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just wondering why there are anti Buffalo fans over here.

A certain amount of resentment/envy that UB is FBS football even though they've never had much success, while we're still waiting for the football stadium; claim to be the SUNY flagship when all four University Centers are supposed to be equal (and Bing and Stony Brook have made the same claim); UB in the MAC, a Midwestern League, when the rest of the state is New England/mid-Atlantic oriented.

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just wondering why there are anti Buffalo fans over here.

A certain amount of resentment/envy that UB is FBS football even though they've never had much success, while we're still waiting for the football stadium; claim to be the SUNY flagship when all four University Centers are supposed to be equal (and Bing and Stony Brook have made the same claim); UB in the MAC, a Midwestern League, when the rest of the state is New England/mid-Atlantic oriented.

 

Well, we could have passed on that sculpture studio... :(

 

Another aspect is that Buffalo rarely gets anything negative from the "Best College Lists" whereas we have US News and the Princeton Review (how do we keep getting students who hate us giving them information) basically dropping a deuce over us. Also, Buffalo is too geographically far-flung to be the SUNY flagship. If you notice something about flagships, they usually are in a central location of sorts. while Buffalo is a good 300-400 miles from much of the state's population and the Buffalo student body is heavily slanted towards locals though not as bad as Stony Brook. The breakouts of attendance by county on the State Education Department website are interesting.

 

Based on geography, Albany and Binghamton are the best moves for a flagship. Based on evenness of the student body, it's a tossup (Albany doesn't get that many WNY people, Binghamton is nearly half Nassau/Suffolk but gets WNY people too). Either way, Buffalo and Stony are just too far-flung and imbalanced in terms of breakout by county which could hurt (do most large flagships get a large number of locals?)

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I can only speak for myself but it's a bit of envy to be honest. Buffalo is moving in the right direction and Albany... I'm not sure. We have plans but I don't see a lot of action. Our plans, even if they come to fruition, seems to be limited to being a good mid-major. It's like there is self-confidence issue with the school and it's community. God forbid we look to Florida, Penn, Michigan instead of Siena or the People's Republic of Vermont where football is evil.

 

It hurts because on paper I went to the top or one of the top state schools in New York and yet we have the name recognition and respect of a third tier school. I'm reminded of it every week as my brother talks about Army, My sister-in-law talks about UConn, my neighbors talk about Michigan State, Michigan, Florida, Auburn, GT and UGA. I can honestly say I don't know a single soul down here or in my family who is an alumn of a 'St. (fill in the name)' or 'Third Tier State University'.

 

I have faith in Governor Spitzer. He's a good man and he knows there is a problem. We all know there is a problem. We'll get there... I might be 90 before it happens but it'll happen. In the mean time I keep positive, cut checks, purchase 'Ooobly' shirts and hope Buffalo does well because I know competition will drive us to improve.

 

Good luck Buffalo (as long as we're not playing you).

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I can only speak for myself but it's a bit of envy to be honest. Buffalo is moving in the right direction and Albany... I'm not sure. We have plans but I don't see a lot of action. Our plans, even if they come to fruition, seems to be limited to being a good mid-major.

 

It does not help matters that we haven't had consistent leadership. Remember, by the time a new president comes in it will be two years or more without a head of the school. That has held up any development of the school especially at a very crucial time in our development given that other key positions are in the hands of interim titles. It doesn't help matters that before the last few years we had Hitchcock who seemed complacent with the status quo.

 

It's like there is self-confidence issue with the school and it's community. God forbid we look to Florida, Penn, Michigan instead of Siena or the People's Republic of Vermont where football is evil.
I think that mindset also has to do with the standard growing pains of the school. Remember, we're only 3 years removed from being the #1 party school and

the the dynamic of students entering the school has started to change. I myself have seen the number of freshmen who want to be there increase and the freshman attrition rate decrease (with a lot of those leaving for personal reasons, not just to get out of Albany). Remember that there are still people who go here to party and they don't give a darn about athletics.

 

I have faith in Governor Spitzer. He's a good man and he knows there is a problem. We all know there is a problem.

 

I have my doubts that it'll get fixed during his time in office. He is just bogged down in other stuff that it's slipped from his mind. Maybe it's time to begin a lobby for UAlbany...

 

Good luck Buffalo (as long as we're not playing you).

 

It is so rare that Buffalo plays a SUNY (in the D-I era at least for major sports) that it's rare. I still stand by my word that UB and Stony are too far-flung and local-dominated to be the flagship.

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just wondering why there are anti Buffalo fans over here.

