UUP members overwhelmingly ratified a 1999-2003 contract with the state that will provide salary increases totaling 12.5 percent over the life of the agreement, enhanced health benefits and several innovative money-saving programs.
The vote, verified by the American Arbitration Association, was 9,831 for ratification and 332 against, an approval rate of more than 96 percent.
Members of the bargaining unit will see the first raise - 3 percent - either Jan. 1 or March 1, depending on their contract status. With ratification, they will also receive a one-time, lump-sum payment of $500. That payment will be pro-rated for part-timers who have worked at SUNY for one semester or five months in the last year.
Also, discretionary increases of 1 percent will be available each year of the contract.
"The strong support for this contract is gratifying," said UUP President William Scheuerman. "It demonstrates the fact that our members recognize this agreement is solid, smart and sensitive to their varied needs."
Chief Negotiator Thomas Matthews, the union's vice president for professionals, agreed, adding: "We had a skillful and aggressive Negotiations Team that ensured each one of UUP's constituencies was represented in the bargaining process. The result - this new contract - is a testament to the Team's hard work and determination."
Highlights, in addition to the compensation package, include:

•  a $300 sick-leave exchange to help full-time employees pay their share of  health insurance premiums;
• enhanced health benefits for Empire Plan participants;
• year-round health insurance for eligible part-timers;
• a $500-per-semester scholarship, administered by the Benefit Trust Fund, for eligible dependent children at state-operated campuses;
• increased funding for labor/management committees;
• downstate location increases that will reach $1,200 by the end of the agreement;
• an added vacation day for employees eligible to earn vacation time; and
• an increased on-call rate for eligible hospital employees.

They're new and improved

The UUP Benefit Trust Fund will be upgrading benefits again, effective Nov. 1. The dental program will increase its payment for diagnostic and preventive services from 60 percent to 80 percent of the usual and customary rate (UCR). The vision program will be adding three new lens enhancements at no cost to the member. A new benefit booklet describing the changes will be arriving at your home shortly.
Call our office if you are eligible for UUP Benefit Trust Fund benefits and don't receive your booklet by Nov. 1. It may mean we have an incorrect address for you.
If you have dependent children between the ages of 19 and 25 you'll be hearing from us a second time. The letter will serve two purposes: First, to remind you to send in proof to verify that your dependent is a full-time student; second, to give you additional information on the upcoming UUP Benefit Trust Fund Tuition Scholarship Program.
The scholarship program will only apply to eligible dependent children enrolled in the Fund. Under the program, $500 per semester will be paid for each dependent child attending a state-operated SUNY school. The child must be a full-time undergrad (12 or more credits) and must maintain at least a C average each semester. The maximum award is for eight semesters.
Benefit Fund changes are not the only benefits revisions resulting from the new agreement. There are many to come in the next four years. While most are benefit upgrades or enhancements, Empire Plan participants should be aware of changes to the prescription drug program and to office visit copays. The first (there are four in all, one each year of the contract) is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2000. The Empire Plan prescription copay for generic drugs will drop from $8 to $5. For brand-name drugs, the copay will be $15. Remember, this copay is for up to a 90-day supply. I'll talk more about this next month.
A new benefit will be the creation of a Flexible Medical Spending Account. This is a new state program that is expected to begin July 1, 2000. UUP will work closely with the state to develop this program. An informational letter about this program has already been mailed. Prior to implementation, you'll receive more information about the program and how it can potentially save you a lot of money on a pre-tax basis.
Additional benefits include the creation of a voluntary nurse-line and a voluntary disease management program for Empire Plan participants. More information will follow as we near the implementation date.
If you have any questions on these negotiated changes or any other benefits we offer, call the UUP Benefit Trust Fund at (800) 887-3863.
 
 

UUP sharpens legislative focus

Gathering to recap the 1998-1999 session and to recharge for the upcoming year, the members of UUP's Legislation Committee met in August for a two-day retreat in Lake Placid.
In order to concentrate more directly on legislative and political action efforts - the committee's major areas of concern - the group will now be divided into two. Patricia Bentley of Plattsburgh will chair the Legislation Committee, which will prepare the union's legislative program, engage in Albany lobbying and coordinate the annual Friend of SUNY award. Buffalo State delegate Frederick Floss will head the Political Action Committee, responsible for VOTE/COPE, voter registration, district lobbying and coalition building.
"UUP has grown and the committee was doing too much," UUP President William Scheuerman said in his remarks to the legislative gathering. "We restructured the committee to sharpen the division of labor. "
District lobbying will be a priority on UUP's upcoming political agenda. Visiting lawmakers in every community will be an important component of next year's work, according to Floss. "We have to approach all legislators, so they will learn how cutting SUNY funding would affect their lives," he said. "Our ultimate goal is that legislators who don't support SUNY won't get re-elected."
Tuesdays in 2000 - Albany lobby days - will be another advocacy mechanism used by the union. "We need to bring SUNY to a place of eminence in the Legislature," Bentley said. "Our message is that New York state is not shouldering its weight in support of higher education. Every individual legislator should be supporting SUNY."
The importance of a lobbyist's presence was echoed by Assemblywoman Elizabeth Little (R-Glens Falls) in her address to the committees.
"Lobbyists, including political action groups, are great resources to legislators," she said. "How a particular bill will affect our constituents is important to know," she said, emphasizing that all members - on both sides of the legislative aisle - understand that the future is in education.
Scheuerman, reporting on the newest state budget's impact on SUNY, noted that the state funded about 150 new faculty lines. "This symbolism is important," he said. "We're finally beginning to turn the corner toward restoring some of the full-time faculty we lost in recent years."
 

