Stony Brook to faculty: Choose your pain

State workers rally in Hauppauge against the governor's plan to institute a furlough for more than 11,000 LI state employees. (May 10, 2010)

Which day would you prefer not to be paid?

That’s the question Stony Brook University is asking full-time and adjunct faculty.

With the spring semester ending May 21, a state furlough approved by the State Legislature yesterday at the urging of Gov. David A. Paterson will affect faculty at the school.

In an e-mail message sent to one school department, the Stony Brook provost asks for contingency preparations in case court challenges aren’t successful and the furlough goes through.

The department e-mail asks faculty members which day next week, starting May 17, they would prefer to take off. The semester ends next Friday.

The message doesn't mention future semesters.

(Photo by Joseph P. Sullivan)