SUNY 2020 Passes

[madDOG]

No one said that UA shouldn't try to do something about it...but short of pleading with the City of Albany who if you haven't noticed have had a mess on their hands ranging from Albany High and other crimes around that area what would you like them to do? Perhaps they should appropriate some fund for a militia police squad to escort students off campus.

 

Campus police are directly responsible for the safety of students ON CAMPUS, City of Albany is responsible for this and other areas in the City. What would you have UA do? You make it seems like UA leadership is just chillaxing saying...screw it, not our problem. When in fact they've sent NUMEROUS e-mail to students (I know, I'm a student) regarding off campus safety, they have meetings and bulletin postings around campus etc. Short of Pres. Philip strapping on an uzi I fail to see how the University is complicit in any of this.

 

Two words: neighborhood revitalization.

 

The city along with the school need to:

 

Encourage rehabilitation, demolition, and new construction.

Provide a diversity of housing... single-family, townhouses, condos, etc

Improve infrastructure

Increase the economic/assessed value of properties

Increase public safety and code enforcement

 

Will it solve crime? Of course not, but these efforts almost always result in reducing it considerably.

Edited September 27, 2012 by madDOG

[UAalum72]

Comment on the T-U Albany Student Press blog complains about Albany PD wasting resources and court time on noise ordinance violations and overcharging (unlawful dealing with a child for underage drinking parties) instead of concentrating on more serious crime.

http://blog.timesunion.com/asp/2582/student-shot-off-campus/

[madDOG]

Comment on the T-U Albany Student Press blog complains about Albany PD wasting resources and court time on noise ordinance violations and overcharging (unlawful dealing with a child for underage drinking parties) instead of concentrating on more serious crime.

http://blog.timesunion.com/asp/2582/student-shot-off-campus/

 

Good letter! Reposted here:

 

The police have their priorities all wrong. They are focusing on the general annoyance of off-campus parties, meanwhile the streets are overrun with opportunity seeking thugs and miscreants who prey on the vulnerable. I graduated from SUNY ALbany in 1997 and have witnessed the slow but steady decline of the Pine Hills neighborhood- which has increased exponentially in recent years as street crime and not-so-loosely organized gangs now rule the night.

 

I know that the APD is trying to enforce some groundbreaking quality of life crime riddance campaign- in the mold of a certain Mayor Rudolph Giuliani- but the streets of NYC in the early 1990′s and the situation on the ground in Albany are remarkably different.

 

It is my understanding that the police are, in my opinion, incorrectly charging students with the crime of Unlawfully Dealing with a Child, knowing fully well that doing so is an underhanded tactic aimed that serves no purpose other than causing a student’s family to incur a significant financial burden while jeapordizing the academic and professional futures of those charged. Noise ordinances are one thing and disorderly conduct is another, but inappropriately leveraging a misdemeanor charge is not prudent. Any good lawyer worth their salt should be able to dispose of the great majority of those cases quite easily.

 

The people of Albany should be up in arms about this. The idea that the APD is flooding the courts with such felonious balonious that wastes precious legal and financial resources, while jamming up the courts with frivilous casework, is not how I want my tax money spent.

 

In the end, the Pine Hills will be devoid of students and the poor year round residents who are held ‘hostage’ by said students will have a REAL problem on their hands in the form of hardened criminals and the urban decay that follows.

[Michigan_Dane]

UAlbany cannot solve the City of Albany's ills. It is a fools errand.

 

UAlbany students are adults. They are not children. They are old enough to fight and kill in Afghanastan. If the TU wants to list UAlbany everytime there is an off campus crime then they should also list the employer of crime victims outside of work.

 

For example, Dunkin Donuts employee robbed in the parking lot of the Albany City Library. (supposition, Dunkin Donuts is a terrible employer for not protecting their employee during their free time). Why isn't Dunkin Donuts solving the crime issue?

 

Is the 18 year old Donut employee (man) less valuable than the 26 year old college "kid"?

[madDOG]

You're comparing the second largest enterprise in the capital region that generates billions in economic impact to a Dunkin' Donuts? I don't need to explain the absurdity of your argument, do I?

 

Whether you like it or not, the violence that occurs in the city, particularly in the student section of the city, has a direct impact on the University at large. Throwing your hands up in the air and saying nothing can be done about it so it's a "fools errand" is not only weak but wrongheaded. There are lots of things the school can do (and in some ways is doing) to force change. There is no reason why the school and city can't work together to encourage private companies to redevelop and revitalize the student ghetto. Get St. Rose involved too since it impacts them as well.

