The New York Public Interest Research Group, or NYPIRG as it is called is a student activism group here at Stony Brook. NYPIRG uses university students to help bring about change amongst higher education issues, as well as environmental, and consumer advocacy issues.
NYPIRG was created in the early 70′s and started at Stony Brook in 1979 and as of this day has twenty chapters across the state of New York. A policy issue group, members meet in the basement of the Student Union where project coordinator , Aarti Sheth, talks to student interns and sets up that weeks agenda. Either getting kids out to vote or getting them to sign a petition NYPIRG is always out in front of hot topic issues.
“We work on other local stuff like hunger and homelessness outreach in our community,” said Sheth right before a meeting she was holding with that springs set of interns.
What NYPIRG is most concerned about now is what most students at Stony Brook should be concerned about…PHEEIA.
NYPIRG coordinator, Aarti Sheth in the office of her student activism group
The Public Higher Education Endowment and Innovation Act is a bill supported by Governor Patterson and University President Samuel Stanley which among other things takes the power to set tuition away from the state legislature and places it in the hands of the individual SUNY campuses. The fear being that what is intended to be an affordable public education may eventually turn into what resembles a privatized school with tuition increases continuing on an annual basis.
NYPIRG strongly opposes this bill. Even presenting its case against it in Albany a few months ago. Not only do they oppose the tuition hike they have come down against the cuts in the TAP financial aid program and the millions being taking away from the SUNY and CUNY schools across the board.
Locally NYPIRG has been very active in trying to keep up opposition to the bill. “We got 1,500 signatures to assemblyman Englebright, Senator Samson and Senator Flannigan in the New York State legislature opposing the cuts to TAP,” said Sheth. ”Additionally we’ve been making phone calls to our legislatures to stop differential tuition from being passed.”
The point is to stop students from getting hurt in their wallets according to Sheth.
And it doesn’t seem like NYPIRG will be letting up on this issue anytime soon. They recently held a “lobby day,” where over 300 students descended on the state legislature in Albany to stop their leaders from moving forward with this bill.