SUNY avoids deficit

UUP and NYSUT have worked out an agreement to resolve the $32.2 million needed to cover last year's negotiated pay raises.
The state budget passed during the summer did not include the money. Since the raises had already been paid out, that meant SUNY could have started the new academic year with a deficit, raising fears of layoffs and program cuts.
But union leaders worked with SUNY System Administra-tion, to provide the funding through administrative channels. The $32.2 million covered raises negotiated for SUNY employees represented by UUP, CSEA and PEF.
"Besides the obvious benefit of avoiding a deficit, this sort of cooperation bodes well for the new year," said UUP President Scheuerman.

Teaching teachers to teach: How SUNY stacks up in educating future educators

(Editor's note: This is the first in     an occasional series of articles on SUNY's teacher education programs. Next month, The Voice will look at urban education.)
It's sort of like one of those black-and-white sketches by artist M.C. Escher of a hand drawing a hand drawing a hand drawing a hand. At the 15 UUP-represented colleges and universities that offer teacher education programs, SUNY students are taught by faculty who are teaching them to be teachers.
Teacher education programs are being put under the fluorescent light of examination across the country, and the spotlight is especially bright in SUNY, which accounts for 40 percent of university-based teacher preparation in New York, according to the Rocke-feller Institute of Government. All of the state's college and university teacher education programs, both public and private, are being analyzed for their merits and shortcomings, and also in relation to how they are complementing changes in elementary and secondary education. Each time the methods and tests are changed for K-12 students, the strategies for how to teach those new methods and tests have to be changed for both existing and would-be teachers. In Septem-ber, the Board of Regents mandated that colleges work extensively with K-12 schools to improve teacher preparation as part of a series of new regulations it enacted.
"The reality is New York state has really upped the ante for teachers," said Mary Connery, co-chair of UUP's Teacher Educa-tion Task Force and Cortland's director of outreach services. "There's been a re-commitment on SUNY campuses toward teacher education, and renewed energy and commitments within departments for teacher education and SUNY's role."
AFT has a K-16 Task Force on Teacher Education. Antonia Cortese, AFT and NYSUT vice president, said that task force recommends entry standards to include a subject-area major for all teacher education candidates, passing a basic skills examination and a minimum GPA of 2.75. The task force is also exploring the idea of a national licensing test to create consistency and uniformity. Training and incentives for participants in the clinical experience are recommended, along with strong coordination among the college, district, school, teacher and supervisor. Finally, the task force is recommending that university administrators pledge commitment and funding to improve teacher education.
Within SUNY System Administration, Provost Peter Salins assigned the Rockefeller Institute in Albany to assess New York's public teacher education programs (see related story at right.)
One of the articles being examined is assessment; whether there should be more and whether emphasis should be placed on exams or outcomes. Another question open for debate is the method of teaching teachers. "Do you stress the teaching of teaching or of the subject matter?" asked Jon Sorensen, associate vice chancellor for public relations, SUNY System Administration.
 The University is also looking to see whether alternative methods of certification attract candidates who bring experience into a classroom. The Graduate School of Education at SUNY Buffalo, for example, has reorganized and enlarged its program leading to teacher certification in response to rapid changes in the field, offering special assistance to those who wish to enter teaching from other professions.
Overall, Sorensen said, "We do a good job at SUNY and we lead by a lot of measures."
Meanwhile, the Board of Regents has approved a streamlined program for career changes.
The 1996-97 results from the Education Department of New York's teacher certification exam lists percentages of students who passed the liberal arts and sciences test, assessment of teaching skills test and a third test that combines content specialty and language proficiency. Scores for all of SUNY were 95 percent, 97 percent and 90 percent passing the three test areas. On the high end, Geneseo students scored 99, 100 and 98 percent and, on the lower end, Old Westbury students scored 79, 92 and 83 percent.
There are no recent test scores with which to compare, said Edith Hunsberger, an Education Depart-ment associate in professional examination development, because the basis for accountability using the test results has changed. Test results have been based on tests taken during a given year. Students can take the test any year they are in college or after graduation. They also self-report which college they attend for teacher education. Starting in January, however, colleges must report the names and identifications of students who have completed their programs. New results will show only students who have completed their programs of study.
By 2004, a new set of teacher education and certification regulations will be in place in New York, said Hunsberger, including new teacher testing requirements. The new regulations require that a teacher ed program be subject to review and possible de-registration if fewer than 80 percent of the graduates pass the certification exams. And, passing-score requirements are being raised.
"We have to ensure that teachers can teach to the new learning standards in place," Hunsberger said.
One of the new regulations states that the majority of credit-bearing courses must be taught by full-time faculty.
Effective next September, all registered programs must include preparation for providing instruction in alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse, and preparation for identifying and reporting suspected child abuse.
Also by next September, all undergrads who are prospective high school and middle school specialist teachers must major in the subject they will teach. Master's students must get more training in the subject they will teach.
The Board of Regents is also slated to act this winter on other regulations for teacher certification (Part 80). Explanations of those changes are on the Education Department's web site, www.nysed.gov/tcert/homepage.htm.
Other proposals include a major change in certification that would recommend certification in new categories for teachers: birth through grade 2, elementary (1-6), middle adolescence (5-8) and adolescent (7-12).
"Colleges now have to make decisions, do they want to offer these additional certifications?" asked Betsy Balzano, a distinguished service professor in education and human development at Brockport and co-chair of UUP's Teacher Education Task Force. "They will have to create new programs and register them with the state."
In the meantime, teacher education colleges have immediate decisions to make: by Dec. 31, 2004, programs must be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting body for teacher education, or must be accredited by the Regents on the recommendation of the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching, which was established last year. Colleges in this part of the country are generally accredited by Middle States, but individual programs in education have not required outside accreditation, Balzano said.
The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) is currently the sole organization that meets this re-quirement for accrediting teacher education programs, although others are being formed.
"It's a very time-consuming and involved task," Balzano said. "The documentation is an extra burden on faculty. It's a lot of work, but I think it's positive."
Using NCATE documents, she said, forces colleges and universities to take stock as to how everything is related. For example, because education students now need to incorporate liberal arts and sciences in their studies, all course, field experience, performance standards and policies will have to be examined.
The role of the UUP Teacher Education Task Force, she said, can be to introduce colleges that have already gone through the accreditation process to colleges that haven't. Workshops could be held on specific issues, like putting together folios, which include syllabi, numbers, grades, entrance requirements and curriculum vitea of each faculty.
Connery said the task force can also help SUNY colleges with other issues, such as getting certified teachers into urban settings to round out the teacher shortage. SUNY Cortland, for example, is part of an effort among Cortland, New York City and Syra-cuse schools to arrange student-teacher ex-changes so that students get a sense of urban and rural teaching. The Regents will now require prospective teachers to complete field experiences with diverse student populations.
The more that each teacher education program can share, the more the promise that programs can be equally successful.
"The quality of teacher education programs is uneven," states a report called "Teaching to Higher Standards: New York's Commitment" released in July 1998 by the Regents Task Force on Teaching. "As few as 30 percent and as many as 100 percent of the graduates of some colleges pass teacher certification examinations. Only by holding all programs to high standards will we ensure that all teachers are prepared to teach to high standards."
The Board of Regents proposed that teachers obtain their master's degree within two or three years instead of the current five, complete one year of mentored teaching, and engage in continued professional development. As part of its programs, NYSUT has been providing mentors and professional development for teachers who belong to the state union.
 
