Tier V, the new public employee retirement plan for most state employees hired after Jan. 1, 2010, is now in place.
Gov. Paterson signed the bill into law in December shortly after its passage by both houses of the Legislature during a special session called to reduce the state’s budget deficit.
Notably, UUP has dodged the bullet—for now. The new tier does not apply to most new UUP members, the majority of whom enroll in an Optional Retirement Plan (ORP), which are not subject to Tier V. As a result, UUP bargaining unit members enrolled in an ORP will continue to contribute 3 percent of their income for the first 10 years of service.
This contrasts with the changes to the state’s two other pension systems. New hires who enroll in the Employees Retirement System (ERS) and the Teachers Retirement System (TRS) are required to contribute toward their pensions for the duration of their employment. ERS participants pay 3 percent; TRS participants pay 3.5 percent.
Additionally, new employees enrolled in ERS cannot retire without penalty until age 62 and after 30 years of service. New TRS enrollees cannot retire without penalty until age 57 and after 30 years of service.
The state’s two largest public employee unions—the Civil Service Employees Association and the Public Employees Federation—agreed to the establishment of Tier V in exchange for the state’s promise not to lay off 8,900 state employees. (Donald Feldstein)
Farmingdale Chapter President Yolanda Pauze was a study in concentration as she sat in the cockpit of the new flight simulator, her eyes fixed on the computer screen straight ahead.
“Wow, this is amazing,” Pauze said. “It’s like being in an actual airplane.”
That’s why students and instructors at Farmingdale’s aviation program are so excited about the acquisition of the $90,000 simulator—a device the college wouldn’t have without the initiative and persistence of Farmingdale UUPer Barbara Maertz. Maertz was instrumental in helping the college secure a state grant that paid for the training device.
From its controls to its instruments and Global Positioning System (GPS), the Frasca flight training device is a replica of cockpits found in single- and double-engine aircraft. Students can practice taxiing up the runway, taking off, cruising, descending and landing, while their instructor—sitting at a computer just to the side of the simulator—feeds in real-time scenarios and weather hurdles, such as snow, clouds and rain.
The simulator was unveiled during a Dec. 10 press conference at Farmingdale’s Aviation Center at Republic Airport.
“It’s a true representation of what can happen in the air,” said Mike Hughes, a UUPer and the aviation program’s director of operations. “It’s the best possible way to teach and save dollars.”
“Students can practice emergency situations, like fire, smoke in the cockpit, engine-out procedures and navigation problems, that are too dangerous to do in the air,” said Farmingdale UUPer Steve Campbell, the aviation program’s chief pilot. “No one will ever crash and burn using a simulator.”
The quest for a new simulator began seven years ago, when Campbell met with Maertz and asked if there was anything UUP could do to help secure funding for a new flight simulator. The aviation program, one of the oldest in the country, has been using older flight training devices that are still in use but are not compatible with GPS systems.
Maertz took the request to Assemblyman Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), who eventually secured a grant through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) also aided in delivering the dollars.
But bureaucratic red tape from the state, tie-ups due to the grant being linked to another Farmingdale project that never took off, and delays by the school’s administration to place an order for the simulator kept the apparatus out of reach for a long time, she said.
“It took a while, but we were finally able to make this project a reality and the union membership is thrilled,” said Maertz. “I am very proud to have had a part in this.”
During the press conference, Sweeney acknowledged Maertz’s efforts, saying that she “doggedly persisted” until the grant was awarded.
“I have to say that this wouldn’t have happened without the union,” Campbell said. “Barbara had the contacts, she set up the appointments. It was the union that kept asking administrators where things were, that kept following up.”
The state-of-the-art device is approved for use by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It will allow students to gain crucial flight experience time without stepping in a plane—and with less stress on their wallets.
Students, who pay as much as $200 per hour to fly with an instructor (students usually fly two-hour sessions), will pay between $40 and $45 an hour to use the flight training device, said Sarah Kilkenny, an aviation program senior.
“The feel of the flight simulator is so realistic,” said Kilkenny, who has more than 400 hours of FAA-certified flight time. “All the controls and instruments are the same. And the best thing is you can freeze the (simulator), turn around and ask your instructor what you did wrong.”
