By Najib Aminy

How does Gov. Paterson differentiate a red apple from a green one? By biting into it.

For the first time in its history, the SUNY Student Assembly voted in support of an increased tuition to alleviate the ongoing budget crisis plaguing New York State and SUNY. Under the supported plan, tuition would increase every year in proportion to the monetary state of each university, allowing students to predict their financial situation. However, under this plan, students are left vulnerable to an additional hike, due in part to unforeseen circumstances, surmounting additional money to the proposed rational plan. Representing the 427,000 students enrolled in SUNY in both the national and state level, the Student Assembly voted, 50-10, in favor of a rational tuition hike leaving many students scratching their heads.

“Obviously they are not paying their own tuition,” said Jill Craver, a Stony Brook junior, who feels misrepresented. “They could have more dialogue between the students, I feel this will become a financial strain for many people.”

Junior Alyson Schwartz said that any tuition hike at all is unfair to anyone without student loans. “If anything, New York State should increase the amount they give on financial aid.” Junior Danny DeVita works two jobs to pay off his school tuition and when hearing about the SA’s recent vote, he was not happy about it. Feeling that he was never asked about the issue, DeVita said, “I wished they consulted with students more before making their decision.”

“I think it is bullshit, the students in the SA are idiots,” said Michael Dischley, a sophomore from SUNY Geneseo. Dischley said the most attractive thing about SUNY is that it is cheap and affordable. “If you increase the price it becomes less appealing,” said Dischley. On the other hand, Ryan Micelli, a junior at SUNY Binghamton, said he thinks the SA’s decision is for the best. “SUNY still is pretty cheap, my brother goes to Cornell and it is really expensive, but it’s practically like getting the same education.” An optimistic Vincent Lancia, a sophomore at SUNY Albany, sees the rational tuition plan as unfair for students in need of financial aid. “A lot of kids that go to SUNY come based on the financial aid and grants, and to boost tuition would place economic strain on them,” said Lancia. Though a bit optimistic, Lancia sees a hike as a long term answer to a short term problem.

An undergraduate himself here at Stony Brook, Treasurer of the Student Assembly Joe Antonelli was amongst the fifty voting in favor of the rational tuition hike. “Costs go up—there really is no other justification. Just like the cost of groceries go up each year, just like the cost of buying a car goes up each year, so to does the cost of running a University,” said Antonelli. With the SUNY experiencing two significant cuts and looking to face another after November 18, when Governor Paterson convenes with the legislature, Antonelli says that a “rational plan would not be effective, but it would be the solution.” According to Antonelli, the plan that the SUNY SA voted on would have students paying the same percent it costs for their university to run, whether an increase or decrease in the amount. For example, if operations to run Stony Brook increased five percent, students would pay five percent, if operations decreased to run Stony Brook by five percent, students would pay a tuition five percent less than what they originally had.

Voting against the rational hike, Lynne Radle, an Undergrad at SUNY Buffalo, said that the “elected delegates didn’t even consider their constituents. Very few people asked members of their campus how they felt, and the ones who did got a resounding ‘no tuition hikes!’” Radle said that there were no other alternative plans proposed at the table. Rational tuition was proposed to the SUNY delegates, according to Radle, as a decision between whether they were in favor of a 30 percent increase or a three percent increase.
With the absence of a binding legislation, a rational tuition plan could be scrapped as soon as next year or the year after under a new and different legislature. “I believe it is based on false hope, and would rather stand behind a strong message like adequately funding SUNY,” said Radle.

"Mine is this big"

With Governor Paterson projecting a $2.5 billion shortfall in the 2008-09 fiscal year, ending March 31, cuts to SUNY are being forecasted as Deans are preparing “for the worst case scenario,” according to Dan Meluci, Associate Vice President for Strategy and Analysis. With unemployment problems, debt related issues, and mortgage situations, Melucci says it “is going to be very difficult for the legislature to impose a 20 percent increase on students in this state,” but has not ruled it out as an option. Though in support of a rational plan, during his thirty-five years at Stony Brook Melucci has never experienced a rational tuition hike and sees some downfall to the plan. “In difficult budgetary times, the legislature may see SUNY getting a tuition increase so they cut SUNY’s state side budget. All you would be doing would be shifting the burden from tax payers to families, and SUNY would get no more money.” Melucci feels that entrusting more power within the Board of Trustees would be an alternative route to travel disembarking from the political atmosphere involved in SUNY higher education. In terms of Stony Brook going private, Melucci immediately responded, “not going to happen. The state is really valuable They pay all the debt services on our buildings, all the fringe benefits on state employees, that’s huge amount of money, we can’t give that up.”

With a history of SUNY raising tuition by a significant percent in blocks of time, it has become difficult for students and their families to predict how to pay for their education. It doesn’t help that the New York State economy runs on 20 percent of Wall Streets fortunes, and more recently, mishaps.  Stony Brook Provost Eric Kaler added that the plan voted by the SA is “a very realistic interpretation of the current situation. I think it is unrealistic to look at today’s economy and expect somehow the state will provide the money needed to run the university without students to take on the larger share.” The University runs on income provided by state aid and tuition. According to Kaler, if state aid continues to dwindle and tuition is unchanged, the lack of cash flow into the University will stall and deter the quality and goals of the University. Provost Kaler asked for students to be patient and aware of their schedules and course offerings and make it sufficient to the progress of their own degree. Though optimistic, Kaler knows little of what will happen in the near future. “Like the rest of the nation we are facing an unprecedented economic change. We are trying to plan on minimal information, which changes very rapidly.”

Whether or not rational tuition policy gets voted on by the New York Legislature, the biggest flaw to this policy is its precedent. According to Andrew Morrison, regional director of the New York Public Interest Group, by supporting a rational tuition policy, one is opening the door to rational increases as well as continued susceptibility to 20 to 30 percent increases, as Stony Brook has experienced in the past. “This happens because you can’t hold a legislature to this policy and you won’t know what will happen in the near future,” said Morrison, adding, “its based on an empty promise.” Morrison said, “rather than taking the SA’s stance and say that students are willing to do their part for NYS, that state should be doing everything in its power to do what is right for its students.” Morrison views the cause of this problem in looking at the SUNY institution as a business. “Students are not meant to be consumers of education as if NYS is offering them a service, it is students who are doing NYS the service,” said Morrison.

Due to the current economic state, Antonelli said that it would be infeasible to keep tuition the same. “The mere thought of that was not even on the table for SUNY, and it would have proven ignorant for us to continue insisting that SUNY quality could remain the same as costs rise while keeping our tuition static.” With the significant majority, Antonelli said that “SUNY students have never been more united on the cost of their education.” Expressing her concern over the SA’s decision, Radle said, “It is really hard to hear support for tuition increases from adults, but from students? That’s a shame.”

By Andrew Fraley

Contrary to popular belief, not all presidential candidates are in support of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan. A dedicated and passionate coalition of local community leaders and candidates are leading a fight against what they have termed, “The bailout of casino capitalists.” At the vanguard of this movement is presidential candidate Ralph Nader. On Thursday, October 16, hundreds of protesters and thousands of onlookers and passers-by were in attendance for a rally at the foot of the New York Stock Exchange, in the heart of Wall Street.

“Just the usual gloom and doom,” remarked the street vendor on Wall Street, who has seen the usual ups and downs of the financial district. But on the steps of Federal Hall, in front of the statue of George Washington, protesters thronged the streets as traders and executives nervously looked out of the windows from inside the NYSE. As Titubanda, an activist marching band from Italy, played spirited songs, the Reverend Billy, a performer from the activist group The Church of Stop Shopping, preached of the coming of the

Shopocalypse. “We’re here to fight the fundamentalist religion of the free-market.” Accompanying Reverend Billy were the parodical “billionaires for bailouts.” Dressed in gaudy, stereotypically rich attire, they were a representation of the excesses of wealth, and the villains

of this particular event. “Just give us the money,” read the signs of the billionaires, while the protesters donned their “socialism saves capitalism” signs. The energy in the air was palpable as the first speaker took the stage.

The Rev. Billy played MC to the rally, introducing each of the speakers. Before Nader and his running mate, Matt Gonzalez, came on, there were a couple speakers to pump up the crowd. The first was Carl Mayer, author of the book Shakedown: The Fleecing of the Garden State. The first independent elected in Princeton, Mayer was once called a “populist crusader and maverick lawyer” by The New York Times. Mayer started by pointing out the

Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping

inherent hypocrisy happening right now with the financial crisis. He used New York’s multiple stadium plans as a prime example. “Whenever billionaires want a stadium built,” exclaimed Mayer, “they get it—with our tax dollars.” The bailout plan is opposed by the Bush administration’s head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. It’s never a good sign when the financial heads of the current administration oppose the plan.

“[Recently] top leaders of banks all met to discuss causes of the financial crisis…none would accept blame,” declared Mayer. The major banks refuse to acknowledge the fact that the reason for this debacle lies with the speculative actions of the corporations and traders. Treasury Secretary Paulson didn’t escape Mayer’s harsh criticism either. At the end of his speech, Mayer incited the crowd to chant, “Jail time yes, bail time no. Henry Paulson’s got to go!”