A certain amount of resentment/envy that UB is FBS football even though they've never had much success, while we're still waiting for the football stadium; claim to be the SUNY flagship when all four University Centers are supposed to be equal (and Bing and Stony Brook have made the same claim); UB in the MAC, a Midwestern League, when the rest of the state is New England/mid-Atlantic oriented.

 

Well, we could have passed on that sculpture studio... :(

 

Another aspect is that Buffalo rarely gets anything negative from the "Best College Lists" whereas we have US News and the Princeton Review (how do we keep getting students who hate us giving them information) basically dropping a deuce over us. Also, Buffalo is too geographically far-flung to be the SUNY flagship. If you notice something about flagships, they usually are in a central location of sorts. while Buffalo is a good 300-400 miles from much of the state's population and the Buffalo student body is heavily slanted towards locals though not as bad as Stony Brook. The breakouts of attendance by county on the State Education Department website are interesting.

 

Based on geography, Albany and Binghamton are the best moves for a flagship. Based on evenness of the student body, it's a tossup (Albany doesn't get that many WNY people, Binghamton is nearly half Nassau/Suffolk but gets WNY people too). Either way, Buffalo and Stony are just too far-flung and imbalanced in terms of breakout by county which could hurt (do most large flagships get a large number of locals?)

 

Why exactly do you make claims without researching them first? You think UB doesn't catch any negatives? If you'd actually search the Princeton Review rankings, you'd see that they're #10 for 'campus tiny, unsightly, or both' and #20 for 'class discussions rare.' And commenting on the evenness their student body, they're ranked #9 for 'diverse student population.'

 

And you said geography is considered for where flagships are established (where did you read that?..ann arbor is one that comes to mind) yet you said UB shouldn't be picked (nearly everyone in the know/power are saying SUNY will not establish a flagship anyways..so this convo's a bit moot) because they're not near much of the state's population. I would assume you'd mean NYC..so you want Stony Brook? And I'd hope you'd remember/know that Buff is the state's 2nd largest city with ~300,000 people..and the third largest is another WNY city, Rochester with more than 200,000 people.

 

I'm all for differing opinions and definitely want UAlbany to continue to gain prominence, but people might actually read what you post and maybe even believe you if you actually look up and research what you claim.

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As an alumnus of Buffalo (and UAlbany (M.A.)), I offer here my view that Buffalo is a great school, and it was definitely the right place for me as an undergraduate student. Buffalo is very strong nationally, and if one were to combine Buffalo (sciences, engineering, etc.) and Bingo (humanities), you'd have one of America's elite schools (IMHO).

 

As far as that #10 ranking for an unsightly campus, I would take issue with that. It is my understanding that the Buffalo dorms (Ellicot Complex) are the largest dorms in North America. They are so cool! I really enjoyed living in them my junior and senior year, though I guess I can understand the perception that they are rather urban and unsightly because of their size and design (a massive 3-dimensional puzzle piece). And I can also understand why a student might not want to feel like they are surrounded by the towers of Manhattan while walking through and about the dorms. Nonetheless, I think the North Campus at Buffalo is very pretty. I fondly remember going for walks (i.e., stumbling home) and running around the campus and around the lake.

 

The South Campus is more urban, but it's still nice, and there is plenty of land to walk about on the South Campus.

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And commenting on the evenness their student body, they're ranked #9 for 'diverse student population.'

 

I had meant in the breakouts of attendees by county, not overall diversity. 1:3 of Buffalo's entire student body is from Erie County, a higher ratio than that of Suffolk to Stony, Broome to Bing, or Albany (and Schenectady/Rensselaer) to UA.

 

And you said geography is considered for where flagships are established (where did you read that?..ann arbor is one that comes to mind)
The number of flagships in a geographically convienent town are more than those not. You have a point with Ann Arbor, but look at Amherst, New Brunswick, State College, Columbus, Charlottesville, Chapel Hill, Madison, Columbia (SC and MO), and even Gainesville or Austin though those cases are far-flung. Yes, there are the Durhams and Storrs and Newarks of the world, but many of the big land-grant schools were put in areas near the center of the state. Though not public, Cornell falls into this as well given it's got the land-grant designation for New York.

 

Nearly everyone in the know/power are saying SUNY will not establish a flagship anyways..so this convo's a bit moot

 

And THIS is what will hold SUNY back and will harm the schools. SUNY needs a flagship and is stupid for not doing so. We need to improve to be more ACC or SEC or Pac 10 or BigTen rather than America East, just that the elites meeting between State and Washington don't give a damn.

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And THIS is what will hold SUNY back and will harm the schools. SUNY needs a flagship and is stupid for not doing so. We need to improve to be more ACC or SEC or Pac 10 or BigTen rather than America East, just that the elites meeting between State and Washington don't give a damn.