 

SUNY rejects consultants' upbeat findings

Independent consultants hired by SUNY's Rockefeller Institute have determined that the state university's teacher education programs stack up just fine.
Yet, the Rockefeller Institute - SUNY's public policy research arm - has sent the consultants packing, apparently dismissing their optimistic conclusions. Instead, Institute officials are expected to call for stricter standards for students of education, introduction of a performance-based test on top of the certification exam traditionally required of new teachers, and the opportunity for more flexible state Education Department guidelines.
The Rockefeller Institute's report is in draft form. A final version, complete with recommendations as to how SUNY should restructure its 16 education programs (which include the statutory college at Cornell), is likely to come from a "working group" to be selected by Provost Peter Salins. Appointees are expected to include SUNY faculty members and education deans, along with outside experts and staff from the provost's office and the Rockefeller Institute.
Salins charged the Institute with studying SUNY's education programs which, like many throughout the nation, have been put under a public policy microscope as part of the discussion of education reform. The Institute subsequently hired a three-person team - headed by Gene Hall, dean of education at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas - to conduct the necessary research. The consultants told the Albany Times Union they interviewed more than 100 faculty, administrators and students across New York. They found that SUNY students scored high on the state's teacher certification exam; that they average in the top 95th percentile, above those who went to education programs at private colleges and universities.
The consultants had also suggested that SUNY accept the Regents' recommendations for national accreditation of its teacher education programs and acceleration of master's degree requirements, from five years to either two or three after certification, which is still being debated.
But the trustees, with a political bent usually opposite that of the Regents, are apparently opting to go another way.
In its draft report, SUNY's "think tank" challenged the importance of the scores. Acknowledging that the test results are "encouraging," the Rockefeller Institute proceeded to question the significance of the scores: "their relevance depends on the relevance of the tests to student outcomes, the difficulty of tests, and the pass-fail cut points."
The Institute's report is "not final," said Jon Sorensen, associate vice chancellor for public relations, SUNY System Administration. "It's unfair to draw conclusions from a report that's yet to be written and submitted."
Richard Nathan, Institute director, raised doubts about the proficiency of the consultants that the Institute itself had retained, telling the Times Union that "they didn't do good work. I'm used to dealing with heavyweights."
Hall expressed disillusionment of his own. "I'm very disappointed in Nathan's lack of professionalism" in turning the consultants' study into "a personal slander" on him. "It's clear to me," Hall told The Voice, that "they didn't like what we reported."
Nathan and a senior Rockefeller Institute analyst unveiled the preliminary phase of their report at a recent meeting of the Board of Trustees' Academic Standards Committee. During the New York City meeting, Nathan stated that his role is to present a balanced, empirical report of his findings to the trustees. However, when pressed by committee Chair Candace de Russy about certain issues the Institute is studying - such as alternate routes to teacher certification and SUNY's curricula requirements - Nathan admitted that he has opinions about these matters, which he will discuss within the context of the provost's working group.
The group will review the Institute's reports and the issues raised in them in order to create policy guidelines on teacher preparation for SUNY, and will assess the consultants' findings and the weight they should be given in that context, Nathan said.
While, at the committee meeting, de Russy emphasized "tremendous interest" in receiving the next phase of the Institute's report soon, Salins indicated that the "most important thing" is that the report is "well done and useful in driving" what program changes the trustees implement on SUNY campuses.
 

