The Budget Shaft

[ATL_DANE]

Great cartoon!

 

[GreatDanes06]

While many of us have some strong feelings towards Binghamton, I think it would be useful to maybe get Binghamton students/alumni also involved in our cause. I think we need to have a shift of either no flagship or four flagships...just an opinion.

[uofalbany]

Great blog uofalbany. Summarizes the issue well. If anyone on this board hasn't checked his blog out, you should do so. Lots of quotes from the news and politicians. He even has all the funding numbers in black and white for all to see. Judge for yourself if this issue is as big as many think.

 

Good job.

 

http://uofalbany.blogspot.com/

 

 

This is a link directly to the Flag or No Flagship post:

 

http://uofalbany.blogspot.com/2008/01/suny...-of-albany.html

 

 

This is the link to the homepage:

 

http://uofalbany.blogspot.com

 

 

If anyone wants to use the article for our advantage, do it.

If you give a link, give them the one directly to that specific post.

[ATL_DANE]

While many of us have some strong feelings towards Binghamton, I think it would be useful to maybe get Binghamton students/alumni also involved in our cause. I think we need to have a shift of either no flagship or four flagships...just an opinion.

 

I agree. 4 or Nothing

 

New York does need flagships. The SUNY Commission and Governor Spitzer recognize the fact. The key for us is to make a stand and say 4 flagships or nothing. Hope he goes for 4.

 

Karma is a b*tch. I was sure he would choose Buffalo and Albany. My thoughts at the time were Buffal and Albany were both upstate. Both were on opposite sides of the state. Both were the oldest. Both had the largest R&D. One was the largest up state city and the other was the capitol. Karma will get you every time!!

[GODANESGO]

While many of us have some strong feelings towards Binghamton, I think it would be useful to maybe get Binghamton students/alumni also involved in our cause. I think we need to have a shift of either no flagship or four flagships...just an opinion.

 

I agree. 4 or Nothing

 

New York does need flagships. The SUNY Commission and Governor Spitzer recognize the fact. The key for us is to make a stand and say 4 flagships or nothing. Hope he goes for 4.

 

Karma is a b*tch. I was sure he would choose Buffalo and Albany. My thoughts at the time were Buffal and Albany were both upstate. Both were on opposite sides of the state. Both were the oldest. Both had the largest R&D. One was the largest up state city and the other was the capitol. Karma will get you every time!!

 

Just as a question, what do you perceive the real life advantage(s) to be if Spitzer/Leg./SUNY were to designate Albany, Bing, Buffalo, and Stony Brook all as 'flagships,' instead of their current University Center recognition within the state system?

 

As a premeptive guess, would you think it would mean more money to each campus if all 4 were called a flagship instead of a University Center? Would that money be coming from the other SUNY campuses or would there just be hope that a change in name would mean more total money allocated to the state higher education system?

 

I agree with Pres. DeFluer in the idea of 'why 2?' The idea of a flagship is exactly that.. a flagship..not flagships. I think naming two just creates problems by leaving out the other 2 (Albany and Bing) without actually meeting the goals of what establishing a flagship would have set out to do. From there, I'd obviously be a bit hesitant about naming a flagship because most everything we've been hearing over the past year or two would indicate that it would be Buffalo.

[ATL_DANE]

Good question GODANESGO.

 

By the way, I received a boiler plate email from President Philip noting Governor Spitzer's quote "did not designate them as flagships to the exclusion of others". What else is he going to say? "We got screwed"? Anyway, I'm sure he's a stand up alum and he's fighting hard for us. I don't want to give him too hard a time.

 

All we're trying to do is keep UA on par with the other university centers both financially and in prestige. Everyone needs to view and treat us equally from the governor down to prospective students and the average American. It's not limited to legislation. This can happen over time by simply expanding and disprortionately funding SBU and UB. In ten years, will UB and SBU be what pops into the mind of someone when you say SUNY?

 

When I say UNC, you think xxxx?

When I say UMass, you think xxxx?

 

$1.6 Billion dollars into Buffalo... hmmm, is that enough for

 

When I say SUNY, you think xxxx?

[Dane96]

I just received the same boiler plate email. I AM BEYOND BULL$iena WITH IT.

 

If you are going to boiler plate, do not compose a letter than insults the intelligence of the graduates who support the school.

 

IT WAS WRITTEN BY A THIRD-GRADER.

[danefan]

I just received the same boiler plate email. I AM BEYOND BULL$iena WITH IT.

 

If you are going to boiler plate, do not compose a letter than insults the intelligence of the graduates who support the school.

 

IT WAS WRITTEN BY A THIRD-GRADER.

 

I got it too. I think I'm going to reply and thank him for the boiler plate email.

 

Clearly written by his assistant.

[Dane96]

Make that two of us.

 

Insult me...I insult you back...thank you very much George Philip. I am not asking for a personal email, but I am asking for both business and political savvy. That e-mail lacks any focus...and clearly shows that he is incapable, at least publicly, of seeing the bigger picture.

 

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.

