The_Rambler_1980-03-05

              eke l&mhL
WORKSTUDY
How Good It It??
The workstudy program at
SUNY Farmingdale has been
successful in that it gives the
student an opportunity to
assimilate office procedures.
However there has been some
ill favor towards the
workstudy program in regard
to the odd jobs that are
provided and the pay which is
distributed every other week.
The pay is said to be less than
the required minimum-wage.
A young gentleman (whose
name will not be disclosed for
protecting his privacy) spoke to
me recently about the
workstudy program. He
claimed that in some instances
he feh as though he were a
"gopher**, having been given
the task of delivering mail to
different offices on campus, in
lieu of the campus mail service.
**Many of the tasks could have
been done by the secretaries
themselves**, he said, ''but since
they had seniority and made
you feel that you should be
lucky to have work, you had to
do it.**
The workstudy procedure is
designed to give equal
opportunity to students. An
application is filed and
information requested on the
basis of economic disad-vantage.
Although minorities
would tend to fill this category
more often than whites, there
still has to be a quota. However
a person applying does not
have to feel that because the
quota has been filled that he or
she can not get workstudy. The
jobs are shifted each term, and
those on a waiting list will most
likely find work.
Payment is distributed on a
twice a month basis and an
interviewee claims that "after
taxes, and gas prices, you have
just enough for a candy bar.**
The fact that the pay is less than
minimum wage is most Hkely
traced to impending budget
cuts (see article on the Tuition
Hike). It is not known,
however, whether the
workstudy program will be in
effect partially or eliminated
completely when the cuts are
made.
Denise ResU
FARMINGDALE STATE UNIVERSITY
Funded By Your Mandatory Student Activity Fee
Wednesday March 5,1980 FREE
BUDGET CUTS
On Tuesday, January 29th,
literally thousands of students
and professionals descended on
the State Capital in Albany to
protest proposed budget cuts
for SUNY and CUNY. The
tactics used by this impressive
group of lobbyists were much
more civilized and more
organized than past student
protests respecting SUNY and
should be commended as a
good first for the "Battle of the
Budget Cuts, 1980.**
The day was a success, but if
any significant results are to
come from SAVE SUNY day,
an extensive follow-up effort
will be needed. As frequent
witnesses to lobbying efforts in
Albany, we suggest the
following:
(1) Letter Writing-All
interested students and
professionals should send a
letter to their representatives in
Albany expressing their
viewpoint; it is important to use
your home address when
writing so the legislator knows
you*re from his district. Short,
handwritten letters are more
effective than form letters.
(2) Petitions-Each Student
Association should begin a
petition drive on each
respective campus. The
petitions should be made
according to Senate or
Assembly District and copies
should be sent to each
respective legislator. Addi-tional
copies could be sent to
LIGHTS OUT!!
It has come to the attention
of the Rambler and just about
everyone else who can see two
inches in front of them that the
new estimated lighting facilities
that were to be installed last
semester haven't quite made it.
What seems to be the
problem? The question to be
answered is of course, WHY
NOT?
Have you seen, or perhaps
we should say can you see
Cutler Hall at night? No, of
course you can*t. **Why not?**
you may ask, because there
aren't any lights, that's why.
Talk to the people who attend
evening classes^they'll tell you,
if they can see you. Talk to the
people who dorm here. They*ll
explain this whole absurd
situation over and over again.
They're sick to death of living
in total darkness. Doesn't the
safety of the people rooming
here and attending classes at
night matter to anyone running
this show. If not, then why not?
Do bodily injuries have to be
raked up one after another
before something is doe? Does
something really serious have
to happen before minds start
clicking. AN IMPORTANT
ISSUE SUCH AS THIS
SHOULD BE TAKEN CARE
OF IMMEDIATELY.
Continued p«fe 3 cot. i
hometown newspapers along
with a position statement on
the budget cuts.
(3) Additional Visits-
Follow-up visits by informed
students and UUP representa-tives
will serve to keep the issue
alive and to give the legislators
an environment where they can
discuss the budget cuts and
realize the seriousness of the
issue.
One warning: Do not be
fooled by proposals to increase
the Tuition Assistance
Program. TAP increases mean
increased state aid to private
schools; SUNY and CUNY
students would only get a small
percentage of that aid. The only
true way to save SUNY and
CUNY is through direct state
aid. Stress that point in your
letters and petitions!
Legislators addresses:
Honorable James L. Jack, New
York State Assembly, Albany,
NY 12248. Honorable Owen H.
Johnson, New York State
Senate, Albany, NY 12248.
Please get involved! Save
public higher education in New
York State. Your help is
needed if we are to be
successful.
by Paul Agresta, Legislative
Aide and student at Albany
and by Ricky Behan, Session
Assistant and student at
Pittsburgh.
Business Caucus
A community conference on
Small Business will be held at
SUNY Farmingdale on April
15th. The conference, entitled
**Self-Employ ment—Myths
and Realities,** will have
information sessions on
Recordkeeping, Marketing
Techniques, Financing and
Legal Aspects for operation of
a Small Business.
The Conference is co-sponsored
by the Long Island
Association for Commerce and
Industry. A resource panel will
include speakers from the
Small Business Administra*
tion, Commerce Department
and SCORE. The keynote
speaker will be Santos Abrilz,
Jr., President of the Long
Island Forum for the
Technologies. Afternoon
workshops will have informa-tion
particular to minorities,
women and the disabled.
The Conference is Coordin-ated
by Anita Tritel, Associate
Dean of Student Development.
Participants on the Steering
Farmingdale Builds
Greenhouse
On February 13, 1980 the
new greenhouse was completed
at a cost of 647,000.
Edward Steppe, who
operates the greenhouse and is
a teacher at the college said that
the State University at
Farmingdale relinquished
property to the contractors to
start building the new
greenhouse at the signing of the
contract in February of 1979.
Steppe informed me that the
reason for the new greenhouse
was because the other one was
much too old and to update the
building so that the students
can get a better idea of how the
commercial industry in
horticulture works.
The idea, as stated by
Steppe, is to get surplus flowers
so that other students in that
curriculum can use the flowers
grown. This was not possible
before because of the lack of
space provided by the smaller
greenhouse.
Cut flowers and potted
plants are going to be grown in
the greenhouse. The extra cut
flowers that are grown will be
used in areas of floral design.
Steepe also stated that most
schools only have a greenhouse
for teaching and not the actual
facilities to give the student
practical experience, whereas
with this new greenhouse it is
now possible.
The new greenhouse
measures 16,000 square feet of
floor space for crops and 4,000
square feet for the workroom
.teaching area.
A thermo-blanket is an
energy saving device. It is used
at night to cut down on natural
heat loss through natural
radiation that •goes up
through the glass. With the use
of the thermal blanket it is
warmer on the inside than on
the outside. The manufacturere
suggested that this college
should save 40-50% of its fuel in
3-5 years by using this thermal-blanket.
The temperature is
controlled by heat sensors that
coordinate a panel. If the
temperature drops, the heating
system goes on automatically.
Steppe explained that the
students in the Horticultural
curriculum will run and
operate the greenhouse on a
day-to-day basis. All crops will
be the sole responsibility of the
students and the operation and
maintenance of the boiler and
structure will be handled by
students on a rotating basis.
When asking students if they
liked working in the new
greenhouse, Steve Forte had
this to say; "Yes, I like working
in the new greenhouse because
I have a better chance to know
what it is like to work in a
commercial greenhouse. It's
much more up to date than the
old one.**
Another student, Kathy
Grover said; "Sure I like it, it's
really great! It's a big
improvement as to what we
had."
Lisa Ardito
Committee include ICathy
Dowd and Kathy Coley from
Evening College, Maria
MarwiU and John Reavis from
EOC, Stephen Bancroft and
Patty Spector from Special
Services for the Disabled.
The Conference will be
directed towards the commun-ity-
at-large and students, as
well as minorities, the disabled,
women and professionals
working with these groups.
An invitation is extended to
students, faculty and
administrative staff to help
plan and implement this
Conference. For further
information, please call Anita
Tritell at 420-2296 or contact
any member of the Steering
Committee.