To earn a four-year bachelor of science degree and become an entry-level pilot, students must complete 64 credits of liberal arts and science courses and 65 credits of aviation and flight courses. Students can also earn a number of pilot certificates, including certified flight Instructor (CFI), CFI multiengine instructor, and private pilot certificate.
Kilkenny and Farmingdale senior aviation student Ray Castaldini said they plan to make good use of the simulator, as will the rest of the 60-plus aviation students, Hughes said.
“It will certainly help us attract students when they see it at our open houses,” Campbell said. “They get excited when they see things like this.”
Each year, SUNY and numerous academic and professional groups honor hundreds of UUP members for outstanding accomplishments in their disciplines, on campus and in the communities. The Voice is pleased to recognize four of these members.
• Buffalo State’s Ann Colley was recently appointed to the rank of distinguished professor in recognition of her work as a leading scholar of the Victorian period. Colley is also the sole author of five highly acclaimed books published in the U.S. and abroad.
A Senior Fulbright Scholar in Poland and the Ukraine, Colley has a long list of accomplishments, including an invitation to write a scholarly review of all 19th century studies published in 2007-2008 for Studies in English Literature.
• SUNYIT’s Joanne Joseph, an associate professor of psychology, and Patricia Murphy, an assistant professor of social sciences and humanities, have co-authored Voices of Resilience: Breast Cancer Survivor Narratives from the Mohawk Valley, which is being used to help newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.
Funded by a grant from Golfing for Breast Cancer and accomplished with the help of students, Voices of Resilience is one of a number of service-based learning and community based research projects at SUNYIT.
• Anne Panning, a professor of English at SUNY Brockport and co-director of the Brockport Writers Forum, was named 2009 New York Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. The award recognizes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country.
Panning is the author of Super America: Stories and a Novella, which received both the 2009 Lillian Fairchild Award for a Rochester-area resident who has produced the best literary work during the past year, and the 2006 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction.
It’s been a year since UUPer Arturo O’Farrill won a Grammy Award for best Latin jazz album and he’s still jazzed about it.
“I’m still pretty amazed,” said O’Farrill, the director of the Purchase College Jazz Orchestra and head of Purchase’s Latin Jazz program. “We were up against some really big record companies. I guess … we were lucky.”
It was a lot more than luck that O’Farrill’s 2008 album, “Song for Chico,” beat out the likes of Latin jazz masters Papo Vasquez, Nestor Torres and the Caribbean Jazz Project for the Grammy.
The album, which honors his father, Chico, a big band leader and Latin jazz trailblazer who wrote and arranged music for Benny Goodman, Stan Kenton and Count Basie, seamlessly blends bebop and Afro-Cuban musical stylings with Arturo’s sassy, modern arrangements. The record, which features O’Farrill on piano backed by his hot Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, includes versions of “Caravan,” (made popular by Duke Ellington), Tito Puente’s “Picadillo,” and two of his father’s songs, “Cuban Blues” and “The Journey.”
“It kind of becomes a tribute to Chico because we patterned ourselves on what he did,” said O’Farrill. “I’m only doing as I was taught and what my children will do, hopefully. Teach them the music and that’s what makes it relevant.”
For O’Farrill, who has released more than half-dozen albums, including his latest “Risa Negra,” teaching music is a passion, just as playing music is a passion. And teaching at Purchase is, in a word, wonderful, he said.
“I was really floored when I joined the faculty and found (Purchase) to be one of the nation’s top-level conservatories” he said. “I don’t do this for the money, I do it as a choice.”
“My one regret in teaching is that I don’t have the time to devote to it that I wish I did. It’s a heavy responsibility and I take it very seriously.
“One of the most important people in my life was an American history teacher I had in college,” he continued. “This guy changed my life. For me, standing up in front of a group of students and doing anything less than being completely integral with them is a sham. My performance career is very alive, but I wish I was a better administrator of my time.”
He’s right about his performance career. For starters, O’Farrill has had a standing Sunday night gig at New York City’s famed Birdland for the last 14 years, leading his father’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. He released two albums in 2008, “Song for Chico” and “In These Shoes,” a collaboration with vocalist Claudia Acuna on the Zoho Music label.
“Risa Negra,” featuring O’Farrill’s wife, Alison, and children (14-year-old trumpeter Adam and 17-year-old drummer Zachary), was released in October 2009.