After a continued chant by Reverend Billy, the Reverend Jarrett Maupin, protege of Al Sharpton, hit the stage with his fiery rhetoric. Maupin in almost every way resembles Al Sharpton, and his speech was inspired. “These two nominees [McCain and Obama] have put their full faith in the advisors of Bush,” he exclaimed. The bailout plan, proposed by the Bush administration, has run nearly unopposed by the two major parties. Maupin, as a liberal African American, is making a statement by not supporting Obama. He went on to reiterate that the bailout plan cannot save Americans. Americans should not have faith in the current system. “How can someone with a knife in your back save you?”

Maupin emphasized the need to prosecute the crime being committed on Wall Street. Underneath the statue of Washington, Maupin informed the audience that, in the time of George Washington, these corporate crooks would be tarred and feathered and paraded around the city. Maupin ended his speech, asserting that this wasn’t a radical liberal movement. It affects all Americans. “We know what’s best for Americans because we’re the Americans.”

Matt Gonzalez Does Not Fuck Around

Reverend Billy excitedly announced the arrival of the great Matt Gonzalez, Vice Presidential running mate of Ralph Nader. The 43-year-old Texas native has been actively involved in politics in the San Francisco area since 2000. Originally a Democrat, he switched to the Green Party in 2000 in what he described as a

“political or moral epiphany.” Gonzalez walked up to the stage with one purpose in mind; to get

his point across. He was succinct and exact, and did not pull any punches. “There is a narrative about these candidates, by the candidates themselves as well as journalists, that one party is for deregulation and one is against it. This is simply not true.” He unrelentingly went on to describe what got America into this mess.

In 1999 and 2000, Bill Clinton—a Democrat, gasp!—signed into law two bills: the Commodity Futures Modernization Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. These were the two laws that enabled the current crisis. The GLBA allowed for the consolidation of commercial and investment banks. Undoing the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, the law was responsible for the large scale mergings of many major bank

s and investment firms, into what is now called financial services. Combined with the CFMA, a law that essentially deregulated derivatives and credit default swaps in the financial industry. The new acts came at the height of “Wall Street and Washington’s love affair with deregulation, an infatuation that was endorsed by

President Clinton at the White House and encouraged by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan,” reported 60 Minutes. The legislature reversed decades of law, described Gonzalez. This deregulation allowed for a “sustained orgy of excess and reckless behavior” as Richard Fischer, Dallas Federal Reserve chief, put it. Making money out of money, this is the primary cause of the Wall Street recession.

“This notion that Democrats are fighting against it is rubbish,” declared Gonzalez. The bailout, as Gonzalez described, is just a bailout of the two party system. Gonzalez continued to chastise journalists for their perpetuation of the current system, and their refusal to cover independent and third party candidates. “Both candidates want to increase the military budget,” emphasized Gonzalez. The Nader/Gonzalez ticket would cut the bloated, wasteful military budget.

“You don’t fix it [the economic crisis] by buying bad credit.” To the scoffs and jeers of the billionaires for bailouts, Matt Gonzalez did not stutter or mince words. Short and sweet.

Ralph Nader Fires Up NYC

In front of a giant poster reading, “Jail time for Wall Street crime,” and a giant screw whose sign read “Congress and Wall St. turned the screws on Main St. Taxpayers,” the Reverend Billy asked the crowd to give him a “Ralphelluiah.” The crowd excitedly obliged, and the 74-year-young consumer advocate, humanitarian, environmentalist a

Total Badass

nd what many consider the last hope for democracy took the stage that Thursday at the foot of Federal Hall.

“What we’ve seen is the collapse of corporate capitalism on the backs of taxpayers,” exclaimed Nader. These are bailouts for speculating corporations, and not a rescue of the American financial system, according to Nader. The corporations are being allowed to cut workers benefits, pensions and wages to support their continued excesses. He pointed out that, if adjusted for inflation, the minimum wage from 1968 would be over $10.

There are three principles of capitalism that are being destroyed by corporate capitalism, said Nader. The first is control for owners. The corporations are property of the shareholders, and the current situation is the exact opposite. CEO’s are egregiously mismanaging their companies, inciting shareholders to jump ship and sell their stock. The second principle is the potential to fail, which means no bailouts for the companies that cannot sustain themselves. The third is no governmental manipulation or intervention; free market fails when government intervenes. These principles are all being ruined by the bailout plan, and both major parties are allowing it to happen.

“Senator McCain and Senator Obama are corporate puppets,” stated Nader, about his opponents. Concerning the debates, he had a few choice words as well. Calling it petty pandering to the public, the consumer advocate described the debates as a “bipartisan avoidance of addressing concentrated corporate power.” Without acknowledging that problem, it is impossible to effectively deal with a living wage, universal health insurance, pollution or the massive deficit and how to deal with it. “[The debates are] a charade…a disgrace to the intelligence of the voter.”

