I would like to start out by praising Jeremy Burton for a job well done in his two-part article about the decision to move UB to Amherst in the Wednesday and Friday issues of The Spectrum. He looked at all the pertinent issues and didn't hold back in his reporting. It is a shame that the powers that be decided to build UB's North Campus on a sinking water-trap out in the middle of suburbia.
UB had the potential to revitalize and expand Buffalo just a short time after the "white flight" of the Suburban Migration of the 1950's. Robert Coles hit the nail on the head: race.
The people of Rochester (my hometown) and Buffalo are racist and they don't even realize it. By moving to the suburbs, they are unwittingly creating a gap between cultures of money, education and overall safety. Had UB been built in the city, it would have been crawling with students for the past 30 years, something that businesses and corporations take note of.
I take the Metro every Monday through Wednesday and I'm constantly frustrated by the fact that it doesn't go out to North Campus. What it comes down to is that people need to start working together to make things better for everyone.
The colossal mistake made 40 years ago is one that Buffalonians and Alumni should learn from, even though it may already be too late for this city.