Modern-day bookmobile?: Education teacher, former pupil use computers to traverse the miles with books, writing

When Geneseo UUPer Marion Fey, an assistant professor of education, said "Keep in touch!" to one of her graduating students, she really put motivation behind her message. That former student is now a high school teacher, and Fey teams up her college students - would-be English teachers - with the students of Geneseo alum Eileen Woods for reading and writing projects.
In Project Read-Write, pairs of Geneseo students are teamed with pairs of ninth-graders from downstate Suffern High School. Once Woods gives her English students reading assignments, Fey's students send them prompts for discussion, via e-mail. When it's time for the high-schoolers to write about the book, their college counterparts will help them by outlining different ways to write essays, such as comparative vs. creative. The freshmen then send their finished assignments to Fey's students, again via the computer, in order to be critiqued and discussed. Fey's students have read some of the same books that Woods' students are critiquing, such as After the First Death by Robert Cormier, and a poem by Dylan Thomas, which inspired the title of the Cormier book.
The Geneseo students are gaining practical classroom experience as part of their preparation for teaching certification. Even on-line, these teachers-to-be are learning to grapple with lesson plans that have to shift because of students missing assignments or absences. They're figuring out how to evaluate students' work without discouraging their efforts, and with Project Read-Write, they have the benefit of learning to do that in a group setting with other aspiring teachers.
Fey is a natural-born cheerleader for computer use. She believes many people feel freer to express opinions - particularly conflict -  behind the safety of a computer screen, rather than facing peers in a classroom.
Also, she said, most students are used to a lecture format. In a computer lab, they are in the center of the discussion. "Collaborative pedagogy!" Fey exclaimed, peppering her enthusiasm with her Southern accent. "It's what I'm all about. It's a dimension that helps students become actively involved. On the computer, they have to say something. I think it increases critical thinking."
Fey was one of the first instructors to use long-distance education courses for Empire State College, she said, when she worked as a part-time mentor for a decade.
Before working with college students, Fey taught for 10 years in public K-12 schools, "specializing," she said, "in grade 11." She announced this with a smile, like a chef recalling the dish she was most famous for creating. At one time, she taught at the campus elementary school at SUNY Brockport for two years. SUNY colleges and universities with teacher education programs used to operate campus schools from kindergarten through eighth grade. Student teachers would work alongside full-time teachers.
"It was so closely connected to the college," Fey said. "We were interacting with college professors as well as students."
Campus schools were most likely eliminated because of a lack of state funding when major budget cuts hit SUNY in the 1980s, according to Ken Goldfarb, SUNY System Administration spokesperson. He said there was also some thinking that the campus schools did not represent an accurate demographic experience for student teachers.
Today, introducing student teachers to diversity is a challenge that colleges are addressing with urban and rural teacher exchanges. Project Read-Write allows education students attending the remote, rural Geneseo college to interact with Woods' Rockland County students.
Lesson plans for preparing tomorrow's teachers must also include preparation for how to meet the new learning standards. Teachers today want to introduce new ideas, Fey said, but they often feel constrained by the amount of material they must cover for standardized exams and focus sharply on test preparation.
Fey staunchly believes this is not the intent of the standards. "The standards don't say read x, y and z. They just say introduce critical thinking. With collaborative teaching, you cover not as much material, but more in-depth. Students learn to think for themselves. I don't see that the standards constrain pedagogy," she said.
 
 