Apparently, Nader is not alone in this, either. “Nine out of ten Americans think America is in decline; three out of four think there is too much corporate control; six out of ten think the two party system is failing,” said Nader, in defense of accusations of radical liberalism. By these figures, in fact, he is actually more of a centrist. The reason for this is due largely to the coverage (or lack thereof) provided by journalists, who didn’t escape Nader’s criticism either. “Why do you expose all these corporate crimes and then shut up the American people and their representatives who are doing something about it,” asked Nader. That is, incidentally, one of the policy changes the Nader/Gonzalez ticket plans to implement if elected.

By 1735, America had thirteen colonies under King George III. “Today, we have fifty colonies under King George IV,” shouted Nader, to the uproar of the crowd. “Today, same as 1735, it is taxation without representation.” Wall Street has positioned itself against the American people, and Nader stands at the vanguard against them. As he looked directly at the NYSE, Nader closed his speech with an emphatic, “Mr. Niederauer [CEO of the NYSE], tear down this wall, before the American people do it for you!”

By Kelly Yu

It started with a drum kit.  But before the arrival of the drum kit, the music scene at Stony Brook had long been deserted since acts such as Jimi Hendrix and The Who played on this campus.  Students on campus lacked an adequate musical outlet on campus for quite some time and the Open Mic Night, previously held at Kelly Quad, was disappointingly lackluster.  “The Open Mic Night’s are terrible, done poorly and there is not enough support,” said Junior Patrice Zapiti.

She and a friend did something about it.  Patrice and fellow junior student musician Carlos Parreno shared the same desire to build up the music scene on campus.  Both musicians agreed that there needed to be a catalyst to inspire the student body to create and express music.  What was needed was a decent practice room for students to play and drums.  “There’s a lot of false free time [on campus].  It gives people time to meet each other,” says Parreno.  They approached Norm Prusslin, one of the two faculty advisors for RockYoFaceCase.  “I was like, Norm, get me some drums.  Please.  And he was like, here’s $2,000.  And I was like, thanks,” said Parreno.  And a drum set they received.  This set lives in a dark practice room in the Tabler Arts Center and is open to public use by anyone.  The drum set was in place so that students could jam and create a complete band. Still, they both attended Open Mic Nights on campus and found a desperate need for an alternative outlet.  Patrice was able to move the event from Kelly Quad to the Tabler Arts Center, but this still wasn’t enough.

“Stony Brook needs a kick in the butt,” said Zapiti.  Parreno and Zapiti got together and proposed the concept of the ACH and SSO Council’s Battle of the Bands.  Zapiti found that the problem with bands on campus was that they could plan, but had no outlet.  If the bands were not given deadlines to follow, nothing was going to get done.  However, the success of the Battle of the Bands exceeded any of their expectations.  “It got people excited,” said Zapiti.  Parreno mentioned that their success was attributed to the fact that what people liked was they could see people they recognized on campus playing the guitar or singing with their band.  With their first event a huge success, the duo wanted an arena where bands can get better, get exposure, and make the Tabler Arts Center a consistent venue for bands to perform.  “We needed to put on shows!” explained Parreno.

What started with a drum kit evolved into putting on one big kick ass show and trying to make it into a consistent event.  Zapiti and Parreno came together again and thought of not a monthly Battle of the Bands, but a showcase where bands on and, possibly, off campus could show the student body what they could do. “What comes next sometimes is energy gets zapped” said Prusslin in reference to events on campus such as Battle of the Bands.  “The challenge is to find a mix and balance of excellent students to organize events.”  According Prusslin, what was needed to make RockYoFace a successful event was a great idea, logistical skills, and the administrative skills to pitch and follow through with the idea.  And that was exactly what Zapiti and Parreno had. They set up meetings with faculty and sent proposals about their idea.  With the initiative of the two, RockYoFace became a reality.

They have already received a lot of submissions, half from bands on campus and the other half from bands off campus.  Parreno and Zapiti hope to make RockYoFace a monthly event at the Black Box Theater at the Tabler Arts Center.  Their Facebook group, “RockYoFaceCase! - a monthly showcase series for local music,” has all the information for people looking to submit a music sample to play at the showcase or just information about when the event will be.  The band list for the first showcase will be released on October 15 on Facebook and the first RockYoFaceCase will be on October 22.  One can reach Carlos and Patrice at their gmail account, RockYoFaceCase@gmail.com.

