Greiner lauds capital plan

President William R. Greiner Tuesday expressed enthusiasm for the governor's proposed five-year capital plan.

"The governor's proposals regarding the capital budget are absolutely outstanding news for UB. Coupled with preliminary information on the operating budget, it would appear that our state budget will be stabilized this year -and we hope that will also be true for the longer term.

"The governor's capital budget includes a very significant investment in State University over the next five years. Capital investment in UB and State University as a whole is extraordinarily important. This initiative comes more than two decades after the buildup of the system state-wide and is greatly needed. Rehabilitating aging physical plant, as well as making possible new buildings, such as the math building on UB's North Campus, is very important to guaranteeing the quality of educational experience for all our students.

"UB's two highest capital priorities are very high in the budgetary queue. The math building has been UB's number-one priority for some time. From the point of view of UB as a whole, it's one of the next-to-last steps in making both campuses whole. Bringing the mathematics department to the North Campus will have great benefit for students - most particularly for undergraduates, who previously had to commute between campuses. Moreover, this move will also trigger a series of steps that will make it possible for us to make major improvements on the South Campus. As best we can determine, funding for the Comprehensive Health Science Education Center on the South Campus is in the queue for next year. This is enormous good news for both campuses."