SUNY students protest tuition hikes

POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam students sent a message to Albany on Tuesday that went something like this: Leave our tuition alone.

Members of the Student Government Association led a rally in Barrington Student Union to object to Gov. David A. Paterson's plan to put most of their tuition increase toward the state budget.

"We want 100 percent of our tuition dollars to go toward improving education on our campus. But they're essentially treating us as ATMs, reaching into our pockets to reduce their shortfalls," said SGA President Matthew R. Cotty, a psychology major from Long Island. "It's unethical, and we're taking a stand."

Student leaders gathered signatures in the crowded dining hall and corralled their friends to a table with flyers, form letters and laptops where they could sign online petitions. They also grabbed microphones to tell classmates where this semester's tuition increase is going.

Copies of the petition will be sent to the governor and state legislators.

"They are stealing our money. We need that right here. There's a $5 million budget deficit next year, so your favorite teacher might not be there, or that class that you want to take might not be there," Vita A. Ayala, an SGA senator and senior philosophy major from New York City, said. "They're getting greedy."

Under the deficit reduction plan that the state Legislature passed last week, less than 10 percent of the spring semester tuition increase will stay on campus. Of the $310 hike, $279 will be sent to Albany to offset the state budget.

"It is a lot of money for a college student. I'm paying my full way," said Nathan A. Parente, a senior communications major from Pittsburgh. "They should cut funding somewhere else. I strongly feel there are other places in the state that money is not being used effectively."

Gov. Paterson also has proposed that only 20 percent of the $620 annual tuition hike that will go into effect next year be allocated to the campuses where it is collected.

Rachelle Y.G. Heim, a junior French major from Potsdam, said she's not so sure that's a bad thing.

"I would argue that St. Lawrence County is the poorest county in New York state, if not the poorest county east of the Mississippi. There are so many people on welfare, Medicaid and WIC up here," she said. "I myself am one of those people. I don't want to sign the petition because I think those programs are more important right now than education."

SGA and the Political Student Association are teaming up to organize a trip to Albany to protest and lobby at the capital. The student groups plan to carpool and raise money for a bus, eventually joining SUNY leaders from across the state in their protest.

College President John F. Schwaller was in Albany Tuesday to welcome SUNY's new chancellor, Nancy L. Zimpher.

"While we all realize the challenges the state is facing, this measure was nothing short of a tax directly on the students and families of students who attend SUNY campuses. It is unfair and improper," he said in a statement. "It disregards the fact that tuition was increased precisely because the SUNY system has already had to confront a budget reduction now approaching a quarter of a billion dollars."