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Student Unity Against Pataki
by Sue Bachman
Photos by Brian K. Muttee
Albany N.Y. - On February 27, a unified
protest against Pataki's cuts to the state's
higher education funds, showed that unity
and organized, peaceful resistance is
definitely possible for todays students. Over
5,000 students from S.U.N.Y., C.U.N.Y. and
some private schools convened on the steps
of the Capital building at 10:30 a.m. for the
rally, which lasted a couple of hours and
consisted of cheehng for the restoration of
the cuts and chanting against Pataki and his
budget. Around 200 of those students came
by bus from S.U.N.Y. Farmingdale, leaving
at 5:30 in the morning to make the long 4
hour ride to Albany to show our support for
the rally and our exasperation with Pataki's
budget. Many of the people in the capital
were afraid of the rally getting out of hand
andthe students losing control, butthe feeling
of unity amongst today's students, in the
largest organized protest of our generation,
made violence obsolete and brotherhood
and community were the general feeling of
the day. After the rally the crowd moved on
to march, a huge sea of people slowly
forming a line that wrapped halfway around
the square. The march went a little off the
planned path when students swarmed onto
the steps of the library and then a while later
some of them went into the Capital building
and demanded Pataki's presence. When
the march reconvened on the steps of the
Capital building, a spur of the moment
decision was made to march down to the
S.U.N.Y. building to rally and offer support to
the State University workers. This unplanned
march was one of the best parts of the rally
because of the support that was offered by
the residents of the city of Albany. As we
marched down the street people come out of
shops, bars and restaurants and shouted
encouragement or just gave support with a
thumbs up sign or a wave. Many of the cars
passing by beeped and yelled out their
support. After marching up to the S.U.N.Y.
building and back, the marchers dispersed
and everyone headed back towards their
buses for the ride home. We met up with
,IY 11733
XLS DEPT-other
students that had spent the day
lobbying, going in to to speak with legislators
and letting them know that their votes
against the budget and the education cuts
were important to all of us.
The march, rally and lobbying were
one of the most important events of today.
It showed that unification amongst students
is a possibility and proved to others and to
ourselves that we can successfully come
together and fight against something we
believe is wrong. Probably the most
important factor is that even though Pataki's
first reaction was to negate and ignore our
protests, with persistence we got through
to him and he has now restored $1 million
to the education budget.
Object Description
| Rating | |
| Title | The_Rambler_1994-04-02 |
| Subject | Newspaper |
| Description | The Rambler |
| Creator | SUNY Farmingdale State College |
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