UUP’s ad campaign asks public to tell lawmakers to end state cuts to SUNY

A young man stuffs books and clothing into plastic crates and duffel bags, packing up to head off to college.

But something’s not right. He wears a pained expression, not the eager look most college students sport as they ready to return to campus. Suddenly it becomes obvious: he’s not packing for college—he’s packing his dorm room to leave college.

Unable to get required classes to graduate in four years, the student must stay another year—which he and his parents can’t afford—or drop out. The cause: millions in state budget cuts to SUNY, resulting in canceled courses, crowded classes and fewer professors to teach more students.

“That’s a big problem,” the student says. “My folks, they didn’t count on paying for an extra year of college. And I didn’t count on leaving SUNY without a degree.”

The scene is captured in UUP’s new 30-second television ad, part of the union’s statewide advertising campaign calling on state lawmakers to stop state budget cuts to SUNY and to “think ahead and invest in higher ed.”

BRINGING IT

The campaign, which kicked off in March, also includes a series of print ads, billboards and transit posters challenging severe proposed state cuts to SUNY, and its teaching hospitals and medical schools at Brooklyn’s Downstate Medical Center, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Syracuse’s Upstate Medical University and the University at Buffalo.

And UUP has revived its saveSUNY.org micro-website, where the public can petition legislators to stop state cuts to SUNY and invest in public higher education.

“Real people are impacted when the state cuts SUNY’s budget, and that’s one point we’re trying to make,” said UUP President Phil Smith. “SUNY budget cuts are shortsighted. It is imperative that we increase funding for SUNY to keep the University vital, affordable, and accessible for students, today and in the future.”

AIRING IT

The TV ad, which began running March 2, aired during morning and evening news hours and in prime time on broadcast and cable outlets in Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, New York City, Syracuse, and on Long Island. The spot can be viewed on You Tube (http://bit.ly/hX8DaN), UUP’s website at www.uupinfo.org, and at saveSUNY.org.

The ad ends with the words “Tell state lawmakers: Stop SUNY budget cuts” and to “Think ahead, invest in higher ed.” Viewers are then directed to saveSUNY.org to take action.

Print ads carrying the TV spot’s theme ran in papers in those same markets in March. In mid-February, UUP ran print ads opposing state budget cuts to SUNY in weekly papers statewide. Op-ed articles written by Smith echoed that message.

HELP FOR HOSPITALS

The ad campaign also focuses on state proposals to choke all state funding to SUNY hospitals and medical schools and sharply reduce Medicaid aid. If approved, those cuts will leave hospitals without the means to serve large popula-tions of Medicaid and uninsured patients.

There would be also less money to hire instructors to teach at the medical schools; fewer students would graduate to become the next generation of doctors, nurses and health care professionals.

Print ads pointing out the facts ran in major newspapers in Brooklyn, Syracuse and Buffalo and on Long Island. The ads, with a photo of a surgeon, carried the message that the “elimination of all state funding” puts the hospitals and their medical schools on “the critical list.”

Billboards that said “Don’t let budget cuts flatline Upstate Medical University” went up in Syracuse; billboards in Brooklyn, Stony Brook and Buffalo advertised similar messages tailored to those areas.

Long Island Rail Road passengers saw UUP’s message on transit posters placed in train cars and on train platforms. The ads dealt with proposed state cuts to Stony Brook University Medical Center.

— Michael Lisi