n -1 I -- _--_,-1 9 1 -I- --- ~ ZI- , Vol. XXV, Issue 15 "I need a borscht belt to hold un mv schnitzei iiben slacks" - June 25, 2004 Revie Unwl Sony Brook University vs. Gydyne: Who really wiris? ,, -By Sam Goldman Right now, 246 acres of land sit rela- would adversely affect the campus and the sur- pared to a prison. New undergrad housing would tively unused to the west of Stony Brook rounding community. be a bigger boon to the campus than any University. Bounded by Stony Brook Road, An extra wrinkle to the situation was research center. Even more so, graduate hous- University Heights Drive, and the tracks of the recently added. Kings Park, about 10 miles ing, which the GSO has been clamoring for for LIRR train, the site, named Flowerfield, is ripe away from campus, was supposed to be the site quite some time now, would be by FAR the best for development, but who will be the lucky ones of "new urban growth" - a carefully constructed use of any new development. The University to develop it? This question is at the heart of Mecca of affordable housing (something Long continues to think about grandiose plans for Stony Brook University's - and Brookhaven's - Island -. and Suffolk County especially - sorely things like hotels and convention centers fut.ure. lacks) on the site of an abandoned mental hos- instead of looking after the basic needs of stu- The land is currently owned by the pital. Just a week ago, community groups dents. On top of this, the additions to the cam- Gyrodyne Company of America. Originally a squashed that idea, and the land is currently pus would increase the need for sewage plants manufacturer of helicopters for the US Navy, unused and without a plan. While SBU main- and emergency services (rumor has it the Stony Gyrodyne used the land at first as a space to tains that the site doesn't interest them, they Brook Fire Department is already asking for perform flight testing, as well as to house may be persuaded to look at the site as an alter- another ladder truck). employees. Once the 'copter business tanked, native (who would be willing to do that is a good But here's the worst part: neither idea the company focused instead on building its question unto itself, as politicians seem to be represents the best use of the Flowerfield land. real estate portfolio. Currently, Gyrodyne leas- mum about the whole thing). Suffolk County has been looking for affordable es land to a small number of tenants, but the So who's right? As usual, nobody. housing for years. Politicians and businesses •,. ,, ^. '4.,. .-,. F 1 . ,1 11 . , . ,.. .. -.'- -~11d-% Ivy - * - -- 1 - V-ý +L_^ - 4-^. - -1 majori ty l ilO WerieIld irem in unusedU. continuaiiy complain aoout the tact that col- However, they have a Master Plan. lege graduates routinely run away from Long This Master Plan involves the con- Island, due to the high costs of living here. struction of an "upscale residential commu- But anytime an opportunity arises to do nity" (read: rich folks homes) complete with something about it, everyone exclaims, as one a championship 18-hole gold course. A video woman did at the forum, "Not in my back- on their website spells it out: the golf course yard." This is ridiculous. If residents contin- would be environmentally friendly, would ue to fear any sort of development that not cause a serious disruption in the commu- encourages the middle class and college grads nity, and would increase property values of to come to the Island to work, businesses - the surrounding community, while still and eventually the area - will suffer greatly. being an immensely profitable venture. The Flowerfield space is a perfect spot to Shirley Strum Kenny has another attract college graduates, seeing as it is plan. directly adjacent to a majorTuniversity, "with- In a public forum held at the Wang in short distance of both the .L.I.E, the Center on June 21st, SBU outlines its plan for Northern State Parkway, and the Long Island a series of research centers on the land, Rail Road. It is the public's fear of develop? starting with a center for wireless technolo- ment - a fear Gyrodyne preys on - that has led gy. The university states definitively that the Country into the financial morass that it the construction of these new research cen- finds itself into. Sooner or later, the resi- ters is essential to maintain both SBU's phys- dents of Suffolk County will have to realize ical growth, as the campus population grows that if they want their area to prosper, some exponentially, but also its growth in stature, smart urban growth is going to have to be cre- h vinnr recent.lv -heen - induloted intn the QIfI ntpdLLiLe co/smew mxhi-i 1.1.e, aaUl dnlcoUoIluncm~- isic ganina UIIJ LU liohave