NYPIRG to remain at Buffalo State for another four years
By Carlene Peterson

The Buffalo State College chapter of the New York Public Interest Research Group won last week's referendum in a landslide . The referendum was held so BSC students had the opportunity to decide whether or not to continue to support NYPIRG through the student activity fee for the next four years.

The student activity fee supports all student organizations on campus. If NYPRG lost the referendum, BSC would end it's financial support.

According to figures released by the Student Life Office at BSC, 1,325 students voted. Of those students, 1,048 students voted in the NYPIRG elections. A total of 955 of those students voted yes for NYPIRG . Josh Turner, project coordinator for NYPIRG at BSC, said he was impressed with the turnout.

"We had more people vote yes this year than the number of people who turned out for the entire NYPIRG referendum in 2000," Turner said. "It sends a strong message that students overwhelmingly support NYPIRG."

Both Student Life and USG were unable to produce information about past voting numbers.

Turner said the week before the elections, NYPIRG used every means its members and volunteers could think of to get students to vote in the election . Members of NYPIRG spent hours on the phone, calling students and reminding them to vote. Hundreds of fliers were passed out. Brightly colored stickers adorned the jackets and book bags of many students.

Andrew Turton, who serves on NYPIRG's board of directors, said NYPIRG has a lot of upcoming plans now that it has been voted in for another four years.

"We're going to be doing a voter registration drive for the presidential election next year," Turton said, about the upcoming academic year. "I'm hoping that next year, the people who voted in the student elections will vote in the presidential elections."

NYPIRG plans on focusing on several things next academic year, including:

  • increasing awareness about sweatshops
  • concentrating on environmental issues
  • lobbying elected officials to keep tuition low
  • lobbying elected officials to keep tuition assistance high