[UBBulls]

Campus police are directly responsible for the safety of students ON CAMPUS, City of Albany is responsible for this and other areas in the City. What would you have UA do? You make it seems like UA leadership is just chillaxing saying...screw it, not our problem. When in fact they've sent NUMEROUS e-mail to students (I know, I'm a student) regarding off campus safety, they have meetings and bulletin postings around campus etc. Short of Pres. Philip strapping on an uzi I fail to see how the University is complicit in any of this.

 

SUNY police are able to overlap and work with municipal forces. They can only legally cover adjacent streets to campuses on their own, but can engage in all the joint patrols and investigations as they please. All it takes is a deal: UB/Buffalo joint measures. UAlbany and St Rose have one as well, but does it have the teeth, based on this incident so near to Campus? Albany OSC

 

UB has programs for town/gown relations like most other schools, but also a Home Loan Guaranty Program for employees "to purchase homes as a means of stabilizing University Heights and other neighborhoods around UB’s South Campus." UAlbany could develop the same program, as madDOG is asserting.

 

But, it's true, cities will call for even more than what a school is doing when something goes wrong:Buffalo News story

 

Common Council Member Bonnie E. Russell, who represents the University District, said the arrests are a prime example of why UB police should take a more active role in patrolling the Heights, which is adjacent to the South Campus.

 

"University at Buffalo police need to revisit their contract to have more patrol details in the Heights, especially on the side streets," Russell said. "The Buffalo police are doing a fantastic job, but they can't do it alone." At present, UB police conduct limited patrols on city streets near the South Campus.

Edited September 28, 2012 by UBBulls

[Michigan_Dane]

Dunkin Donuts is no small operation. It has a higher annual revenue than UAlbany. This is far from an "absurd" parallel. Back to my points though:

 

One is that the media doesn't cover crime victims fairly. An 18 year old shot and killed will be covered very differently if he/she is in a college versus not. One's college status should not make you more or less of a victim. A non-college student is not treated with the same shock as a college student... even if the college student is older than the non-college student. 18 year old Dunkin Donut employee versus 26 year old college "kid".

 

Two, we all belong to many organizations. Why does the media focus on the person's college organization and status? That same person may be a member of Guardian Angels Catholic Church. The media doesn't report that a church member was shot. It says a college student was shot. We don't hold the church responsible for his/her safety. Is it not sad that a church member was victimized? How many organizations do we all have affliations: employer, church, municipality, social organizations etc.

 

Three is that your fooling yourself to think that a college can prevent crime off campus after hours. If a college could save us from harm than every soldier going to Afghanistan should first enroll at UAlbany. UAlbany can keep them safe overseas?

 

 

http://news.dunkindonuts.com/dunkin+brands/dunkin+brands+about/

 

For the full-year 2011, the company had franchisee-reported sales of approximately $8.3 billion."

Edited September 28, 2012 by SoCal_Dane

[madDOG]

Dunkin Donuts is no small operation. It has a higher annual revenue than UAlbany. This is far from an "absurd" parallel. Back to my points though:

 

One is that the media doesn't cover crime victims fairly. An 18 year old shot and killed will be covered very differently if he/she is in a college versus not. One's college status should not make you more or less of a victim. A non-college student is not treated with the same shock as a college student... even if the college student is older than the non-college student. 18 year old Dunkin Donut employee versus 26 year old college "kid".

 

Two, we all belong to many organizations. Why does the media focus on the person's college organization and status? That same person may be a member of Guardian Angels Catholic Church. The media doesn't report that a church member was shot. It says a college student was shot. We don't hold the church responsible for his/her safety. Is it not sad that a church member was victimized? How many organizations do we all have affliations: employer, church, municipality, social organizations etc.

 

Three is that your fooling yourself to think that a college can prevent crime off campus after hours. If a college could save us from harm than every soldier going to Afghanistan should first enroll at UAlbany. UAlbany can keep them safe overseas?

 

 

http://news.dunkindonuts.com/dunkin+brands/dunkin+brands+about/

 

For the full-year 2011, the company had franchisee-reported sales of approximately $8.3 billion."

 

lol, your original analogy was for "a" Dunkin Donuts. Singular. One location. I was not making comparisons to the corporation. Besides, it is a franchise operation and I'm pretty sure DD couldn't care less about a violent encounter at one location. Doesn't effect them in the least.

 

you are also missing my point entirely. I am not saying UA can prevent 100% of crime off campus, but they have the ability to reduce it considerably, in a number of different ways, in partnership with the city, St. Rose and private developers. It is in their very best interest to do so.

 

PS- why wouldn't the media disclose that he is a UA student? He is, isn't he? Why would they withhold that info? Can't blame the media for that.