Association of American Universities. More. Gyrodyne's Master Plan, and their to have the balls to give up their backyard. information on the campus, including maps and defense of their plan, has nothing to do with Until then, Brookhaven's choices remain a summary of an Environmental draft Statement, being a community player, and everything to do between a useless golf course and a bunch of were available on.thee University's web site, but with money. Their plans to build a golf course garish research buildings. Good luck. have seemingly disappeared immediately after conveniently forgets the fact that there are four the forum. golf courses within a six mile radius of the cam- Stony Brook wants to negotiate with .pus, including St. George's Country Club, which "This just in: Gyrodyne, but seeing as Gyrodyne has no inter- is only one mile away, or that their upscale est in selling the land, SUNY has begun steps to housing may actually lower the property values The Stony Brook Press is online at take the land via eminent domain proceedings. of their neighbors' homes. In addition; their www.thepress.info Under eminent domain, a government can take promises about the course being environmen- ownership of the land, and a civil judge will tally friendly is far from a promise, as the envi- and... wait a second, I'm getting determine the value 'of the land, which the gov- ronmental aspects of golf courses in general - something else here... It would ernment must then pay whoever owned the land. particularly concerning water irrigation prac- This has led to a vicious, public spat between tices and the resulting water sewage - is still seem to be the case that I the two parties. Highlights include a "Gyrodyne being debated. Gyrodyne's web video attempts have no personality... Gazette" sent to homes in the area, attempting to to scare the public into thinking aniother Smith mobilize local opposition to the SUNY plan. The 'Haven Mall is going to be built on the Humph. 'Magine that." expansion of Stony Brook, according to Flowerfield land, trying to attract the "not in Gyrodyne, would increase traffic, noise, and my backyard" crowd, but the golf course is not human sewage; would cost residents more in a that much better. myriad of ways, from lower property values to Stony 'Brook University's Master Plan, increasing school district funds because of the while somewhat better for the University, con- influx of children of SBU employees; and would veniently sidesteps the fact that several of the create, well, ugly buildings. The University buildings already on campus are decrepit and counters that their plan would increase the jobs old. The Stony Brook Union has walls that get available in the area, and bring an influx of eaten away whenever water touches them, vents money into the town and community, and that that shoot out black soot (our vent is lovingly the alternatives - to build these centers on land nicknamed "The Evil"), and black mold growing the University already owns, or to do nothing - from the ceiling. Roosevelt Quad is often com- Page 2 - I I I II - A Good, Long Look at Ronnie _ By Sam Goldman Ronald Reagan's administration will for- spread distribution of condoms and a compre- reestablishment of the War on Drugs. Under ever be remembered as the one that brought the hensive AIDS education strategy, he was large- Jimmy Carter, drug laws had become somewhat end of the Cold War. Under his watch, the Soviet ly ignored. When his administration put togeth- relaxed, but under Reagan, the position of drug Union underwent a drastic transformation that er the Watkins Commission to create a report on czar was established, the imprisonment of drug eventually led to its dissolution, and other AIDS, THEY were largely ignored. See a pattern? users was emphasized, and addiction treatment Soviet satellite states, most notably East: According to the Wikipedia (where a good deal was deemphasized. It can be said that the cur- Germany and Poland, followed suit. While many of info for this article comes from), "many in rent opinions on drug use and drug policy held people can make different assumptions - that the gay and lesbian communities and many peo- by many lawmakers, Democratic and Republican the Soviet system was doomed to fail, or that the ple with AIDS and those directly affected by the alike, were shaped by the Reagan administra- circumstances surrounding the end of tion. And while drug use did decline signif- Cold War were not really Reagan's doin icantly during his presidency, the War on the fact remains that Reagan will go dowi Drugs also led to an explosion in the prison history as The Man Who Won The Cold V population, as well as the current bonehead- and rightly so.