Postscript: Bush came to NYC last week announcing that he keeps his promises. Hmmm??? --- Could it have been our rally that made the President an honest man!

BMCC and the city of New York are faced with a major fiscal crisis. Since a substantial portion of our community college budget comes from the city, we’re going to need a lot of help from city government. That’s why PSC/BMCC has organized a breakfast to welcome new City Council members and renew ties with incumbents. Hopefully we can build support for future funding for BMCC and other community colleges. The breakfast will be held on Tues., March 5, 8-10 am, lower Theater 1 lobby.

NIOSH has already surveyed faculty and staff at Stuyvesant HS and will survey workers at several downtown office buildings. The tentative plan is to survey faculty and staff at BMCC the week of March 11^th. The results of the survey will be important to our own health and safety. NIOSH seeks 80% participation. Let’s give NIOSH our full cooperation.

To assess health and safety at BMCC in the wake of the 9/11 attack, the PSC retained David Newman, an Industrial Hygienist from the NY Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH). His assessment, which was conducted with the complete cooperation of the BMCC administration, resulted in a twenty-page report that covers his findings and recommendations.

Newman noted that the BMCC administration had been proactive in responding to the crisis and protecting the environmental integrity of the building. Yet, problems remain, in particular, the portable classrooms. Given their close proximity to the barges and their physical disadvantages, they are problematic as a teaching environment. A Summary of Newman’s recommendation can be found on the reverse side of this newsletter and the full report is available upon request.