AUGUST 27, 1998-vol30n1: Mail

VOLUME 30, NUMBER 1 THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1998

The Mail

UB is the big loser with the "new and improved" RAM system

Dear Colleagues:

RAM does not bring in more money to UB. In fact, UB is the big loser with the RAM system. You may have received a copy of Bob Wagner's letter regarding RAM, as I did. In it, he carefully states that "the overall SUNY budget is adequate to cover spending in 1998-99 for negotiated salary increases and budgeted inflation." This is correct, but doesn't address the issue of whether UB received enough to cover those expenses.

UB received $221.5 million for 1997-98. Then the Executive Budget allocation for 1998-99 was $232.2 million, an increase of almost $10.7 million, or 4.8 percent. Then SUNY used RAM to recalculate our allotment, and with the "new and improved" RAM system we were awarded a lower amount. Now the figures differ.

SUNY figures, according to UUP, show UB receiving only $229 million. Bob Wagner's letter says UB received $230.1 million. Either way, SUNY chopped a big chunk off of the allocation planned in the Governor's Budget. Wagner's letter doesn't mention the Executive Budget.

Part of UB's allocation is "revenue" and the other part is state tax support. Wagner says $77.7 million is "revenue" from student tuition and fees and other income. If there is a "shortfall" we take a hit, but if we bring in more revenue, it stays on campus.

Obviously, one of the UB administration's hobby horses for many years has been independence from SUNY. This will be a test, it seems, of whether this campus, or other SUNY campuses, can survive as competing colleges, living off tuition and fees, football ticket sales, alumni donations, etc. I expect we'll hear a lot of pep talks on recruitment and retention for survival, in the next couple semesters.

The administration apparently likes the new rules. Some of us feel quite differently. It's one thing to gamble with one's own money and future, but the future of SUNY doesn't belong to any of us as individuals. SUNY should remain publicly funded, accessible to all students, low-priced and geographically dispersed so that anyone can find at least the basics nearby. Now that the gap between wealthy and poor New Yorkers is growing, it's no time to make SUNY less accessible to all.

-Jean Dickson, Associate Librarian, Lockwood Library

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