The Statesman: Volume 57 Issue 2

Page 1

The Statesman informing stony brook university for more than 50 years

Volume LVII, Issue 1

Monday, September 9, 2013

sbstatesman.com

Professor recognized for over 30 years of dedication to university

By Steven Rossin Staff Writer

When Robert Frey graduated from Stony Brook in 1980, he never imagined having a building named in his honor–just being a student at the university was a challenge in itself. Frey was recognized in August when the newly renovated Old Chemistry building was named after him and his family foundation in recognition of the gifts they have donated to the university over the past 20 years. Frey Hall is a hightech learning center that features three large lecture halls and just over two dozen classrooms. It is hosting close to 240 courses this semester. As a child Frey grew up in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in a lower-class family. Along with his brothers and sisters he was part of the first generation in his family to pursue a higher education. When he moved out to Long Island–already with a family–he knew he didn’t have many options, but he said that he was lucky there was a great place to go. “I didn’t have the money to go as a resident student, I could barely afford to go as a commuter,” Frey said. “I was fortunate there was a great research institution in the neighborhood, so when I looked at Stony Brook it was the clear choice where I wanted to go.” Frey attended Stony Brook parttime while he worked full-time. He spent over a dozen years at the university while he obtained a bachelor's degree and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. During his studies he held fulltime jobs at the IRS where he worked as a management analyst and also held positions at Doubleday Book Co., European American Bank and Morgan Stanley. After he graduated with his Ph.D., he embarked on a long career at Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund management company. It was during his time at

Renaissance that he worked with James Simons, a fellow Stony Brook philanthropist, and found success. By 2004 he was 50 years old and decided to retire so he could pursue academia and philanthropic efforts. “I wanted to go out and do something on my own,” Frey said. “I came here as a professor and at the same time we opened up the family foundation so I could get involved in more charitable activities.” One of his more notable contributions was helping with the construction of the Hilton Garden Inn which opened on campus this past May. Having been a member of the Stony Brook Foundation for many years, he was aware that the university had been contemplating building a hotel on campus for quite some time. He says that he recognized this wish and was willing to take the risk to help build the hotel because it was at Stony Brook. “If it were just a deal somewhere else I probably wouldn’t have done it, it was a tough uphill battle to get it done but I was willing to wait out any delays and stay in it for the long haul,” Frey said. Contributions like the hotel, starting a professorship in the Department of Applied Mathematics and establishing a scholarship are what prompted the administration to name Frey Hall after him to commemorate all he has done for the university. “I was a little bit nervous at first,” Frey said. “It was definitely a surprise, my initial reaction was to tell them to name after someone else. But I really do appreciate it.” Overall, Frey says that hee owes much of his personal and professional development to the university. “In terms of who I am and what I was able to achieve it wouldn’t be possible without Stony Brook,” Frey said, “I’ve been glad I’ve been able to give back because Stony Brook has been a key part of my life for over 30 years.”

JESUS PICHARDO / THE STATESMAN

The new Frey Hall commemorates the contributions of Dr. Robert Frey to the campus community.

PHOTO CREDIT : USG

The second annual "Back to the Brook" fall concert was almost canceled after hundreds of students rushed past security onto the Staller Steps on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Room reports reveal damage discrepencies By Khloe Meitz Staff Writer

The beginning of any semester is a sea recognized by most as turbulent and full of urgent to-do lists. There are last-minute class changes, textbook shopping and, for some, moving in to the dorm or apartment that they’ll call home for the next four months or more. But students may want to add taking date-stamped photos of their new living spaces to that list. Last year, the University passed a total of 11,247 undergraduate and graduate campus residents through their dorms, according to the university’s 2012 “Facts and Figures.” Despite this sort of traffic every year, the dorms have remained in fairly good condition–a matter undoubtedly back-boned by the university’s Room Condition Reports system

and stringent standards regarding room “damages.” Upon moving in, on-campus residents receive–as physical forms, or electronic ones–Room/ Apartment Condition Reports (R/ACR) from their Resident Assistant (RAs) and Residence Hall Directors (RHDs). The Campus Residences Office was reluctant to comment on the process, but according to students, the forms summarize damages reported by the room’s previous occupants. Students can claim the damages as either still existing or fixed. Some residents claimed that reports from semesters past did not contain space to note any damages that were not already acknowledged on the report. This year, the reports host a list of furniture for students to mark as existing or non-existing and a

space to comment on the room’s general condition. The reports are used as “the basis for determining damage, cleaning, and billing if there are discrepancies during the checkout process,” according to the university’s Terms of Occupancy: Undergraduate Halls and West Apartments, and a less-thancomprehensive form could lead, in some cases, to misplaced blame and, accordingly, faulty charges. Jess Narkiewicz, a graduate student, remembered being charged $100 once while she was living in West Apartments I for chipped paint and damaged bedroom walls. “I got charged this summer $100 for damages that I did not do in my room. I tried to appeal, Continued on page 3


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