I must say I am a graduate of the fine Youngstown State University. This past few weeks have been difficult. The nation has seen the horrible atrocity of a gun attack on a fellow student at a semi-commissioned fraternity house. Its a horrible situation. I was in a sad state of mourning from the moment I heard the news. That said, I always felt safe on campus. In this day of campus massacres, I still feel Youngstown State is a safe place. Our campus police when I was in attendance were always visible and very useful.
That said, I did have a few situations where guns were threatening our security.
One friend, a Marine ROTC I believe (or maybe a full fledged marine at the time) was shot in the side, a wound which did not penetrate his abdominal wall but entered and exited his abdominal subcutaneus tissue and in fact did not even make him immediately aware that he was shot. Another student, in an incoherent ignorant show of mania and stupidity told an Arab American a derogartory remark about that Americans mother. The Arab A. pulled a gun and aimed it at this fellows head. I had one other incident. I had a friend visit my fraternity house. A fellow who was rushing at the time and living in the house had a Smith and Wesson hand gun and toted it in his bedroom as if he was playing with a tennis racquet. He did not threaten any of us but the situation was clear, he was dangerous and we were not amused or complacent. I am glad to tell you that this fellow is no longer on our fraternities roster.
One other situation I can recall. A fraternity that I did not have much contact with had a woman coed killed in one of their bedrooms. It was suicide I was told, but there were doubts. I never heard any follow up.
Its a scary place. Youngstown has had a huge amount of crime and there is the drug trade in the ghetto like realms that do indeed exist in some multitude.
That all described, Youngstown was one of the most formidable places I've ever had the opportunity to visit and work in and live. I had nice apartments in 3 locations. The university is a friendly place of higher learning. All of my classes were enjoyable and challenging. I was especially impressed by the quality of the campus. Coming from Akron, I had never been to Youngstown prior to my interview visit. The campus is plush and well manicured and well maintained. I am not one to say that aesthetics are how to decide your educational route, but they are a source of great pride. People mowed the grass on a daily and ongoing basis. The campus is contained and does not have streets running through it. The dormitories that I knew were nice. A bit of a small skyrise of 7 floors where I lived. Another was a 2 story (maybe 3 story) nicer newer building build in 1990-91. I was impressed. The quality of campus life was awesome. We had a useful and pleasing student center. There were pool tables in one of the bar/restaurants. The food services, though not kosher for me at the time (it was not a thought) were excellent. I am happy to report that yesterday I communicated with the Jewish services at the university and was told that if I visited they would be able to arrange kosher meals. I am certain that there may be a way to make this possible for any student, in all likelihood. I must say that I have little experience with the local Jewish community. I am told there are orthodox services though perhaps at a less than usual basis. That said, there were not many Jewish students. Perhaps in the future Youngstown will be a more Jewish attended school. I am an alumni and I give it my full endorsement. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment