By Erin J. Mansfield

Stony Brook students rallied outside of the SAC on Wednesday, November 19, during Campus Lifetime to protest the SUNY budget cuts.

Over 100 students were in attendance; less than one percent of undergraduates were outraged enough to stand out in the cold to have their voices heard, but that did not deter the ones who came for the cause.

The protest was organized by the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and the United University Professors (UUP). Representatives from both organizations spoke out against SUNY budget cuts and encouraged students to be outraged by the financial situation of the university.

Stony Brook University’s tuition is scheduled to increase by $310 in the spring of 2009 for in-state students.

John Schmidt, President of the West Campus UUP, mentioned that, “SUNY has a ‘rainy day fund’ of just over one billion dollars,” a sum of money which he thinks, given the $1.5 billion cut that needs to be made, would make a major impact if spent on the university.

USG representatives handed out letter templates to protestors. All students were encouraged to write letters to their governor, senators and assemblymen; friends and family were also encouraged to take part. If they chose not to write their own letters, they could simply sign the templates and mail, fax or email them.

“I want these letters to haunt them [lawmakers] in their sleep,” said USG President Jeffrey Akita about the letter-writing campaign.

Speakers stressed the idea that lawmakers do not care whether or not the students suffer due to the budget cuts because so few students become outraged enough to speak out against the issues or vote against their leaders.

The budget cuts will only compound in the coming years, resulting in higher tuition, lower standards of education and even more struggles for students who want to graduate on time. Representatives said that, because of this colossal drop in the quality of SUNY, many students might find that the only solution is to transfer to private institutions.

“My biggest concern is the quality of classes,” said USG Senator Daniel Graber after the protest. “Fortunately, I can afford another $300 next semester, but I can’t afford to have a sub-par education.”

Note: To all students who still want to have their voices heard, visit www.uupinfo.org or www.stonybrookusg.org to sign a letter to Governor Paterson. He can’t read, so be sure to send letters to your assemblyman and senator, too.

By Jon Singer

Many Stony Brook students never knew what NYPIRG was. But that doesn’t matter anymore, because NYPIRG at Stony Brook no longer exists.

For almost thirty years leading up to the current fall semester, The New York Public Interest Research Group had a chapter at Stony Brook, one of twenty-one campus chapters across the state. Founded in 1973, NYPIRG is the consumer, environmental and government reform organization that helped pass the Generic Drug Law, replenish the superfund program, and broaden the Tuition Assistance Program. Of all the organization’s missions, one thing NYPIRG always did was voter registration. Last year, a non-election year, NYPIRG at Stony Brook registered around 1700 voters.

This year, with no NYPIRG, voter registration for the November 4 presidential election is primarily the job of partisan groups such as the College Democrats. The Undergraduate Student Government has also been registering new voters, but without a non-partisan activist group on campus, USG senator Kevin Brady sees a void that needs to be filled.

“As a new senator, I’m still answering these questions as we go along and asking more detailed versions,” says Brady. As the November election is approaching and state budget cuts in the $13 million range are affecting all aspects of higher education, the question for some at Stony Brook is: Where is NYPIRG?

Brady, who won a senate seat in the most recent USG election, joined a legislative body whose budget committee had allocated $0 to NYPIRG in the 2008-2009 USG budget. Next to NYPIRG, the sidebar of the budget document says “did not spend budget in 07-08.”

The 07-08 NYPIRG budget was $125,000.

Articles in past issues of both The Stony Brook Press and The Statesman documented NYPIRG activities over the past year. One event, ‘80s Night, involved students dressing up in whatever Teen Wolf would wear to learn about the history of recycling. The March 13 issue of The Statesman reported a crowd of about forty students at ‘80s Night, which was co-hosted by the Stony Brook Environmental Club.

In the wake of ‘80s Night and multiple other campaigns, projects and events, NYPIRG at Stony Brook planned a full program for the 08-09 academic year, requesting $150,000 from the USG. Like all other clubs, this money would have come from the mandatory $94.25 student activity fee that Stony Brook undergraduates pay each year.