 

HOW DO YOU NOT SIT IN FOR HOURS TO MEET THE PEOPLE THAT HOLD THE POWER TO MAKE YOU RISE OR FALL?!?!

 

When I see Bing's President stepping up it makes me think where our leadership is...or isn't.

 

WE NEED A PRESIDENT!

[Clickclack]

I also received the e-mail. When reading "....we fully anticipate that UAlbany will continue to benefit from vital public support..." all I kept thinking is.......what about the stadium? If benefiting from "vital public support" means getting 1/2 the financial support of SB and BU then fine, I guess that can qualify as benefiting from vital public support. The question was not......are we going to get funding, the question is will we be funded on the same scale as SB and BU ie. be recognized as a flagship. Clearly the answer so far is NO!

 

This scripted e-mail does nothing to alleviate my concerns.

[Dane96]

This scripted e-mail does nothing to alleviate my concerns.

 

You make great points. If you saw what I just sent to President Philip you would spit your coffee out. I just, basically, called him out. I said exactly what you said-- The governor supports Albany...but has not called us a Flagship and has not pledged equal dollars.

 

To say there is no problem, while Binghamton clearly sees there is, is a lack of Presidential leadership that disgusts me. I don't want political answers...I want a leader who says:

 

WE ARE ON THIS!

[Dane96]

My email response:

 

I would like to thank you very much for the boiler plate e-mail. As an intelligent graduate of the University, A DONOR, and a supporter of all things Albany, I am a bit perplexed by the tone of the boiler plate e-mail; It clearly does not address the issues that are so profound at the moment, issues that our sister school, Binghamton, seems to recognize.

 

At a time like this, leadership is paramount. When I speak to my contemporaries in the NYS Education, Political, and business wings, they all seem to feel there is a problem as well.

 

I have to say, I am rather disappointed in this e-mail response because it lacks vision or focus. Furthermore, it does not address what is clear: Spitzer's words are one thing (saying he likes Nano)-- His budget speaks otherwise.

 

The numbers are clear- 800m and 700m in support to Stony Brook and Buffalo respectively; and 400 and 385 to Albany and Bing respectively. With a potential investment of 1.6b publicaly spoken to by the governor, it reeks of Flagship. The points you make in the response you give to my e-mail only state that the Governor supports our program. HE HAS NOT, however, USED THE TERM FLAGSHIP...like the two other schools.

 

As someone who worked on the higher education sub-committee, I can see the writing on the wall. I am a bit dismayed that upper leadership at Albany has not come out to bat for us publicly like that of Binghamton's leadership.

 

I have been a member of the UA community for 17 years now and never have I been so disappointed to be associated with the school. It is as though we do not care if we are Grand Valley State or Michigan-- that is the direction we are headed.

 

Great Danes are strong, royal, majestic, and protective (when pushed)-- It is time to start acting like Great Danes.

[danefan]

Haha. Nice.

 

I feel like sending him the exact same response prefaced wth:

 

Boiler plate emails deserve boiler plate responses.

 

By the way. I sent my email on January 9th in response to the State of the State Address. Did it really take 19 days to draft that response?

[ATL_DANE]

Personally, I'm glad to hear Bingo and their President DeFleur provide some validation to the posters on this board. It's very reassuring. I started to question myself here. President Philip, alumni, students, politicians and business leaders have been a bit quiet. God, I hope it means their working behind the scenes and not that their just apathetic.

 

Yes, this is a big deal. Thank you President DeFleur.

 

"We should not be singled out with negative implications … I have been very passionate about that."

[Clickclack]

It took 19 days to draft a response....never mind that there is still no statement on the University's web page or in any other form of electronic/visual media. Giving us a pat on the back....and an A-OK does not sit well with me. I've also sent him an e-mail. Now....granted, English is my 3rd language so I pray he at least gets the point....

 

Dear Mr. Phillip,

 

 

I would first like to thank you for your correspondence regarding the State of the State address and the issue concerning the designation of "flagship" university centers.

 

With all due respect, I'd like you to know that your e-mail did very little to alleviate my concerns. While it is true that most of us on the periphery are not privy to the conversations taking place between the powers that be. I fear what we are getting is nothing short of lip service from UA officials; the budget numbers tell a very different story. Compared to what Gov. Spitzer pledged for Buffalo and Stony Brook University Centers we are receiving significantly less funding. To those of us on the outside, this appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to establish TWO "flagship" campuses and we are NOT one of them.

 

This is a critical time for the vitality and the direction of the University at Albany. While the president of the University at Binghamton has come out publicly in decrying the establishment of two "flagship" campuses saying "It's a distinction that doesn't really serve anyone well", the silence from UA is deafening. There is nothing in the printed media, nothing on the local TV stations and nothing at all on our own website. While this may not be the case, there appears to be a substantial void in the leadership of the University at Albany.

 

If you would like to gain further insight into the concerns of the alumni, please feel free to visit….http://bigpurplefans.ipbhost.com and click on the General Danes Stuff forum. There you will find the concerns of many alumni discussed at great length.

 

Thank you for your attention in this matter and I look forward to true leadership on this vital issue from your office.