The Budget Shaft

[olddog71]

If English is your 3rd language...you should be proud. Well thought out statement!

 

Heck, I can write in English and Brooklynese.

 

I think bosiydid should submit the same letter to interim Phillip in his first two languages. Maybe the Cyrillic characters will make the staff take notice! (Besides how many people could call it a "boilerplate" letter of concern if you can't even read the letters?)

[purplenorange]

Just sent to the president -- I'm sure it will have no effect.

 

My only hope is that the entire budget gets whacked and nobody gets a dime, so we can revisit in a few years...

 

Dear Mr. Philip,

 

I am an alumnus of the University at Albany, and I’m certain that you have heard an earful from alumni around the world who are outraged at the New York governor’s lack of plan for our University. His speech, which singled out the universities of Buffalo and Stony Brook by admission, also singled out Albany and Binghamton by omission. It’s true that his words might be interpreted in many ways, but the proposed budget perfectly clarifies their meaning into dollars.

 

There is no room for interpretation any longer, and unless the budget changes significantly, the Governor’s words will be set not in stone, but in the bricks and mortar of future world-class universities hundreds of miles from where you now sit.

 

The alumni, faculty, and students are looking for a champion for our University. Measured by research dollars, Albany falls second only to Buffalo in SUNY. And if you remove the medical school funding, Albany is a clear first. I imagine that you already know this. But what has most upset the University community, and me as an alumnus, has been your lack of a clear public statement of support for the University at Albany as an equal peer, and not less, to any other university center within SUNY.

 

In the history of New York, there have been three major occasions that have established universities. The first two Morrill acts, which were used to fund some of the greatest public universities elsewhere in our nation, were used in New York to further fund private Cornell University. Although Cornell was and is a fine school, establishing the equivalent of a Michigan-Ann Arbor or UC-Berkeley, in addition to the already established Columbia and Cornell Universities, would have put our state earlier on the right path.

 

The third major source of funding came more than 100 years after the first, and the University at Albany participated with another Governor’s plan, Nelson Rockefeller’s expansion of SUNY.

 

Now we are confronted with the fourth major initiative in one hundred forty years, and from the numbers it’s nothing less than that. While Rockefeller’s SUNY expansion was shallow and wide, Governor Spitzer’s fourth opportunity for significant funding and establishment of universities is narrow and deep. And make no mistake, the amount and diversity of funds are as historic as the first three. If we do not participate in this, claiming the lion’s share or at least a seat at a very exclusive table, we will miss out forever. There is no going back.

 

I would appreciate your thoughts. But more importantly, I would appreciate seeing the public plan for the University, so that the oldest, best performing, and best located university center becomes the flagship for SUNY.

 

Sincerely,

 

-

UAlbany ’91; Harvard ‘99

[danefan]

Good letter. Nice research. Hopefully someone other then an 8th grade intern will read it.

[uofalbany]

Herein lies the problem- George Philip could give a rats ass about this-- He has nothing invested. I am sorry, I spoke to all of our Senators and Assemblyman and I got the same answer: He barely stopped in for a visit when he was named President.

 

 

What type of reactions did you get from talking to the Senators and Assemblyman?

 

Are they going to stand up for SUNY's Albany center?

 

If so, what do they plan on doing to support UAlbany? (if any plan on supporting us)

 

Was there any mention of stadium funding? Or support for our stadium project?

[UAlbany09]

I sent a letter to the editor in chief at the Albany Student Press informing them of the situation. I don't know if they've done an article or are in the process of doing one, but I figured I should let them know. I directed them to the blog which summarizes the current issues much better then I can.

[UAalum72]

Meanwhile the private schools are looking for their piece of the pie

 

Private schools seek aid - Times Union

[ATL_DANE]

Meanwhile the private schools are looking for their piece of the pie

 

Private schools seek aid - Times Union

 

Only in New York would tax payers be asked to fund private colleges at the expense of their own under funded state university. Someone in Spitzer's administration should be fired for even allowing such nonsense in a budget request. It's criminal.

 

The state should not be funding private institutions whether it be high schools, colleges, civic groups etc. Everyone is entitled to create private organizations but don't ask the tax payers to fund it. This is especially true when states like Alabama are beating New York in national ratings such as US News.

 

To add insult to injury we're funding Rochester when they have a billion plus dollar endowment? New York needs to take government back to support the people and their institutions.

[gkzhukov]

As I mentioned in the Flagship thread, Huey (Long) Spitzer has begun defunding a state University ranked 45th in the WORLD by ARWU 2007 in Social sciences and , of course number one in the world in Nanotechnology. I wouldn't be surprised if Huey Spitzer next proposes having Cornell or Syracuse University take over the running of UAlbany in exchange for massive campaign contributions. I say this only half in jest. New York State , in UAlbany , has an educational asset which already is truly world class. UAlbany is already higher in rankings in social sciences, than Brown , Dartmouth, Univ Virginia, McGill, Rice, Georgetown and other top rated Universities. IMHO To say Spitzer's 2 flagship campuses idea (assuming UAlbany is gradually defunded), borders on insanity is no exaggeration.