It started with two people who had an idea and followed it through.  “There is a need for an event like this,” says Zapiti.  “If students want something to happen, they shouldn’t bitch about it.”  “Start a band,” implores Parreno, “that’s what we did.”  So tell all your friends, the Stony Brook music scene is rising from the dead and it’s going to rock yo’ face.

By Najib Aminy

Are you a twenty-something and still find yourself amused by outdated seventies sitcom shows? Would you travel to a neighboring town to buy your groceries in an organic market? Have you just watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth and are riled up about the environment, but have no idea where to spark change? Well, grab a pack of some delectably imported Parliament cigarettes, button up a plaid jacket, and head to the nearest dive bar to join the passive aggressive fight against the establishment.

But before one can attend a dive bar, one must prepare to jump into the realm of hipsterdom, essentially signing one’s email address to receive Oxfam America spam or creating a Myspace page, with intense mental and physical preparation.

First, for one, Hipsters, according to the Nationmaster’s online Encyclopedia, originated in the 1940s Jazz era. Back then, most hipsters had been white jazz enthusiasts, and later in the fifties, they grew fond of African-American culture and avant-garde styled art. The sixties, sparked by pot-smoking, tree-hugging, non-bathing liberalism, resulted in the transformation of the word, “hipster,” into “hippies.”
Nearly fifty years later, hipsters have unintentionally hit the scene again. A socially accepted view, according to The Hipster Handbook, of a hipster is “one who possesses tastes, social attitudes, and opinions deemed as being cool by the cool. The hipster walks among the masses in daily life, but is not a part of them and must shun or reduce to kitsch anything held dear by the mainstream. A hipster ideally possesses no more than 2% body fat.”

Thus, one must appropriately dress, eat, think and act in a specific manner before raising one’s black glove against conglomerate America. The first step one must take before saving the environment or learning trivial information, such as the stepmother of Marilyn Monroe’s third hairstylist, is to get the look down. For one, kiss comfortable clothing goodbye; nut-chaffing jeans for males traditionally mark the look for any impartial hipster and potato sack dresses with spandex leggings for females. Wearing either presents the image of, “I am too busy scoffing at mainstream America to care if I stand out like a sore-thumb on any lunch line.”

Generally, to become a true hipster, one should refrain from wearing anything that represents the norm, Rather, they should create the norm and then abandon it like a bastard child as soon as it becomes a trend. One can find his or herself ahead of the curve by shopping at their local thrift store, closing their eyes, and selecting a wardrobe, of which hipster colleagues and associates will inevitably feel compelled to compliment. It is important to remember that being a hipster is not for everyone. One must sacrifice the comfort of breathing room for one’s genitals when wearing skin tight pants or adapt a new breathing style when accessorizing an 18th century French corset salvaged from the Bastille.

Aside from general clothing, accessories allow oneself to further express individuality and stamp “Anti-norm” on one’s style. For one, non-prescription thick-rimmed glasses allow one to look into their pocket mirror and remember the hipster revolutionaries, like Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello. With the resurgence of confidence, one may prevent a cool draft to their neck and cleavage area by sporting an unintended (or is it?) political statement called the keffiyeh.

Worn by Yasser Arafat, the late former leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the keffiyeh is a symbol of Palestinian struggles against Israeli oppression. Daytime television cooking host Rachel Ray caught headlines when she wore a white and black keffiyeh in a Dunkin Doughnuts commercial after Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin said the keffiyeh symbolized “murderous Palestinian jihad.” Dunkin Donuts retracted the ad, yet the keffiyeh has now become its own symbol of hipster douche-baggery. Whether in support of Palestine’s efforts against the puppet-controllers of America, Israel, or against the media baron Rupert Murdoch, the keffiyeh lets people know that you are well aware of current events and choose to express it by wearing a keffiyeh; and that you choose to prevent being cold around your neck area despite wearing an ironic graphic small-fit tee. Or perhaps it signifies that you, too, are the fashion bastard child of St. Mark’s Street and Beacon’s Closet.

With the look covered, the next step is becoming cultured and amused by only life’s most vintage and artistic cultures. Appreciation for art many years senior to one’s generation hits the message home that one enjoys only the finest things of life, such as avant-garde oil canvasses of umbrellas or polar bears. Shifting from art to television, one must become familiar with popular seventies and eighties pop-culture and sitcoms (if, as a hipster, you believe in television at all, given that many hipsters avoid TV altogether). A good idea would be to watch VH1’s I Love the 70’s and I Love the 80’s until there is no more valuable information left to saturate one’s brain, usually after the first five minutes. It is important to withhold such valuable knowledge as hipsters, despite knowing so much about nothing, tend to spend more time reading or knitting their own clothes than watching television.

Clothing, finger paint art and “Welcome Back Kotter” are just a few of the things that draw the outline of the hipster. Yet, musical tastes are the crayons of neon yellow and puke green that color in the substance of any hipster. If a band is well known, then one must refuse to listen to it and may bash the band for growing soft and mainstream. Of Montreal, whose song, “Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games” was used for a popular Outback Steakhouse commercial and quickly resulted to the decline of their popularity among hipsters. In the eyes of a hipster, listening to the radio is similar to pouring molten steel through one’s ears, unless it’s a college radio station that plays unknown Indie music. Popular hipster bands tend to have obscure names and will generally be unheard of forever. Every once in a blue moon will a hipster band go mainstream.

With the look and ideology set, it is important to have the mannerisms down. For one, everything that is controlled by Corporate America® is to be avoided at all costs. A fixed gear bicycle with a pad-lock should be the number one choice of travel, as this leaves the smallest carbon-footprint, with the second choice of travel being public transportation. When it comes to food, organic food is the purest form of nourishment.

After adhering to the hipster diet for a month, one will find nothing more appetizing than mashed-up chic peas with a side of dry lettuce three times of the day. Aside from eating, one should only smoke for social reasons rather than easing one’s stress for this presents the image that one has friends and looks important yet is very discreet about it.

Coffee is an essential part of daily existence that every hipster must accept. One thing that every hipster must have memorized, besides British Imperial history, is the menu at any local coffee shop. One can jeopardize his or her character when ordering a hazel-nut flavored cappuccino with a double shot of espresso on a hot summers day or making the mistake of having a blended mocha frappuccino during the winter time. Other than the menu, coffee shops allow hipsters to congregate and discuss very important issues such as the best vegan dessert at loud decibels among a chic atmosphere. If for some reason one is alone and in need of a third or fourth coffee a day, coffee shops are number one in accommodating room for hipsters. With enough elbow room for Queen Victoria and her twelve knights, tables in coffee shops allow one to work on their MacBook Pro or read the Styles section of The New York Times.

After spending one’s college loan on outlandish clothing, four copies of the Rosetta Stone to four different European languages, and album purchases of bands no one has heard of, one can find him or herself among completion of becoming a hipster. But how does one know if they have completed becoming a hipster?

Simple, if one is accused of being a hipster, one is a hipster. The common reply, “I am not a hipster, those people are hipsters, not me,” warrants that you are in the first stage of denial and have successfully transformed into becoming a hipster. If one’s reply is yes, one would be considered a hipster amongst others, but is considered less of a hipster than the hipster who says he or she is not a hipster.

Through hipster practice, one inevitably acquires distinguished self-absorbing perception of oneself and knowingly expresses menacing glares at those deemed unworthy, essentially everyone outside one’s circle of hipster friends.  Upon gaining this enlightened vision of thinking, one may enter a dive bar, drink some Pabst Blue Ribbon and have intercourse. Afterwards, one can discuss it over coffee before entering another dive bar and experience the Hipster cycle. Periods of time between drinking coffee and attending dive bars can be filled with listening to no-name Indie music, attending some liberal arts class, or getting high.

But before you commit yourself to being the poster boy/girl for stuffwhitepeoplelike.com, realize that you may one day find yourself wandering Williamsburg or the lower east side, starving and alone, with naught to comfort you but an empty trust fund and an ironic but useless chip on your shoulder.

By Najib Aminy

Billionaire Warren Buffet called Wall Street’s market turmoil an economic Pearl Harbor. With twenty percent of New York State’s budget cemented on the rollercoaster ups and downs of Wall Street, Dan Melucci, Stony Brook University Associate Vice President for Strategy and Analysis, has called the SUNY budget cuts “lunacy.”

Due to the Wall Street economic disaster, New York Governor David Paterson has called upon statewide agency cuts to remedy the projected loss of revenue. In early April, SUNY was cut a total of $50 million, or roughly 3%. Taking its share, Stony Brook was to cut $7.4 million from its operating budget of the fiscal 2008-2009 year. Following the April decision, a second round of cuts will be underway, of which SUNY will suffer a total of $96.3 million. At that point, SUNY would have a net cut of 146.3 million. Stony Brook University, along with the other sixty-three SUNY institutions, are still waiting for their share in the $96.3 cut. Melucci predicts that Stony Brook may be looking at a budget cut in the ballpark of $9.5 million.

About a week ago, Carl McCall, Chair of the finance and administration committee of SUNY trustees, said that SUNY will absorb anywhere from $20 to $50 million of the $96.3 million cut leaving the rest to be dispersed among campuses. However, Melucci said that he believes SUNY will take a $20 million cut leaving $70-plus million to be distributed among the campuses. 

