Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Drastic Times Call For Simple Measures

Everyone who’s been through a semester of college can identify with the dreaded end-of-the-semester rush. Every semester that I’ve studied at SUNY Cortland I’ve felt the anxieties that arise from the reality that EVERYTHING is due in a week. There will be no more time to procrastinate. I’m sure that most of the other students at C-State suffer in this same way. This could be an interesting development for downtown Cortland.

I’ll be frank in saying that nothing truly makes me feel better during this week of hell. I consume a lot more energy drinks and coffee than a regular person should, but it never brings the stress level down. This is, and I assure you, a VERY demanding week for most students. I’m thinking, though, that there is a way for downtown Cortland and the SUNY students to gain a symbiotic relationship through which both parties benefit.

I’ve mentioned before that one dynamic that we all should reach for is a unification of the college and the community. I’ve also mentioned the idea of bringing the college students downhill to Main Street to indulge in the available restaurants. Well what if at this time (finals week), when I know that most students aren’t going to have the time to mosey on down to Main Street, some of the businesses traveled up the hill? The Blue Frog could serve discounted coffee at a desirable location near the library. This would indeed help the students and it would definitely promote the wonderful coffee at The Blue Frog. I don’t see why we couldn’t do this. It wouldn’t cost any money for anyone, right?

Sally, who has been studying hard for her Biology final tries a fresh iced (or hot, we are in Cortland) coffee from The Blue Frog stand and loves it. After she aces her final, she decides to walk down the hill, to Main Street, to have another cup; she even heads back there multiple times the next semester. Looks like a positive situation to me.

One problem that I’ve found was that the students, especially the freshmen, are incredibly unaware of what downtown has to offer. This would be a slight remedy to this problem for sure. Think about it, Cortland. Cheers.

--Ray

1 comment:

KatieL said...

I would hope that other businesses, like Coffeemania would be interested in serving discounted coffee to students. Downtown could even host something like a Stress-Free night, where maybe there was a concert at Lucky's. Or this event could be held on campus and have fun activities for students (to take a break from cramming- I mean studying and have some fun) and restaurants and coffee shops could set up tables with free or discounted food and drinks. If students saw that the businesses cared about them they might be more willing to frequent them!