SB Now! is an online news publication of the School of Journalism with reporting by students on Stony Brook on video, with photos and through the written word.
It was created to provide a forum for the School of Journalism’s coverage of Stony Brook University’s participation in Albany Day of 2008. Albany Day is what Stony Brook calls its annual trip to the state capital, Albany, to speak to legislators on behalf of the campus here on Long Island.
SB Now! allowed the School of Journalism to broadcast the day’s events to those who did not attend and gave the students of the School of Journalism an opportunity to put their skills to work.
Since then, SB Now! has become a place where students who cover campus news and events for classes can post their work.
By Micah Danney
Conservative commentator and columnist Ann Coulter drew laughter and applause March 31 at Stony Brook University by criticizing liberals who, Coulter said, “want to do nothing” when their country faces a crisis and by announcing that she was backing Democrat Hillary Clinton over Republican John McCain.
The GOP presidential hopeful, Coulter said, was a “fragile vessel” for the Republican message, adding that Clinton might even be more conservative than McCain, whom she dismissed as a “liberal.”
Stony Brook University has launched new software that simplifies the daunting task of searching databases one by one. The new search system, called Galaxy, instead allows students and faculty to access up to 50 databases at once.
On Feb. 5, Aimée deChambeau, the university’s electronic resources acquisitions and access librarian, demonstrated the Galaxy search system’s advantages to Stony Brook University journalism students. Instead of searching each of the library’s 250 databases one at a time, Galaxy aggregates up to 50 in one interface.
Dave Marash, Washington-based anchor for Al-Jazeera English, said March 6 at Stony Brook University that the goal of the United States to “create in Iraq a government which is competent, survivable and friendly to our interests” is no closer to realization than it was when the Iraq war began five years ago.
More than 50 groups representing different departments and organizations at Stony Brook University traveled to Albany to voice their concerns to legislators on Albany Day. While many felt their voices were heard, it is yet to be determined how effective the day was.
With a record number of students and faculty present, the university made its best attempt to create awareness of the university and various issues.
An important Republican official on the Committee for Higher Education expressed his support for Stony Brook's flagship status during the university's trip to Albany Day.
Nassau County Assemblyman Tom Alfano said that Stony Brook University is in a "great position" for being named a flagship university. He has served in the assembly for 12 years and is attracting support from across the aisle in the Democratic-controlled assembly.
Stony Brook University nursing students traveled to Albany today to address New York’s serious shortage of nurses and nursing teachers.
Along with the shortage of nurses, one-third of the nurses in New York State are not currently practicing, future nurses face a two-year waiting list to enter a nursing program, and practicing nurses have no incentive to teach because the pay rate is too low.
Nursing students and faculty members spoke with legislators, including former nurse Aileen Gunther, an assembly member of the 98th district and member of the health committee.
Stony Brook's Southampton campus, home to about 200 students, had a strong showing at Albany day, with nearly 40 percent of the entire campus population in attendance, according to the Southampton Dean Martin Schoonen.
That figure contributed to the record turnout this year, with close to 1,000 total students and faculty from the university making the trip to Albany.
For many of the students and faculty at Stony Brook, the purpose of Albany Day is to give a voice to the groups on campus who wish to speak.
Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny said that the university is looking into establishing a law school from scratch after a reported deal to purchase Touro Law school in Central Islip was declared dead in an interview earlier this week.
The founder and president of Touro College, Dr. Bernard Lander, disputed reports that it was ever thinking about selling.
“Touro Law School's charter was never for sale,” said Lander. “There were no negotiations on this subject."
Caretakers at the Long Island State Veterans Home traveled with students and faculty of Stony Brook to voice their concerns at Albany Day on Tuesday about Governor Spitzer's proposed nursing home cuts.
The long-term cuts in the budget, combined with cuts from last year’s budget will result in more than $900 million in cuts. Beyond last year’s budget cuts of over $600 million to nursing home recruitment, retention and quality improvement funding, another $300 million cut has been proposed in this year’s executive budget.
Campus shuttle busses transported students from various locations on campus to the South P parking lot where the small army of amateur lobbyists gathered.
Greeted by bagged breakfasts and gallons of coffee at makeshift food stations, students, faculty and administrators climbed onto coach buses at the break of dawn on Tuesday, March 4, to travel up to Albany to lobby legislators in favor of Stony Brook.
The New York State Commission on Higher Education’s proposal to let large research SUNY schools, such as Stony Brook University, charge higher tuition faces a daunting uphill struggle for acceptance from a legislature that has been long skeptical about reforming higher education.
As hundreds of students, faculty and staff from Stony Brook University embark on a 250-mile journey to the state capitol in Albany to meet with legislators, professors on campus have mixed feelings about the empty seats in their classrooms.
Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny said in a wide-ranging interview yesterday that a reported deal to purchase Touro Law school in Central Islip was dead, which was the first official acknowledgment from the university that negotiations were even taking place. Stony Brook would now have to start a law school from scratch, said Kenny.
Having recently established business and journalism schools, Kenny said that a law school would be the final piece in the puzzle “putting the Stony Brook campus together.”
Stony Brook University's annual field trip to Albany has always been based on not-so-secret undercurrents of money. Among other things, it seeks to put students face to face with the legislators who determine the state university system's funding.
This year Albany day may prove to be especially important as Stony Brook struggles to expand amidst a shrinking national economy and a state budget deficit.
Despite those factors, the state government is allocating $3.41 billion to SUNY for the 2008/2009 fiscal year, up 1.8 percent compared to last year’s allocation.
Seeking to emulate the prestigious state university systems in California and North Carolina, Governor Eliot Spitzer recently proposed creating two flagship universities within SUNY.
Spitzer named as SUNY’s flagships Stony Brook University and the University of Buffalo, both competitive schools certified by the Association of American Universities. These campuses represent the literal definition of a flagship – a battleship from which the commander directs the action of an entire fleet. They would be expected to lead the rest of SUNY in research, facilities, faculty and prestige.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has proposed a multi-billion dollar plan to revitalize New York State’s public university system, graduating it to a level of prestige on par with those in states such as California.
Spitzer’s proposal would add 2,000 new full time faculty jobs, turn two campuses into flagship universities and create a $4 billion endowment to finance future improvements.
Thirteen years ago, only 16 Stony Brook University students trekked to the state capital to court legislators and voice concerns about their school, the year Shirley Strum Kenny became president of the university.
This Tuesday, more than 1,000 students and faculty will travel five hours via bus to spend a day advocating for the university’s interests. “Stony Brook Day in Albany this year will be more about “giving the university visibility,” said Janice Rohlf, the university’s assistant vice president of governmental relations.
Stony Brook University received a $60 million gift from billionares Jim Simons and his wife Marilyn on Wednesday for the creation of a new center for math and physics. This is the largest donation ever given to a New York State university.
In a press conference at Stony Brook's Manhattan campus, Governor Eliot Spitzer in conjunction with President Shirley Strum Kenny, announced the private contribution to Stony Brook University for the creation and endowment of the the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics.
