Heroes emerge - uupinfo.org · Heroes emerge This issue is dedicated to our members, who serve with distinction. Special Issue: ... lem—environmental degradation. These crises predominately

Official Publication of United University Professions n The Nation’s Largest Higher Education Union Working For You

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Heroes emergeThis issue is dedicated to our members, who serve with distinction.

Special Issue:Coronavirus

Go to www.UUPinfo.orgto sign up today.

THE

Voice Volume 47, Number 4 June 2020The VOICE is the official publication of UnitedUniversity Professions (UUP), bargaining agent forthe more than 37,000 academic and professionalemployees of the State University of New York.Contact UUP at P.O. Box 15143, Albany, New York 12212-5143. Telephone (518) 640-6600 ortoll-free at (800) 342-4206. UUP’s Internet siteis www.uupinfo.org. UUP is Local 2190 ofthe American Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO)and is affiliated with NYSUT and the NationalEducation Association.

UUP STATEWIDE OFFICERS

FREDERICK E. KOWALPresident

THOMAS J. TUCKERVice Presidentfor Professionals

JAMIE F. DANGLERVice Presidentfor Academics

JERI O’BRYAN-LOSEESecretary/Treasurer

THOMAS C. HOEYMembershipDevelopment Officer

UUP MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONSMICHAEL LISIDirector of Media and Publications

KAREN L. MATTISONAssociate Director of Media and Publications

DARRYL MCGRATHCommunications Specialist

ANGELL M. VILLAFAÑECommunications/Research Assistant

The VOICE is a member of the American Federationof Teachers Communicators Network and theInternational Labor Communications Association.

2 THE VOICE SPECIAL ISSUE: CORONAVIRUS

LETTERS POLICYThe Voice welcomes timely letters about

university and union issues, politics andother events relevant to UUP’s concerns.All letters are subject to editing for length,accuracy and clarity. Please type or emailyour letters, limit them to 300 words, andinclude your name and daytime phonenumber for verification.Unsigned letters will not be published.Email letters to UUP Director of

Media and Publications Mike Lisi [email protected] or send them to hisattention at: The Voice, UUP, P.O. Box15143, Albany, NY 12212-9954.

Check out the latest at www.uupinfo.org:— New threats to intellectual property: Don’t sign your rights away! Learn more at:

https://bit.ly/35n9Cfu

— UUP posts photos of members in action during the pandemic. Check them out at:https://www.flickr.com/photos/uupinfo/albums

— Check out the comptroller’s COVID-19 Financial Survival Toolkit for New Yorkers at:https://bit.ly/2KTS0OM

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CorrectionIn the Spring 2020 issue, The Voice

misidentified Ana Martinez of OldWestbury, right, who took part in achapter-based rally Feb. 25.

The rally was one of several events heldby chapters around the state to stress theneed to Fund SUNY Now! Many heldhandwritten signs that said “Billionairespay your taxes!” and “Fund $UNY.” The Voice regrets the error.

SPECIAL ISSUE: CORONAVIRUS THE VOICE 3

To the Point

T he Mohawk people, one ofthe six nations of the IroquoisConfederacy, lived in north-ern New York near where I

live, and many still do. Their leaders hada rule that every decision must be madeconsidering its effects seven generationsin the future.

That’s roughly 150 years. How manytimes do you think our leaders havemade decisions considering the impactthey could have 150 years in the future?

It’s doubtful they ever have, at leastfrom what I see from my home, whichoverlooks the Cobleskill Creek in theSchoharie Valley. The wildlife patternshave changed. The weather patterns havechanged. In my 30-plus years here, I’veseen manifestations of the climate crisiswe are facing.

This year marks the 50th anniversary ofEarth Day, and while the milestone wascelebrated worldwide April 22, for manyit was overshadowed by COVID-19.That’s unfortunate. But to view thesecatastrophes separately is a mistake.

They are symptoms of the same prob-lem—environmental degradation. Thesecrises predominately impact the poor incommunities of color. Clearly, we face aglobal crisis of environmental injustice.

Twin ThreaTsThe roots of this injustice are deep

and centuries old, and they spread asour industrialized society continues toexploit the Earth in pursuit of profits andour own comfort. While the populationhas more than doubled since the firstEarth Day in 1970, the extinction ofspecies, loss of wild lands and amountof carbon dioxide in our atmospherehave grown exponentially.

Through a radical retreat from environ-mental protections by the Trump Admin-istration, more than 100,000 Americansdie each year from illnesses caused byoveruse of coal, natural gas, and oil.With our never-ending hunger for energy

and consumption, we are killing ourworld. The poorest communities arepaying the steepest price.

At the same time, people die dailyfrom the coronavirus. As I write this,more than 224,000 people have died ofCOVID-19 worldwide and more than3 million cases have been confirmed.We know that the rates of mortality arehighest in the cities and specifically incommunities of color, where air pollu-tion is the worst.

It’s not just in the cities, though, as therates of coronavirus infection and mor-tality are unacceptably high in NativeAmerican communities—especially inthe West. The Navajo Nation has thethird-highest per capita rate of COVID-19, after New York and New Jersey.

whaT’s nexT?So, the question asked at the first Earth

Day remains. How do we heal ourEarth—or at least begin to? One thingis certain: We must come to terms withhow we manipulate and exploit our natu-ral world. Our actions have real effectson our lives through long-term illness,floods, fires and other natural disasters.

UUP has developed proposals for ourcampuses to lead the way in changinghow energy is created and stored in ourcommunities, while training the nextgeneration of scientists to combat theclimate crisis.

For years, UUP has pushed for an ex-pansion of health care delivery systemsin the poorest communities ravaged byCOVID-19, especially Brooklyn. We’veadvocated tirelessly to expand publicsupport for our academic medical cen-ters, which provide necessary healthcare to hundreds of thousands of peopleand produce cutting-edge research toimprove the health and security for allNew Yorkers.

UUP has also called for reduced costsfor medical education while expandingand diversifying the professional ranks

of healers in our state and nation.We will need healing after the coron-

avirus is contained. But without address-ing the greater issue of environmentaljustice, we set ourselves up for the nextnatural disaster.

For our nation to get beyond the sim-plistic, partisan responses to these crises,we must have an educated populationthat will make better choices for ourfuture. That’s why now is the time toexpand funding for public higher educa-tion, not cut it.

An educated, motivated populationwill bring about the changes we need toaddress environmental injustice, espe-cially in those communities where somuch suffering is taking place.

Let’s build SUNY. Let’s build a just,healthy world. Let’s protect the environ-ment for our children, their children, andtheir children’s children.

Seven generations into the future;150 years. That is our task today andevery day.

We are a part of this Earth, and wealways will be.

Our day, our future


O n March 7, Gov. AndrewCuomo declared a stateof emergency in NewYork state in response

to the coronavirus. But the virus was already on UUP’s

radar, and UUP President Fred Kowaland the other union leaders had begundiscussing the potential impact ofcoronavirus on SUNY, its studentsand patients—and, more importantly,what UUP would do to support and pro-tect every one of its 37,000 members.

By March 20, SUNY campuses hadbeen shuttered and thousands of UUPacademics were teaching coursesremotely. So were teachers at K-12schools statewide. Bars, gyms, restau-rants and all non-essential businesseswere ordered closed and large gatheringswere banned. Non-essential employeesworked from home.

UUP’s statewide office was closedMarch 18; since then, officers and UUPstaff have been working from home.

And the new normal in New York—andacross America—began.

“I am so proud of our members, whohave answered the call and continue to doall they can to provide the best possibleeducation for their students and unwaver-ing support for SUNY,” Kowal said. “It isdifficult to find words to adequately de-scribe my gratitude for our front-lineproviders, who put their lives on the lineeach day to care for COVID-19 patients.”

“We reacted swiftly to protect our stu-dents and our members at our campusesand those on the front lines at SUNY’spublic hospitals in Brooklyn, StonyBrook and Syracuse,” he continued. “Ibelieve we did the best we could do giventhe information we had, and we’ve triedto be nimble and react quickly as thevirus escalated into a pandemic.”

From securing, purchasing and deliver-

ing vital surgical gowns, masks gloves andhand sanitizer for essential employees andfront-line providers at SUNY’s teachinghospitals, to negotiating emergency meas-ures to address employee needs, to hostinga series of online “tele-town halls” to com-municate directly with members, UUPleaders have made many difficult deci-sions during the crisis, always consideringthe impact to members first.

negOTiaTing fOr membersAs The Voice went to press, the gover-

nor ordered SUNY and CUNY to con-tinue remote learning for the rest of the2020 spring semester. That forced thestate to extend the union-negotiatedtelecommuting program, an historicMarch 13 agreement that allows UUP-represented employees to work fromhome for up to five days a week.

The union also secured a one-year auto-matic tenure clock stop (with an opt-outallowance) for academics; a six-monthstop for professionals; removal of therequirement for student-teacher evalua-tions in spring 2020 for future reappoint-ment, tenure or promotion review; andno-cost tele-medicine and tele-counselingappointments for Empire Plan enrollees.

The union also reached agreement thatthe state’s use of nonbargaining-unitwork at the hospitals during COVID-19will not affect UUP’s exclusivity as thebargaining agent for its members.

Through labor-management channelsat the state and campus levels, UUP isworking to clarify the definition of essen-tial employee status for bargaining unitmembers; address health and safetyissues for members in direct contact withstudents and patients; and secure over-time pay for members re-designated asessential employees.

The union continues to negotiate withthe state for hazard pay and bonuses forfront-line hospital providers, informationtechnology professionals and adjunctinstructors. UUP is addressing threatsto members’ intellectual property rightsconnected to the expansion of onlineeducation.

“Guidance for these agreements camethrough weeks of conference calls andwebinars with statewide officers, chapterpresidents and vice presidents,” saidUUP Vice President for Academics JamieDangler. “Our coordinated state-level andchapter-level efforts have been directedto address member needs with SUNY

BY MICHAEL LISI

UUP provides PPE and negotiates to meet member needsPutting members first

DERICK AGBONTAEN HELPS TO UNLOAD25,000 ISOLATION GOWNS AND 5,000PAIRS OF DISPOSABLE SURGICAL GLOVESFOR DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTERCHAPTER MEMBERS WORKING ON THEFRONTLINE OF THE CORONAVIRUS. THEUNION HAS PURCHASED MASKS, GLOVESAND GOWNS FOR ITS AT-RISK MEMBERSAT SUNY’S THREE PUBLIC HOSPITALSIN BROOKLYN, STONY BROOK ANDSYRACUSE, AND THE HEALTH SCIENCESCENTER IN BUFFALO.

ABE GERECHT

Special Issue: Coronavirus


and the Governor’s Officeof Employee Relations.”

At SUNY DownstateHealth Sciences Univer-sity, Downstate ChapterPresident RowenaBlackman-Stroud hasstrongly advocated forbonuses and hazard payfor residents, fellows andall front-line and essentialworkers. She’s exchanged letters and heldmeetings with campus administrators andsaid she won’t let up until she securesbonuses and hazard pay for her members.

Kowal has spoken with the SUNY ad-ministration and Gov. Cuomo’s staffabout obtaining funding for bonuses andhazard pay. SUNY Downstate is aCOVID-19-only hospital; the governormade the designation March 28.

“We are committed to fighting for andwinning this well-deserved compensationor our members,” Blackman-Stroud said.

saving livesThe union isn’t just working behind

the scenes. Throughout April and early May, UUP

sent an assortment of personal protectiveequipment to members at SUNY’s teach-ing hospitals and Buffalo Health SciencesCenter Chapter members who are essen-tial employees and front-line providers

working in Buffalo. It began April 9, when UUP issued

a media release that the union hadpurchased 100,000 isolation gowns—essential protective medical equip-ment used to protect medical workersfrom infectious liquid and solid ma-terial—for front-line providers.

It took nearly a month for them toarrive from China; travel snafus andproblems delayed delivery to an Ala-

bama trucking company, which trans-ported 25,000 of the gowns—along with5,000 Nitrile medical gloves—to SUNYDownstate May 5.

Deliveries to the other hospitals werebeing coordinated as The Voice wentto press.

A UUP staff member drove 50 gallonsof hand sanitizer to Upstate MedicalUniversity in Syracuse April 28. OnMay 4, UUP sent 4,000 N95 respiratormasks to SUNY Downstate and StonyBrook University Hospital; the hospitalsreceived 2,000 masks each.

The union has also brought in thou-sands of free lunches for essential em-ployees at SUNY’s hospitals.

“These are our colleagues, our friends,our neighbors, our health care providers,and they are union members showing upevery day, saving lives and fighting thisvirus,” said Kowal. “Our members onthe front lines are still working without

enough proper PPE. Securing this neces-sary gear for them was a natural andnecessary next step.”

Kowal and UUP leaders have workedwith NYSUT to deliver thousands of sur-gical masks to members at SUNY Down-state, Stony Brook, Upstate, and doctorsand medical professionals at communityhospitals in Buffalo.

Working with UUP, NYSUT sent100,000 masks in April to hospitals inNew York City and Long Island; thatincludes 42,000 masks that were donatedto UUP members at SUNY Downstate.

a PlaCe TO sTayKowal and UUP leaders also took

quick action when some essential hospi-tal workers began asking about thepossibility of opening dormitories oncampus or securing lodging close tocampus. Many of these members workmultiple 12-hour shifts, sometimesover a two-week span; they feared theymight infect their families if they wereto return home each night.

The union located hotel rooms near theUpstate and Stony Brook hospitals andbegan booking rooms for any UUP mem-ber with essential status that requestedone. So far, the union has purchased hotelstays for 18 members, 13 of them from

see MEMBERS FIRST, page 6

UUP has developed a COVID-19 Resources page to give members a placeto get the latest information on dealing with the novel coronavirus.

Check it out at https://uupinfo.org/resources/covid19/.The page includes a UUP Q&A that explains what UUP is doing to address

employee issues related to the COVID-19 crisis, UUP fact sheets, and negotiateditems such as the telecommuting pilot program, and other resources to assistmembers during the pandemic; health-related links recommended by theunion’s statewide Academic Medical Programs Committee; and policy andNYS-related links.

Also on the page is an electronic comment-and-question form to expressconcerns about COVID-19. UUP leaders will respond to questions as quickly as possible.

“Our goal is to ensure that our members have the most up-to-date and useful information as possible,in one easy-to-access place,” said UUP President Fred Kowal. “And, more importantly, to let our membersknow that we’re here to answer their questions and guide them through this very difficult time.”

COVID-19 Resources Page

BLACKMAN-STROUD

continued from page 5the Stony Brook HSC Chapter. TheDownstate Chapter was able to get theadministration to open dorm rooms oncampus.

Upstate Medical University ChapterPresident Rich Veenstra said membershave emailed him to thank him and UUPfor the union’s offer and support.

“A lot of our members are concernedwith coming into contact with COVID-positive persons and bringing the virushome to their families,” Veenstra said.“Sometimes, it’s a family member or aspouse with some underlying condition,or they’re caring for their parents, andthey don’t want to expose them.”

Like labor unions across the state andthe country, UUP has lost members toCOVID-19. A tribute to those membersappears in this issue of The Voice.

“Our hearts and our prayers go out tothe families and friends of our fallencolleagues,” said Kowal. “They will bemissed and always remembered.”

in The lOOPCommunicating with members, whether

the news is good, bad, happy or sad, hastaken on added importance during thepandemic.

UUP launched a two-week ad cam-paign, “We Are New York,” May 5 thathonors members giving their all and help-ing each other during the pandemic. Thead also called on viewers to tell Congressto send emergency mitigation funding toNew York, the epicenter of the virus out-break in America.

The ad aired on cable news channels inBrooklyn, New York City and Albany andNassau counties, and on YouTube fromMay 5-11; it shifted to Facebook and In-stagram for the following week, targetingmembers and New York congressionalrepresentatives (see related story, page 7).

Kowal taped the first of a series ofcoronavirus-themed videos for membersin late March. The videos, which herecorded at home on his phone, providedUUP news and updates, as well as expla-nations on how actions taken by thegovernor or SUNY may impact members.

He also recorded a pair ofaudio commentaries aboutthe union’s response to thecoronavirus that aired overAlbany public radio stationWAMC in April and May.

UUP launched a coron-avirus newsletter, UUPcon-nect: Coronavirus, in lateMarch. The newsletter, sentweekly to more than 24,000members and UUP support-ers, includes a wide varietyof union-themed, coron-avirus-related news formembers.

The union’s social mediapresence on Facebook, Twit-ter and Instagram, and UUP’swebsite are being employedto inform members, showcasemembers making a differ-ence, and distribute newinformation of interest to members.

Two pages are dedicated to COVID-19-related news on the union’s website, atwww.uupinfo.org. One of the pages,“COVID-19 Resources,” is a list of help-ful links for members.

The second, “UUP Solidarity-Hospi-tals,” contains the latest news aboutSUNY’s hospitals, and stories aboutseveral chapter members who have made

a positive impact in their communitiesduring the pandemic; some of thesestories are featured in this issue of TheVoice. The page also has a portal wheremembers can share their experiences withstatewide officers.

“We will serve and protect our membersthrough this pandemic and after it,” saidKowal. “Every decision we make is madewith our members foremost in mind.”


PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER CHAPTER


PHOTO COURTESY OF THE STONY BROOK HSC CHAPTER

DOWNSTATE MEDICAL CENTER CHAPTER MEMBERS SHOW THEIR UNION PRIDE AFTER RECEIVING2,000 FACE MASKS PURCHASED BY UUP FOR FRONT-LINE HOSPITAL WORKERS.

STONY BROOK HSC CHAPTER VP BRUCE KUBE, LEFT, ANDMIKE SNOW, CO-OWNER OF DARN YARN COMPANY, GIVE THETHUMBS UP TO UUP FOR PURCHASING MEDICAL MASKS.

MEMBERS FIRST ...

ad thanks members,urges Congressto fund ny state

U UP has released a new adthat honors the members onthe front lines of the coron-avirus pandemic and calls

on Congress to send emergency funds tohelp New York and other states hit hardby the coronavirus pandemic.

The 30-second ad, titled “We Are NewYork,” aired from May 5-May 11 oncable news stations in New York City,Brooklyn, and Albany and Nassau coun-ties, and on YouTube in Albany, Buffalo,Syracuse, New York City and NassauCounty. It was followed by a one-weeksocial media campaign on Facebook andInstagram. The ad can be viewed athttps://bit.ly/35nlZIt.

“This ad is a public thank you to thou-sands of our members on the front linesat SUNY’s public teaching hospitals inBrooklyn, Stony Brook and Syracuse, aswell as at hospitals in Buffalo,” said UUPPresident Fred Kowal. “Other UUP mem-bers have been busy making face masksand shields, leading food giveaways andhelping colleagues and friends whosejobs have evaporated due to the virus.”

federal funds needed“At the same time, it’s a call-out to our

congressional representatives to push forfederal dollars for New York, which hasbeen decimated financially by its neces-sary response to the pandemic,” he said.“New York needs an infusion of federal

funds to keep essential services, such aspolice and fire protections and our hospi-tals, and all of our campuses functioning.”

The ad dovetails with UUP’s e-letter/phone campaign, which urges UUP mem-bers and supporters to tell New York’scongressional delegation to push for fund-ing for New York in forthcoming coron-avirus mitigation packages. Send a letter athttps://bit.ly/2SqHumG

New York is the epicenter of coron-avirus in America. As The Voice wentto press, more than 21,000 peoplehave died, and the state has more than337,000 confirmed cases, most of themdownstate. The state is projecting a$243 billion loss over the course of thepandemic, according to an April reportfrom the state’s budget office. On April19, the governor raised the specter of a50 percent funding cut for public educa-tion, including SUNY. SUNY’s budget

was cut by more than half during theGreat Recession; most of those cuts werenever restored.

The ad shows UUP health care workersat SUNY’s hospitals, instructors leadingremote learning classes, and membersleading efforts to bring communities to-gether “to face this crisis head on.”

The spot pivots, stating that New Yorkneeds help to “get back on our feet.” Itends with the tagline: “Tell Congress:Send New York state the resources tobuild a better, stronger future—for all,”with the phone number to the U.S. Capi-tol switchboard.

The ad was produced by UUP Mediaand Publications, and GPS Impact, aPhiladelphia-based company that hascreated ads for Pennsylvania Gov. TomWolf, Pennsylvania Congress memberConor Lamb, and The Fairness Project,among others.

BY MICHAEL LISI


UUP PLACED ADS ON CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, NY-1 TV, NY-12 TV, YOUTUBE, FACEBOOK ANDINSTAGRAM, URGING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TO GIVE NEW YORK STATE THE RESOURCES TO REBUILD.

Check out the ad at https://bit.ly/35nlZItSend an e-letter to lawmakers at https://bit.ly/2SqHumG

Right from the start, UUP knew the toll a pandemic would take on themembers—especially those in SUNY’s state-run hospitals and its academicmedical centers in Brooklyn, Buffalo, Syracuse and Long Island. So whenthe Albany Times Union put out a COVID-19 special issue, the union wason board, buying a half-page ad to shed light on the dedicated employeesand to thank them for their life-saving work. The ad ran Sunday, March 29.

UUP praises members


at the heart of the pandemicAs New York state put out an urgent call for help during the coronavirus pandemic,UUP members responded with their hearts, their hard work and their ever-presentsense of service to others—often while setting aside their own fears of a lethal virusthat seemed to select its victims at random.

UUP members have comforted the dying and carried on in overwhelmed hospitalswhose corridors were likened to combat zones. They have looked out for their lessfortunate neighbors and colleagues, and used their creative and professional skillsto supply health care workers with masks and face shields. Artists and scientists,physicians and building-services professionals all channeled their efforts into oneall-consuming goal: to help students, patients, communities and first-responders.

If all the separate efforts of UUP members during this unprecedented globalemergency could be stitched together in an imaginary quilt of love, skill andsacrifice, it would cover the entire state, giving comfort to everyone it touched.

The Voice documented dozens of these stories. The following selections are justa small sampling of what UUP members have done—and continue to do.


A s scientists around theworld race to find answersthat could help control thecoronavirus, two UUP

members at SUNY Polytechnic Institutein Albany are developing a test that willnot only detect the infection, but alsohelp improve patient care.

Nate Cady, an Empire InnovationProfessor of Nanobioscience, and ScottTenenbaum, an associate professor andhead of nanobioscience at the college,have a working prototype of a coron-avirus test that will provide additionalinformation about the patient.

The test will show how far along theinfection is, whether the patient hasgenerated antibodies against the virusand, if so, approximately when thepatient was infected. Those details canhelp pinpoint treatments more specificto individual patients.

fasT-TraCking, wiTh ParTners“We have to go through FDA approval,

which would include validation withhundreds of patients,” said Cady, whosetitle of Empire Innovation Professor

reflects his participa-tion in a state-fundedgrant programdesigned to recruitand retain faculty inthe sciences, educa-tion and security.But, he added,because work likethis is unfolding dur-

ing the pandemic, the FDA has acceleratedthe normal 12- to 18-month approvalprocess, and the two researchers expecttheir test to be approved much sooner.

The two are working on the project withCiencia Inc., a Connecticut high-techresearch firm that specializes in the pro-duction of medical and scientific instru-ments; and the state’s Wadsworth Center, a

public-health laboratory in Albany. The test is being designed so that it can

be quickly adapted to the expected muta-tions of the virus, Tenenbaum said.

“This virus is not only amenable tomutations, but that’s how it jumped frombats to humans,” he said.

uuP helPs Clear The wayCady and Tenenbaum are working on

this project in their research labs, havingobtained the go-ahead from SUNY tocontinue during a system-wide shutdownof most activities and academic work onSUNY campuses. The University is alsosupporting COVID-centered projects

such as theirs with special funding.And as colleges in the Capital Region

announce furloughs, layoffs and salaryreductions of employees, the two scien-tists credit UUP for quickly negotiatingwith SUNY administration and the Gov-ernor’s Office of Employee Relationson a myriad of work conditions formembers—union action that they sayhas been extremely reassuring in suchan uncertain time.

“I think with all the furloughs andlayoffs as a result of this, I don’t thinkI’ve ever felt better about being part ofan enormously strong union than rightnow,” Tenenbaum said.

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

CADY

SUNY POLY CHAPTER MEMBER SCOTT TENENBAUM, AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AND HEAD OFNANOBIOSCIENCE AT THE SUNY POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE IN ALBANY, IS WORKING WITH COLLEAGUENATE CADY TO DEVELOP A TEST TO DETECT THE CORONAVIRUS AND IMPROVE PATIENT CARE.

suny Poly Chapter members building better coronavirus test

“We have to go through FDA approval,which would include validation with hundreds

of patients.” But the FDA is willing to accelerateits approval process during the pandemic.

— Nate CadySUNY Poly Empire Innovation Professor

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUNY POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE



downstate chaplain a light to guide the way

E ach day, the Rev. SharonCodner-Walker pulls on herisolation gown and protectivemedical gear and makes her

daily rounds at SUNY Downstate HealthSciences University, looking to bringpeace in a place that feels more like Hellthan a hospital.

Pain is in abundance here. So are angerand fear and sorrow and helplessness,emotions hidden behind the medicalmasks worn by thousands of grim-faceddoctors, nurses and front-line providerscaring for what seems like a never-end-ing stream of patients deathly sick withCOVID-19.

But it’s their eyes that give them away. “I want to look in their eyes,” said

Codner-Walker, Downstate’s director ofpastoral care. I want to look beyond thestoic look and look directly into theirbusy, shifting eyes. I say, ‘Can I look atyou for a moment?’ and they will take abreath, and now it’s about vulnerabilityand doctors don’t like that.

“What I see is weariness, I see pain andfrustration,” she continued, her voicesoothing yet resolute. “But I tell them,‘You are handling all that is called toyour hand and doing it in a phenomenalway,’ and it’s a boost of adrenaline forthem. I yearn for whole recovery, thatI’m a vessel, looking to bring comfortand support to all.”

‘ i will fear nO evil’In her 18-plus years as a Downstate

chaplain, Codner-Walker said she’s neverseen anything like the havoc wrought bythe coronavirus.

At SUNY Downstate, designated asa COVID-19-only hospital in March,wives and husbands, sons and daughtersdie alone, their families unable to bewith them because they could be exposedto the deadly virus. Calls for emergencyintubations and resuscitations echothrough the hospital’s hallways, all-too-familiar refrains of the pandemic.

“We go to nursing stations and depart-

ments, and we ask, ‘What do you need?’and they say, ‘We just want to talk, wewant to pray, we need to be heard sopeople can hear our hearts,’” she said.“We’re falling apart, and we’re supposedto be strong and have the answers.’”

“We stand alongside medical housestaff, where we find out which patientsaren’t doing well and which familymembers are despondent,” Codner-Walker continued. “Our prayer booksand collars have been traded for protec-tive clothing, tissue boxes and portabletelephones.”

in gOd’s handsDoctors, nurses and front-line providers

are doing everything they can to treatcoronavirus patients. Sometimes patientsrespond. Sometimes they don’t. Othersteeter between life and death for days,reminding front-line providers of theirmortality and the very real possibility ofbringing the virus home to their families.

“One doctor I spoke with said he threwthe kitchen sink at one patient, he triedeverything so the patient could be well,”said Codner-Walker. “We talked about it

and I reminded him that when it’s allsaid and done, we don’t control whodies and who lives.

“They want to do so much more,but the losses are so great that there’snothing they can do,” said Codner-Walker. “It has nothing to do withthem not trying. When (some patients)get to us, there’s already severe lungdamage and very little left that wecan do.”

And patients are terrified.“Abandonment is a big part of what

they feel,” she said. “They ask, ‘Havewe been forsaken by God?’ What wedo is offer a different kind of hope, thatwe all have tribulations and trouble,but that God will never leave us orforsake us.”

Codner-Walker said she makes a pointof talking to and praying with patientswho are intubated or in a coma. She oncewas in a coma and said the soothingvoice of a hospital chaplain helped herrecover.

The reverend also administers sacra-ments, but from a six-foot distance.Codner-Walker blesses a wafer and wine

BY MICHAEL LISI

PHOTO COURTESY OF STUYVESANT HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN CHURCH

THE REV. SHARON CODNER-WALKER, A DOWNSTATE CHAPTER MEMBER AND DIRECTOR OF PASTORALCARE AT SUNY DOWNSTATE HEALTH SCIENCES UNIVERSITY, WORKS TO BRING PEACE TO COVID-19PATIENTS. CODNER-WALKER HAS BEEN DOWNSTATE’S CHAPLAIN FOR MORE THAN 18 YEARS.



sealed in packets and hands them to anurse, who brings them to the patient.It’s the best that she can do, and patientsappreciate the effort.

“The gratitude the patients have,there’s no words to describe it,” she said

. a Time TO heal

But after days and days of giving, thereverend’s indomitable spirit doesweaken. Sometimes, those who heal needhealing.

She and her staff, which includes arabbi, an imam, a Catholic priest and anon-denominational representative,gather to debrief at the end of their 12-

hour days. They talk about the sufferingthey’ve seen and allow themselves toopen up.

“I can cry, I can say that I too feel anx-ious,” Codner-Walker said. “There is suchprofound sadness and brokenness. You’renot the same person afterward. But withencouragement and prayer, we take careof ourselves. We ground ourselves, weallow ourselves to be vulnerable.”

Yet, keeping the faith hasn’t been easy.The reverend said she experienced a“crisis of faith” in the early days of thepandemic. And that’s okay, she said.

“It’s okay to have a crisis of grief andask why this is happening,” she said.

“It’s okay to be numb and to be angry atGod right now. Does it make me a badperson? Of course not. We ask, “Lord,I believe, but help my unbelief.’”

If there’s a bright side to all of this, thereverend said it’s the camaraderie sharedby front-line providers during the pan-demic. People are kind, they listen toeach other. And they care about theirpatients, their co-workers, their familiesand themselves.

“We’re seeing how resilient we are,”she said. “We are all in this together.The oneness is what I see. We don’t seecolor or difference. I hear people say,‘Let go of what kept us apart.’”

S ometimes, doing your job isn’t enough.Sometimes, you’re asked to do your job ...and then some.

For a team of dedicated UUP membersat SUNY Brockport, that sometime came in earlyMarch, when the college received word that it wouldbe one of two SUNY campuses to host studentsforced by the growing pandemic—and under orderof the governor—to return to New York from theirstudies abroad.

Thirty-four students, who would be under a 14-dayprecautionary quarantine, were to be housed in thecollege’s Gordon Hall, which hadn’t been used as aresidence hall for nearly a year. The building was incomplete disarray. Some things were broken, otherthings were missing or had been taken to be used inother dormitories. Decades-long state cutbacks andflat SUNY budgets meant the college had to savemoney where it could. Administrators and staffbelieved there would be plenty of time to make the fixes.

fliP This dOrmThat all changed in an instant. Maintenance and other facilities

crews had about two days to turn Gordon Hall’s 48 suites and 96bedrooms into livable quarters. It took 10 maintenance servicestaffers—working two shifts alongside several physical-plantservice staffers—to pull it off.

But they did. In a day and a half.“We have four buildings on campus that were basically built

around the same time,” said UUP member Brad Menear, assis-tant director of maintenance services. “They all use the sameparts, and (many) are obsolete.”

It made sense that they would “re-purpose” many of the partsto keep the other residence halls up and running, Menear said.

The plan was to update Gordon Hall with new carpets andbaseboards and renovate some of the bathrooms. Until thattime, the staff had no qualms about removing sinks or filchingshower parts.

“We had to find the parts to put showers back in use,” Menearsaid. “The toilets hadn’t been flushed in almost a year, so gas-kets dry up and leak. Same with the showers, so they all had tobe repaired.”

Window blinds, lights, electrical outlets, heating systems and anemergency generator all had to be checked and returned to work-ing order. Furniture that had been removed and stacked in thelounge had to be brought back into the rooms and reassembled.

Said Menear: Professionals “working together, can do anything.”

BY KAREN L. MATTISON

brockport facilities team flips dorm in less than two days

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRAD MENEAR

BROCKPORT CHAPTER MEMBER BRAD MENEAR WAS PART OF A TEAM THAT PUT GORDONHALL BACK TOGETHER IN TIME TO HOUSE 34 STUDENTS RETURNING FROM STUDIESABROAD. THE STUDENTS WENT HOME AFTER A 14-DAY PRECAUTIONARY QUARANTINE.


downstate: donors wanted in new weapon against COvid-19

A few weeks ago, the sceneinside the emergencydepartment at DownstateMedical Center’s University

Hospital was something that Dr. MichaelAugenbraun could never have imaginedin his long career as an infectious diseasespecialist.

Desperately ill people, sickened by thecoronavirus, were everywhere. Some ofthem were already near death. They werearriving in such numbers that the staffcould not register them, evaluate themand treat them fast enough. It was amodern-day version of a Medievalplague, with all its horror and hopeless-ness, dropped into one of the poorestparts of the nation’s largest city.

“Up until the third weekend ofMarch, it was like a charnelhouse here,” said Augenbraun,director of the hospital’s infec-tious disease division, and aUUP member. “People wererolling in, and there was not a lotwe could do for them.”

Now, there may be somehope for the sickest COVID-19patients. At Downstate, as wellas at the two other SUNY teach-ing hospitals—Stony BrookUniversity Hospital on LongIsland, and Upstate MedicalCenter Hospital in Syracuse—doctorsare participating in a national effort to trya century-old treatment on COVID-19patients.

In the midst of a pandemic caused bya disease which has no vaccine, no cureand few certainties—and which had, bymid-May, killed nearly 80,000 in theUnited States—the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration has authorized hospitalsaround the country to begin convalescentplasma therapy.

dOCTOrs Turn TO sTaffConvalescent plasma therapy involves

giving a transfusion of blood plasmafrom people who have recovered fromCOVID-19, and therefore carry antibod-

ies to the coronavirus in their blood-stream, to patients still sickened bythe disease. It has been used to treat arange of serious diseases, includingdiphtheria, anoften-fatal bacter-ial infection thatespecially targetedchildren beforea vaccine wasdeveloped acentury ago.

At Downstate,Allen Norin, animmunologist andUUP member who leads the convales-cent plasma workgroup for COVID-19,enlisted the help of UUP Chapter Presi-dent Rowena Blackman-Stroud to get theword out to the staff—many of whom had

contracted and recovered from COVID-19—that the hospital needed staff mem-bers to consider being plasma donors.They would be a ready source of plasma,reasoned Norin, and would be likelydonors because of their vivid understand-ing of the damage wreaked by the coron-avirus.

That’s just one more way that Down-state members are coming through inthis crisis, Augenbraun said.

“Every day, I’m encouraged to go in,because of the people I’m dealing with,”he said of the medical and support staffin the emergency department and inten-sive care units. “We really appreciate theunion getting the word out; we reallythink our strength is in our staff.”

an urgenT resPOnseThere is no certainty that convalescent

plasma therapy will work; there is onlya handful of case reports about patientsin China and Korea who showed improve-ment after receiving plasma treatment.Published reports about the use of thetherapy at the Mayo Clinic, which is thenational coordinator for the plasma pro-gram, indicated early and limited anec-dotal accounts of patients improvingafter receiving plasma therapy.

The urgency of the situation has fast-forwarded the medical response, and sothis effort is not being handled throughthe usual, and slower, approach of aclinical trial, said Norin, who in normaltimes oversees the kidney transplantlaboratories at Downstate and StonyBrook University Hospital.

“In my view, it’s not a trialunless there’s a controlgroup,” Norin said. “Thisis a treatment approved bythe FDA.”

Norin was especially enthu-siastic about the convalescentplasma therapy because heknows from personal experi-ence that it can work. Eightyears ago, his infant grandsoncontracted botulism, a poten-tially fatal infection caused bya bacterium found in soil,when the baby put his hand

into some dirt and then into his mouth.The botulism bacterium leads to thebuildup of a neurotoxin in the body, butNorin’s grandson responded to a transfu-sion of plasma donated by someone whohad survived the infection. Today, he’s ahealthy, active 8-year-old.

members sTrOng, sTalwarTAn effective treatment is needed now,

but also for the strong possibility thatthere will be another coronavirus out-break in the country before a vaccine isdeveloped. Estimates on the productionof a vaccine range from at least a year,to several years.

“We have to figure all of this out,because this is telling us, ‘There is more

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

NORIN

Go to https://bit.ly/2XSHFdMGo to https://bit.ly/2XSHFdMfor more details on how to donate.for more details on how to donate.



Q and a: dr. stephen Thomas, upstate medical university

I nfectious-disease experts liveby the medical version of themantra, “Prepare for the worst;hope for the best.” While they

spend their careers studying andhelping plan for outbreaks, epi-demics and pandemics of seriousand potentially fatal diseases—andthey know they likely will be calledupon to help quell such an eventat least once in their career—theyalso hope they never see the worst-case scenario.

Now, infectious-disease specialistsare seeing something they all knewwas possible, but never thought wouldhappen at this scale in the United States:a rapidly spreading and highly contagiousglobal viral illness, with a mortality rateworse than originally thought.

Upstate Medical University memberStephen Thomas is a professor of medi-cine and chief of the infectious diseasesdivision. A nationally recognized expertin his field, he has been interviewed bynumerous news outlets on the coron-avirus pandemic.

A graduate of Albany Medical College,Thomas did his residency at Walter ReedArmy Medical Center and served in anumber of medical advisory positions forthe Army, including on the staff of theU.S. Army Medical Research and Mate-rial Command during the 2014 outbreakof Ebola. In that position, his responsibil-ities included helping with Ebola pre-paredness in the United States.

A member since 2018, Thomas recentlyresponded to questions from The Voice.

What is the single thing yourhospital most needs right now?

Reliable supply chain of PPE[personal protective equipment.]How would it improve or changethe situation at the hospitalright now if you could get FDAapproval to do on-site testing?

Being able to make the diagnosisor rule out the COVID diagnosisallows us to reduce risk to staff, savePPE, properly disposition the patientin the hospital, i.e., which floor dothey go to? It also has considerablepublic health ramifications in termsof the timely conduct of isolationand contact tracing.

In your career as an infectiousdisease expert, did you—or yourcolleagues generally in the field—think that this kind of pandemic couldsomeday spread to the United States?

Did we think the country was vulnerable?Yes. At this scale? Not really. The worstcase was always envisioned as a respira-tory pathogen which spread efficientlyfrom person to person and had a significantmortality rate; this is our situation.

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

to come,’” Norin said.About 250 people had died

of COVID-19 at Downstateby early May, Augenbraunsaid. Although the diseaseappears to have peaked inNew York City, there arestill many very sick peoplein the hospital.

“It’s been a struggle forweeks,” he said. “We’regetting a little bit of respitenow, but the whole thing isunpredictable.”

So is the convalescentplasma therapy, but by earlyMay, the hospital had provided convales-cent plasma, as the treatment is known, toeight patients. Augenbraun said he couldnot comment on how the treatment is

working, as the use of the plasma “... isnot a clinical trial and I have no compara-tor group.” In a clinical trial, the compara-tor group is a drug or treatment that is

already on the market.Augenbraun, who first

spoke to The Voice inmid-April at the end of amonth-long stretch withthe pandemic that hedescribed as exhaustingand anguishing for all ofthe staff, sounded a noteof hope in an email in earlyMay. He wrote that theweek of May 3 hadincluded “the first day ina long time where we hadno deaths. So things arebetter to some degree.”

“We really appreciate the union gettingthe word out,” he said. The union mem-bers “have been a saving grace throughall of this. They really are heroes.”

UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY CHAPTER MEMBER STEPHENTHOMAS HAS BEEN THE MEDIA’S GO-TO PHYSICIAN FOR FACTSAND UPDATES ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

UUP MEMBER MICHAEL AUGENBRAUN, WHO HEADS SUNY DOWNSTATE’SINFECTIOUS DISEASES DIVISION, SAID THE SCENE IN THE EMERGENCY ROOMIN MARCH WAS UNIMAGINABLE.

DOWNSTATE.EDU


U UP Upstate Medical Univer-sity Chapter member ChrisTanski unexpectedly foundhimself calling the shots

at the sprawling temporary coronavirushospital at the Javits Convention Center.

Tanski, an emergency room doctor atUpstate Medical University, was the chiefmedical officer at the 1,000-bed make-shift hospital in New York City, whichclosed May 1. The hospital treatedslightly more than 1,000 patients, and itis being left in place for the time being,in case it is needed again. Tanski hadbeen there since April 9, according tothe Upstate website.

The doctor didn’t treat any of the nearly350 patients at the facility, all of themCOVID-19 patients. Instead, he handledthe hospital’s operations, overseeing hun-dreds of doctors and nurses—many ofwhom are members of the military.

“I’m here 7, 7:30 in the morning until8 or 9 at night, and every day,” Tanskitold Rochester’s WHEC-TV April 13.“There’s no time off with that. I justremind myself, these patients here they’reare having the worst day of their lives.

They have this un-known virus, they’drather be home, andwe’re trying to do what-ever we can to take careof them and get themhome.”

Tanski, 41, who wastapped for the Javits jobby the New York StateDepartment of Health,was also involved inmanaging health careproviders on the U.S.Navy hospital shipU.S.N.S. Comfort, aCOVID-19 field hospi-tal docked at Manhat-tan’s Pier 90. TheComfort left New YorkCity April 30.

While he didn’t tend to patients, he was incontact with them, and that was a concern.

“It’s 100 percent COVID patients,”Tanski told the Rochester Democrat &Chronicle April 15. “It’s incrediblyhigh-risk.”

Tanski hadn’t seen his wife, Holly, andhis two daughters—4-year-old Audreyand 6-month-old Lucy—since he left.

On April 15, the governor’s officeasked Tanski to continue as medicaldirector until the hospital closed.

Tanski agreed—fully and willinglyunderstanding that he was committing toan open-ended assignment.

“I don’t even know if I’m going to stillbe here two months from now,” Tanskitold Syracuse.com April 16.

BY MICHAEL LISI

Ten Upstate Medical University Chapter members werepart of a second group of Upstate employees in Stony Brookto help their colleagues care for COVID-19 patients.

The 22 Upstate Medical University health care workersleft Syracuse April 14 and arrived at Stony Brook UniversityHospital later that day. Twenty-two nurses formed the firstgroup of Upstate medical staff to go to Stony Brook; theyleft for Long Island April 9.

Two of the UUP members who volun-teered for the assignment are pharmacistKatie Triesel and respiratory therapistAmber Hart. The other UUP membersinclude a second a respiratory therapist,two other pharmacists, and five pharmacytechnicians, said Upstate ChapterPresident Rich Veenstra.

Veenstra said he didn’t have the names of the other

UUP members who volunteered to go to Stony Brook.A CNYcentral.com story identified Triesel and Hart;Veenstra said Upstate’s respiratory therapists andpharmacists are represented by UUP.

“It takes a lot of courage to do what they’re doing,”said Veenstra. “They’re stepping up.”

Read the CNYcentral.com story at https://bit.ly/2KCj8C9.

Upstate nurses help downstate

VEENSTRA

UPSTATE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY CHAPTER MEMBER AND EMERGENCYROOM DOCTOR CHRIS TANSKI SERVED AS THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICERAT THE 1,000-BED MAKESHIFT CORONAVIRUS HOSPITAL AT THE JAVITSCONVENTION CENTER IN NEW YORK CITY.

upstate Chapter uuPer headed up Javits coronavirus hospitalSpecial Issue: Coronavirus

Stony Brook HSC Chapter VP Bruce Kube shot video of gratefulhospital workers welcoming their Upstate Chapter colleagues.View the video at https://bit.ly/2zvyqGa.


A s Maria Theresa Estrellaprepared to return to herpatients at Stony BrookUniversity Hospital in

mid-April after a precious few days’break, she knew that she would do sowith a once-unimaginably personalgrasp of what they—and their families—have endured.

Shortly before she headed homeApril 11 for a weekend with her twochildren, she learned that a friend andfellow nurse had just died of COVID-19 after contracting the coronaviruswhile caring for COVID patients atLong Island Community Hospital.He left a wife and two children.

The two friends were close; the pairwere registered nurses in their nativePhilippines and came to the U.S. ayear apart in the early 2000s. Two oftheir four children were schoolmates,and their families were part of a smallcommunity of Philippine immigrantson Long Island whose members kneweach other and socialized together.

Estrella never expected to find herselfdenied the same mourning rituals as somany of her patients’ families, none ofwhom have been able to bid farewell totheir dying loved ones in person at thehospital, and many of whom are unableto grieve together.

“It’s so sad because we cannot bethere, all together,” she said in a tele-phone interview from her Long Islandhome, as her voice broke. “We don’t haveany answers. It’s just the same as in thehospital, because once the patient dies,the family can’t see them. I feel likethere’s no closure.”

healTh Care wOrkersfaCe greaT risk

The exact toll of the coronavirus onhealth care workers in the U.S. is notknown, and some states—includingNew York—are not tracking infectedhealth care workers as a separate cate-gory, according to BuzzFeed News.But nationally, nearly 9,200 health careworkers were reported to have been

infected as of April 15, with 27 deaths. As of May 11, New York had more than

21,000 deaths from COVID-19—a figurethat may not reflect many deaths at homeof patients who likely had the illness butwere never hospitalized or tested. Thefour Long Island counties account fornearly 13,000 of those deaths.

And so, Estrella now knows, grief is aprecious commodity in a hospital duringa pandemic.

Fear, however, is available in abundance,as Estrella has seen among her patients—fear that they will get sicker and be movedto intensive care.

“It’s high-intensity right now in thehospital,” Estrella said. “Of course,everybody is frightened. [Patients] don’thave any family members who can visitthem. I’m scared for myself, and I’mscared for my family. But this is whatwe signed up for.”

redePlOymenTand raPid adJusTmenTs

Estrella, a UUP member of nearly ayear, joined Stony Brook Hospital as a

case manager in May 2019. Normally,she would be working in the hospi-tal’s orthopedic unit, coordinatinga patient’s care and overseeingdischarge plans.

But because she is also a registerednurse, she is now one of the hundredsof health care workers in New Yorkwho has been redeployed during thecoronavirus pandemic. The orthopedicunit is one of several areas of StonyBrook University Hospital that hasbeen converted to a COVID-19 careunit, and Estrella has been reassignedto bedside nursing.

She has the use of a hotel roomprovided by UUP so that she does nothave to go home at night in betweenshifts, to lessen the possibility ofcarrying the virus to her two sons,ages 6 and 20. She showers andchanges clothes when she leavesher last shift before a break from thehospital. Her older son is a nursingstudent who moved home to help carefor his younger brother during hismother’s redeployment.

uuP PrOTeCTing membersStony Brook HSC Chapter President

Carolyn Kube has been steadily availableto members at the hospital and has beenresponding to their many questions abouttheir suddenly upended jobs, Estrellasaid. At the statewide level, UUP officershave been working to ascertain, in negoti-ations with SUNY and the Governor’sOffice of Employee Relations, that thework conditions of members throughoutSUNY are protected during this unprece-dented situation.

“She’s always available,” Estrella saidof Kube. “We’ve been reaching out to herfrom the day we heard we were beingredeployed.”

And Estrella knows that she will con-tinue to handle her fears, her grief and herprivate distress at seeing people dyingwithout their loved ones, for as long asthe coronavirus pandemic continues tobring patients into the hospital.

“This is what we do,” she said. “Theyneed us. Everybody needs to help eachother.”

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIA THERESA ESTRELLA

MARIA THERESA ESTRELLA, A UUP MEMBER OF NEARLYA YEAR, IS A REGISTERED NURSE AND CASE MANAGER ATSUNY STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, WHERE SHEIS ON THE FRONTLINE OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.

working for patients through grief, fear, uncertainty


J ulie Eason, the respiratorytherapy department director atSUNY’s University Hospitalof Brooklyn, isn’t jolted by the

CODE 99 calls that periodically blareover the hospital public address system,alerting doctors to another COVID-19patient in need of a respirator.

As jolted as she used to be, anyway. “They’re so sick you lose them in a

heartbeat, they're that sick,” Eason,a Downstate Chapter member, toldCNN. “They’re talking to you andthen a few minutes later you're puttinga tube down their throat and you’rehoping that you can set the ventilator

in such a way that it actually helps them.”“We have some young people in there

in their 20s, not used to seeing this andsome had a thousand-mile stare, just cry-ing,” Dr. Lorenzo Paladino, a DownstateUUP member, said of patients waiting forcoronavirus treatment in Downstate’semergency room. “This is ‘Grey’sAnatomy’ stuff for them, not real life.It shouldn't happen in front of them.”

dOwnsTaTe in The fOreEason and Paladino are two of many

Downstate Chapter members on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic whowere spotlighted in a CNN special,

“Inside the ER: The Incredible FightAgainst Coronavirus.” The hour-longspecial aired nationwide April 5.

Other Downstate UUP members inter-viewed in the special were Dr. CynthiaBenson, Dr. Mafuzur Rahman, Dr. RobertGore, Dr. Robert Foronjy, and MichaelMcGillicuddy, Downstate’s GrossAnatomy Lab supervisor and morguesupervisor.

“Words don’t describe how proud weare of our members on the front lines ofthe coronavirus, at Downstate, our publicteaching hospitals at Stony Brook andSyracuse, and our health sciences centerin Buffalo,” said UUP President Fred

Kowal. “The CNN special showed thededication and passion of our Downstatemembers, working amid chaos and short-ages of protective gear each day to carefor COVID-19 patients.”

The CNN special provided a stark,unfiltered look at what doctors, nursesand health care workers at UniversityHospital—part of SUNY DownstateHealth Sciences Center—are dealing withas a COVID-1-only hospital. The gover-nor designated the public medical centeras a COVID-19-only hospital in March,one of three in the state.

“This is what we trained to do; this iswhat we signed up for,” said Benson.“Just not in this volume.”

downstate members heroes in Cnn special

DOWNSTATE CHAPTER MEMBERS DR. LORENZO PALADINO, ABOVERIGHT, AND JULIE EASON, LEFT, DIRECTOR OF THE RESPIRATORYTHERAPY DEPARTMENT AT SUNY’S UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OFBROOKLYN, WERE AMONG THOSE FEATURED ON CNN’S HOUR-LONG SPECIAL, WHICH AIRED NATIONWIDE APRIL 5.

CNN PHOTOS

BY MICHAEL LISI

View a five-minute clipfrom the CNN special athttps://cnn.it/2xxszQ4

Read the transcript athttps://cnn.it/2yXUyc3



The power of words

A pandemic cannot be allowedto come between a patientand the healing powerof words, spoken in that

patient’s own language.With this goal in mind, UUP member

Sue Freeman, the manager of interpretingservices at Upstate Medical Universityin Syracuse, had to think of the best wayto meet patients’ needs, while keepingpatients and staff safe from the coron-avirus. She knew that no matter howserious the pandemic was, patients wouldstill need to speak with a care-giver, a discharge coordinator or achaplain, and that patients’ fami-lies would still need to meet withmedical staff and social workers.

Whenever possible, Freemanhas turned to technology as thesafest approach—but she’s alsorelied on flexibility, creativity,protective gear and the use ofinterpreters in the room with thepatient, when no other approachcould meet the patient’s needs.It’s been a balancing act, but oneshe says has been made easierby her supportive staff.

“I’ve got a great team. Wework very, very well together,”Freeman said. Two UUP dele-gates—Yolanda Beckon andLarhonda Caver—are part ofthat team, as schedulers forinterpreting services.

meeTing many language needsDozens of languages are spoken in the

central upstate region—too many for thehospital to have a staff interpreter foreach one. Spanish is the most commonlanguage other than English, followed byAmerican Sign Language, Arabic, So-mali, Nepali and Karen (pronouncedKah-ren), which is spoken by an ethnicgroup in Myanmar.

So Upstate has a staff interpreter forSpanish, and two American Sign Lan-

guage (ASL) interpreters, one of whom isFreeman. But for other languages, Up-state uses what’s known as Video RemoteInterpreters—fluent speakers who workfor an agency and are scheduled to inter-pret via an iPad. Although this is not newtechnology, it’s especially useful now,when the hospital is trying to limit howmany people enter its buildings.

“We have the iPad that has the applica-tion; in 30 to 60 seconds, there’s aninterpreter in Bengali,” Freeman said.“That’s our first option for our interpreterservices right now.”

Sometimes, the hospital has had no

choice but to have the interpreter present,garbed in personal protective equipment.That’s necessary during medical proce-dures such as an MRI, where the patientneeds to hear instructions but cannot lookat an iPad. And sometimes, a meeting be-tween staff and family members is besthandled with the interpreter in the room.

CreaTive sOluTiOnsBut the iPad approach has worked well,

Freeman said, and has even lent itself to

some creative solutions using other apps.A Spanish-speaking patient who hadCOVID-19 wanted to talk to a chaplain,but the chaplain, who did not speakSpanish, was not permitted to enter herroom. The hospital gave one iPad to thepatient, and another to the chaplain. Withthe chaplain and a Spanish interpreterstanding outside the glass wall to thepatient’s room, the chaplain and patientwere able to converse using FaceTime.

ASL is an especially difficult languageto conduct on an iPad. A conversation insign language flows most easily whenboth people can see nuances of facial ex-

pression and a three-dimensionalview of each other’s hands, butneither expressions nor motioncome across quite the same on aflat screen. However, the VideoRemote Interpreter system on aniPad was acceptable to a deaf pa-tient in the hospital’s emergencydepartment who was initiallythought to have COVID-19; hadit not been, the hospital wouldhave used an on-site interpreterwith the necessary precautions,Freeman said.

Freeman is certified as a profes-sional sign language interpreter,and she went back to college toearn her degree in AmericanSign Language at the RochesterInstitute of Technology. She wasoriginally an accountant, but shebecame interested in ASL whenshe and her husband befriendeda couple in which the wife is

deaf, and Freeman wanted to be ableto speak to that new friend in thewoman’s language.

“She encouraged me. She said,‘You’ve got what it takes to be aninterpreter,’” Freeman recalled.

To that, Freeman would add, herUpstate Medical University departmenthas got what it takes to help peoplespeak, and be spoken to, with dignityand compassion, even during apandemic.

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

SUE FREEMAN, MANAGER OF INTERPRETER SERVICES AT UPSTATEMEDICAL UNIVERSITY, SIGNS, “I LOVE YOU” AS A MESSAGE OFENCOURAGEMENT FROM HER UPSTATE COLLEAGUES TO UUPMEMBERS THROUGHOUT NEW YORK.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUE FREEMAN

UUPer uses technology, creativity to interpret for patients at Upstate Medical University


K at Wilson and Aaron Nelsonhad no idea whether theycould use the 3D printers inSUNY New Paltz’s Hudson

Valley Additive Manufacturing Center(HVAMC) to make face shields for doc-tors, nurses and medical professionalscaring for COVID-19 patients.

But after they began getting calls fromlocal hospitals and health care centersasking for help, the New Paltz Chaptermembers figured they’d give it the oldcollege try.

“We started getting calls asking if wecould make face shields,” said Wilson,the center’s assistant director. “We werelike ‘We don’t know, but we’ll give it ashot.’ So, we were kind of shocked that itworked as well as it did.”

“When we got this call, we knew thiswas in our wheelhouse,” said Nelson,director of the MakerBot InnovationCenter, co-director of the Digital Designand Fabrication Program, and an assistantprofessor of art. “Once we knew wecould make a difference, we were onboard.”

