The Spectrum Vol. 67 No. 32

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UBSPECTRUM.COM

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018 PAGE 4 Global Market Café moves into design phase, committee seeks student input on name New global-inspired dining hall touts student-centric planning process

UB to hold open forum on future student fee increases

PAGE 5 UB Foundation Executive Director attends student-held divestment workshop Ed Schneider attends Fossil Free UB’s divestment workshop led by JD Hartman

officials make upwards of $300,000, survey shows

MAX KALNITZ NEWS EDITOR

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ubspectrum.com

Satish Tripathi President

$431,970 Laura Hubbard

Vice President Finance and Administration

$316,200 A. Scott Weber

Vice President for Student Life

$306,000

SALARY

The Bulls went into Alumni Arena on Wednesday night to take on the first place team in the Mid-American Conference, the Central Michigan Chippewas. The Bulls were able to get revenge for a past loss and hand the Chippewas their first loss in MAC play this season. “We are a blue collar team that can mix it up,” said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack in a post game press conference. “We get after it, we get fouls, we climb peoples’ backs and after the first game [against the Chippewas], we held them accountable and tonight we were better than we were before today.”

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$436,198

SALARY

UB students have a chance to make their voices heard this week at an open forum on a proposed student fee increase. The forum will take place Thursday, Feb. 15 from 2:30 to 5 p.m. in 210 Student Union, beginning with a half-hour long Q&A session with Campus Living Director Tom Tiberi, Associate Director of Student Activities and Organizations Kerry Spicer and Assistant Director of Student Activities and Organizations Luke Haumesser, before a town hall meeting with UB fee stewards from 3 to 5 p.m. Undergraduates paid $2,761 in the 2017-18 academic year toward a broadbased fee, made up of nine individual charges for services including intercollegiate sports, technology and transportation. Graduate students paid $2,198 last year. The Office of the Provost announced a 2.53 percent increase in an emailed statement to students Feb. 9, which would raise undergraduate’s annual fees $277.50 by 2023. The increases are to support state-mandated increases in salaries, minimum wage, benefits, inflation, increased technology and library costs and services; and central academic investments, according to the university. Fee increases are also proposed to support several new programs, including a new web-based health services program called the “Failing Forward Resiliency Project” and a new “Healthier Campus” initiative, which will adopt nutritional and physical activity guidelines and programming. Another proposed service is a license plate recognition project, meant to improve the “communication of availability of spaces to students.” SA President Leslie Veloz said she hopes students will come and offer constructive participation and opinions on the proposed fees. “[Student] opinions will absolutely play a role in how the fees are utilized,” Veloz said. “I think it’s really important students attend so that administrators can understand what the needs of students are and how [administrators] should be using the money.” From 2016-17, UB collected $57,955,000 through the comprehensive fee. The greatest percentage of that money, $8,981,900, went toward the Athletics Fee. The next largest amount of money went toward Campus Life, which received $5,362,600, to cover a variety of expenses, including student leadership roles, Distinguished Speaker Series and the Office of Student Conduct and Advocacy.

Provost

SALARY

Eighteen of the 50 highest-paid state employees in upstate New York in 2017 were UB employees. Many high-ranking UB employees are earning upwards of $300,000 every year, according to a recent survey by New York Upstate. The salaries in some cases are higher than what’s listed because the numbers don’t include additional compensation from various private nonprofits, like the SUNY Research Foundation and the UB Foundation. When UB hired President Satish Tripathi in 2011, his letter of appointment stated that in addition to his $385,000 annual salary, he’d receive $115,000 from the SUNY Research Fund and $150,000 from the UB Foundation. President Tripathi’s state salary is $431,970 as of 2017. The foundation spent nearly $36.9 million on various forms of employee

compensation in one recent fiscal year, according to its 2015 990 tax form. Besides Tripathi, listed administrators include: Vice President of Finance and Administration Laura Hubbard, Vice President A. Scott Weber and Provost Charles F. Zukoski. In 2017, they made $316,200, $306,000 and $436,198, respectively. Faculty Senate Chair Phil Glick said many UB hires are recruited nationally and must compete with other large universities. A large paycheck is often required to attract and retain these faculty in Buffal, he said. “What these numbers represent are competitive numbers,” Glick said. “I feel bad for some of the students and adjuncts who are struggling to get by, but as your career evolves and students get older, you have another perspective. When all of us were students and trainees, you have to live within your budget. That’s one of the key principles of financial literacy that I teach med students: your time will come, but right now live within your means.”

Charles Zukoski

SALARY

STAFF WRITER

PAGE 6 Pitch perfect Panasci Technology Pitch Competition offers student entrepreneurs room for expansion

UB admins dominate list of highest-paid upstate employees Many of UB’s high-ranking

“Fee stewards” will answer student questions from 2:30 to 5 p.m. on Thursday

MAX SLICK

VOLUME 67 NO. 32

Families upset UB won’t let them see Bulls beat Chippewas 85-82 bodies and ashes of donated loved ones Women’s basketball team picks up win over top MAC team

ALLISON STAEBELL, THE SPECTRUM

Senior guard Stephanie Reid in the game against the Chippewas.

THOMAS ZAFONTE SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

@ubspectrum

BENJAMIN BLANCHET

SENIOR FEATURES EDITOR

When Heather Petri’s grandfather passed away on Feb. 7, she wanted to say goodbye. But UB would not let her see him. UB had received Richard Petri’s body as a donation a day earlier. But the director, Ray Dannenhoffer, who runs the anatomical gift program, told her she could not see him. “My grandfather’s my world, he raised me,” Petri said. “For me to be able to say my last respects and goodbyes meant a lot. I can’t get that opportunity back.” Petri, a UB ’16 alum who lives in North Buffalo, is glad her grandfather donated his body to UB and hopes

medical students learn from it. But she’s upset at the way UB handled her family’s case and that UB did not let her see her beloved grandfather. At least two other families whose loved ones donated bodies to UB are also concerned about how the university handles the bodies and the ensuing cremated remains. For instance, Angelena McGuire-Christ never knew she had the right to get her mother’s ashes once UB students had finished with the body and it had been cremated. Christopher James Hanna’s grandfather, Richard Miller, died last year and he wants to know if his grandfather’s body has been used yet, but UB won’t say. CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

TA stipends for English Ph.D students to increase over next two years Graduate Student Employees Union and New York State negotiates contract for higher stipends NEWS DESK

Starting in Fall 2018, average stipends for English Ph.D candidates will increase to an average of $18,000 per year — an increase of $3,000 from current levels. In three years, the average TA stipend amount will increase to $19,000. By including scholarships and fellowships in the funding package, the “very best” doctoral students will receive funding in the $20,000 range, accord-

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ing to UB press release. Under this plan, stipends for English TAs will exceed the national average for public university stipends, which is $16,364. “After a comprehensive review of the program, and in consultation with English department faculty, graduate students and the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, we are taking steps to strengthen the program while also addressing our financial concerns,” Department of English Chair Rachel Ablow said in a statement according to UB press release. email: news@ubspectrum.com

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