brian.young's blog

College Democrats of New York, we need your help. Scott Murphy is the Democratic candidate running for Congress in New York's 20th Congressional District. This is a special election to fill Kirsten Gillibrand's old seat.

The district, however, generally leans toward the right, and Scott Murphy has a tough campaign in front of him. He is running against the far right assembly minority leader, Jim Tedisco.

On February 11, members of the St. Johns College Democrats went to Albany to lobby to support student and institutional aid.  The event held at the State Capital was sponsored by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) in partnership with the Association Program Administrators of C-STEP and STEP, and the Higher Education Opportunity Program Professional Organization.  About 20 students participated in the event including St.

During last nights press conference, President Obama made an important point about college tuition. Something that is probably important to all readers of this blog is how to make college affordable as the economy slows. Under the new stimulus, students will recieve a tax credit to help us get through these tough times. Here is the text from the speech:

When passed, this plan will ensure that Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own can receive greater unemployment benefits and continue their health care coverage.

Yesterday President Obama brought his fight to pass the stimulus bill to the people.  After a speech in Elkhart Indiana, a town that has more than twice the national average of unemployment.  Then last night the President addressed the American people to talk to them about the gravity of the situation.

In the last state senate race to be decided, incumbent State Senator, Frank Padavan has won.  With 265 ballots being fought over, Padavan holds a 578 vote lead.  Challenger Jim Genarro put up a great fight and almost took out a long time incumbent. Padavan drew much criticism during the campaign for attacking St.

I just received an email from the President of Binghamton University asking for help in fighting the budget reductions.  President Lois De Fleur writes:

I am writing to you about Governor David A. Paterson's proposed budget reductions for this year and the impact on you and the University. Currently, the governor proposes for the state to retain 90 percent of the $310 tuition increase you just paid and to implement additional cuts to SUNY's budget.

A new Siena poll out today shows some bad numbers for both Gov. Paterson and Senator Gillibrand.

Fifty-one percent of voters said Gillibrand's appointment was OK with them, and upstaters are particularly pleased (63-19) by her pick, but name recognition continues to be her biggest problem.