Working with center Director DanielFreedman and intern Rachel Eisgruber,the UUP members are using the HVAMCto print about 200 face shields each dayusing a bank of 20 printers—called a“print farm”—to kick out the masks. Thepair is sharing the design template for themasks online for others to use.

They’ve printed and shipped more than6,300 face shields since they began print-ing in late March. The masks are beingused at health care and elder care facilitiesin Orange County and New Paltz, as wellas area hospitals and a drive-through test-ing site in Kingston.

“Last week, we had 2,000 (shields) go outthe door and the feedback we’ve gotten isthat people are very happy with them,” Nel-son said. “We’re happy to do it. We’re turn-ing and burning around the clock.”

Face shields are important personal pro-tection devices; they protect the eyes,nose, mouth and face from splashes,sprays, and spatter of body fluids. A 2014

Centers for Disease Control study showedthat face shields reduced a healthworker’s exposure to an influenza-ladencough by 96 percent and the surface con-tamination of a respirator by 97 percent.

shield deTailsTransparencies—the kind used for laser

printers, copiers and overhead projec-tors—are used to create the shields. 3Dprinters are used to make the shield head-pieces; rubber bands are used to linksmaller plastic pieces and keep the masksecure.

Wilson said she and Nelson are workingon getting a mold of a face shield that willallow them to increase production to as

many as 2,000 shields per day. “We’re glad that we’re able to make an

impact,” said Wilson. “What we strive todo is connect with the community, andwe’re engaging with them on this project.”

Being a UUP member has also played arole in their willingness to give back.Knowing that they’re protected and thattheir jobs are secure has given them pieceof mind and allowed them to focus onhelping their community.

“At a time when a lot of my friends are ata place of instability, it’s nice to know that Idon’t have to worry about that because I’mpart of a group that will protect me,” saidNelson, a UUP member since 2016. “I canspend my time here, working.”

BY MICHAEL LISI

new Paltz pair leads efforts to print safety shields

NEW PALTZ UUP MEMBERS KAT WILSON, LEFT, AND AARON NELSON DIDN’T HESITATE WHENTHEY GOT THE CALL TO PRINT 3D FACE SHIELDS FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS AND OTHER MEDICALPROFESSIONALS IN DIRE NEED OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT—TO THE TUNE OF 2,000 A DAY.



P otsdam Chapter member AlexisFoster—a.k.a., The MaskedStitcher—is on a mission.

She is sewing face masks forfirst responders, people with specialneeds, vet office workers, and high-riskindividuals. She is also creating videosand instructions for students who want tomake masks for themselves and othercommunity members.

“As a UUP member involved in ourchapter, I have learned that we truly area family,” said Foster, a costume shopmanager in the college’s Theater andDance department. “Helping our commu-nity, especially during a crisis, is a criticalmission.”

As soon as she heard about the pan-demic, Foster reached out to chapterassistant Jennifer Hernandez, who has aspecial-needs son. Knowing that hewould have to venture out to doctor andhospital appointments, Foster said shewanted to do what she could to ensure thetwo were safe.

“I scoured the internet and found amask pattern that seemed to have a goodshape,” she said. She altered the patternand gave the homemade masks toHernandez “for a test run.”

And run with it she did.

Hernandez sug-gested Foster sewprotective masks forthe local EMT andfirst responders,many of whom werebeing forced to reusemasks, as availablesupplies ran danger-ously low. Afteranother internetsearch and aredesigned prototype,Fosterperfected a tight-fitting mask for firstresponders to wearover their N95 face

“Since EMT and first responders mightnot be on the top of the list to receivepersonal protective equipment, I startedputting feelers into the community to seewho needed help,” Foster said. “I amreally concentrating on groups and indi-viduals who might not be on the normalradar for help.”

Foster continues to work on prototypesfrom her basement shop—which she set upwith $1,000 from her personal savings—and to send shipments of masks to a grow-ing list of groups in need. She has enlistedthe help of students, whom she provideswith instructional videos and other mask-

making resources toprotect themselvesand their families,and to help commu-nity members if theywish to do so.

“We are strongest together and beingable to show that support through action-able means helps to boost the morale ofthose performing amazing essentialwork,” she said.

Anyone with questions about the mask-making process, or who wish to help outby sewing or donating, can email Fosterat [email protected].


‘The masked stitcher’ has you covered

FOSTER

Our doctors and health care workers at SUNY’s public hospitals in Brooklyn,Stony Brook and Syracuse are in desperate need of personal protectiveequipment and other crucial medical supplies.

Our members are in need of: personal protective equipment; N95, N99and N100 masks; powered air-purifying respirators; half-mask or full-faceelastomeric respirators; surgical masks and gowns; nitrile gloves; gogglesand face shields; hand sanitizer; and any medical respiratory equipment.

To donate to Downstate, please email donation submissions to theDownstate Chapter office at [email protected] or Downstate ChapterPresident Rowena Blackman-Stroud at [email protected].

To donate to Upstate, email [email protected].

To donate to Stony Brook, email [email protected].

Help UUPers on the front lines

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE

DOWNSTATE CHAPTER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALEXIS FOSTER

masks.

https://uupinfo.org/resources/covid19/solidarity.php


Linda Panter’s nursing studentshad just started their final classin their baccalaureate nursingdegree program when the coron-

avirus pandemic began in the United States.The students have already earned their

associate degrees in nursing, and are con-tinuing with their education to also obtaintheir bachelor of science degrees in nurs-ing. All are now working as registered pro-fessional nurses as they complete theircoursework.

But while the possibility of a global pan-demic of a previously unknown diseasewas understood in the medical profession,few practitioners ever expected it to hap-pen with such speed and devastation.

a way TO COnneCTPanter, a longtime UUP member, profes-

sor emeritus of nursing at SUNY Alfredand chapter vice president for academics,wanted to help her students support eachother. So, she set up a discussion boardthrough her students’ final course, which isan overview of professional practices innursing, and invited them to exchangeideas, experiences and concerns.

The results have been both gratifyingand illuminating. One student, for exam-ple, has volunteered to work with COVID-19 patients, out of a feeling that she wouldget excellent training doing so.

“They’re helping each other survive inthe professional setting, but helping eachother as classmates,” Panter said. “I’mpretty impressed with their insight.”

insighTs inTO a PandemiCOne student said the support with class-

mates has been extremely helpful. Hiswritten comments of the benefits he’sgained from the discussion board echothose he’s shared with his classmates.“Nurses are being uprooted and forced

to float to other units due to the high acuityof patients and dire short staffing situationsthat many large and small hospitals arefacing,” he wrote. “However, through allof the doom and gloom, many of us nurseshave formed bonds with our staff tighterand closer than ever before ... We see thedeath and sickness that the general publictypically does not see or is not aware of.Having a discussion board where we cantalk and vent our feelings has helped all ofus express our emotions in a safe areawhere we all understand what each of usare going through. We talk to each otherand encourage each other that there ISlight at the end of this tunnel and there willbe an end to this someday.”

PraCTiCal TiPsPanter, who began practicing as a nurse

at age 19, has weighed in on the discus-sion board with occasional advice andreassurance.

For example, she was able to quell stu-dents’ fears about reusing the N95 mask,which is considered better protection thana surgical mask, but which is in extremelyshort supply in most hospitals. Manyhealth care workers are sterilizing andreusing their precious N95 masks. Pantertold her students that she has sterilizedand reused her N95 mask, and that theyshould be fine doing so.

“I have to give them a lot of credit,”she said. “They’re taking on a heavy case-load, they’re dealing with COVID. Theyare doing an amazing job, and they aremanaging it very well.”

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

PHOTO COURTESY OF LINDA PANTER

ALFRED CHAPTER MEMBER LINDA PANTEROPENED UP A DISCUSSION BOARD SO SHEAND HER STUDENTS COULD BE THERE FORONE ANOTHER DURING THE PANDEMIC.

alfred Chapter member helps nursing students help each other

UUP is encouraging members to keep a diary of their experiences duringthe COVID-19 pandemic, which can be done by filling out a form on the UUPwebsite at https://uupinfo.org/resources/covid19/solidarity.php.

Documenting unsafe conditions and inadequate personal protectiveequipment can help protect UUP members and patients. UUP will not usemembers’ names or contact information without their express permission.UUP will email a copy of the form back to the member who submitted it.Members are urged to save it for their records.

Also on this webpage: A call for members to submit articles about the workbeing done by UUP members on campus, in SUNY’s state-operated hospitalsor in their communities.

Keep a diary of your front-line stories



F or surgical technolo-gist Nicholas Rico,being able to stay ina hotel room pro-

vided by UUP meant he couldsleep well at night.

Rico, a Stony Brook HSCChapter member who works atStony Brook University Hospi-tal, stayed at the Hilton GardenInn in Stony Brook for a weekafter hearing about a UUP initia-tive to provide rooms to front-line caregivers dealing withCOVID-19 patients.

This way, he was able to keepa safe distance from his family,alleviating the all-too-realpossibility of exposing themto the coronavirus.

“I am in need of a room inorder to isolate myself from myhealthy family,” Rico said inan April 12 email to UUPDirector of Meetings andTravel Mary Bergquist. “Thankyou for your assistance. Thismeans a lot to me.”

sTaTewide uuP sTePs uPUUP began providing housing in early

April to members caring for COVID-19patients at SUNY academic medicalcenters in Brooklyn, Stony Brook andSyracuse, as well as Buffalo-area medicalprofessionals who are members. Theunion is covering the full cost for rooms,including tax, for up to seven nights,although longer stays would be accom-modated in certain situations.

“Our members at SUNY’s hospitals areworking 12-hour days and they’re puttingtheir lives on the line as they tend to thoseinfected with the virus,” said UUP Presi-dent Fred Kowal. “Providing these heroeswith clean, comfortable rooms close to thehospitals they work in is the least we cando. We’re proud to offer this support.”

Kevin Niles, chief physician assistant in

Stony Brook University Medical Center’sdepartment of cardiothoracic surgery, wasdesignated a front-line provider April 12,which means he’ll be working long shiftswith COVID-19 patients.

“I have four children at home and mywife is a schoolteacher at home,” Nileswrote in an April 10 email to Bergquist.“My commute is about 45 minutes andthe shifts are very long. Could I pleaseget a hotel reservation, so I don’t riskbringing [the virus] home to my family?”

So far, more than a dozen Stony BrookHSC Chapter members have requested andreceived rooms; UUP also secured a blockof rooms at the Crowne Plaza Syracuse—just minutes from Upstate Medical Univer-sity. About a half dozen members havetaken advantage of the stay.

“These are people working 12-hour shiftswho don’t want to go home and inadver-tently transfer the virus to their families,”

said Stony Brook HSCChapter PresidentCarolyn Kube. “That’stheir main concern.”

That was a concern forCecil Philip, a doctor atStony Brook Medicineand a Stony Brook HSCChapter member whorequested and receiveda seven-day hotel stay.

“I appreciate you andUUP’s help to all thephysicians on the frontline,” he said. “Thisreally puts my mindto ease.”

dOwnsTaTe dOrmsIn Brooklyn, Down-

state Chapter PresidentRowena Blackman-Stroud worked withadministrators to opendorm rooms for front-lineproviders at SUNYDownstate. In March,the governor designatedSUNY Downstate as a

COVID-19-only hospital.Upstate Medical University Chapter

President Rich Veenstra said membershave emailed him to thank him and UUPfor the union’s offer and support.