UUPeople
Pipes are musical couple's bag

Jeanne Eichelberger has always marched to the beat of a different drum.
When she lived in Scotland in the 1970s, Eichelberger, a UUP member, appreciated bagpiping as the local music. "I always liked bagpipes," she said, but while a musician in her own right, she didn't play them. They were considered a "man's instrument" due to their military background dating back to the Middle Ages.
It wasn't until Jeanne was working stateside, in the SUNY Binghamton library, that she thought about joining a Highlands band. At a biology department picnic attended by Jeanne and her husband - Henry Eichelberger, manager of the campus' Electron Microscopy Facility - Jeanne's interest was piqued by the department's Chip Devereaux, a piper who was trying to organize a band.
After experimenting for a year on a practice chanter, which Jeanne likened to a "misbegotten recorder that doesn't sound particularly pretty," she knew her "stubbornness quotient" was high enough to tackle the difficult Highlands instrument. "It's intricate fingering," Jeanne said, explaining that pipes have only nine notes so there's "no place to hide."
Henry, a UUPer and member of Binghamton's professional staff since 1985, accompanied Jeanne in her musical travels with the Broome County Celtic Pipes and Drums band, which she joined as the only woman a decade ago. Beginning as his wife's chauffeur and the band's photographer - to make himself useful, he said - Henry several years ago graduated to drumming with the band. They are both members of the Mohawk Valley Frasers bagpiping band, too.
"Drums are easier than bagpipes; once you tune them, they don't give you problems," Henry mused, although he admitted that, as a visual person, he found learning the melodies difficult at first. "I could picture the music in my mind," he said, "but my fingers had to learn what my mind was seeing, and my reflexes had to be precise."
Looking down a microscope eyepiece, Henry said, he sees the recognizable patterns, the structure and the regularity. "To pathologists, it's a very visual thing."
Although he teaches lab skills to upper-class undergrad and graduate students, Henry spends a great deal of his professional time working alone. So, for him, the drumming is a "good social experience," an extracurricular exercise that he really enjoys.
"With drumming, I can be expressive in a dimension other than work," Henry said. "It broadens my life experiences."
This musical couple hails from Lexington, Va., where they were childhood acquaintances. "I recall going to Jeanne's birthday party when she was about 10," Henry said. "What I actually remember," he continued with a smile, "was her grandfather. He had a silent dog whistle and I was fascinated by it."
The biologist and bibliophile resumed their friendship in Lexington when they were "around 40ish," Jeanne said. At the time, she was working in the library and Henry had come home after spending 17 years in Britain, including a stint in charge of the electron microscopy unit at the University of Aberdeen.
Jeanne is now head of special collections and preservation in the Binghamton library. Before she accepted her first campus position in 1986, Jeanne cruised Binghamton's library aisles "considerably," checking out its titles. She reported being very impressed - the library's collections really stacked up.
Having helped with several union mailings and phone banks in recent elections, Jeanne now officially joins UUP's political ranks as a new delegate. It's another role the couple shares, as Henry's been an active delegate for about five years.
 

Link scholars
Making it count: 1999 winners 'link' activism to academics

Lisa Friedberg and Clemmie Harris - the 1999 Eugene P. Link College Scholarship winners - demonstrate that students dedicated to public service, as well as academic success, are alive and well on SUNY campuses. Their past and present activities indicate a deep commitment to social issues and academic excellence - values fostered by the award that honors Eugene Link, a retired history professor at Plattsburgh and a founding member of UUP. Coincidentally, both of this year's commendable, community-spirited students attend SUNY Albany.
A strong foundation was laid for Friedberg's road to activism right at her doorstep. The daughter of two longtime members of unions, including NYSUT, Friedberg spent her formative years near Utica, observing pickets over unfair working conditions and engaging in "lively discussions" about labor issues.
Exploring controversial social and political matters as a member of her high school debate and forensics teams solidified Friedberg's values, she said, where topics centered on the "traditional labor values of justice, equality and the common good."
A political science major in the class of 2000, Friedberg intends for her future to include a career that is "socially relevant" and will "produce a tangible, positive result" in a niche that will impact her strongest convictions regarding the poor, the environment and female equality.
Presently, Friedberg seeks to improve conditions in her "corner of the world" -  at SUNY and in the Albany community. She is active on New York Public Interest Research Group's higher education and environmental committees, and has lobbied against tuition hikes that would have prohibited many poor students from attaining a college education.
Friedberg has a 3.81 grade-point average.
From statewide labor advocate to local scoutmaster and neighborhood mentor, Harris, too, personifies the role of union and community activist.
A native of Buffalo, Harris attributes the 14 years he spent in law enforcement with helping him to "forge an understanding on how public policy works and the importance of unionism in that process." At the Erie County Sheriff's Department, he apprehended and arrested "dead-beat dads." He went on to join the ranks as a State Police officer, where he worked in road patrol, and as a police instructor, hostage negotiator, narcotics investigator, bias crimes specialist and recruiter.
During his tenure as a police officer, Harris testified before the New York State Assembly in support of his union - the New York State Troopers PBA - in its successful quest for improved disability benefits for members.
Previously, returning home after a stint in the military, Harris made a positive impact in his local community. By serving as a Boy Scout troop master, Harris became a role model to many of the young men in his neighborhood who displayed signs that reflected a "lost hope in succeeding beyond the boundaries of their impoverished enclaves," he said.
It was his post-high school membership in a grassroots political organization that empowered communities of color that clarified Harris' professional goals. "I realized then that I wanted a career in public service because it gave me the opportunity to champion the issues of the socially and economically oppressed," he said.
Harris intends to pursue a doctoral degree in public administration. For now, this dedicated SUNY junior with a 3.84 grade-point average will work toward his baccalaureate in American history with a minor in political science. "I realize that education is the key that unlocks the door of opportunity for those who possess the heart to pursue it," he said.
UUP plans to honor Harris and Friedberg for their accomplishments this month during an awards ceremony at the Fall Delegate Assembly in Buffalo.
 
