The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) hostedits biannual information and recruitment session in the Colors Caf’eacute; inthe Union basement on Wednesday.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Representativesof NYPIRG tag-teamed their way through mini-talks about their efforts to closethe Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, help the homeless, end the use ofsweatshop labor in America and the world and, most prominently, their effortsto defeat the proposed tuition increases for SUNY and CUNY schools.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Iwant to know what [NYPIRG] will be doing,’ said freshman Jonathon Inbal.’?Are they just going to run around with candles? Because I don’tthink that that is the best way to protest.’
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ KevinDoten, a student member of the environmental advocacy project, warned that NewYork City has no sufficient evacuation plan in the event of a terrorist attackon Indian Point, located in Westchester Country, and urged students to getinvolved in the effort to have it shut down.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ CherylLynch, a student intern with NYPIRG, discussed last year’s food drives, tripsto local soup kitchens, and the ‘sleep out,’ an event in whichstudents slept near Roth Pond in cardboard boxes to raise awareness about thehardships of being homeless.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ StonyBrook’s representative to the statewide NYPIRG student board, Joe Ferrara,spoke about the prevalence of sweatshops in the world.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Allover the world, hundreds of thousands of people work in sweatshops for waybelow minimum wage, Ferrara said. ‘?There are 4,500 sweatshops just inNew York City filled with illegal, scared immigrants.’
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Therewill be a protest against sweatshops at a Long Island mall in April, he added.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Inless than ten minutes, NYPIRG had covered a of ground, but the floor show thenslowed down to emphasize the crux of the meeting: protesting cuts to highereducation.
NYPIRG is organizing protestsagainst Governor George Pataki’s proposed $1,200 tuition increase, one-thirdcuts to the Tuition Assistance Program and cuts to the SUNY and CUNY operatingbudgets. Volunteers are in great demand.
Fortunately for NYPIRG, the audience seemed eager to hearabout what members had planned and how to get involved.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I’mhere [at Stony Brook] only until the summer, but I have [younger] friends hereand I think the cuts would be detrimental to them,’ said a senior who gavethe name Najam..
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ PeteSikora, organizing director for NYPIRG and the keynote speaker of theafternoon, urged students to participate in NYPIRG’s upcoming ‘?March toAlbany,’ beginning in Stony Brook and Buffalo Universities on Feb. 23 andculminating in a rally on March 11 to protest the proposals.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Stateschools equal state funding, but Pataki is taking state funding away,’said Rebecca Ahuja, student member of the NYPIRG higher education team.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Studentsright now pay 60 percent of the SUNY operating budget and Gov. Pataki wants toincrease this, which barely makes this a state school,’ Sikora said.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Afterdenouncing Pataki as an unreliable governor, Sikora rounded out the meetingwith a practice call and refrain with the roughly 125 people in the audience,having them scream ‘Shove it!’ when he called out the governor’sproposals.
‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Ican’t guaranteed that there won’t be a tuition increase, but I canguarantee that if students don’t protest, it will happen,’ Sikora said.’