Edited September 28, 2012 by madDOG

[Clickclack]

We'll have to agree to disagree as it appears we are approaching this from two very different points of view. No one here has said that UA or any other University should exist in a bubble and that UA should have zero impact on what goes on outside it's geographic borders. We can and should do more in the community but to suggest that somehow UA is culpable/delinquent in their efforts as it pertains to the amount of crime miles from campus is highly prejudicial and unfairly burdens the University with expectation of patrolling miles from campus instead of focusing at the mission at hand, educating young man and woman.

 

As for SoCal's second point...todays headline in the TU (web) Manhunt seeks UAlbany alum in superintendent slaying...the guy is 42 years old and graduated school what, 20 years ago? I'm sure this tickles you pink...I mean after-all, why withhold that information. Again, there is an implied culpability/tie-in to UA that I simply don't appreciate as I find it's completely unnecessary and associates the good name of UA with this dirtbag. You however think it's a great idea...

Edited September 29, 2012 by Clickclack

[madDOG]

We'll have to agree to disagree as it appears we are approaching this from two very different points of view. No one here has said that UA or any other University should exist in a bubble and that UA should have zero impact on what goes on outside it's geographic borders. We can and should do more in the community but to suggest that somehow UA is culpable/delinquent in their efforts as it pertains to the amount of crime miles from campus is highly prejudicial and unfairly burdens the University with expectation of patrolling miles from campus instead of focusing at the mission at hand, educating young man and woman.

 

uh, what? I never said or implied in any way whatsoever that the university was culpable in the crime. maybe you should go back and re-read the thread. My argument (again) is that the University can and should use its influence to help change the student ghetto. As UBBulls pointed out, this concept is nothing new. And perhaps you forgot, but there is a downtown campus and downtown dorm rooms, so we aren't talking about an area "miles from campus". Sorry you don't believe the school has a responsibility of keeping a large contingent of its students safe.

 

As for SoCal's second point...todays headline in the TU (web) Manhunt seeks UAlbany alum in superintendent slaying...the guy is 42 years old and graduated school what, 20 years ago? I'm sure this tickles you pink...I mean after-all, why withhold that information. Again, there is an implied culpability/tie-in to UA that I simply don't appreciate as I find it's completely unnecessary and associates the good name of UA with this dirtbag. You however think it's a great idea...

 

yeah, it tickles me pink that an alum went on a killing rampage. har har har <this is dripping with sarcasm by the way>...but I don't understand why you would think that the article implies that the school is culpable in this? He's an alum, which means he's tied to the community, which is why the TU is reporting on it. Don't like it, but it is what it is.

[UAalum72]

He's an alum, which means he's tied to the community, which is why the TU is reporting on it. Don't like it, but it is what it is.

Channel 6 news reported on this story last night and didn't think the UAlbany connection was important enough to mention.

 

Meanwhile back on topic, the T-U editorial today says they're excited about the plan, but also hope it's not at the expense of the liberal arts courses dropped shouldn't be nglected, Also work on the 'uptown' neighborhoods that have turned into a student ghetto. Without mentioning where the money to do everything should come from.

 

A new game plan for UAlbany

[madDOG]

Didn't want to start a new thread, but interesting tweet from UA this morning:

 

UAlbanyNews Stay tuned for a special announcement this morning with @rpinews and @albanymed!

37 minutes ago · reply · ret

[danefan]

Didn't want to start a new thread, but interesting tweet from UA this morning:

 

UAlbanyNews Stay tuned for a special announcement this morning with @rpinews and @albanymed!

37 minutes ago · reply · ret

 

I saw that too.

 

One of two things would be great:

1. UA officially takes over Albany Med in a partnership with RPI (needs to happen eventually)

2. UA is moving forward with the plan that was previously proposed for the SUNY 2020 grant (biomedical center on the downtown campus area) but are doing it as a partnership with RPI and Albany Med instead of through the SUNY 2020 program.

[danefan]

Or neither of the two - looks like a research alliance formed with the support of the Cuomo administration.

 

Not sure what that means, but it can't hurt. Seems the Governor really does view UA as an economic engine and a partner.

 

I wonder if we'll see him in the President's box at any football games next year?

[madDOG]

Or neither of the two - looks like a research alliance formed with the support of the Cuomo administration.

 

Not sure what that means, but it can't hurt. Seems the Governor really does view UA as an economic engine and a partner.

 

I wonder if we'll see him in the President's box at any football games next year?

 

I think one of Mario Cuomo's daughters attended UA, so there is a family connection to the school.