Nearly 75 students - bundled in hats, scarves and thick winter jackets - braved the cold Tuesday to attend a Student Association-sponsored rally protesting Gov. George E. Pataki's proposed $1,200 SUNY tuition increase and cuts to financial aid programs such as the Tuition Assistance Program and the Educational Opportunity Program.
The rally marked the beginning of the New York Public Interest Research Group's "No Tuition Hike," a 561-mile relay hike from Buffalo to Albany that will last three weeks.
"It's not going to be as cold of a day as it will when those students can't go back to school," said Mike Davoli, Western New York regional coordinator for NYPIRG. "I'll bear it for a day. I'll bear it for three weeks if I have to."
Despite chilly temperatures that dipped to 13 degrees, the students huddled together outside the Student Union. Many of the students proceeded to hike to Erie Community College to meet up with students from Buffalo State College.
Once the students from the two schools met at E.C.C., they began their journey to Pembroke, N.Y., where more students joined the hike.
According Davoli, the group plans to arrive in Rochester on Thursday and will hold a press conference at Brockport College's downtown campus on Friday morning.
"And from there, they'll continue on to Syracuse and Oswego and ESF (SUNY Environmental Science and Forrestry) and all those other schools," said Davoli.
The participating students will carry a cardboard tube - representing a diploma - filled with the signatures of students who oppose the proposed tuition hike, along with the proposed cuts to TAP and EOP.
"That diploma, just like the Olympic torch, will be handed off from one student to another," said Davoli.
According to Davoli, the petitions - addressed to SUNY Chancellor Robert King and Chairman of the SUNY Board of Trustees Thomas Egan - will be presented at the conclusion of the hike in Albany on March 10.
The group in the Union swelled as students and NYPIRG members went through the crowd to gather last-minute signatures and dole out large signs scrawled in magic markers.
Poster board signs taped to yardsticks proclaimed "Albany or bust," "TAP our education, not our wallets" and "Pataki is screwing freshman girls."
The crowd cheered as members of NYPIRG hoisted a cardboard Pataki figure into the air. The figure was adorned with a necktie made of money and sported two faces. On the front, the figure wore a smile and on the reverse side, an angry expression.
Onlookers pooled outside the Union as the rally got underway, many representing SA and various organizations. Others students joined the crowd, which chanted "fight the hike" as they got off the buses at the Lee Loop.
Despite the fact that Matt Schrantz, a senior history major, is graduating and will not have to pay the increased tuition, he said it was important for him to attend the rally.
"I think it says something that there are a lot of people graduating who are still involved," Schrantz said. "They're not directly impacted, but they see the backwardness of the action."
He said the number of students marching towards Albany would be an impressive show to legislators.
"The trek of people across the state has a lot more impact than just having people gather at the capital," said Schrantz.
Ariane Fulk, a freshman art major, said students who do not stand up against the proposed 35 percent tuition increase will have no right to complain about it.
While Fulk said she is unsure what the hike to Albany will accomplish, she said it is better than doing nothing.
"I mean, it's the best we can do, let's just leave it at that," she said. "It's the most we can do; we may as well try."
SA Vice President Jennifer Brace stood before the crowd, as music blared in the background.
"SUNY is currently the 15th most expensive education in the country," Brace said. "After the hike, we will be the fifth most expensive education."
The crowd responded to Brace's statement with boos.
"We will not allow politicians to gamble our future away," she said.
Representatives from EOP and the Black Student Union also spoke about what the proposed cuts will mean to students on campus.
Deidra McBean, president of the Black Student Union, said that without EOP, many students, especially minorities, might not be able to return to UB in the fall.
"There will be no diversity," McBean said. "That's what makes UB great, is that we're so diverse."
Although Essence Chestnut, a freshman communication major, could not participate in the hike, she said she attended the rally because she is an EOP student.
"More people should have been here," Chestnut said, "unless they're rich and don't care."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
