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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 21 , 2006

UUP rallies for veto overrides of SUNY budget funding

ALBANY, NY -- Chanting, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, SUNY vetoes have to go," more than 200 members of United University Professions and other advocates rallied at the state Capitol in Albany urging state lawmakers to override the governor's vetoes of $60 million in funding for SUNY.

UUP President William E. Scheuerman said the $60 million included money to hire as many as 500 more full-time faculty, and to admit more students. "The Senate and Assembly passed a budget that put us on the verge of making a good university, great. The governor's vetoes will make a good university, bad," he said.

"The state risks becoming intellectually bankrupt if the vetoes are allowed to stand," Scheuerman added. "New York's economy is no longer based on manufacturing -- it's based on our brainpower. We've got to invest in our intellectual capital to replace the manufacturing base we've lost to overseas markets, and we need more full-time faculty to do that."

Joining Scheuerman at the rally was New York United Teachers Executive Vice President Alan B. Lubin. "Middle class families deserve a strong, affordable and accessible State University system," Lubin said. "The Legislature did its job. It provided a good budget that helps to build a stronger SUNY. Now, we need legislators to override the governor's destructive vetoes, so SUNY can continue moving forward."

Several SUNY students and other SUNY advocates also spoke at the rally.

UUP represents more then 34,000 academic and professional faculty on 29 New York state-operated campuses, and is an affiliate of New York State United Teachers and the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. Scheuerman also serves as president of AFT’s Higher Education Program and Policy Council, representing 150,000 higher education union members across the nation.     

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