Local residence be forewarned

Dear Editor,

    Regarding the article which illustrated the current push to remove college students from alternate residences in Milledgeville, I first of all wish to thank you for printing this article and making students aware of the situation. I’ve lived in Carrington Woods for a little over a year now, and the recent news regarding this new ordinance has been very discomforting to me, as well as my roommates.
    Like many students in Milledgeville, I was able to acquire a private residence after my desired tenure in the dorms was up and get some roommates to live with me. Over the last year, more and more college students have been following this same trend of alternate living arrangements, not only because it is economically beneficial to a small group of students who might wish to collaborate and share the expenses, but also because like a lot of us who are registered voters and property owners, we have the right to. In my opinion, this new ordinance, which would limit the number of non-family members living in a single family house, is simply a politically correct and, in other words, nice way of saying limit the number of COLLEGE STUDENTS living in our neighborhoods.
    In my four years here at GCSU, I’ve had to deal with countless tales of students getting scoffed at and disrespected by all ages of residents here in Milledgeville, many of them who are old enough to be our parents. For whatever reason, many of the elder residents here in Milledgeville simply don‚t like the presence of the campus as well as the college students, at least this has been my experience. Skipping any further recollections, I’ll cut straight to my point. Let me put it to you like this: To all the elder residents and city council members of Milledgeville, you claim that this new ordinance is not anti-student, but rather pro-community……are the students themselves not part of the community? Do we not live and work here as well? Do many of us not pay property taxes and participate in the community as homeowners? Are we an exception to what you consider “valuable assets” to your small way of life here? Does the fact that many of us are now, and becoming more and more every year, registered voters and property owners mean nothing?     You know what I think? I think you’re afraid that Milledgeville is changing and the way of life here is changing, whether you like it or not. You don’t seem to mind that nearly all of the employees and servers at all of your local favorite restaurants here in Milledgeville are college students. You don‚t seem to have a problem with the university attracting more and more college students every year which in turn adds to your city‚s economic revenue each year. You don’t seem to mind getting us here and getting out of us what you can to benefit yourselves and „your‰ community, but when it comes to us growing up and expanding into the community in which many of us contribute as much as you do, heaven forbid that can ever be allowed to happen. To the community of Milledgeville, I want you to think about this: I, as well as a great number of my peers and fellow college students, are eligible and registered voters here in Milledgeville, and that gives us as much of a say in the matter as anyone else, and as long as the issues being discussed are that of a pro-community nature, you can count on us to take an active part in protecting our own interests here in the community in which we too live.

Sincerely,
Ruari Roberts
Criminal Justice
Junior

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 13 2006. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry