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•miF^^'^ja. 1996 M f i ^ c i - y . V f STATEUNIVERSITYOFNEWYORKAT FARMINGDALE VOLUME 69, NUMBER 10
SGA OPEN
FORUM
By:Mary Berketis
On Thursday February,13,1996,
the Student Government Association held
an open forum in the Little Theater. This
open forum was held so that students
could have a chance jo speak aboutiheir
problen[)s concerning the Farmingdale
campus, ask any questions, or comment
on anything that may be going on. On the
stage were President Cipriani, our new
Dean of Students, Dr. Bruce Ferguson,
President of SGA, Clyde Vanel, Student
Activities Night Manager John Mason,
and presidents from many of our fully
funded units and clubs. On the floor were
over one hundred students, dormers and
commuters, all races, all majors.
The forum started off with a brief
introduction from everyone on stage,
stating their name amd position. After the
introductions. Dean Ferguson, Dr.
Cipriani, and Clyde Vanel all made a litUe
speech explaining what this forum was all
about, how they would like to help solve
the problems on campus, and how they
are there for the students. The students
then made a line behind a microphone,
ready to ask their questions. What started
off fairly decent turned into much more.
There were strong feelings of anger
coming from the students. Mr. Vanel, Dr.
Cipriani, and Dean Ferguson all made
attempts to calm the students. Most of the
questions, or comments in this case, had
to do with the lack of activities on the
campus; lack of cleanliness in the dorms;
no cable which has been promised for a
while now; expensive phone bills;
unhealthy food which is also overpriced;
lack of care from President Cipriani; and
other things, mostly concerning the
dorms. One student made a very strong
point of letting evetyone know that he is
sick of living on this'campus and he is
sick of cleaning the bathrooms himself.
Dean Ferguson answered him by standing
and shouting "The Dean Is Coming!"
Another student was outraged enough to
say that he is starting a war gainst Dr.
Cipriani and the school.
The forum lasted approximately
one hour and ten minutes. Many students
still wanted to comment, and were
annoyed that they could not,4)ut many
students had classes to attend. As I've
heard, there will be many other open
forums so those students will nave another
chance to comment. Hopefully all the
things said will be taken into account and
possibly even taken care of. The forum
turned out to be bit of an outrage by the
students, so maybe the next time will be
more relaxed. Whatever it is, I know I will
be there! Till next time...
GIVING BLOOD SAVES LIVES
ON MARCH 7,1996, The Honor
Student Alliance sponsored a
Blood Drive in Roosevelt Hall's
multi-purpose room. It was held
from 10am to 4pm. Approximately
80 pints of blood were given with
11 new cfemftiitments to do
Apheresis. Apheresis is a type of
blood donation. Instead of whole
blood, the donor gives only a
certian part or component, usually
platelets or plasma. Chairman
Greg Hannington had this to say,
"Participation seemed low due to a
false sense of fear of needles, but I
would like it to be known that I
appreciate all donors and those
that were rejected and came
anyway."
For more information about
the Apheresis program, or about
blood donating in general, Call the
Long Island Blood Services at 800-
933-3339, or write to them at: Long
Island Blood Services,
525 Broadhollow Road (Route 110)
Melville, New York, 11747-3706.
SUNY CHANCELLOR:
•QUALITY WILL NOT BE UNDERMINED'
"The recognized quality and
accessibility of SUNY's campuses and
programs shall not be undermined,"
said Chancellor Thomas A Bartlett at a
public hearing held today at the
University at Albany campus. During
the hearing, Bartlett told Assemblyman
Edward C. Sullivan and other legislators
that in following the Legislator's
mandate to rethink SUNY, the Trustees
had "identified the effective limits of
cost cutting. Beyond those limits, we
must either cut back in size or increase
tuition charges beyond the $250 number.
We will not compromise the quality of
our academic programs."
"We have done the twofold job
we were asked to do: reduce our
dependence on tax dollars by cutting
costs but do not reduce access and
quality." Yet even after cost-cutting and
the $250 tuition increase suggested in the
Executive Budget, the state-operated and
statutory campuses will face an unmet
budget gap in excess of $40 million.
Without implementation of the
cost-cutting measures outlined in
Rethinking SUNY, the projected budget
gap for SUNY and its community colleges
for 19%-97 is over $100 million, with a
gap of $98 million for the state-operated
and statutory campuses.
"We now have only three
options: cut costs through efficiencies,
raise revenues, or simply become
smaller," Bartlett said. "We need your
determined and active support to sustain
an unbroken tradition of quality and access
to public higher education for New
Yorkers. You and your colleagues in the
Legislature must make the decision about
the future of the State University. We can
only go so far in cost cutting. Then the
challenge becomes one of public
policy."
Bartlett stressed the need to
protect access for those students least
able to pay the cost of higher education
saying that preliminary data indicate the
application declines are greater for
freshmen applicants with family
incomes under $45,000 and for transfer
students over the age of 30. Last spring,
after a $750 tuition increase, Suny lost
about 10,000 students, 8,500 of whom
were part-time students.
"We cannot turn our backs on
those who need our help the most. For
access to be preserved, it is critical to
have in place a program, such as TAP,
that provides aid tied to the cost of
higher education," BartleU said.
"Our ability to become more
Continued on page 17