To the Editor

I’m not a student at UB anymore, I graduated last semester, but I do remember the orientation trip to Toronto that SA went on. I had a conversation with Ashish before they left on their trip and I asked why Toronto? Buffalo has a downtown that would be just fine for orientation. He said that not everyone one 21, so more people can have a better time in Canada (Peter himself had just barely turned 21). One of the people who went on the trip was an incoming freshman. I don’t think she had a job with SA, her sister just happened to be one of the higher ups. When they eventually got back, I made a comment about how that may not have been the best use of money, I was told that they had a good time.

This is a topic that SA always seems sore about, but because everyone with SA is treated so well you would be hard pressed to find someone (within SA) who would say that they are mishandling their funds. Maybe I’m a little bitter for never dipping my hand into the cookie jar, but it’s easy to realize why so many SA employees walk through the Union with a smug arrogant confidence about them.

Dear Generation

Thank you for being the political watchdogs of our school. On a campus where The Spectrum and Visions do nothing, you guys stuck it to the man and ripped the SA a new one with your article on the budget. In a display of investigative reporting on par with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, you unearthed the ugly truth behind some questionable expenditures of our student leaders.

Hopefully action will be taken to prevent something like, what I am now referring to as “UB-gate” from happening again. Keep up the good work and as always keep the personals coming!

A Concerned Student

Dear Generation,

I would like to comment on the platform of GSA presidential candidate Creighton Randall. At the GSA senate meeting on April 2, 2008 Mr. Randall made a presentation on his platform to the GSA senate. A key component of the platform was a belief that those like himself who did not drive and used UB’s bus system should not be responsible for contributing to the parking costs here through the required transportation fees. He presented the argument that many cities charge for parking, so UB should as well.

Unlike you Mr. Randall I drive, everyday in fact, as my means of transportation to campus. I can also say that I have not taken one of the campus buses this entire academic year. By your logic, why should I be forced to contribute to the fees for the buses? As I’m sure you are aware many cities, the fine city of Buffalo included, charge for the use of their respective bus systems.

The purpose of writing this letter is to address the “I don’t use it so why should I have to pay for it” attitude presented by many across campus. The required fees we pay go towards providing a myriad of services offered here at the University. Any student who took advantage of all these services would receive a value far exceeding what then the required amount they contributed. By the same token students who elect not to take advantage of such services do so by choice. I’ve often lamented the choices of the SA festivals for the past several years. At the same time I haven’t complained about the portion of my fees going towards an event I didn’t attend because I’ve used other services provided for by the comp fees, like iConnect, far more than most. Proposing such services as ‘a la carte’ add-ons undermines one of the best features about the SUNY system—the opportunity for an equal educational and social experience for all students.

Matt Kosloski

GSA senator, Pharmaceutics

Matt,

The idea ain’t foolproof. I try to ride to campus as much as possible during the school year, but in order to drive my car to campus just on the coldest days of the year, according to the plan, I’d have to buy a $97 parking pass. That’s not an incentive.

But at the same time, I think what Randall and the Climate Action Student Advisory Council (CASAC) are trying to do has merit. In a letter the group wrote to Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs Todda Kamenash, “Students are left with an unfair situation where non-drivers subsidize driver's transportation, but drivers do not subsidize non-driver's transportation.”

In other words, Carless Cynthia might not be down with helping to pay parking fees on Ernesto’s Escalade, while she forks over a fee each time she takes the bus.

CASAC has a proposal that would require students to purchase a parking pass at a slightly higher rate. Seems a pretty reasonable incentive with which to start negotiations.

Peter Scheck

Senior Editor