By James Laudano

The State Legislature in Albany recently passed budget the 2008-09 Education and the SUNY system took a bit of an economic hit. While the SUNY schools may have suffered a cut, the student bodies of said schools received financial help from the state. However, with the economic problems now plaguing the country, the budget could have been worse.

Student tuition has been frozen under the new budget, sparing students the risk of one of the potential hikes in the cost of higher education.

In addition, the financial aid system, TAP, has been restored after fears of a complete cutting of the system. While this is a welcome fact, many feel that the TAP system still needs an update, since many students’ incomes have the potential to change in the middle of the semester, and TAP doesn’t have any provisions for such a case.

The overall SUNY budgets took a 3% cut. In the case of Stony Brook, this has immediate and very visible effects since the school has been going back and forth with its graduate TA’s over salaries, and there have been whispers of certain departments suffering cuts in faculty and courses. Additionally, Stony Brook’s plans to build a new recreation center, a very costly endeavor (18,000,000 dollars for the coming year’s phase of development), has many holding their breaths. Overall, students and faculty alike are waiting to see where they will feel the cuts.