 

Nina Mitchell Award winners
Longtime activists: Three remain committed to union movement

Longtime union activists Jay Bloom, Peter Kane and Paul Martin are this year's recipients of the union's Nina Mitchell Award for Distinguished Service.
The honorees - Bloom, an associate professor of economics at SUNY New Paltz; Kane, a professor of anesthesiology at Syracuse HSC; and Martin, a professor of fine arts at Buffalo State - were scheduled to receive their awards during the Fall Delegate Assembly early this month in Buffalo.
The award was established to recognize UUPers who have served the union with distinction. The award was named in honor of Nina Mitchell (1926-1988), a veteran union activist from Brooklyn HSC.
Bloom, who served as chapter president for 13 years, is most admired by his colleagues for his ability to sign up new union members and to get them active.
As the chapter executive board considered his nomination, the most striking aspect of the discussion was that nearly every board member recalled being invited to participate in the union by Bloom.
In addition to being chapter president, Bloom was vice president for academics and an AFT and NYSUT delegate. He was a UUP delegate for more than two decades and is a past member of UUP's statewide Grievance, Finance and Negotiations committees, as well as the Negotiations Team.
"Jay deserves (this award) for his work for all the faculty, professional staff, students and citizens of the mid-Hudson Valley. We have all benefited from his contributions," his nominators wrote.
Kane, a member of six UUP Negotiations teams including this year's, has an accomplished record of service to the union and to the medical profession.
In addition to his continued work as a longtime UUP delegate and chapter executive board member, Kane offers his expertise to the statewide HSC Concerns Committee. He is a former chapter vice president for academics and a past member of the union's Clinical Practice and Negotiations committees.
While chair of the joint committee on clinical practice, Kane headed a steering group that formed the Professional Liability Insurance Reciprocal (Academic Health Professionals Insurance Association, or AHPIA). This corporation now provides malpractice insurance to more than 1,000 physicians and dentists at SUNY's four health science centers.
"One of (Kane's) statewide activities of which his chapter takes particular pride - but which is relatively unrecognized because of his self-effacing manner - is his role as treasurer of AHPIA," according to the nomination from his chapter executive board. "More than 1,000 of our clinical colleagues are protected on a daily basis as a result of his unique contributions and continued vigilance."
Martin, an 18-year veteran of union negotiations, is known and admired for his calm yet passionate approach to the issues. He is considered a man who "speaks the simple, but powerful, universal language of fairness, due process and strength in unity," according to the nomination from his chapter executive board.
He is tireless in his work as secretary of the Negotiations Team, a role he has played in several rounds of contract talks and one which has earned him the undying respect of his colleagues.
Currently chapter vice president for academics, Martin is a UUP delegate and is vice chair of the statewide Part-time Concerns Committee. He has served as chapter secretary and as a UUP department steward, as well as chair of the chapter Legislative Action Committee. He was also the chapter Employee Assistance Program coordinator from 1984-1994.
"Martin's leadership is quiet and unassuming, but is steady and valued," his nominators wrote. "(His) official record does not disclose his invaluable contribution to the character and spirit of our chapter. ... He is our respected elder statesman."
 
 

Former New York Teacher editor honored

Theodore Bleecker, retired editor-in-chief of New York Teacher, was recently awarded the Albert Shanker Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of lifelong service and dedication to the advancement of the goals of the AFT and the labor movement.
Bleecker, who retired from the NYSUT staff in 1994, was on hand to receive his award during an AFT Communications Association (AFTCA) dinner this summer in Washington, D.C.
"Ted is an example of what we in AFT journalism work for every day - promoting unionism and the cause of public education for the future, assuring our society will continue educating young people who will be the Ted Bleekers of the new millennium," said AFTCA President Peter Boespflug, who handles communications for NYSUT's Division of Field Services.
Bleecker has had a lengthy and distinguished career. He's been a soldier, a teacher, a union organizer and a union editor and journalist.
After teaching Eng-lish in a New York City high school, Bleecker (himself a graduate of the New York City public school and higher education systems),  became an organizer for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, working to organize city employees. From there it was a short step to the staff of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), where he edited its newspaper, the United Teacher. There he worked closely for many years with the award's namesake, who headed the AFT from 1974 until his death in 1997, and led its flagship local, the UFT.
When the UFT's state organization, the Empire State Foundation of Teachers, and the New York State Teachers Association merged in 1972 as New York State United Teachers, he was named editor-in-chief of the merged newspaper, New York Teacher.
During those years, Bleecker also steered a fledgling group of AFT labor communicators in a self-help effort to improve skills and to provide a network to better serve the AFT and the larger labor movement. Originally named the Union Teacher Press Association, that effort today is AFTCA.
"Ted believes ... that our belief in each other and our solidarity makes our jobs better and more secure," Boespflug said. "It makes our lives better. It makes our nation and our world more decent for everyone. That's what Ted has taught us. It's the life Ted has lived."
 
 

Feldman Reich joins UUP as media specialist

Lisa Feldman Reich joined the staff of UUP this summer as the Communications Department's new media specialist.
Most recently the assistant dir-ector of community relations at Westchester Jewish Community Services - a not-for-profit, nonsectarian social service agency - Feldman Reich is a former Putnam County journalist. She will serve as one of the union's primary liaisons to the local, state and national media, articulating UUP's message and getting it out to the public.
A graduate of CUNY's Queens College and the George Washington University National Law Center, Feldman Reich has held previous positions in the Capital District - with the New York State Assembly, Gov. Hugh Carey's office and as a private law practitioner. She and her husband, Frederick Reich, a NYSUT attorney, live with their two children in Albany.
 