Now with both the national and global economy taking a turn for the worst, Governor Paterson has called for the NYS legislature to convene after the upcoming elections on November 18 to discuss the financial crisis looming over the NYS’ budget and economy. It is highly anticipated that this special meeting will result in further cuts. According to Melucci, the Governor is faced with a $1.2 billion shortfall in revenue. In order to assess this financial dilemma, the Governor is looking to propose another state-agency cut to the tune of $2 billion.

In this proposed $2 billion cut, SUNY anticipates a third round of cuts as well as a possible tuition hike. Stony Brook has had only one tuition hike in the past thirteen years, which was five years ago. The latest tuition hike spiked to 28%, a number that may seem alarming to current Stony Brook students. A 28% increase of today’s tuition would result in an in-state student paying $5,568 from the original $4,350, and $13,580 from the original $10,610 for out of state.

A proposed alternative to a dramatic hike in tuition, supported by Melucci and Stony Brook distinguished Sociology professor Norman Goodman, is a rationalized tuition that increases steadily and allows students to predict how much they would have to pay for their education. Goodman, also the Vice President Secretary of the SUNY-wide Faculty Senate, is a supporter of free tuition, but deems it as “politically infeasible.” According to the 45-year Stony Brook Sociology professor, “the most intelligent and politically wise thing to do is raise tuition to a reasonable level and tie that to a commitment to a rational policy in the future.”

It seems that the question regarding the tuition hike is no longer “if” but rather “when?” “It would be crazy if it doesn’t happen,” said Goodman. Melucci, who would also be surprised if a tuition hike did not occur, is worried about students who rely on the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). This program funds up to $5,000 for students who are the most financially needy. Melucci is worried that an unreasonable tuition hike may force students to chip in the amount of tuition not covered by TAP.

In terms of total cuts, SUNY projects to subtract a total of $210 million by the end of the year, according to SUNY spokesperson David Henehan. Under this projection, SUNY is looking to receive a $64 million cut in the November emergency meeting. According to Henehan, SUNY is looking into long-term solutions to the chronic problem of under-funding. Solutions mentioned by Henehan include the proposition of a rational tuition plan and the revision of personnel classification allowing SUNY to hire with flexibility. This would permit SUNY to lease or sell property to generate revenue, and allow SUNY to relieve its regulatory restrictions, such as pre-audit approval of contracts.

Currently advocating for additional flexibility and a tuition plan, Henehan said about SUNY, “[it] provides tremendous benefits to New York in the form of an educated citizenry, economic development, cultural enrichment and social mobility and therefore merits investment by the state.” New York State Assemblyman Michael J. Fitzpatrick (R) of Smithtown stressed the severity of the current economic crisis. “The dust has yet to settle,” Fitzpatrick said, “[this is] the end of a consumption culture and living beyond our means.” When discussing the SUNY cuts, Fitzpatrick said that higher education was of top priority, but sees the “state has been spending beyond its means for so long.” As a result, cuts across the board are going to be seen, including SUNY.

The Bundy Aid, untouched by any of the cuts, aids independent and privatized universities in New York and financially supports 105 private institutions. When asked, Fitzpatrick said that the mere pointing of fingers and questioning why one group receives more than another is expected, also stating that “private institutions are equally important as state.” Yet, Fitzpatrick mentioned numerous times, “a crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” Fitzpatrick believes that such a crisis can result in legitimate oversight and reduce unnecessary expenditure and create a successful economy in the long-term picture.

In terms of investing in higher education, the majority of State Assemblyman and Senators interviewed relayed the message that, due to troubling times, SUNY, along with all other State Agencies, are to feel some pain. State Assemblyman John McEneny (D) of Albany said that neither SUNY nor any other agency is “a sacred cow” that can be protected from cuts. When it comes to tuition, “judgment comes in a vacuum,” meaning that it would be hard to vote against a tuition hike if, alongside the bill, there is a proposition ensuring heat to a New York town over the winter, as McEneny put it.

One of the few State politicians that was clear in voicing his opposition against a proposed hike in tuition was Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D) of Port Jefferson Station. A former Stony Brook graduate himself, Assemblyman Englebright emphasized the importance of public higher education, saying “state universities should be given preferred status with cuts in other agencies.” Referring to the domino effect, Englebright explained that investing into public higher education would create a long-lasting stability and build up the economy. “[Protecting SUNY] would pull us out of the recession and give confidence back to Wall Street.” With a strong belief in preserving both TAP and the SUNY tuition, Englebright sees higher education as a platform worthy of investment and amidst these cuts sees a so-called “millionaire’s tax” as a probable solution.

