Comment raises warning flags at UAlbany

A riddle: How many flagships can one university system have?

Two, the governor says.

At least two ...

The SUNY campuses at Buffalo and Stony Brook are buzzing after Eliot Spitzer named them flagships in his state of the state speech.

Check out the University at Buffalo Web site: http://www.buffalo.edu/. It's right up top on the main page: a big picture of Spitzer next to the words "Gubernatorial endorsement."

"Governor Spitzer pledges investment in UB as flagship institution for world-class public university system," the headline says.

Seems pretty clear, right?

But what does the f-word actually mean for those schools?

And what about Albany and Binghamton, the SUNY centers Spitzer omitted? "First, I did not designate them as flagships to the exclusion of others," Spitzer said when asked those questions after his budget briefing Tuesday. "But I think that they are uniquely positioned very rapidly to move to that status."

Will they get more money?

"Look, I don't want to make micro-decisions - or maybe not-so-micro decisions," Spitzer said.

(Not-so-micro: The New York Times reported that realizing UB's planned expansion will require a one-time investment of $1.6 billion.)

"Almost necessarily, we are saying to them, `Yes, we want to dedicate significant revenues to help you transform,' " Spitzer said.

All this flagship talk has aroused some concern within the University at Albany community.

A UAlbany blog headlined a recent post, "Support the University of Albany for Flagship Status of SUNY." It urged readers to back the school by writing to state officials. "If UAlbany was passed over for flagship status, it would be a huge blow to the prestige of UAlbany," says the blog.

It added, "The flagship campus is by definition the best and therefore UAlbany would play a secondary role in SUNY."

Running on empty

Let's talk engines.

"Economic engine" and "intellectual engine" are phrases Spitzer used to describe his hopes for Stony Brook.

But how about "engine with no fuel"?

Frederick G. Floss , head of SUNY's faculty union, offered reporters the metaphor in a press release reacting to the governor's proposed budget.

"We applaud the governor for recognizing the need to invest in SUNY and CUNY over the long term, but it must also do so over the short term," Floss said.

"The lack of state budget funding for more full-time faculty leaves New York's economic engine with no fuel."

Darker than Tarantino

You may be reading about this in the Guinness Book of World Records one day: the darkest material ever made by man.

That's what researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Rice University have created. Physics professor Shawn-Yu Lin led the research project.

The coating of low-density arrays of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes absorbs more than 99.9 percent of light. One day, it could be used to improve solar energy conversion.

Right now, it's great fodder for tech Web site headline writers and other Internet jokesters.

"Goths Rejoice: Scientists Invent Darkest Material on Earth," wrote one.

"Blacker than a black cat in a coal cellar," wrote another.

"Darkest Material Ever is Almost Blacker than Karl Rove's Soul."

Marc Parry can be reached at 454-5057 or by e-mail at mparry@timesunion.com