Impartiality

An article in the Cornell-run Chronicle yesterday announced the exciting findings of a new report about Cornell's impact in the community:

Tompkins County's institutions of higher education continue to provide the area with a stable economic base, a highly educated workforce and an active, vibrant community.

[...]

The schools employ 26 percent of county residents -- more than any other job sector. (Retail trade is second with 11 percent.) And they contribute $1.5 billion to the county's economy. That steady activity buffers the county from regional and national economic downturns, says John Gutenberger, director of Cornell's Office of Community Relations. "We don't have the wild swings that other sectors of the economy do. Higher education is a stabilizing factor."

You might be wondering who wrote this very pro-higher ed report.

...representatives from Tompkins County Area Development, the county chamber of commerce and local government encouraged Cornell, Ithaca College and TC3 to write the report, Gutenberger says. "They said it would really help to recruit new businesses to Tompkins County and employees, especially middle and upper management."

Naturally.

And as for Gutenberger's comment about Cornell's helping to buffer the local economy from downturns, that means Tompkins County has been protected from the Great Recession, right?

The report's statistics date from 2007 and do not take into account the 2008 economic crisis.

Oops.

Let me be clear. Cornell and the other area colleges are what keep the local economy going, and I'm not trying to dispute that. But behind the big numbers (i.e. $1.5 billion) are some very real issues, including the Lake Source Cooling controversy and a general sense among many Townies that Cornell essentially bullies Ithaca into getting what it wants.

The article notes that the primary goal of the report is to try to recruit businesses and professionals to the area, which is a noble cause. But Cornell should be careful not to pat itself on the back too often. It's a little ridiculous when a Cornell-written report, praising Cornell, is then praised in the Cornell-run media outlet, without directly acknowledging how preposterous the whole thing is.