Marissa Shorenstein, spokeswoman of Governor Paterson’s office, said that Governor Paterson is not looking to raise taxes, but rather to cut spending and invest wisely. Shorenstein mentioned that the November meeting was called on such a date not because of the elections but because, “it was simply the first date that made sense given all of the recent holidays, etc.” Shorenstein added, “while the Governor’s commitment to higher education remains strong, difficult choices will need to be made across state spending to protect the state’s fiscal integrity, and every area of state spending will need to find ways to operate more efficiently.”

As a result of the latest cuts, Stony Brook has recently enacted a hiring freeze. “We had to do something to slow down expenditures and to get people’s attention that this is a serious issue. It makes no sense to be hiring new people now,” said Melucci. He added, “we don’t believe the failure of the state should be put on the back of the students in large dollar amounts. I am really worried about the health, financial health of this institution.” Further cuts could result in significant and highly visible changes for both Stony Brook and SUNY students alike. According to Goodman, the number of classes would dwindle due to a decreased number in professional staff. This would mean larger class sizes, which would result in a longer time to graduate and further raise student expenses.

“When Wall Street catches a cold, the NYS budget gets pneumonia,” said Assemblyman Englebright. As a result, SUNY and its students end up being affected. An increased tuition hike can remedy only so much. With potentially more cuts on the way, it leaves administrators like Melucci crunching the remaining numbers, hoping for the best. “We run some numbers that scare the hell out of us very honestly,” said Melucci, “the numbers are so scary that they are absurd.”

By Natalie Crnosij

During a lecture on October 8th, hosted by the Social Justice Alliance, Kristofer Goldsmith, a 23-year-old Iraqi War veteran, said, “I didn’t shoot the kid, not because I’m a good person, but because I knew his family would retaliate and kill me or my friends.”

Goldsmith recounted the details of a night operation, one during which he was covering his commanding officer as an Iraqi squad executed a raid.  The child, brandishing a faux AK-47 on a rooftop, was in Goldsmith’s sight, but Goldsmith, having probable cause to shoot, did not.  It was the Iraqi children, throwing bricks when their easily shoot-able parents could not, who made Goldsmith’s “miserable experience even more physically painful.” Goldsmith didn’t shoot, knowing the hell that could come his way would be a greater threat than the prevailing one.

Kristofer Goldsmith, a Long Islander who enlisted in the U.S. Marines out of high school, found himself at 18, with “the God-like power to destroy anything.”  Acting as the right hand of the U.S.A. in Sadr City, Goldsmith found that his training with heavy artillery was not usable as the Iraqi Conflict became a game of insurgence, and he became recast as a ground intelligence officer.   It wasn’t the halo of bombs but the “flash of a camera” which burned indelible images into his memory.  These pictures, projected onto a plain wall in Harriman Hall, were a window into the frayed outskirts of Baghdad.  The streets were brown and black: it was not sand, pavement, or the River Styx, but raw sewage flowing down the boulevard, loosed by bombs and the crush and roll of Abrams tanks down the streets during the invasion.  

Goldsmith was ordered to a sewer, where he had to photo-ID the bodies of twelve men who had been killed and dumped.  “I was walking around, totally fucked up, making it less real by looking through the LCD screen and not at their faces,” Goldsmith said as he showed the pictures he took of faces abused and decayed beyond identification. “War porn” was the only thing they could be, he reasoned, as no person could be identified from the pictures he took. “War porn” is a term for pictures taken by soldiers to show off their kills, much like the proto-European practice of beheading one’s enemies after battle and tying the severed head to the victor’s belt.  My, haven’t we advanced! Those further up the chain of command would snatch the pictures and claim them as their own and trade them like “Pokemon cards.” Goldsmith stood before the bodies as flies brought the “smell of death” to his face, a smell which he could not scrub, sanitize or boil out.

“I smelled a lot of death in Iraq, lots of dead animals, and there is a big difference between that and the smell of a dead human being,” Goldsmith said.  “I smelled it non-stop.  Food tasted like death.  My dreams smelled like death.”

The death did not stop once Goldsmith left Iraq but followed the soldiers back.  One-in-five soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eighteen Iraqi War veterans commit suicide every day.  The death has not stopped in Iraq, where there is no accurate number of casualties, only estimates somewhere in the vague sea between 10,000 and 100,000, where millions of people suffer the effects of PTSD from living in Armageddon for over six years.  “I encourage you not to just care about the soldiers, but the Iraqis, and do something.  Go speak to a representative and tell them why this is wrong,” Goldsmith said, “Stop-loss  is wrong.”

The loss has not stopped. Thus, it is wrong.