The album won rave reviews from the likes of JazzReview magazine, which called it “one of the best of 2009, count on it.”
“This was really a labor of love for me and I’m really proud of it,” he said. “It’s a record that my wife plays on and my kids play on, and all the people on this record are family members.”
O’Farrill can’t hide his pride when he conducts Purchase’s Latin Jazz Orchestra, which he did in December in the college’s Performing Arts Center. The orchestra, made up of students from the School of the Arts Conservatory of Music, performed seven selections, including Chico O’Farrill’s “Manteca Suite,” and the title track from “Song for Chico.”
“I care a lot about the music and I always want the music to come out and reach people on the inside,” O’Farrill said.
The Binghamton Chapter of UUP had concerns about campus security prior to a fatal stabbing on campus last December, according to Binghamton Chapter President Darryl Wood. Now, the chapter is spearheading the review of procedures dealing with campus violence.
“The discussion began only after we brought up the issue at December’s joint labor/management meeting,” Wood said. The discussion dealt with the handling of campus communications immediately after the incident and what Wood described as “perceived holes in the alert system.”
Former UUP member Richard Antoun, 77, died after being stabbed in his campus office Dec. 6. Authorities charged a 46-year-old post-graduate student, Abdulsalam al-Zahrani, with his murder.
Wood said the union and the administration are involved in ongoing conversations about current policy and procedures. For example, the chapter contended that the online training provided to faculty on campus violence was inadequate. Now, Wood said that training program is being revised and is due to change by April.
Also, a UUPer at Binghamton with extensive experience studying school violence is out with a report that recommends how to spot the potential for campus violence.
UUPer Mary Muscari lists examples of risk factors and warning signs for violence. She considers her most important recommendation as having individuals contact the police immediately when they see others display ominous warning signs, such as the intent to cause harm or those who direct violence toward inanimate objects.
Muscari, a forensic nurse whose expertise includes membership on the Pennsylvania Sexual Offender Assessment Board, said her suggestions can fit the needs of other campuses: “Campuswide education is critical. The outcome of ignoring potential warning signs can be and have been devastating.”
“While it isn’t possible to prevent every violent episode, we must work together as a community to assure that our campuses are as safe as possible,” she added.
Her report can be found on the UUP Binghamton Chapter Web site at www.uuphost.org/binghamton.
— Donald Feldstein
Warning signs—Preoccupation with weapons and/or acts of violence; animal cruelty; violence toward inanimate objects; inappropriate use and possession of weapons; severe rage for apparently minor reasons; stalking behaviors; stated intention to harm someone (verbal, written, electronic)
UUP’s statewide affiliate NYSUT has elected a new executive vice president and promoted a longtime employee to serve as UUP director of staff.
Executive Vice President Andy Pallotta, a veteran New York City public school educator and United Federation of Teachers (UFT) leader, will head NYSUT’s Legislative and Political Action Department. He was elected by the NYSUT Board of Directors to succeed Alan Lubin, who retired last month after serving more than 16 years in the statewide post.
Pallotta, an art and physical education teacher at PS 32 in the Fordham section of the Bronx, has spent 24 years in the classroom. As the UFT’s District 10 representative since September 2006, Pallotta served extensively in a wide range of negotiating, lobbying, political outreach and community-relations roles.
He also has served as a delegate to UFT, NYSUT and American Federation of Teachers conventions and as a member of the UFT Executive Board.
Meanwhile, NYSUT staffer Martin Coffey was promoted in mid-December to UUP director of staff. He replaces Peter Martineau, who accepted another position in NYSUT.
Coffey served as the union’s associate director of staff since 2006. In his new role, he will assist in managing the administration of the UUP contract and will oversee the 10 labor relations specialists who protect members’ terms and conditions of employment.
Prior to serving as associate director of staff, Coffey spent more than a decade as a labor relations specialist covering several UUP chapters, including Albany, Canton, Central Administration, Cobleskill, Empire State College, the New York State Theatre Institute, Plattsburgh and Potsdam.
In accordance with UUP Delegate Assembly policy, candidates running for statewide elective positions may have statements printed in The Voice, which is mailed to all bargaining unit members.
The following provisions apply:
• Candidates may submit a statement of up to 500 words and a photo for publication in The Voice. Lengthier statements will be set in smaller type to give all candidates equal space.