 

I agree whole heartly with Scrabble. SUNY is desperate for a flagship. What state doesn't have a flagship for god's sake? $3.5 billion from NYS is buying us a 'huh?' when we say 'SUNY'. I'll take Buffalo if I have to... but NY needs a presence of some sort in the big-time college world. God I wish it was Albany but hey I'm a realist.

 

By the way, how about Georgia Tech? Great freaking game, great freaking school! Florida will not repeat... and props to App State! We'll take Fordham! Go Danes!

 

Great college football weekend!!!

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And THIS is what will hold SUNY back and will harm the schools. SUNY needs a flagship and is stupid for not doing so. We need to improve to be more ACC or SEC or Pac 10 or BigTen rather than America East, just that the elites meeting between State and Washington don't give a damn.

 

I agree whole heartly with Scrabble. SUNY is desperate for a flagship. What state doesn't have a flagship for god's sake? $3.5 billion from NYS is buying us a 'huh?' when we say 'SUNY'. I'll take Buffalo if I have to... but NY needs a presence of some sort in the big-time college world. God I wish it was Albany but hey I'm a realist.

 

Sometimes I think you and I are the only only ones on this board who see the sobering truth that NYS doesn't seem to want SUNY to be at the best of its potential and looks to be treating Albany as an afterthought, at least athletically. New York is a big time state, why not have a big time state school system? Perhaps it's the apathy of downstaters in their D-III and D-I/Non-football cocoons (Fordham, Stony, Wagner, LIU, and Columbia notwithstanding) who don't realize what people in most other states do, I mean downstate is the hub of college sports apathy with little to show outside of the success of St. John's in basketball.

 

As far as Albany has come, they still have a long way to go. Sad thing is does NYS want them to go any further or are they fine where we are now and want to arrest our development? Some food for thought...

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And THIS is what will hold SUNY back and will harm the schools. SUNY needs a flagship and is stupid for not doing so. We need to improve to be more ACC or SEC or Pac 10 or BigTen rather than America East, just that the elites meeting between State and Washington don't give a damn.

 

I agree whole heartly with Scrabble. SUNY is desperate for a flagship. What state doesn't have a flagship for god's sake? $3.5 billion from NYS is buying us a 'huh?' when we say 'SUNY'. I'll take Buffalo if I have to... but NY needs a presence of some sort in the big-time college world. God I wish it was Albany but hey I'm a realist.

 

Sometimes I think you and I are the only only ones on this board who see the sobering truth that NYS doesn't seem to want SUNY to be at the best of its potential and looks to be treating Albany as an afterthought, at least athletically. New York is a big time state, why not have a big time state school system? Perhaps it's the apathy of downstaters in their D-III and D-I/Non-football cocoons (Fordham, Stony, Wagner, LIU, and Columbia notwithstanding) who don't realize what people in most other states do, I mean downstate is the hub of college sports apathy with little to show outside of the success of St. John's in basketball.

 

As far as Albany has come, they still have a long way to go. Sad thing is does NYS want them to go any further or are they fine where we are now and want to arrest our development? Some food for thought...

 

It goes way beyond athletics IMO. Compared to other state systems, SUNY is way way behind. Binghamton is the #1 SUNY, yet ranked in the low 80's according to US News. Top 100, great- but when you look at the California system it's paltry. The problem is that there are too many colleges. Do we really need a Fredonia, a Plattsburg, an Oneonta, a Buffalo State, Oswego, etc etc. Sure, a case could probably be made for each, but those colleges are diverting funds away from the top performing schools and University centers. NYS either needs to close a sizeable number of campuses, or make a serious $$ commitment to transform SUNY into a true competitor to the likes of California, Michigan and Virginia.

 

New York State (especially downstate) has some of the best public secondary schools in the nation. I believe more students from New York are Intel/Westinghouse Science winners than from any other state. New York has the second highest percentage of seniors taking the SAT in the country. New York leads the nation in the percentage of high school students taking Advanced Placement tests and scoring 3 or better. Yet many if not most of these students are going to school elsewhere. Why the disconnect? SUNY is simply not enough of an attractive college experience for many. And unfortunately for us, Albany (the state government) is so defunct and so politically charged that none of the necessary changes will ever happen IMO. There are bright spots for sure, especially for UA. SEMATECH, the nano-program, and our success in athletics will definitely transform our University for the better, as long as Spitzer and NYS dont fvck it up....and we NEED a Football stadium, period.

 

On another note- Michigan falls out of the top 25. LOL

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp...wsdate=9/4/2007

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