SUNY schools again rank high nationally

A recent survey of the nation's best colleges and universities proves that SUNY offers a high-quality education.
Eight SUNY colleges and the four university centers were cited in the 1999 college guide by U.S. News and World Report.
Using 16 areas related to academic excellence, U.S. News and World Report ranked:

•  Geneseo, tied for first among public universities in the North and eighth among public and private schools in the North;
•  Purchase, first among public liberal arts colleges in the North;
•  Binghamton, 22nd among public universities in the nation, among the top 25 most-selective universities nationally, and among the top 120 public and private universities in the country;
•  Maritime, one of the best engineering programs nationally among non-doctoral, degree-granting campuses;
• Fredonia, third-best value among universities in the North, sixth in quality among public universities in the North and 33rd in overall quality in public and private colleges in the North;
• SUNY Buffalo, in the best 120 public and private universities nationally and the best undergraduate engineering programs in the country among research universities;
• SUNY Stony Brook, in the top 120 private and public universities nationally and among the best undergraduate engineering programs in the country among research institutions;
• SUNY Albany, among the top 120 public and private universities nationally;
• New Paltz, Oswego and Plattsburgh, among the 73 best public and private universities in the North; and
• Potsdam, among the top 73 private and public universities in the North and among the second tier of Northern regional public and private universities.

Workers winning more union elections

New federal statistics show that workers are holding and winning more union elections than in previous years, resulting in an increasing number of union members.
The statistics were compiled by the Bureau of National Affairs from National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) data for 1998.
"Today's statistics are good news for American workers because growing unions mean better jobs and stronger communities," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "Unions are on the right track, and are reaching out more than we have in years. We should celebrate this news by redoubling our efforts."
For the first time since the statisticians began counting, workers won half of the elections in which they participated for units of 500 or more. "These larger, concentrated wins are key to building a real voice for workers in this country," said AFL-CIO Organizing Director Kirk Adams. "The lesson here is that unions have been making a real effort to reach out to larger workplaces, and it's working - we are gaining valuable experience and that translates into wins for workers."
Workers won 1,653 elections, or 51.2 percent of elections held in 1998, compared to 1,591 elections, or 50.3 percent of elections held in 1997. The number of elections in 1998 increased to 3,229 from 3,160 in 1997, a 2.2 percent increase. An increased number of elections reflects increased worker interest - in order for an election to even take place, workers must first sign union cards or submit a petition to the NLRB.
The highest win rate was in the finance, insurance and real estate industries, where workers won nearly 84 percent of 31 elections. Workers won more than half the elections in health care services; general services; transportation, communications and utilities; retail; and construction.
In addition, the NLRB statistics do not include some of the largest organizing wins in 1998, which occurred under the National Railway Labor Act or through employer recognition of majority worker support outside an election process.
At least 475,000 workers formed new unions at their workplaces in 1998, according to union statistics. Some notable organizing wins for workers in 1998 included: 4,336 Bellagio Hotel workers in Las Vegas joined the Hotel Employees and Restaurant employees; 19,000 United Airlines customer-service representatives joined the Machinists union; 4,600 Thrifty-Rite Aid employees joined the United Food and Commercial Workers; and 64,100 workers joined the Service Employees International Union, including more hospital workers than in the previous five years combined.
Union membership rose for the first time in years in 1998 - by more than 100,000 - according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released in January 1999. The number of union members in the U.S. rose from 16.1 million to 16.2 million. Because of a loss of manufacturing jobs, due to weakness in the global economy, the share of the work force belonging to unions declined from 14.1 percent to 13.9 percent.
 

Voice picks up international awards

The Voice has been honored for outstanding writing, subject matter and design by a panel of experts in an international journalism competition.
UUP's monthly magazine won two first-place and two second-place awards in the International Labor Communications Association (ILCA) contest for publications produced in 1998.
The Voice won first-place for general excellence for its November and December 1998 issues, which featured articles on academic freedom and SUNY programs that meet the diverse needs of students, as well as eye-catching four-color cover photographs.
"This is a standout publication," the judges commented. "Well-designed, well-written, interesting material presented in an interesting way."
The November 1998 cover photo, taken by Albany photographer Tim Raab, also helped the union win first-place honors for best front page and second-place kudos for best original photo. With the headline "Bound and determined," the photograph was a dramatic presentation of SUNY workers bound, gagged and blindfolded, representing the struggles faced by UUPers when trustees challenged their academic freedom.
"This technically bold and stylish effort works well, but is rarely seen in our publications," the judges wrote.
UUP President William Scheuerman's January 1998 column, "Rallying around Socrates in New Paltz," won second-place honors.
"Taking a scholarly philosophical approach, this column ... stressed the need to safeguard the free exchange of ideas at colleges and universities," the judges wrote.
This year, there were 1,343 entries submitted by 165 member publications.
Judges included John Anderson of The Washington Post art department; Chiaki Kawajiri, news photographer, The Baltimore Sun; Sam Pizzigati, director of publishing, National Education Association; and a host of retired writers and editors from various AFL-CIO publications.
 