Andrew Morrison is a NYPIRG regional supervisor, and has been representing NYPIRG in their current quest to get back on the USG budget. “The money that is used to support a NYPIRG chapter, every dime of it that’s used from the Stony Brook student activity fee benefits the students here.”

This becomes an issue when NYPIRG, like other clubs including College Democrats, College Republicans and The Hillel Foundation For Jewish Life, are local chapters of a broader organization. “We were supporting a national organization and we couldn’t figure out where our money was going,” said one USG senator, who requested to remain anonymous. To fight for issues of higher education, NYPIRG employs staff members working in Albany. “They’re working full time on behalf of students right up there in the capital, because that’s where the decisions about tuition and financial aid are being made,” says Morrison. “The average student isn’t going to spend fifty hours a week talking to elected officials about higher education.”

Morrison says that with NYPIRG, unlike CDs, CRs or Hillel, there is no proper parent organization. “The closest thing to it would be the student board of directors,” he says. That board, comprised entirely of students and elected by students, hires NYPIRG’s executive directors, passes the organization’s budget and chooses the issues that NYPIRG will work on.

Notice how Stony Brook is crossed off?

“Given the terms we have right now, in the state economically and then eventually financially and budgetary wise, you never want to be lacking some additional activists resources,” says Brady. The new senator went to NYPIRG meetings last semester, which he says were well attended. “It seems like they had a lot on their plate. They may not have been glamorous or sexy, but they were trying to do different things as they always are.”

A full NYPIRG program at Stony Brook included two full time project coordinators and a number of student interns. The coordinators earned a salary plus benefits, while the interns earned academic credit. “It’s just a more broader program than the average club,” says Morrison. This year The Stony Brook Press will publish its newspapers with $32,000 in budget allocation, while the Meteorology Club will predict the weather with $2,203. While NYPIRG at Stony Brook now has no budget, chapters remain funded and popular at some New York schools. But the organization’s presence is a source of controversy at others.

In July, a group of CUNY students filed suit against NYPIRG, protesting how the organization collects funds from student activity fees. Brady says that like any other institution, the USG senate “has it’s own culture.” Brady wants to see NYPIRG back on campus, but at the same time he shares the board with incumbents who thought that last year NYPIRG wasn’t doing anything.

And when all was said and done, those present day incumbents passed a budget that allocated $0 for NYPIRG. “From our perspective it’s starting to seem like an ideological thing,” says Morrison. “This small group of students with all the power seemed to oppose NYPIRG’s work.”

With the USG budget, student politicians debate over a plan worth nearly $3,000,000.  Voter turnout for student elections at Stony Brook are commonly low; only seven percent of eligible voters cast their ballot last April. Thus it’s hard to determine if the USG senate is a representation of the student body and their views. An inquiry to three random freshmen sitting in the Union’s fireside lounge revealed zero name recognition for NYPIRG and a low familiarity of USG. Last year, educating students about USG was a job of NYPIRG’s.

By Najib Aminy

Not many students know about the Undergraduate Student Government at Stony Brook. In fact, last year’s election polled a total of 1,059 students for the two presidential candidates, which Jeffery Akita won by 113 votes. A thousand students may seem like a lot, but it is small compared to a total of 15,523 undergraduate students, according to the 2007 Stony Brook Office of Admissions Enrollment Guide. Mathematically, nearly seven percent of all undergraduate students voted last April for their USG president and respective senators.

To recap, last year’s USG presidential election came in with the resignation of an overly ambitious Executive Vice President, the de-funding of NYPIRG, and the possible impeachment of Jeffery Akita from his post as Vice President of Clubs and Organizations. Agreeing to talk to The Press, Akita was open in discussing his goals as USG President and responded to the critical views against him stemming from last year’s election.

