The O-town Scene

Scene the O-Town Vol. 1, No. 47 www.otownscene.com 102 Chestnut St., P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820 (607) 432-1000, ext. 255, editor@otownscene.com EDITOR Cassandra Miller ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR OF THE DAILY STAR Adrienne Wise PUBLISHER Armand Nardi CONTRIBUTORS John Champlin, Emily Ernsberger, Terry Ludwig, Katie Kolenda, Karen Miritello, EDITOR OF THE DAILY STAR Sam Pollak Genevieve Pedulla, Emily Popek, Lisa Ryther, Mark Simonson, Sam Spokony and Jennifer Tighe. ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Sean Lewis The O-Town Scene is published Thursdays by The Daily Star Inc. Free copies are distributed throughout Oneonta, as well as parts of Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie counties. Member of The Associated Press and CNHI News Service EDITOR'S NOTE As I write this, Oneonta is in a state of emergency because of flooding. There's not much to do but stay off the roads and keep dry. When we're not having extreme weather, Oneonta is actually a pleasant place with a lot of activities for all ages. It's gaining an identity as an arts and music destina- tion, but it's best known as being a college town. The downtown bars cater to a student crowd with cheap drink specials and DJ music, there's a dizzying number of pizza places in town (see Page 9 for a poll of favorites, and Chit Chat with Sal's owner Joe Grigoli) and rents for center city apartments are on par with those in much larger cities as students' par- ents will pay the high prices _ perks and downfalls to living in a college town. 2 O-Town Scene Sept. 8, 2011 One of the biggest ad- vantages with such a large percentage of young adults in the area is the constant amount of activities in and around Oneonta. In this issue, recent graduates and a senior list their top 5 things to do while a student in One- onta (which can cross over to activities you can do as a non-student, too). See Pages 16 and 17 for those lists and reasoning behind the picks. Oneonta is really a lovely place to go to college. It's big enough to have options for things to do, but small enough to offer a sense of safety and support. People tend to know each other. Having gone to college at a giant university in the middle of a city, I used to get a touch of the grass is always greener syndrome visiting Oneonta on school breaks. Not only was the grass literally greener (instead of slabs of concrete), college life in Oneonta seemed more manageable and intimate. Professors know their students names, you can relatively quickly get from one end of campus to another, and nightlife is neatly packed into one general area. It's nice. This is the Scene's pseudo College Issue, so we've also included meals you can make in a microwave for the student on the go (Page 14), as well as an article about the anti-college movement of getting an education outside of ivy-covered buildings (Page 18). The 10th anniversary of 9/11 is also this week; Scene columnist Sam Spokony, who was in sixth grade when the attacks happened, shares his thoughts on Page 10, and a list of area memorial events is on Page 11. — Cassandra Miller Cassandra Miller is the founding editor of the O-Town Scene. She can be reached at editor@ otown- scene.com.

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