Everyone has a journey; everyone has a dream—a loose proverb that holds true, no matter who the individual is. The lengths to which people go to pursue their dreams are immeasurable. QC students recently talked about the journey of immigration that their families went through. NYPIRG project coordinator, Ilayda Polat, spoke at the event. She discussed how her family had immigrated here from Turkey and that while Long Island gave her family an American life, there were still challenges that she had to face. One of the key problems she brought to light was the financial cost of applying for citizenship. Thankfully, in her case, she was able to find…
-
-
NYPIRG: A Community Dedicated Organization 45 Years Later
The New York Public Interest Research Group, a student organization that has had a presence on the Queens College campus since its founding in 1972, held an event on the night of Monday, Nov. 12th, celebrating its 45th anniversary. In attendance were members of NYPIRG chapters from other universities throughout the state, plus members of some other organizations. The price of admission for each of them was a donation, a non-perishable item for the soon-to-be-opening food pantry on campus. The opening of the food pantry is a project NYPIRG is involved with in conjunction with Student Association and other organizations to aid financially disadvantaged students, and is one of a…
-
NYPIRG Lobbies at Higher Education Day 2018
On February 28, Queens College’s New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) gathered in Albany, NY for the Higher Education Action Day, along with 19 other SUNY and CUNY schools, to meet with elected officials and share why affordable education is important and why it is a necessity to invest in opportunity programs. This year the students and faculty members addressed the most pressing issues that affect the operating budget of the schools across the state and called upon Assembly members and Senators of their districts to make investments in the SFY 2018-19 Adopted State Budget. Some of these investments will initiate a multi-year plan to restore funding to SUNY…
-
New Semester, Same Old Questions – How Am I Going to Afford My Degree?
A new semester starts, but many of the same questions about how to afford a college degree remain. For too many students, college is still far from free. Between rising tuition and fees, mounting textbook prices, rent, food, transit, and even child care expenses, Queens College students deserve a break! Flat state funding has left the burden of paying for our expanding CUNY and SUNY institutions increasingly on the backs of students and their families. Tuition has gone up over 35% in just seven years at New York’s public universities. The state has two tuition aid programs which are designed to provide free tuition to low and middle income students.…
-
Jam if You Can for the Queens College Food Pantry
On November 29, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) hosted the Jam If You Can Event with the purpose of collecting food items to stock the Queens College food pantry. The event was organized by NYPIRG coordinator Candice Jaimungal and Stavros Anastasiov, one of the leaders of the Hunger and Homelessness project at NYPIRG. The purpose of the event, as Anastasiov said, was to “Shine a light on student hunger and homelessness, giving students the power to fight it through their talents and abilities.” There were 12 student performances, that included dance, guitar and flute numbers, stand-up comedy routines, acoustic and acapella singers and a special performance of…