Though Akita was not impeached, previous USG Senators sought to indict Akita for his failure to get in touch with clubs and execute his job properly. Akita responded saying that the prosecuting Senator’s “stance was that I wasn’t visible, which was not true. Most of their accounts that they tried to hold against me were not true, they said I was corrupt, which they found I wasn’t, I had no relationship with money. They told me I didn’t meet with various organizations and clubs. I did, and different people testified. The whole thing last semester has passed, but the whole goal was to prevent me from being in this position [as USG President] and, as you see, I am in this position today.” 

However, prior to the elections, Akita did resign from his Vice President position to preserve his run for presidency. Had he been impeached, Akita would have been prohibited from running for USG president under the current USG constitution. Regardless, Akita has high expectations and goals for the upcoming year and wishes to strengthen the relationship between the executive council, the senate and the judiciary. “If there is turmoil within the council, it affects the delivery and the amount of feedback we get from students and as far as how we can do things and how we should address things,” said Akita. Outside of the halls of USG, Akita said he is looking forward to “ensuring that academics are always provided, [that] there is a healthy lifestyle on campus, the safety of students is always recognized, and to ensure that student life is actually going on as expected and that more students are getting involved and staying on the weekends,” said Akita.

Despite having articles brought up against him claiming that he was not present, one of Akita’s big plans is to become a visible president. Akita assured that he is willing to help out students as much as he can. “I am a student but I understand that I am here to serve the students, so if I am not available, then how am I serving the students?”

With Akita at the reigns of the USG, he is to face, like the rest of SUNY, a possible 10% budget cut. Though a 3% cut was announced earlier in the year, the talks of an additional 7% cut have led to speculation as to how this may affect Stony Brook students. “I want all students to know that the budget cuts are not directly affecting the student activity fee, but it will affect the things it goes towards. For instance, the prices of certain things are going to up and [the number of] personnel will be going down,” said Akita. Examples given where shift in office hours of personnel due to the freeze and possible reduction of the budget. Alongside USG, Akita is working on holding a rally during the last week of October to protest the budget cuts. In conjunction with SUNY Old Westbury and Farmingdale, USG intends on setting up petitions to let Albany know that SUNY students cannot live through a 10% cut. “Look out for the protests. It is going to be big. We are going to need everybody’s support if we really want to send a message about these cuts,” said Akita. Regarding the current club budget, a potential cut would not interfere with the money allocated by the USG for 2008-2009 USG fiscal year rather it would hinder the formation of new clubs due to the reduction of funding. 

With a constricting budget, the future for clubs such as the Social Justice Alliance and more notably NYPIRG seem grim. Both the budgets of the SJA and NYPIRG were rescinded and currently have no 2008-2009 budget. NYPIRG was not given a budget due to insufficient attribution of its 2007-2008 funds, according to the USG. In response to their de-funding, Akita said he believes in his treasurer and urges whoever was denied to still apply before the upcoming deadline on September 26. “Last year was last year. It is a new year, you don’t know what is coming. You may get your money, you may not get your money. Anything that happens there is going to be a reason behind it, it is not bias or anything.” Regarding NYPIRG, Akita says he has thought about allotting money for NYPIRG. In essence, the USG would freeze money, in which NYPIRG would allocate for in efforts of documenting where NYPIRG’s funds would be going.   

With the absence of NYPIRG and the upcoming November presidential elections, the USG has taken up the task to coordinate voter registration with NYPIRG’s assistance. “We’ve taken that role, but in the last senate meeting a member of NYPIRG expressed that they are still going to continue with their involvement in voter registration. They are still playing their part and are encouraging other people,” said Akita. The USG, under Sophomore Representative Kadeem Hylton, have started mobilizing people in promoting the efforts for students to register and vote. Through contacting various clubs and organizations as well as Residence Hall Association, Akita says that everyone is “coming together to work as one team to register as many people to vote.” Akita also said that Hylton is organizing a “Rock to Vote” movement, an event that educates students on the importance and essentials of voting.

Regarding Stony Brook’s own vacancy, Akita holds a chair in the Presidential Search Committee. With Shirley Strum Kenny’s lame-duck status, Akita is looking for a president “who is going to be there for the students, going to advocate for the students, provide for the students, and love to be the president of Stony Brook University. “In efforts of truly representing students, Akita plans on taking advantage of the USG Rep. center and intends on using polls and feedback from campus media organizations in what he calls “a unified effort.” 

In closing, Akita made an emphasis on availability and shed light on the fact that USG is not a negative, but a rather positive institution on campus.  He said, “I am going to treat this as a business and a relationship. What has to be done must be done, what can be done should be done, that’s how this government is going to be run. And together with the students, my representatives, senators, and the judiciary, we are going to work together to make that happen. What happened last year are lessons for the future. Today is here, and we are going to focus on today move forward.”   

By Najib Aminy

Not many students know about the Undergraduate Student Government at Stony Brook. In fact, last year’s election polled a total of 1,059 students for the two presidential candidates, which Jeffery Akita won by 113 votes. A thousand students may seem like a lot, but it is small compared to a total of 15,523 undergraduate students, according to the 2007 Stony Brook Office of Admissions Enrollment Guide. Mathematically, nearly seven percent of all undergraduate students voted last April for their USG president and respective senators.

To recap, last year’s USG presidential election came in with the resignation of an overly ambitious Executive Vice President, the de-funding of NYPIRG, and the possible impeachment of Jeffery Akita from his post as Vice President of Clubs and Organizations. Agreeing to talk to The Press, Akita was open in discussing his goals as USG President and responded to the critical views against him stemming from last year’s election.

Though Akita was not impeached, previous USG Senators sought to indict Akita for his failure to get in touch with clubs and execute his job properly. Akita responded saying that the prosecuting Senator’s “stance was that I wasn’t visible, which was not true. Most of their accounts that they tried to hold against me were not true, they said I was corrupt, which they found I wasn’t, I had no relationship with money. They told me I didn’t meet with various organizations and clubs. I did, and different people testified. The whole thing last semester has passed, but the whole goal was to prevent me from being in this position [as USG President] and, as you see, I am in this position today.”

However, prior to the elections, Akita did resign from his Vice President position to preserve his run for presidency. Had he been impeached, Akita would have been prohibited from running for USG president under the current USG constitution. Regardless, Akita has high expectations and goals for the upcoming year and wishes to strengthen the relationship between the executive council, the senate and the judiciary. “If there is turmoil within the council, it affects the delivery and the amount of feedback we get from students and as far as how we can do things and how we should address things,” said Akita. Outside of the halls of USG, Akita said he is looking forward to “ensuring that academics are always provided, [that] there is a healthy lifestyle on campus, the safety of students is always recognized, and to ensure that student life is actually going on as expected and that more students are getting involved and staying on the weekends,” said Akita.

Despite having articles brought up against him claiming that he was not present, one of Akita’s big plans is to become a visible president. Akita assured that he is willing to help out students as much as he can. “I am a student but I understand that I am here to serve the students, so if I am not available, then how am I serving the students?”

With Akita at the reigns of the USG, he is to face, like the rest of SUNY, a possible 10% budget cut. Though a 3% cut was announced earlier in the year, the talks of an additional 7% cut have led to speculation as to how this may affect Stony Brook students. “I want all students to know that the budget cuts are not directly affecting the student activity fee, but it will affect the things it goes towards. For instance, the prices of certain things are going to up and [the number of] personnel will be going down,” said Akita. Examples given where shift in office hours of personnel due to the freeze and possible reduction of the budget. Alongside USG, Akita is working on holding a rally during the last week of October to protest the budget cuts. In conjunction with SUNY Old Westbury and Farmingdale, USG intends on setting up petitions to let Albany know that SUNY students cannot live through a 10% cut. “Look out for the protests. It is going to be big. We are going to need everybody’s support if we really want to send a message about these cuts,” said Akita. Regarding the current club budget, a potential cut would not interfere with the money allocated by the USG for 2008-2009 USG fiscal year rather it would hinder the formation of new clubs due to the reduction of funding.

