grown significantly, and parents are nervous about that when they send their child to school. We believe that this Gluten-Free Certification will help ease the anxiety for parents and students. We’re doing more than saying we’re gluten-free: we’re verifying it with a third party.”

Kitchens with Confidence’s audit process includes 41 areas with 200 critical control check points. To earn the gluten-free certification, each of SU’s dining centers satisfied enough of those check points to warrant a passing score. Additionally, Kitchens with Confidence maintains strict adherence via monthly testing of prep surfaces and requires quarterly reports that include any new menu items (which must be approved), staffing changes, recalls or incident reports. Kitchens with Confidence representatives will return annually to do an in-depth re-inspection of each dining center.

Federal law requires gluten-free standards to measure at 20 parts per million, the level of gluten at which most people with celiac disease react. Kitchens with Confidence standards are more strict at 10 parts per million. In a press release by Kitchens with Confidence, it was noted, “Students who have celiac disease and/or a food allergy who are choosing which college to attend can feel safe with Syracuse University based on the measures they take to ensure safety in their kitchens…The fact that Syracuse University elected to have this audit done is a testament to their dedication to serve safe food for all their diners.”

Ruth Sullivan is the assistant director of nutrition management for Food Services. She is also a registered dietitian nutritionist and AllerTrain Master Trainer by MenuTrinfo, LLC. Sullivan’s certification allows her to train staff through AllerTrain, which covers food allergies and sensitivities, celiac disease, avoiding cross contact in the front and back of the house, current allergen laws in place, and more. Managers, assistant directors, directors, chefs, first cooks—anyone making and serving food—are all required to complete the training. Sullivan, along with Food Services supervisors and managers, constantly monitor the dining centers to make sure that gluten and other allergen cross-contact processes are followed in the kitchens and serving lines. Signage is posted throughout the kitchen prep areas to serve as constant reminders of procedures.

Students with dietary concerns are encouraged to meet one-on-one with Sullivan, who works with students to create a specialized dining plan and orients them to additional food options available on campus. “We really encourage students to talk with us,” she says. “Food Services managers are willing to go the extra mile for students; they regularly purchase specific products requested by students with food sensitivities.”