The Voice

When people ask you where you go to school, what do you usually tell them? Do you say GCSU and then get blank stares?

Most people aren’t sure what you’re talking about at first, though GCSU is rapidly gaining recognition across the nation (especially for our iPod usage). When people look at you in confusion when you say the name of our school, what do you say next?

You say where it is.

Milledgeville.

Usually, when you say that, the person will have a much better idea what school you are talking about (many times, because of Central State institution located in Milledgeville).

So, if the “nickname” of our school is Milledgeville, why are relations between our students and the people of Milledgeville to strained?

Many students have begun to complain of how the city is taking advantage of our students, and these students are quick to point out how the revenue brought to Milledgeville by the student population is a great boon to the town of Milledgeville. (For more details, see the article “new group promotes student input in community” in the April 7 edition of The Colonnade.)

What have we done to cause the residence of Milledgeville to enjoy our presence?

We clog the main streets with our traffic. We buy from their businesses, but at the same time some of us drop litter on the street. We are responsible for a share of crimes around the town, and though it may appear that we are the ones who are always persecuted, the police do their part to catch the other miscreants as well.

Perhaps it’s not the city that is at fault. Though we probably don’t want to admit it, the student population does commit the misdeeds that it is blamed for.

Some students drink and drive, or engage in other illegal pastimes. The money we bring to their stores ends up filtering back to us, in costs that the town endures in cleaning up after us. Our tires wear on the streets; the money spent to repair them comes back to us there.

However, permanent residents of the town should also accept the fact that Milledgeville is a college town. It has been since the 1800′s.

While both groups are partly to blame, unless we students were born and raised here, or plan to continue to live here after graduation, we have to remember that we are only temporary residents, or guests in this city. You wouldn’t wreck the house of your friend or family, so why should you treat this city any differently?

Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 14 2006. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry