What will it take to get a response? What will it take for students, faculty and, most importantly, the administration to pay attention to what's right in front of their eyes?
I walked into the UB Council meeting on Monday morning expecting to hear at least one council member ask President Tripathi and Dennis Black about The Spectrum's latest press. I thought maybe, just maybe, the principal oversight of the administration - the advisory body that is supposed to keep an eye on everything the senior officers of this university do and how it affects students - would care for once about what is happening outside UB's door.
If students can't get the administration to pay attention to problems in the University Heights, surely a group of some of the most powerful men and women in Western New York could convince them.
Instead, it was yet another hour of fancy PowerPoint slides, empty plans and more clich?(c)s about UB 2020 than I can count.
Are you satisfied?
I was almost certain the Heights had to be mentioned in the meeting. After all, Black - the vice president for University Life and Services who was quoted saying UB is "not in the protection business" in last Monday's "The Heights of Fear" - and Tripathi - who wrote an ambiguous response to all of the press, entitled "Enriching Our Communities" - were present and presented during the meeting.
Not one council member, when given the opportunity, asked Black or Tripathi about their respective comments. And Tripathi only could discuss how "Realizing UB 2020" has advanced in the vaguest terms possible.
Black even gave a presentation about "student life and satisfaction." Am I na??ve for thinking safety in the Heights falls under that topic?
Black didn't think it was worth mentioning.
Instead, he discussed a SUNY survey in which a majority of 1,727 UB students polled said they were dissatisfied with parking, the bookstore and the student newspaper.
The survey, administered every three years by SUNY Institutional Research, is given to 75,000 undergraduate students across SUNY's 64 campuses, including the four university centers - UB, Stony Brook, Albany and Binghamton.
The information collected, in turn, is released to the home campuses to support "planning and processes, including enrollment planning, Mission Review, budget allocation, teacher education, SUNY's Master Plan and campus assessment," according to SUNY's website.
According to Black, the survey helps Student Life gauge level of participation (how many students are using campus services), satisfaction (the degree to which they get fulfilled by the services) and impact (does it move students toward their prize or degree?).
And according to results, Black said during the meeting, UB ranks highest in SUNY in overall school satisfaction, including 22 services provided to students.
UB is also "on par" with the other university centers and above the other four-year institutions with students' sense of safety on campus, Black said.
But the lack of parking, overpriced bookstore and the student newspaper - which is completely detached from the university, both financially and operationally - are the only issues students see on campus?
Maybe I'm missing the point. God knows parking is awful on campus - my 20-minute search for a spot every morning proves that - and I haven't willingly bought a book from the bookstore since my freshman year days. But The Spectrum, completely autonomous and without a formal journalism major to back up five national awards in the past two years, is clearly doing something wrong.
And safety on campus isn't a problem? I forgot University Heights is off campus and therefore doesn't exist in the university's eyes. How silly of me.
Students: we've heard your feedback on the Heights. You've written us letters, left comments on articles on our website and stopped in our office to voice your concerns. You've seen Tripathi's response on our front page.
And, yet, the administration and the higher-ups who govern UB's most senior officers can't even acknowledge something completely in their sights and instead choose to turn a blind eye. I want to believe the council members are more than a bunch of rich people concerned with stuffing their pockets as UB grows.
On Monday afternoon, I sent our reporting, local news station WIVB's reporting and Tripathi's letter to the UB Council via the email form on its website. I asked if someone - anyone - on the council had noticed the issues and if there is any sort of response at one of the highest levels of this university.
To those of you reading this, and if you care as much as we've seen this past week, I urge you to do the same. Don't be content with silence.
Email: rebecca.bratek@ubspectrum.com