“A lot of our members are concernedwith coming into contact with COVID-positive persons and bringing the virushome to their families,” said Veenstra.“Sometimes, it’s a family member or aspouse with some underlying condition,or they’re caring for their parents, andthey don’t want to expose them.”

Vishal Tolia, a Stony Brook HSC Chap-ter member and a pulmonary/ICU physi-cian at Stony Brook University Hospital,summed up his gratitude for UUP’s helpin keeping him safe and making it easierfor him to tend to patients with COVID-19 in one short sentence.

“I appreciate UUP’s help to all thephysicians on the front line,” he said.

BY MICHAEL LISI

aiding front-line workers—one hotel room at a time

PHOTO COURTESY OF NICHOLAS RICO

KUBE

ABOVE, STONY BROOK HSC CHAPTER MEMBERNICHOLAS RICO, LEFT, IS ON THE JOB AS A FRONT-LINE HOSPITAL WORKER.


I n an ordinary spring semester atSUNY Potsdam, campus diningspots would be thrumming withconversation, and campus-run

stores would offer faculty and studentsa place to browse, buy a snack orenjoy a respite from work and studies.

But this is no ordinary spring, andwith the mandatory cancellation of on-campus academics during the coron-avirus pandemic, most of thosePotsdam dining spots and shops areshuttered. Along with the closures,some 130 of the approximately 145non-unionized workers who staff thosesites have been laid off from their jobs.

In a chapter-wide act of solidaritywith their stricken colleagues, andwith the considerable organizing abili-ties of UUP chapter assistant JenniferHernandez, Potsdam UUP membershave rallied to purchase $7,000 worthof $25 gift cards, so that the workersof the Potsdam Auxiliary and CollegeServices, as the food-service and retailemployees are known, can buy meals,groceries or other necessities. Members

are using local businesses as often aspossible for the gift-card purchases. UUPPotsdam Chapter President John Cotécredits Hernandez with the idea of thegift cards.

a shOw Of uuP uniTyGiven how much members were

dealing with as they converted to dis-tance education on very short notice,“I was taken aback at how quicklythey unified around a cause,”Coté said.

Coté said that Hernandez brought tohis attention several conversationsamong members that pointed to thesame goal: to do somethingto help their PACES colleagues. Thoseconversations started, Coté said, asmany members realizedthat their families might qualifyfor stimulus checks from the recentfederal economic relief package—assistance they would appreciate,especially if they had a partner orspouse who had just lost a job in theeconomic downturn, but which mostof them could well afford to share,given that they have solid union jobsand benefits.

“I was very impressed at their faith inthe strength of our union—that theyknew those in leadership positions willwork through this, that there is light inthe end of the tunnel,” Coté said.

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE POTSDAM CHAPTER

GIFT CARDS COLLECTED BY MEMBERS OF THE POTSDAMCHAPTER WERE DISTRIBUTED TO LAID-OFF CAMPUS FOOD-SERVICE AND RETAIL WORKERS. THE FAMILY OF EVERYUNEMPLOYED WORKER RECEIVED A $25 GIFT CARD. ANOTHERCOLLECTION WAS UNDERWAY AS THE VOICE WENT TO PRESS.

Oneonta Chapter member doing his part

A llen Anderson is used toisolation.

So when the OneontaChapter member began

printing and assembling 3D face shieldsin his basement machine shop in thecollege’s Physical Science Building,he knew social distancing wasn’t goingto be a problem.

“Even in normal operations I amisolated,” said Anderson, a physicistwho teaches an occasional course and a“creator of devices” for the science fac-ulty. “The building has been thoroughlycleaned and I feel safer in the shop thanat the grocery store.”

Safer—and busier than ever.

When Anderson set up the machineshop 14 years ago, he requested a 3Dprinter, never envisioning that he wouldone day be making personal protectiveequipment to guard against a pandemicthat is sweeping across the continents.

Despite feeling fortunate to have his3D printing equipment updated a coupleof years ago, the process is still compli-cated, and the going is slow. It takes oneof the machines three hours to print twoface-shield assemblies, while a secondsmaller machine in Anderson’s shopproduces only one in the same amountof time. In his first week of production,Anderson made 39 face shields. Thereare now five printers in operation aroundcampus, and by early April the dailyoutput of units had jumped from


PHOTO COURTESY OF ALLEN ANDERSON

Potsdam Chapter members help out-of-work colleagues

ONEONTA CHAPTER MEMBER ALLEN ANDERSONWORKS IN HIS BASEMENT MACHINE SHOP TO MAKEFACE SHIELDS ON A 3D PRINTER.



W hen Anita DeCianni-Brown gives one ofher handmade quiltsas a gift at a bridal

or baby shower, she likes to think sheis giving the promise of a future.

The Empire State College member,based in Saratoga Springs, has foryears presented her quilts as gifts tofamily and friends, as well as raffleprizes for good causes.

“Especially baby showers,” shesaid. “They know one is coming;they just don’t know the design.”

Now, DeCianni-Brown is sewingfabric scraps from her hobby intomasks for use in the coronavirus pan-demic. So far, she’s produced a littlemore than 100 masks—cotton on theoutside, flannel on the inside.

CasT ing a wide neTwiTh 100 masks

While homemade masks do not offerthe protection of manufactured N95

medical masks—which a home sewercannot duplicate—they do offer betterprotection than the bandanas that somehealth care workers have used as a last

resort. DeCianni-Brown’s masks havegone to area medical offices, to anurse to distribute to her colleagues,to certified nursing assistants andto home health aides. Her two daugh-ters work in health care, and havedistributed their mother’s masks totheir colleagues.

“I know 100 is not a lot when youconsider the need, but it’s what I cando,” DeCianni explained. “At a timelike this, this is the only thing that canmake me feel not helpless, to focus onfeeling I’m doing some good.”

For this talented sewer, this effortis another way of offering a messageof hope, especially when she uses afavorite piece of fabric from a pastproject, and remembers its originalpurpose. A piece of pale-blue cottonsprinkled with stars that she recallsfrom a baby quilt she made evokedsuch a memory.“I don’t know why, but to me there’s

just a lot of hope in there,” DeCianni-Brown said. “I have to have a glimmerof hope in these.”

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANITA DECIANNI-BROWN

UUP EMPIRE STATE COLLEGE CHAPTER MEMBER ANITADICIANNI-BROWN IS USING FABRIC SCRAPS FROM BELOVEDQUILTING PROJECTS TO MAKE MASKS FOR HEALTH CAREWORKERS. SHE SAID EACH FABRIC CARRIES A SPECIALMEMORY—AND A LITTLE BIT OF HOPE.

to supply face shields for front-line workers

empire state Chapter uuPer sews hope into medical masks

approximately eight to 25.“I am actually busier now than a normal

(pre-coronavirus) workday, as I am tryingto ramp things up,” he said. “There arevery few people around, so it takes moretime to get simple tasks done.”

The face shields were distributed tomembers of the University Police Depart-ment and campus Emergency MedicalServices. That need has been filled,Anderson said, so “our overrun is beingsent to the New Paltz face shield projectand they are distributing masks to varioushospitals (and medical professionals)who need them.”

in iT TOgeTherAnderson may be used to working away

from the hustle and bustle of an active

college campus, but that doesn’t mean heis going it alone. He said he is grateful tohis colleagues for reaching out.

“When I started the program, I receivedimmediate support from other UUPmembers and the administration ofSUNY Oneonta,” he said. He creditsfellow UUP member David Kenny, aninstructional support technician in finearts, for the daily increase in production.Kenny is helping to produce head bandsfor the project.

“UUP and the general community havebeen of great value in allowing me theopportunity to contribute to the generaleffort,” Anderson added.

And, he said, it beats binge-watchingNetflix.

“I do not see myself as extraordinary

in any way,” he said. “I am just doingsomething that is helpful. I might addthat many folks are doing the same.Everyone working in a grocery store orother business that is open is doing thesame thing I am.”

What has Anderson gained from thisexperience?

“I have learned that it is always goodto help and take the initiative whenrequired,” he said. “I can’t say this isreally new; it has always been my atti-tude. I have learned it is a very goodidea to not listen to the drum beat offear and foreboding that dominates thecurrent news cycle.”

“Work, in general, gives one a senseof usefulness and accomplishment,”he added.



T rying to pull together andvideotape auto technologylessons in his home garagewas a bit daunting at first

for Canton Chapter member BrandonBaldwin.

How does one adequately providehands-on instruction for students whenthey are miles away?

As it turns out, his video classescame as a welcome change for hisstudents, who appreciate the qualityof the video and the ability to reviewthe material as often as necessary.

“I think I may be covering morecontent, more completely than in a livelesson, because we can get the camerainto tiny spaces that a live session can’tdo well,” said Baldwin, an associateprofessor in the School of EngineeringTechnology. “For example, to show alesson under the dashboard is impossible,but not in video. Or to show which wireI’m getting the signal on, on the oscillo-scope, is possible with a camera, but notin a live session. The students have pro-vided feedback saying they like the clearpicture detail, and often watch certain[lessons] many times.”

Some students are checking out thevideos mere hours after they are posted,he said.

OverCOming The ChallengesWhile many students may believe the

transition to remote teaching was effort-less, Baldwin knows it was anything but.Quirky internet connections, reimagininghow courses are taught, researching videotechniques and camera angles, and find-ing the right vehicles for specific lessonswere just a few of the obstacles he faced.

“The challenges of teaching remotelyinclude learning how to teach remotely,when you didn’t just weeks ago,” he said.

Baldwin said he has produced “abunch of short videos, rather than onelong video,” and posts a new one everyfew days on Blackboard, the campuslearning management system for onlineand remote education.

“I try to stay a week ahead,” he said.“The reason for this is that some lessonsmay take an hour or two to set up foronly three minutes of filming.”

Sometimes, finding the right car ortruck for each lesson means borrowingfrom family, friends or neighbors.

“I was lucky that one dealership up hereis lending me their plow truck,” he said.

And if all else fails, turn to your family.Baldwin’s wife, Debra, is videotaping his

lessons. One daughter’s Subaru was usedfor an automotive lab and another daughtertook the photo of her parents that accom-panies this article. Both children will beenrolled at SUNY Canton in the fall.

“I couldn’t do all I do for SUNYCanton all this time without (my wife’s)support,” said Baldwin, who has been atthe college since 2006. “I’m very luckyto have her.”

POsiTive OuTCOmesIn addition to the instructional videos,

students have access to an informationsystem used by technicians, from whichthey can pull up wiring diagrams. AMonday-night chat on Blackboard Collaborative Ultra gives Baldwin achance to outline the goals for the week

and to answer questions.“I leave the session open, so that the

students can meet with each other to dis-cuss the video lessons as well,” he said.“I love that they do that.”

He also appreciates the newfound depthof their questions, and their willingness torespond to impromptu lessons to reviewespecially troublesome assignments.Baldwin has given extra credit to studentswho posted their own videos of whatthey’re working on.

“Most of them have their own cars orwork on someone else’s car,” he said.“This forces them to think when I’m notright there to immediately answer, as Iwould be at school.”

Baldwin said some good has come frombeing thrust into remote teaching.