With a constricting budget, the future for clubs such as the Social Justice Alliance and more notably NYPIRG seem grim. Both the budgets of the SJA and NYPIRG were rescinded and currently have no 2008-2009 budget. NYPIRG was not given a budget due to insufficient attribution of its 2007-2008 funds, according to the USG. In response to their de-funding, Akita said he believes in his treasurer and urges whoever was denied to still apply before the upcoming deadline on September 26. “Last year was last year. It is a new year, you don’t know what is coming. You may get your money, you may not get your money. Anything that happens there is going to be a reason behind it, it is not bias or anything.” Regarding NYPIRG, Akita says he has thought about allotting money for NYPIRG. In essence, the USG would freeze money, in which NYPIRG would allocate for in efforts of documenting where NYPIRG’s funds would be going.

With the absence of NYPIRG and the upcoming November presidential elections, the USG has taken up the task to coordinate voter registration with NYPIRG’s assistance. “We’ve taken that role, but in the last senate meeting a member of NYPIRG expressed that they are still going to continue with their involvement in voter registration. They are still playing their part and are encouraging other people,” said Akita. The USG, under Sophomore Representative Kadeem Hylton, have started mobilizing people in promoting the efforts for students to register and vote. Through contacting various clubs and organizations as well as Residence Hall Association, Akita says that everyone is “coming together to work as one team to register as many people to vote.” Akita also said that Hylton is organizing a “Rock to Vote” movement, an event that educates students on the importance and essentials of voting.

Regarding Stony Brook’s own vacancy, Akita holds a chair in the Presidential Search Committee. With Shirley Strum Kenny’s lame-duck status, Akita is looking for a president “who is going to be there for the students, going to advocate for the students, provide for the students, and love to be the president of Stony Brook University. “In efforts of truly representing students, Akita plans on taking advantage of the USG Rep. center and intends on using polls and feedback from campus media organizations in what he calls “a unified effort.”

In closing, Akita made an emphasis on availability and shed light on the fact that USG is not a negative, but a rather positive institution on campus.  He said, “I am going to treat this as a business and a relationship. What has to be done must be done, what can be done should be done, that’s how this government is going to be run. And together with the students, my representatives, senators, and the judiciary, we are going to work together to make that happen. What happened last year are lessons for the future. Today is here, and we are going to focus on today move forward.”

By Jon Singer

Along with Nathan Shapiro’s resignation from the post of Executive Vice President, Jeffrey Akita, Vice President of clubs and organizations, has also left his post. If the name sounds unfamiliar, it would be because many clubs and organizations feel as if Akita has done next to nothing during his period of service.

Speaking at the April 24th USG senate meeting, Navneet Singh, President of Stony Brook’s ballroom dance team, said “there’s never been a Vice President of clubs that has done anything for clubs.” However, some senators are wondering weather or not it is worth impeaching Akita, since he has already resigned.

 Recent USG Senate meetings have been brief. The last two have not gone over the length of one half hour. However, the meeting on May 1st promises to go up to it’s two-hour time limit, as the senate will review the USG’s budget.

Before he resigned, Shapiro, according to members of the USG Senate, wanted to collect USG laws into a “USG code,” which would include virtually everything that has ever been passed by the USG. While this project may be met with debate from members of the USG, it was addressed that the code will consist of public documents, that students have worked hard in the past to allow everyone to see.

The recent wave of resignations leaves some students wondering if a USG administration can stay intact for an entire year. Upperclassmen remember last year’s scandal involving the impeachment of former president Romual Jean Baptist. With elections underway as this issue goes to print, students face historically rates of election turnouts.