The Statesman 12-09-19

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Volume LXIII, Issue 15

sbstatesman.com

Monday, December 9, 2019

Bernstein confirms interest in presidency

By Gary Ghayrat Editor in Chief

Interim President Michael Bernstein confirmed his interest in running for Stony Brook University’s permanent presidency position during a student media briefing on Wednesday, Dec. 4. “I have notified the chancellor of the (SUNY) system that I would like her permission to be a candidate in the search, which is part of the SUNY process,” he said. “To be considered for the position and have the committee assess my standing and credentials for the job would be a great honor and a privilege.” Bernstein said that he will be bringing his experience at Stony Brook and nearly a decade of experience as provost at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana to the table; and more importantly, he said, he strives to be a good communicator and a leader who enables the people around him everyday. “[The] president doesn’t get anything done,” he said. “It’s the people around the president who get things done, and the president’s there to

SAMANTHA ROBINSON / THE STATESMAN

The First Presbyterian Church of Smithtown Handbell Choir performs during the Festival of Lights in Student Activities Ballroom A on Dec. 4. The event brought over 100 students of various faiths and cultures together. lead those teams and to facilitate their success.” The search for the sixth president of the university has been underway since a presidential search committee was formed on Sept. 11, after the previous president, Samuel Stanley, announced his departure in May. Bernstein, who started as provost at Stony Brook University in 2016, stepped into the interim president position on Aug. 1.

A panel of representatives from the Presidential Search Committee discussed expectations for the future president with the university faculty senate in a meeting on Oct. 7. One of the submitted comments complained that past administration’s “authoritarian administrative philosophy in a period of tight budgets when some departments were cut, classes became larger or unavailable, professionals were asked to work

harder with fewer resources and morale suffered.” The university went through a series of budget cuts over the past few years to balance a $35 million deficit. Humanities departments, including several foreign language departments and the Writing and Rhetoric program, suffered cuts, and the United University Professions (UUP) Academic and Professional Grievance Officers, Joshua Dubnau and Dom-

inique Barone said during a senate meeting on Monday, Dec. 2 that they received complaints from faculty and staff about being given additional work without compensation. “Do we want a repetition of the last five years?” history professor Kathleen Wilson said to the Presidential Search Committee during a university senate meeting on Oct. 7. Continued on page 4

Students petition for improved accessibility Scientist predicts short winters By Samantha Robinson Assistant News Editor

Students from the School of Social Welfare organized a petition titled, “Help Make the School of Social Welfare More Inclusive & Accessible” last month. Nearly 700 students have signed the petition to add handicap accessibility buttons to the two entrance doors to the School of Social Welfare. “The School of Social Welfare shares a commitment to diversity and thus to addressing any ways in which our institution creates obstacles to diversity,” the petition states. “Currently, the doors to the School of Social Welfare are inaccessible to people who have physical disabilities. As students, faculty, and staff at the School of Social Welfare, the Health Sciences and the larger Stony Brook University, we urge you to match our reality to our institution's ideals!”

MJ Smart, a first-year graduate student studying social work who organized the petition, said that the school “[needs] to reflect our values.” “We're focused on social justice, and at the end of the day, that's what social workers are about more so than anything else,” she said. “We are about removing barriers that people face when they're trying to succeed in life. We're about removing barriers of oppression and alienation and discrimination, and we can't talk the talk. We have to walk the walk, and it has to start with our school,” Smart said. Smart credited Dylan Mangano, a first-year graduate student studying social work, for being very involved in the promotion of the petition. Mangano said that all students should have access to and feel welcome at the school. “In the most ideal scenario, the door would become handicap accessible,” he wrote in an email. “This may not be [the] thing

[that] spurs the change that we seek. It may only be a step, but it is also a reminder that the community has not only a voice, but also expectations.” The petition is addressed to Dr. Kenneth Kaushansky, dean of the Stony Brook Renaissance School of Medicine, but Smart said the petition hasn’t been sent to him yet. She wants to reach 1,000 signatures before she sends it to him. Though the dean hasn’t received the petition yet, University Media Relations Officer Lauren Sheprow said the Facilities Office in the Health Sciences Center “has been working on this project since it was brought to their attention and sought three quotes on costs for automating the door.” “Once that process is completed, the door will be ordered and installed,” Sheprow wrote in an email. “This project is estimated to be completed in about six weeks, commencing very near to the opening of Spring semester.”

News

Arts & Culture

Budget cuts and infrastructure were discussed.

Stoyn Brook hosts annual celebration for the holidays.

Presidential briefing gives updates.

MORE ON PAGE 4

By Niki Nassiri Contributing Writer

The winter season may become shorter, but storms and floods will hit the East Coast harder than ever due to climate change, Edmund K.M. Chang, a professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University, hypothesized in a study on winter storms. Last November, Long Islanders saw an unexpected snowstorm that left up to six inches in some places. While it was no feat compared to previous blizzards, which sometimes totaled over two feet, this storm caught Long Island officials off-guard due to initial forecasts calling for only a dusting of snow. Residents were left stranded in bumper-tobumper traffic, while wind gusts mixed with heavy snow downed trees and power lines in Nassau and western Suffolk counties. Chang’s study on extreme winter weather comes a year after the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change released its special report titled “Global Warming of 1.5°C,” describing the impacts of global warming of 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels. The report marks a global increase in the frequency and intensity of climate and weather extremes. Eastern North America and eastern Asia, as well as high-latitude and mountainous regions, saw the highest increase in precipitation levels, according to the report. Long Island, in particular, might face global warming’s wrath with intense storms called “nor’easters,” according to Chang’s study. The difference in potential energy generated between the warm tropics and the cold polar region results in these aggressive storms. Typically, the warming polar region would be expected to decrease this potential energy and cause less intense “nor’easters.” But a secondary factor — increased moisture in the atmosphere from receding ice in

Continued on page 4

Opinions

Sports

Professor Eric Zolov marks his last few weeks in Chile.

Career-high 30 points helps Stony Brook rout Brown.

Festival of Lights is back for the 19th year.

A final letter from Santiago.

MORE ON PAGE 6

MORE ON PAGE 9

Olaniyi carries Seawolves to win. MORE ON PAGE 12


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