As I am sure many of you know, the New York Public Interest Research Group is the state’s largest student-directed activist organization, focusing on issues of voter rights, higher education, hunger and homelessness, consumer protection, environmental protection and government reform. We teach students to become more politically aware by working on local and statewide campaigns.

NYPIRG was founded in 1973 with the principle that the collective voice of college students can have a powerful effect on legislation. In many respects that premise was correct. NYPIRG has helped pass more than 150 laws in New York alone, on issues that were decided upon by NYPIRG’s Board of Directors, which is comprised of students from the 20 chapters scattered around the state.

In New York state alone there are more than 1.1 million students enrolled in college, a substantial block of eligible voters. But the voice of these students can be largely stifled if they are unregistered. For this reason, the first major campaign of the semester is to get as many students registered here in Syracuse as possible; many students may be registered at home. But registering in the community where they will spend at least 8 months a year gives them a local voice they otherwise would not hold. The deadline to register for the upcoming elections is Oct. 14. Keep an eye out for NYPIRG volunteers registering students to vote all around campus in the upcoming weeks.

Along with voter registration and mobilization, the Syracuse chapter will be using grassroots organizing to pursue a number of issue goals. One of the most important issues facing this region of the state is the controversial process known as hydrofracking. This is a process of natural gas drilling by which water, mixed with many dangerous chemicals, is forced down a well at high pressure to break up shale and release natural gas that is trapped in tiny bubbles throughout the shale.

We are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to withdraw the current draft of the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement because it fails to address many environmental and public health concerns, fails to extend the public comment period on the impact statement to 180 days, and fails to pursue legislation that would protect New Yorkers from this dangerous process. As hydrofracking takes the spotlight among environmental issues, we are determined to push our legislators to remember other environmental priorities, such as clean air and energy, and recycling programs that will protect us from toxins in our waste stream.

Locally this semester, we will be working on some exciting campaigns as well, including advocating for a No Fee ATM on campus; reaching out to Syracuse’s homeless and providing services and education to ease the struggles attached to poverty; and informing students about the costs of higher education and advocating for ways to mitigate them.

As you can see, this semester is ripe for student activism, and we at NYPIRG are searching for students who want to learn the skills needed to make a difference and apply them.

Ted Traver

NYPIRG Project Coordinator, Syracuse University and SUNY-ESF

Published on September 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm