One must wonder whether a few Muncie citizens have taken the La Bamba radio ad campaign a bit too seriously.
In one prominent ad, an announcer, copying the "Real Men of Genius" campaign from Budweiser, gives a salute to the modern college student. The student sits down with a six pack and cheese puffs to write an English paper about the history of beer while spending his parents' money striving for "independence."
No one's going to argue that relations in the city of Muncie aren't strained. But last Friday, city street superintendent Doug Brown commented to the Star Press that he had "no sympathy" for off-campus Ball State students whose cars were blocked by snow on unplowed side streets.
Ball State University students, he said, showed no interest in helping the snow-removal efforts by getting their cars off the streets. One wonders where Brown expects students to move their cars, considering most renters don't provide multi-car garages next to student homes.
The online firestorm from those words by Brown, however, brought to light the intense animosity between students and Muncie residents.
One poster, calling himself "nonstudent," implied that Ball State students who didn't move their cars preemptively lacked civic pride. The poster later suggested we're all stubborn, ignorant drunks who don't do what's best for our community.
Others repeatedly brought up the "mommy and daddy's money" argument, suggesting students who wanted streets cleared faster should get out with a shovel and do it themselves, rather than whine like children.
A few posters brought up legitimate suggestions on how this kind of problem could be prevented, questioning why city leaders allowed street-side parking on both sides of narrow streets. After all, students who are granted street-side parking permits can hardly be blamed for using them.
Still, the disturbing consensus was that students who parked on the street and failed to move their cars in advance deserved not to have streets plowed. Few dared suggest that a public official blaming Ball State's student bodyfor his crew's inability to keep side streets plowed was more than a littleoffensive.
It is offensive, however, and students and residents along streets which remained unplowed for days after the storm deserve a public apology for being singled out by Brown.
One student, using the name "Happy Feet," suggested the reaction would have been different had Brown suggested streets in poor or minority neighborhoods wouldn't be plowed because welfare recipients don't pay taxes and minorities commit too many crimes. And while Happy Feet's comments lean toward the inflammatory, the underlying truth is there.
Ball State students are considered by many to be second-class citizens in Muncie.
We're moochers who live off our parents while we get an education so we can move away from here, leaving the city in the lurch.
We're lewd drunks who have loud parties and make life miserable for the hardworking people of the city around us.
We're lazy, ignorant, self-involved punks, and when a blizzard hits and our cars get snowed under we're lucky anyone gives us a second look.
Isn't it time to stop the stereotypes and do something to bring Ball State and the community together?
A good first step would be for Brown to apologize.
Write to Jonathan at jonathansanders@justice.com
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