“I’ve learned that video is a bettermethod of teaching than I thought possi-ble,” he said. “I’m happy that the studentswho may have missed part of the lessoncan watch as many times as they want. Ithink that the students who may be a littlemore reserved during the live lessonsmay actually be doing better because theycan see every bit of detail. This is a farbetter learning tool, even for hands-oncurriculum, than I would have thought.”


Canton uuPer teaches auto repair from his garage

CANTON CHAPTER MEMBER BRANDON BALDWIN TEACHES AN AUTOMOTIVE LAB FROM HIS HOME GARAGE,AS HIS WIFE, DEBRA, VIDEOTAPES THE LESSON.

CHARLOTTE BALDWIN


In an April 17 video message to the SUNY Faculty Senate, UUP President FredKowal underscored how “UUP is expending every effort imaginable to protectthe health and safety of our members ... who are on the frontlines of the coro-navirus crisis.” The union, he added, is also working with SUNY leaders and theGovernor’s Office to make the case for overtime and extra-service pay for thededicated academic and professionals—full-timers and part-timers—who havetaken on additional work to keep SUNY up and running for students, patientsand the communities it serves. View his message at https://youtu.be/gLL0SYsAWCA.

Kowal addresses Faculty Senate

buffalo doctor confident about graduates working in pandemic

N o one could have seenthis coming—the great-est global medical crisisin 100 years—and cer-

tainly not medical schools sendingtheir students into an unprecedentedsituation this spring.

Not since the post-World War I in-fluenza pandemic have new doctorsstarted their careers at a more difficultor unnerving time. But Dr. Lisa JaneJacobsen, a UUP member and associ-ate professor of obstetrics and gyne-cology in the University at Buffalo’sJacobs School of Medicine and Bio-medical Sciences, is both calm andconfident about how this year’s grad-uates will fare during the coronaviruspandemic. They are well prepared,she said, and more than ready to han-dle this unprecedented time.

“They are eager to start patient care,”said Jacobsen, who is also associate deanfor curriculum. The school offered anelective at the end of the semester onCOVID-19, which Jacobsen said wasa “really, really informative electiveteaching them a lot about the publichealth perspective. We have certainlybeen forwarding them information.”

virTual graduaTiOns, uP-ended sChedules

The Jacobs school was the only one ofSUNY’s four medical colleges that heldits graduation on its original, pre-pan-demic date of May 1, as hospitals in

Western New York never reached thestage of inundated emergency depart-ments and intensive-care units that theNew York City region did.

All 13 medical colleges in New YorkCity, Westchester County and on LongIsland held their graduations early—including at Stony Brook and Down-state—as did Upstate Medical Universityin Syracuse, so that the new physicianscould assist overwhelmed hospitals atthe height of the state’s coronavirus hos-pitalizations. Virtual graduations, onceunthinkable, became the new norm at

all four SUNY medical colleges.“I think for the New York City schools,

some saw themselves in a dire emer-gency, where it was all-hands-on-deck,”Jacobsen said. “I think students probablyhad a real strong sense of wanting to getout there.”

And she both understands and admiresthat attitude.

“When you sign up to be a physician,you sign up to treat people who will beill,” Jacobsen said. “I think we are alwaysat risk of getting our patients’ infections.It’s part of our job.”

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

BUFFALO HSC CHAPTER MEMBER LISA JANE JACOBSEN KNOWS HER MEDICAL STUDENTS ARE PREPAREDTO ENTER THE WORKFORCE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. SHE SAID PHYSICIANS UNDERSTAND THERISK OF GETTING SERIOUS INFECTIONS IS PART OF WHAT THEY SIGNED UP FOR.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LISA JANE JACOBSEN



The AFT recently launched an ad campaign aimed at PresidentTrump for failing to protect health care workers after suggestingMarch 31 that doctors and nurses were taking and hoarding personalprotective equipment like masks and gowns.

Titled “Thieves,” the ad—in 15-second and 30-second lengths—began airing April 14 in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

View the 15-second ad at https://bit.ly/2ysDYkfView the 30-second ad at https://bit.ly/2XKSWNoIn the ads, AFT members criticize Trump for failing to secure enough N95 masks, face shields and ventilators

for U.S. hospitals and health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic, and for forcing states to competeagainst each other to obtain equipment. The ads ask viewers to call the White House at (202) 456-1111 and tellTrump to do his job to protect the American people.

At his March 31 media conference, Trump implied that health care workers were making off with PPE, whichwas helping to cause shortages. “Something is going on, and you ought to look into it as reporters,” Trump said.“Where are the masks going? Are they going out the back door?”

AFT ad takes on Trump

delhi residence life staff, students ‘get through it together’

W hen a fewdozen studentsare strandedon campus dur-

ing a pandemic, what do youdo? You stick by them, becausethat’s what you signed up for.

“As a residence life profes-sional, I am committed totaking care of the students thebest I can,” said Delhi Chaptermember Jason Fishner, thecollege’s director of residencelife. By the end of April, therewere about 40 students stillon campus due to extenuatingcircumstances, such as interna-tional students with no wayto travel home or those withpersonal situations who havepermission to stay.

“The pandemic is a situationthat we will get through by all workingtogether and taking things day to day,”he said.

Practicing social distancing is key.Fishner noted that the college is strictlyadhering to mandates and recommenda-tions from the Centers for DiseaseControl, the Governor’s Office and theNew York State Department of Health.

“Students have been advised and arereminded often of the social distancingrules and other preventive actions thatcan be taken to remain healthy,” he said.“It is important for everyone to person-ally practice preventative actions andadhere to the guidelines to keep our-selves and others healthy.”

COming TOgeTher,helPing OuT

Social distancing doesn’tmean the students can’t—and shouldn’t—interact.

In addition to staying con-nected by walking, hiking,exercising and socializing insmall groups, Fishner saidthe students can take advan-tage of residence life pro-grams that have beentailored to meet social dis-tancing parameters.

“In lounges, you can stillspace students out to do artsand crafts or video gametournaments,” he said.

The residence life staffand students are also usingtheir time on campus to helpthe community.

As part of NationalCommunity Service Day,

residence life staff and students rakedand cleaned up around campus April 25.

“I could not get through this withoutmy residence life team of professionaland student staff,” Fishner said. “Every-one is doing great pulling together atthis time.”


UUP MEMBER AND DELHI RESIDENCE LIFE DIRECTOR JASON FISHNER, RIGHT,CLEANS UP WITH STUDENTS STILL LIVING ON CAMPUS. RAKING THE GROUNDSAPRIL 25 WAS IN CONJUNCTION WITH NATIONAL COMMUNITY SERVICE DAY.

ANDREW BRADFIELD


Contingent issues vital in pandemic, with remote teaching

A nne Wiegard has alwaysviewed contingent workconditions in higher educa-tion as an equity issue,

which spoke to larger problems of in-equality even as the country saw thelongest economic boom in U.S. history.

The burst of that economic bubble dur-ing the coronavirus pandemic, withrecord-setting unemployment reported inthe first week of April—a trend that wouldcontinue until more than 20 million peoplewould end up losing their jobs by the endof the month—hasn’t made contingent is-sues suddenly less important, Wiegardsaid. Instead, it has given them a new rele-vance and a special urgency.

“This COVID-19 crisis is really shininga light on structural inequalities in oursociety,” Wiegard said to a national audi-ence in a live-streamed panel discussionabout contingents sponsored by UUP’snational affiliate, the American Federa-tion of Teachers, and aired April 17. “Ithas forced people to see the realities ofunderfunding that many people, not justadjuncts, are dealing with.”

She specifically cited the hospital andhealth care workers who are employed inlow-wage jobs, but who have becomesick and even died during the pandemic.

afT CiTes naTiOnal abusesWiegard was one of six participants in

the panel discussion, with AFT PresidentRandi Weingarten. Callers from acrossthe country logged into the discussion toquestion the panel, which included UUPdelegates Anne Fearman of Fredonia,who chairs the union’s statewide Contin-gent Employment Committee; andRichard Aberle of Plattsburgh, who ishis chapter’s officer for contingents.

The presentation coincided with theAFT’s release of a major report aboutcontingents in higher education, called“An Army of Temps,” which the AFTsays is the first nationwide survey of con-tingent faculty since 2013. The report

highlights the continuing dif-ficult work conditions manycontingents face, includingpoor pay, inequity in benefitscompared to their tenure-track colleagues, and someof the same issues as low-income college students,including food insecurityand inadequate housing.

The decision to release thereport at a time of so muchother breaking news madeperfect sense, Weingarten said,because contingent facultywill be especially vulnerableas colleges reopen in the fallfacing likely funding cuts,budget deficits and decliningenrollment because of thepandemic. The report notesthat, “the coronavirus pan-demic ... has made a gravesituation even worse.”

uuP ahead Of The CurveWiegard encouraged listeners to con-

tinue to push for adjunct rights. Sheserved on the Negotiations Team that ne-gotiated the current UUP bargainingagreement; the contract includes a mini-mum salary for part-time faculty workingat SUNY’s state-operated campuses.

“The dollar amount was not huge, but itwas a victory,” Wiegard said. The unionin which she became active 15 years agowas not the same union that negotiatedthat minimum salary, she added; UUPhad become far more responsive to con-tingent concerns.

“It takes time; it takes conversationswith other union delegates,” she said.

uuP survey drives aCTiOnsUUP conducted its own voluntary sur-

vey of contingent academics in the 2017-18 academic year. The union’s statewideContingent Employment Committeedeveloped the survey, and more than1,000 members responded.

“Those survey results have been impor-

tant for informing UUP’s work to addresscontingent employee needs statewideand at individual chapters,” said VicePresident for Academics Jamie Dangler.“UUP’s survey was very comprehensiveand yielded extensive written commentsfrom members. We’re still in the processof analyzing all information received forUUP’s final survey report.”

Wiegard, one of several UUPers togain national recognition for advocacyon behalf of contingent academics, saidthe fact that Weingarten participated onthe panel is a sign of AFT’s commitment.

“Let me amplify what I said at thebeginning, that the COVID-19 crisis ismaking many Americans newly awareof gross inequities in the workforce,specifically, the low wages and insecu-rity of the majority of service workers,”Wiegard said as she reflected on thepanel discussion. “We can use this pres-sure for the larger economic reformsmany progressive public leaders arecalling for to draw attention to theunsustainable employment practicesin higher education.”

BY DARRYL MCGRATH

AT THE 2019 FALL DELEGATE ASSEMBLY, CORTLANDCHAPTER MEMBER ANNE WIEGARD TALKS WITH MEMBERSOF THE UNION’S STATEWIDE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE ABOUTTHE NEED TO SUPPORT CONTINGENT EMPLOYEES.

KAREN L. MATTISON

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT NO. 103

ALBANY, N.Y.United University ProfessionsP.O. Box 15143Albany, N.Y. 12212-5143

THE

Voice

UUP remembers the activeand retired members we’ve lost

to the COVID-19 pandemic.Members of our union family—many ofwhom work on the front lines as healthcare professionals—are among the firstcasualties. UUP has created a web portalto pay tribute to the brave unionists whomade a difference throughout their lives.

To submit a name, go to https://bit.ly/2KNqRNL or scan the QR code.

Documents

Heroes emerge - uupinfo.org · Heroes emerge This issue is dedicated to our members, who serve with distinction. Special Issue: ... lem—environmental degradation. These crises predominately