Letter to the Editor
from the Student Association
In a recent issue of The Daily Star an article stated that members of the community of Oneonta were infuriated by last year’s OH-Fest celebration. Oneonta and Hartwick students were singled out and accused of committing societal demerits. These demerits were spun to show college students in a negative light.
The Daily Star failed to shed light on all of the positive impacts of having college students in town. We contribute immensely to the local economy through taxes, by providing business and using the town bus system. We perform various community service projects, out of good will, to help the town. We spend tens of thousands of dollars to provide free entertainment to the town of Oneonta. When is that ever covered in The Daily Star?
The Daily Star article treats students like outsiders when we make up a good portion of the residential community in Oneonta. Our very own city council representatives don’t find us significant enough to come and speak to. Where are the student voices represented? Why are our students being stereotyped?
Besides their exemplary journalism, which entailed interviewing the intoxicated minority of students and spinning the situation out of context, The Daily Star also provided the town with contradictory statistics. One of the demerits presented was the apparent arrest of 35 people, 15 of which were students. If that is the case, doesn’t that mean that the 20 people remaining are people who reside in the town? The newspaper fails to answer this question.
The college students of Oneonta are being spun into anarchic youths, but what The Daily Star and townsfolk fail to realize is that college students are this town’s economy. By printing such information, it is defaming the character of the average college student that isn’t involved in the slightest bit.
As a result of this article, delegates from the SUNY Oneonta Student Association will be going to Town Hall for Common Council in order to discuss the problems at hand.
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