Former AFL-CIO head Lane Kirkland dies

Lane Kirkland, who led the AFL-CIO for more than 15 years, died in August of lung cancer at the age of 77.
Kirkland, who resigned as AFL-CIO president in 1995, together with his longtime friend George Meany, led the American labor movement for more than 45 years. Meany became president of the American Federation of Labor in 1952 and of the AFL-CIO in 1955, when the labor federation merged with the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
After WWII, Joseph Lane Kirkland - whom everyone called Lane - entered the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Graduating in 1948, he went to work as a researcher with the AFL, becoming a specialist on pensions and Social Security. In 1958, Kirkland was named director of research and education for the International Union of Operating Engineers, but in 1960 returned to the labor federation as Meany's executive assistant. Kirkland took over as president in 1979.
 

Financial counseling program available

The Financial Counseling Program brought to UUP bargaining unit members by Ernst & Young LLP through NYSUT Benefit Trust can help with the many issues, large and small, that affect your financial security.
The program includes four main features:  HelpLine; Focused Financial Analyses; Understanding Personal Finances newsletter; and referral for an in-person financial planning consultation.
Participants can call the HelpLine for answers to financial planning concerns and for information on the program. Because Ernst & Young sells no financial products, members are assured of receiving objective guidance, based on their needs.
Members can easily assess their current financial situation in relation to their desired goal by requesting a Focused Financial Analysis. Members select a topic from a menu of financial planning areas. Answers to a targeted questionnaire provide the basis for personalization of the report, which also suggests savings strategies, action steps and planning resources.
Understanding Personal Finances includes questions and answers from the HelpLine and other fiscal planning topics.
Participants can request, through the HelpLine, an in-person financial planning consultation. NYSUT Benefit Trust has arranged for Aetna Financial Services Inc.'s certified financial planners to assist members on an as-requested basis.
The annual fee for the financial counseling program is $79, which is reduced to $73 when purchased through payroll or pension deduction. Members not completely satisfied with the coverage should return the certificate and HelpLine wallet card within 30 days to NYSUT Benefit Trust for a full refund.
For more information, call NYSUT Benefit Trust at (800) 626-8101.
 

Letter to the editor: Stony Brook is tops in research grants at SUNY university centers

To the Editor:
We at Stony Brook read the May/June 1999 issue of The Voice with great interest. In particular, we were pleased to see the attention given to sponsored research in the article "Grant expectations," by Liza Frenette (Pages 6-7).
Nevertheless, we feel it is important to correct a possible misunderstanding about the relative volumes of sponsored research at the four university centers. The figure of $112 million quoted for Stony Brook represented the sponsored project expenditures recorded by the Stony Brook campus through the Research Foundation during the 1997-98 fiscal year. Stony Brook has traditionally reported its grant and contract activity by this measure to avoid the problems that arise when one uses "awards." For example, a $10 million award made for a period of five years results, on average, in expenditures of $2 million/year.
While we do not wish to detract from the accomplishments of our sister institutions at Buffalo and at Albany, the numbers they reported were certainly of the latter type. The National Science Foundation (NSF) publishes probably the most reliable comparative measure of sponsored project activity at universities on an annual basis. The most recent year reported by the NSF showed the following for the four university centers in the 1996-97 fiscal year:
 Federal Total
 expenditures ($M) expenditures ($M)
Binghamton 6,218 19,310
Albany 58,861 73,086
Buffalo 78,092 135,663
Stony Brook 86,568 136,624
We would appreciate you advising your readers that the numbers in the above referenced article, while probably not incorrect, were certainly not comparable.
Gail S. Habicht
Vice President for Research, Stony Brook
 

(Editor's response:  Figures for the amount of research grants awarded to Stony Brook were obtained from the university center's office of public relations. Similarly, figures for all the university centers were obtained from their respective PR offices. The article also clearly stated that "... each campus's research figures vary widely, depending on whether they include amounts allocated to centers and foundations located at their campus.")
 

The Last Word:
From the Halls of SUNY Central
LCA spoof targets SUNY's 'activist' trustees

(Editor's note:  The Legislative Correspondents Association performed the following number during its annual dinner at which state government - and those who are part of it - are lampooned. It was sung to the tune of The Marine's Hymn.)

Trustees, et. al:  From the Halls of SUNY Central
   To the campuses downstate
   We will fight Pataki's battles
   With the faculty ingrates

   We will cancel liberal courses
   And suppress left-wing ideas
   We will instill family values
   We're Pataki's new trustees
 

Trustee Edward Cox: We will make administrators
   Toe the line or hit the road
   If they hold a lesbian conference
   We will enter battle mode
 

Provost Peter Salins: We will banish multicultural
   And restore the syllabus
 

All:   We will make sure ultra-liberals
   Are not SUNY presidents

   We will cut the campus budgets
   Trim the fat down to the bone
   We will raise tuition levels
   To the stratospheric zone

   If they do not graduate on time
   Kick their asses out the door
   No more coddling SUNY slackers
   We're Pataki's new strike force.