Flushing Times Ledger, NY
Aug 19 2004

Queens colleges to get millions for construction
By Matthew Monks
08/19/2004

Three local colleges are slated for a piece of the $1.4 billion in
capital assistance slated for City University of New York schools in
the 2004-05 state budget, allowing them to move forward with a series
of major renovations, officials said.

The largest appropriation in the recently passed $101.3 billion
budget goes to Queens College in Flushing, which is earmarked to get
$30 million for an addition to Remsen Hall, the chemistry building,
said Maria Terrone, communications director for the college.

The addition will be an L-shaped, three-floor, energy efficient
laboratory science facility with an interior courtyard, Matteo said.
It will house an organic-analytical chemistry teaching lab, a
chemistry teaching lab, chemistry and bio chemistry research labs and
a lounge and study area. While no start date has been set yet, she
said it should be completed by the fall of 2008.

The college has 12,346 undergraduates students, 62 percent of whom
attend full time.

LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City should get $20
million for three renovation projects, said state Assemblywoman Cathy
Nolan (D-Ridgewood).

LaGuardia President Gail Mellow said she did not want to comment on
the renovations until the governor signs off on the budget, but
Nolan’s office said that $2.6 million would go to LaGuardia’s Center
3; $8.5 million to the Department of Humanities; and $10.5 million
for the Department of Computer Information Systems.

Nolan said the school, which has 12,000 students and offers
associates degrees in everything from liberal arts and sciences to
business administration, is desperate for space and lacks investment
in its infrastructure.

“These state funds will go a long way in addressing some of these
problems,” she said.

Finally, state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) secured $3 million
for an expanded Holocaust Resource Center at Queensborough Community
College in Bayside.

The center works with schools throughout the state to develop
curriculums that study the Holocaust and other human rights
catastrophes, such as the genocides in Armenia, Cambodia and the
Sudan, Padavan.

“Studying the Holocaust and other acts of genocide around the world
throughout history is vital to understanding and preventing these
types of brutalities in the future,” Padavan said.

The state funds will make the upgraded center the campus’
centerpiece, allowing for expanded classes, increased library and
exhibit space, and more space for lectures, he said.

Reach reporter Matthew Monks by email at news@timesledger.com or at
718-229-0300 ext. 156.
From: Baghdasarian