Candidates are urged to contact UUP Director of Communications Denyce Duncan Lacy for a copy of the guidelines used by The Voice when reprinting statements.
• Send statements and photos to the attention of Lacy. They must be received at the UUP Administrative Office, P.O. Box 15143, Albany, N.Y. 12212, by the close of business Friday, March 5.
• Statements will be published by order of election and in alphabetical order in even-numbered years and in reverse alphabetical order in odd-numbered years.
• Candidate statements must be typed and double-spaced.
Candidates are encouraged to submit statements and photos by e-mail, or on computer disk accompanied by a typed copy. E-mail versions should be sent to Lacy at ddlacy@uupmail.org (and CC’d to kmattiso@uupmail.org).
Note: UUP policy prohibits the use of any UUP or state equipment and/or resources (including e-mail) to produce or distribute campaign material for UUP?elections.
Statements will be published in the April issue of The Voice.
The UUP Executive Board in November 2008 adopted a policy on the distribution of campaign materials, which was published in the December 2008 issue of The Voice.
Copies of the policy are available on the UUP Web site at www.uupinfo.org, as well as at UUP chapter offices or by calling Secretary Eileen Landy at (800) 342-4206.
The importance of having a will—to protect loved ones and ensure one’s wishes are carried out—cannot be stressed enough.
This is especially true when there are children under the age of 18 or dependents with special needs. A will allows for guardians to be legally named for one’s children. It also ensures estate distribution according to one’s wishes. Without an executed will, these very important, personal decisions are made by the state.
The NYSUT Member Benefits Trust-endorsed Legal Service Plan provides one Legal Security Package each year of plan enrollment. The package includes forms to create a simple will, durable power of attorney, living will and health care proxy.
The plan provides access to unlimited, toll-free legal advice from plan attorneys, who will make phone calls and write correspondence on the participant’s behalf, at no charge, to resolve legal situations before they become major problems.
In addition, the purchase of this plan includes coupons for free consultations with a plan attorney.
With the Legal Service Plan, participants receive legal assistance with a variety of legal matters. Many other benefits are provided with enrollment in the plan, including plan attorneys located nationwide who charge discounted hourly rates; guaranteed maximum fees on a number of personal legal matters; advice and guidance on identity theft, debt consolidation and mortgage foreclosure; and a legal newsletter covering consumer-oriented issues.
Optional riders providing benefits in the areas of elder law and business protection can be purchased to provide specialized benefits to the plan.
For information, contact NYSUT Member Benefits at (800) 626-8101 or visit www.memberbenefits.nysut.org.
For information about contractual expense reimbursement/endorsement arrangements with providers of endorsed programs, please contact NYSUT Member Benefits or refer to your NYSUT Member Benefits Trust Summary Plan Description. Agency fee payers to NYSUT are eligible to participate in NYSUT Member Benefits-endorsed programs.
The UUP Member Services Trust is pleased to announce two new, voluntary benefits available to UUP bargaining unit members through the American Family Life Assurance Company (AFLAC).
As of Jan. 1, AFLAC is on board to offer low-cost accident and cancer insurance policies that pay cash benefits when a policyholder has a covered accident or illness.
UUPers receive a discount of up to 40 percent off the regular prices for these quality insurance products.
AFLAC agents will come to chapters to enroll members into these programs. Contact me and I’ll work with your chapter president to arrange a meeting for you and your colleagues.
Payroll deduction is available for active members. Retiree members will be assigned an agent and billing will be direct.
As The Voice went to press, UUP Member Services Trust and AFLAC were working on establishing an enrollment schedule for 2010. Watch for details.
Accident Protection Plan—The Accident policy is one way to stay ahead of the medical and out-of-pocket expenses that add up quickly after an accidental injury. The payment can be used for any expense you want, including emergency treatment, hospital stays, medical exams, transportation and lodging needs. You will receive cash benefits for these and other expenses that may not be fully covered by your major medical insurance, such as lacerations, broken teeth, concussions, intensive care treatment, ambulance (ground and air) and emergency room visits.