[scrabbleship]

Meanwhile the private schools are looking for their piece of the pie

 

Private schools seek aid - Times Union

 

Channel 6 had a story on this the other night and it's just plain sickening. Do we see Harvard begging Deval Patrick for money? Is Yale banging down Jodi Rell's door for a few million extra to compete with UConn? Of course not...

 

I wish I had the optimism some of you have that Spitzer will be one-and-out. I somehow have the bad feeling that the state Democrat party will have unconditional faith in Spitzer, no other Democrats will want to run against him, the GOP will sit on their hands for a candidate, and in 2010 Spitzer will run basically unopposed again and run the state further in the ground . Someone prove me wrong...

[danefan]

Meanwhile the private schools are looking for their piece of the pie

 

Private schools seek aid - Times Union

 

Channel 6 had a story on this the other night and it's just plain sickening. Do we see Harvard begging Deval Patrick for money? Is Yale banging down Jodi Rell's door for a few million extra to compete with UConn? Of course not...

 

I wish I had the optimism some of you have that Spitzer will be one-and-out. I somehow have the bad feeling that the state Democrat party will have unconditional faith in Spitzer, no other Democrats will want to run against him, the GOP will sit on their hands for a candidate, and in 2010 Spitzer will run basically unopposed again and run the state further in the ground . Someone prove me wrong...

 

I think Spitzer will not run again because he'll have a "better" job come appointment time this fall.....(my two cents).

[Dane96]

Meanwhile the private schools are looking for their piece of the pie

 

Private schools seek aid - Times Union

 

Channel 6 had a story on this the other night and it's just plain sickening. Do we see Harvard begging Deval Patrick for money? Is Yale banging down Jodi Rell's door for a few million extra to compete with UConn? Of course not...

 

I wish I had the optimism some of you have that Spitzer will be one-and-out. I somehow have the bad feeling that the state Democrat party will have unconditional faith in Spitzer, no other Democrats will want to run against him, the GOP will sit on their hands for a candidate, and in 2010 Spitzer will run basically unopposed again and run the state further in the ground . Someone prove me wrong...

 

Andrew Cuomo is pretty much a shoo in for this nomination. He carries a solid career, federal service, and name recognition.

[scrabbleship]

Meanwhile the private schools are looking for their piece of the pie

 

Private schools seek aid - Times Union

 

Channel 6 had a story on this the other night and it's just plain sickening. Do we see Harvard begging Deval Patrick for money? Is Yale banging down Jodi Rell's door for a few million extra to compete with UConn? Of course not...

 

I wish I had the optimism some of you have that Spitzer will be one-and-out. I somehow have the bad feeling that the state Democrat party will have unconditional faith in Spitzer, no other Democrats will want to run against him, the GOP will sit on their hands for a candidate, and in 2010 Spitzer will run basically unopposed again and run the state further in the ground . Someone prove me wrong...

 

Andrew Cuomo is pretty much a shoo in for this nomination. He carries a solid career, federal service, and name recognition.

 

I know you're more aware of inner workings of government and what might happen than most of us on this board, but that still doesn't make me so sure that Spitzer won't be one-and-out (especially if the Democrats don't win the presidential election or if he gets passed up for a Cabinet position if they do). What you propose makes sense if the state Democrats lose total faith in Spitzer which, from past experience, I'm not so sure they'll do unless his administration keeps simultaneously immolating itself while bullets are fired at its foot.

 

If I was with the state GOP, I'd get on the phone with Rudy right now to try to preen him to run for governor in 2010. Given how he punted running for US Senate in '06 and killed his presidental aspirations, this might be a final chance to redeem himself and he has experience fixing the mess a one-term disaster has left.

[ATL_DANE]

I sent a letter to the editor in chief at the Albany Student Press informing them of the situation. I don't know if they've done an article or are in the process of doing one, but I figured I should let them know. I directed them to the blog which summarizes the current issues much better then I can.

 

I also spoke with the editor of the ASP. Based on my conversation with her, my expectation is she and her team was working on a story. This is life so there are no guarantees. I don't know of any timelines or if it will even come to fruition. It would be nice to galvanize the students into action.

[ATL_DANE]

At this point, all we can do is wait and see what, if anything, happens. Spitzer may not have the political strength?

 

At least politicans from Canastrani to Tedisco are on record that they are aware of this proposal and some have alluded to the fact that they'd fight it.

 

Here is a response I received. Thought I'd share.

 

[GODANESGO]

To address the Legislator/SUNY alumni issue..

 

http://www.suny.edu/sunyNews/News.cfm?filn...aucus%20rel.htm

 

Assuming I can count correctly, there are 8 UAlbany alumni in the NYS legislature. 51 SUNY alumni total.