Briefly

Higher education: McCall named co-chair of conference board — Former state Comptroller H. Carl McCall was named co-chair of the New York State Public Higher Education Conference Board (NYSPHECB), a broad-based coalition of supporters of the state's public higher ed systems.

McCall succeeds Dallas Beal, a former SUNY administrator who died unexpectedly late last year.

"We are indeed honored to have someone of Carl's stature and commitment in the leadership ranks of the conference board," said Co-chair Roscoe Brown. "Devastating budget proposals and ideological attacks on the very principles that are a tradition of higher education make our new partner's articulate and experienced voice most welcome at this critical time."

"The conference board has been at the fore of those speaking out for the state and city universities," said McCall. "Public higher education in New York needs aggressive, thoughtful advocacy, and I am privileged to accept this appoint-ment to provide just that."

McCall served as state comptroller from May 1993 through December 2002. From 1991 to 1993, he was president of the New York City Board of Education, where he set policy for the largest school system in the nation. He served three terms as a New York state senator, representing the upper Manhattan district of New York City; as an ambassador to the United Nations; as a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; and as the commissioner of the New York State Division of Human Rights.

From 1985 to 1993, McCall was vice president of Citicorp/Citibank.

— Frank Maurizio

In solidarity: March in support of farm-worker justice — Farm workers in New York do not have the right to a day of rest, overtime pay or collective bargaining protections.

To demonstrate the plight of agricultural workers, the Centro Independiente de Trabajadores Agricolas and the Justice for Farmworkers Coalition are sponsoring a 10-day, two-pronged march ending at the Capitol in Albany on April 30.

The “330 Miles Toward Justice March” kicks off with a vigil in Brockport on April 19. Marchers from Eastern New York begin April 20 with a rally in Harlem.

For more information on the march, contact Rural & Migrant ministry: western march (585) 637-8360; eastern march (845) 485-8627; and watch the NYSUT Web site at www.nysut.org.

Fundraiser: Link ‘silent auction’ postponed until 2004 — UUP has decided to postpone the “silent auction” that had been scheduled to raise money for the union’s Eugene P. Link College Scholarship Trust Fund.

Link fund trustees will try again later this year; winning bidders will collect their prizes during the 2004 Winter Delegate Assembly in Albany.

Chapter leaders are still being urged to help solicit prize donations from UUP members on their campuses.

For more information, contact Link Honorary Trustee Gertrude Butera at bubusserv@infoblvd.net.