Administrative News

A state judge has ruled in favor of six Stony Brook Southampton students, as well as their non-profit organization to save the campus, and called the process of the campus closure illegal. The Southampton campus was closed last semester due to budget cuts.

Long hours of research and gathering information finally paid off for environmental students as they showcased their work at the Environmental Exhibition of Student Research. The exhibition, which served as part of the week-long, campus-wide event Earthstock, gave students who were selected the chance to show off their completed work in front of Stony Brook professors, friends and family in a gallery in the Wang Center Lobby.

"To mourn the passing of our beloved SUNY system, will you please join us in a funeral procession to the Administration Building?" said Kevin Young, a Stony Brook graduate student. With that, he and a group of 30 students staged their mock ceremony and marched onto the office of President Samuel L. Stanley.

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) voted last week to impeach Senator Daniel Graber and remove him from his position. The impeachment stems from Graber’s actions on Nov. 5, 2009 in which allegedly he posted a pornographic picture on a computer in the USG office.

In response to the proposed drastic cuts, the Southampton students raised $10,000 in donations by last Friday from a combination of emails, calls, and social networking via Facebook. An anonymous donor matched the amount bringing them to a total of $20,000. The students are hoping to raise a total of $50,000 by May to pay for legal fees in a lawsuit against Stony Brook University.

State Sen. Ken LeValle (R-Port Jefferson) has demanded an investigation into Stony Brook University’s controversial closing of most of its Southampton campus.

A recent survey of Stony Brook faculty found strong support for the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act (PHEEIA), which faculty members predict will result in increased tuition and hundreds of faculty jobs. The survey found 75 percent in support PHEEIA, with seven out of 10 supporters saying they strongly support it.

Tuesday evening Stony Brook Southampton students discovered that their campus would be closing. After a 12-mile walk down 25 A protesting the closure over 200 SBS students sat outside of the administration building on main campus from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. while cries of "S.O.S., SBS" were heard across campus.

SUNY appears set to move ahead with the Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovation Act, but what will it mean for the wallets of Stony Brook students and families? The Independent takes a look.

The 2010 budget proposal is requesting a $122 million decrease in public education spending and an additional $30 million is being taken from the three SUNY teaching hospitals at Brooklyn, Syracuse and Stony Brook. These cuts could result in hiring freezes, canceled courses and crowded classrooms, issues that already exist here at Stony Brook.

President Stanley fielded questions about budget cuts and looming tuition increases at Stony Brook, but outside the press conference a small protest stirred.

Eight months after the ceremonial groundbreaking for Stony Brook University’s new campus recreation center, construction fences ring the site and large mounds of dirt sit inside. Work officially began on Jan. 4 and is projected to take two years to complete, according to Dr. Susan DiMonda, associate dean and director of student life, leaving the facility with an anticipated opening sometime in 2012.

Plans for Stony Brook University’s proposed satellite campus in Songdo, South Korea are still in the works, but a lot depends on the South Korean government. "The major issue is financing," said Deputy Provost W. Brent Lindquist in an e-mail.

New York is facing great economic hardship. In response, Gov. David Paterson has instituted the Empowerment Act and SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher is working out a new strategic plan for the university system. At Stony Brook the topic was energy and sustainability, but she and President Samuel L. Stanley also weighed in on the governor's new legislation.

The SUNY Research Foundation recently added Stony Brook University President Samuel Stanley to their board of directors according to a press release on Jan. 12. The announcement puts President Stanley in a position that formerly held disputes with his own university’s Research Assistants Union.