From New York State to Washington, D.C., Samara Barend makes 'Tangible Change'

By chipping away at small problems, College sophomore Samara Barend is beginning to make important changes. And her "inch-by-inch" philosophy is beginning to make waves -- on campus, in New York and even on Capitol Hill. At Penn, Barend is an Undergraduate Assembly member and founder of the "Tangible Change" committee designed to pinpoint students' gripes and make visible changes. "Small things can turn into important changes," she said, reflecting on her most recent project -- the designation of New York's major east-west route, Route 17, as a federal interstate. "It's not going to be the end-all, be-all, but it will be the first step for an area that has been economically distressed for years." Last summer, Barend was one of a plethora of interns in Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan's (D-N.Y.) Washington office. But before the beginning of the school year, she was writing proposals and mobilizing support for a major new bill. And Monday she was in Albany, N.Y., selling her plan to state legislators. On normal office days, Barend did not have the opportunity to converse with Moynihan, but she did while the senator was waiting to sign a bill she introduced herself. And a few weeks later, she attended a banquet with Moynihan and discussed her hometown of Binghamton, N.Y., with him. The senator suggested Barend look into Route 17 -- the road which runs 387 miles across New York from the Hudson Valley to Lake Erie. He asked her to prepare a memo on the the road by 5 p.m. the following day explaining the effects of the route's lack of red, white and blue signs on maps. He sought to make the road more noticeable to travelers and businesses looking for a reliable way across the state. "I knew Senator Moynihan had a vested interest in southern New York, but I had to show him that the people were behind the interstate project," Barend said. "There was a lot of hard work involved." Barend finished the memo by contacting the Department of Transportation and various senators, as well as by raiding the office's archives. When she presented it to the senator, he was impressed with her work and dedication, and encouraged her to continue with the project. "He couldn't take the project on himself, so it became my job," she said. "Moynihan needed someone to start the fire and then he would run with it." And Barend did cause a commotion -- by convincing legislators it would not cost $400 million to turn Route 17 into Interstate 86, Barend bridged 40 years of skepticism. The area has tried to designate the interstate in the past, but has faced tough political opposition because of cost issues. In Barend's proposal, however, the 370 miles of the road that meet interstate standards could be designated as I-86, while the remaining mileage would be redesignated over time as improvements are made. "What was really the selling point is that it is not going to require a state payment of $400 million," Barend said. "Once we got past that obstacle it was a winner." Barend's proposal eventually became one of the recommendations made by the transportation action team of the Facing Our Future project, a group committed to enlist residents to help create solutions to revitalize the local economy. During the past two weekends, Barend has presented her proposal to more than a dozen state legislators and February 17, the New York Committee of Transportation came out in support of the plan. Her next project is to organize a demonstration project in order to generate grass root support for federal funds for the route's new designation. "This whole thing has been a lot of work, especially now during school," she said. "But it has been fun, and I feel like I am really helping southern New York."

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