October 23, 2012
Local Candidates for New York State
Legislature Hear Concerns of College Students
St. John’s University’s Staten Island Campus hosted its
“Meet the Candidate” day, part of St. John’s “PARTICIPATE ‘12”
program. Local candidates for NYS Legislature partook in a public
forum to discuss issues of importance to college students and the
Staten Island community.
Dr. William F. Byrne, Associate Professor of Government and
Politics, opened the forum with remarks stressing the importance of
this event. “The concentration of government and politics in
Washington makes for an increasingly remote and anonymous
government, which frustrates people and makes them feel powerless,”
Dr. Byrne stated. “Events like this - have a bigger function of
helping people connect with government and candidates on a personal
level, which is extremely important to the health of American
society.”
Candidates that attended “Meet the Candidate” event included: NYS
Senator Diane Savino (23rd NYS Senate District) Dem., NYS Senator
Andrew Lanza (24th NYS Senate District) Rep., NYS Assemble Member
Michael Cusick (63rd NY Assembly District) Dem., NYS Assembly
Member Matthew Titone (61st Assembly District) Dem., Paul Saryian
(Candidate for the 61st Assembly District) Rep., and Gary Carsel
(Candidate for the 24th Senate District) Dem.
The event concluded with audience Q&A moderated by Brian
Browne, Assistant Vice President for Government Relations. The
Q&A session examined topics of higher education, economic
development and local concerns.
“Meet the Candidate” events are part of St. John’s initiative
“PARTICIPATE ’12,” which is a major civic-engagement program to
encourage and increase student voter registration, education and
community involvement in anticipation of the upcoming Presidential
Election to be held on Tuesday, November 6.
For more information on PARTICIPATE ’12, please visit
www.stjohns.edu/participate, or contact Brian Browne, Assistant
Vice President for Government Relations at St. John’s at
browneb@stjohns.edu.