Friday, April 29, 2005

The Times Union (Albany, New York), April 13, 2005, Wednesday

Copyright 2005 The Hearst Corporation
The Times Union (Albany, New York)

April 13, 2005 Wednesday
3 EDITION

SECTION: CAPITAL REGION; Pg. B2

HEADLINE: King's arrival at Potsdam campus unlikely to inspire royal reception

BODY:
State University of New York Chancellor Robert King might not be getting a red carpet greeting from some faculty members when he shows up as State University College at Potsdam's interim president.
There are some raw feelings over the fact that King will ease out of his chancellor's seat into a $206,000 lifetime professorship - a sum equivalent to the salaries of four average SUNY professors.
George Gonos, president of Potsdam's chapter of the United University Professions faculty union, acknowledged dissent has been bubbling since news of King's arrival broke last week.
"What I think rankles faculty is the idea that after he steps down from interim president, he's guaranteed such a high salary as a professor that's so far above where any of the rest of us are," said Gonos, who added that people were generally happy to get somebody of King's visibility at Potsdam, which is about four hours northwest of Albany.
In an e-mail to faculty last Thursday, the school's exiting president, John Fallon, defended King's appointment to the interim post.
"It would be a mistake to lament the process that culminated in this appointment or to focus on the fact that Bob King represents an unusual set of experiences and qualifications," Fallon wrote. "Instead, our attention might be fully and properly focused on the fact that the chancellor is among the very best known public servants in New York."
Timothy Schwob, president of Potsdam's faculty senate, said the faculty was looking forward to working with King. "My sense of the faculty here at SUNY Potsdam is that they are curious, intrigued, and most certainly interested in what Chancellor King will be bringing to this campus," he said. King's gig was approved Tuesday by SUNY trustees, who designated him a university professor - a title bestowed just 11 other times since 1988 - and awarded him the fat salary. It's not clear what King will do once his term as interim president at Potsdam is up.

Calming the waters
The new and improved Fountain Day makes its debut this weekend at the University at Albany - and early indications are students will cooperate. Although not without some complaint.
While many have cast a dubious eye on the school's attempts to restore some order to the annual rite of spring - which reached new heights of disorder last year - 2,333 students had registered to take part as of late Monday morning.
That pre-registration is just one change of many for the event, which had become an excuse for many students to cut class and begin drinking in the wee hours of the afternoon. Hooky is out this year, because the event has been moved to Sunday.
Despite the red tape, officials expect as many as 5,000 people to show up - more than last year, when a combination of drunkenness, ambulances carting away sick and injured students and plenty of television cameras added up to trouble for the school.
But even as administrators try to put their own stamp on things, there are rumblings that students might be planning their own unsanctioned celebration a few days later.

Education a family priority
Are you a Democrat living downstate between the ages of 18 and 35, making less than $35,000 a year, who isn't white and belongs to a household with children aged 12 to 17?
Then you're most likely to consider higher education a key state budget priority, according to
a poll released last week by Cornell University.
The poll, conducted by the school's ILR Survey Research Institute,
found that - not surprisingly - families with children 12 to 17 were most likely to consider it a high priority, with 80 percent of the respondents saying so.
Republicans were least likely to consider higher education funding a high priority, with 56 percent saying they do.


Hockey player scores degree
Yeah, sure, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is delivering Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's commencement speech in May. And Paul Volcker, who once chaired the Federal Reserve, will be on hand to get an honorary degree.
But Joe Juneau might be the most likely to get asked for an autograph.
Juneau, a 1991 RPI alum, played for six National Hockey League teams over a 12-year career. He'll get an honorary degree as well.
After quitting the league last year, he put his engineering degree to work by becoming a partner with Harfan Technologies, a company that helps others manage their infrastructure assets.
Campus Notebook is compiled weekly by Kenneth Aaron. He can be reached at 454-5515 or by e-mail at aaronk@timesunion.com.