But she stresses there are still many
issues that need to be worked out, such as funding and staffing
ALBANY - The president of the College of Staten Island gave
tentative support yesterday to taking over the neighboring Institute
for Basic Research in Willowbrook, but warned there is “no way” such
a transfer could happen without additional funding to cover the
costs.
“I’d be supportive of it depending on the funding and depending upon
the staffing,” Dr. Marlene Springer, CSI’s president for the last
nine years, said in a phone interview. “There are a lot of issues
that need to be worked out, but certainly it’s not something I’d be
adverse to, depending on the conditions.”
IBR, a 36-year-old center where scientists study numerous conditions
such as mental retardation, autism and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
disease, is marked for extinction in Gov. George E. Pataki’s $90.8
billion budget.
But the institute received a boost this week when the Senate
Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the state Legislature’s most powerful
Republican, said it was “unlikely” to close. And a source close to
Republican state Sen. John Marchi told the Advance IBR is all but
saved.
The institute’s future under its parent agency, the state Office of
Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities has grown cloudy
of late. OMRDD Commissioner Thomas Maul and Pataki have both said
IBR is not critical to the agency’s central mission. This is the
second time since 1995 Pataki has proposed closing IBR.
Talk has swirled the institute might be transferred to CSI, its
neighbor in a sprawling Willowbrook neighborhood off Forest Hill
Road.
CSI and IBR are state funded: But the suggested transfer would be
off the table without additional money allocated to pay for IBR’s
addition to the college, Dr. Springer said.
“There is no way that I can absorb IBR into my budget – period,” she
said. “I am so underfunded at this stage, as is all of CUNY, that
there’s no way.”
The Todt Hill resident added she hasn’t seen any concrete proposals
or even been officially approached about a transfer. But Dr.
Springer indicated the institute’s work is consistent with that done
at CSI. The two facilities have a good working relationship, she
said, with a CSI neuroscience program staged at IBR.
“We’ve been very supportive of IBR and we continue to be,” Dr.
Springer said. “We would like to see something worked out for them
that would continue their existence. It just depends on what
conditions and what kind of financing that would take.”
OMRDD spokeswoman Deborah Sturm Rausch said agency officials are
“always willing to listen to new ideas,” but said there is no change
in the state’s plans to close IBR.
Marchi spokesman Jerry McLaughlin said the CSI option should be
“explored very intensively” if it can save IBR, although he didn’t
oppose it remaining with OMRDD.
Assemblyman John Lavelle (D-North Shore) called the CSI suggestion
“something to be looked into,” but he, too, stopped short of
endorsement.
But Assemblyman Robert Straniere (R-South Shore), frowned upon the
idea of IBR joining the college. He argued the IBR could be forced
to compete with other CUNY projects and that its funding could drop.
“I don’t see how that’s in the best interest of the institute,”
Straniere said. He believes IBR is better off under the aegis of
OMRDD.