Cancer Protection Plan—AFLAC’s cancer insurance policy is designed to provide you with cash benefits upon diagnosis and during covered cancer treatments. It can also help protect your income and savings from expenses that aren’t covered by your major medical health insurance policy, including deductibles and co-pays, out-of-network specialists, experimental treatments, travel/lodging when treatment is far from home, child care, and expenses, such as car, mortgage and utility bills.
Quick facts about AFLAC:
• Major medical pays for doctors and hospitals. AFLAC pays cash benefits directly to you to help with everyday expenses when you’re sick or hurt.
• AFLAC has a range of products that fit most budgets. The rates don’t go up when you file a claim.
• Benefits are pre-determined and paid regardless of other policies you may have.
• The policy goes with you when you change jobs.
• AFLAC claims are processed quickly, usually within four days.
• AFLAC pays benefits for preventive measures such as a routine physical, mammogram, or an eye exam, where available.
AFLAC-NY’s Accident Only and Cancer Coverage is a UUP Member Services Trust-endorsed program. Member Services has an endorsement arrangement providing a small payment to it for the insurance policies issued. All such payments to Member Services are used solely to defray the costs of administering its various programs and, where appropriate, to enhance them. Member Services acts as your advocate; contact Member Services at (800) 342-4206 if you experience a problem with any endorsed program.
As with freedom of the press, academic freedom’s basis is in the First Amendment right of freedom of speech. Both have come under fire by those in power who have seen reporters and professors as standing in the way of their prerogatives. The U.S. courts have never looked at freedom of speech as an absolute right, but have looked to balance the First Amendment against other social interests, rights and principles. It is through extra constitutional means that academic freedom and freedom of the press become strong.
The courts have ruled in cases like Miller v. California [1973] that obscenity does not have a First Amendment right, or in Branzburg v. Hayes [1972] that a reporter cannot protect a source under freedom of the press. In both cases, the Supreme Court noted the limits it put on freedom of speech and agreed it might have a chilling effect. But the court noted that protecting children in the first case and ensuring a fair trial in the second are more important.
It took Daniel Schorr standing up for freedom of the press by releasing information in the government’s Pike Report about illegal CIA and FBI activities to put teeth into the First Amendment. But he eventually lost his job at CBS because of it. Alternatively, Judith Miller of the New York Times went to jail to protect her sources.
Until the early 1950s, the courts did not formally recognize academic freedom. Two cases, Sweezy v. New Hampshire [1952] and Keyishian v. Board of Regents [1952] changed this, but only for faculty at public universities. In the private sector, the AAUP 1915 and 1940 Statements of Principles of Academic Freedom are advisory only. The courts have ruled since there is no right to a position as a professor, free speech rights are not at issue. Again, only through collective action in the private sector has academic freedom survived. The Bassett Affair is a good example. Professor John Bassett of Duke spoke favorably about Booker T. Washington in 1903. When the university was about to fire him at the behest of white supremacists, the entire faculty threatened to resign.
The recent Garcetti v. Cebballos [2009] case has threatened to put public sector employees on an equal footing with private sector employees. The case involved an assistant district attorney who spoke out about a sheriff. The court ruled that a public employee speaking in an official capacity does not have free speech rights; therefore, an employer can discipline the employee for his speech. The court makes the argument that the employer has the right to evaluate the performance of their employees. The caveat for higher education in Justice Kennedy’s decision is Garcetti “may” not apply to teaching and research.
If academic freedom as a First Amendment right is under attack, what are our options?
First, the UUP contract and Title I, subsection 1, of the Policies of the SUNY Board of Trustees state: “It is the policy of the University to maintain and encourage full freedom, within the law, of inquiry, teaching and research. In the exercise of this freedom faculty members may, without limitation, discuss their own subject in the classroom; they may not, however, claim as their right the privilege of discussing in their classroom controversial matter which has no relation to their subject. The principle of academic freedom shall be accompanied by a corresponding principle of responsibility. In their role as citizens, employees have the same freedoms as other citizens. However, in their extramural utterances employees have an obligation to indicate that they are not institutional spokespersons.”
Second, campus policies cannot be in conflict with the trustees’ Policies. So we must work together with faculty governance and our administrations to ensure campus policies enhance academic freedom.
Finally, we must be willing to put our positions on the line to support our core beliefs. The courts have noted the important place academic freedom has as a critical public good, but they will not defend this freedom if we do not stand up and make them.
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