There was a post in Ann Arbor Is Overrated dot com about a new Wiki for Ann Arbor. The beauty and ugliness of a wiki is that most of them allow for anyone to edit pretty much any content page. In this case, the original annarborisoverrated post referenced the about page of the new wiki as criticizing students as simply rich snobs, ruining ann arbor. I then went to the site to find the about page of the Arbor Wiki completely re-edited.
Welcome to Ann Arbor!
Student parasite (n).
1. An organism that feeds off of students’ meager part-time paychecks, summer job savings, and occasional windfall scholarship. Examples include landlords, eateries and grocery stores, and every retail establishment in Ann Arbor.
2. An organism that feeds indirectly on students by taking advantage either of parents or of indirect revenue streams, such as Football Saturday car parkers.
Student parasites are frequently pathetic creatures, vainly posturing to pretend that it is they who are the primary organisms in the local ecosystem and students who are the blood-sucking hangers-on. Very closely related are the student dung beetles, organisms that do not feed directly off of students, but feed on the leavings of students, all the while pretending that their food sources would not only still exist in the absence of students, but would be better-tasting. Theater-goers of all kinds and Food Co-op patrons fall into this category.
As we all know, students are the lynchpin for all things worth living for in this pathetic town. If not for students, you couldn’t buy a stalk of arugula to save your life within 50 miles at least!
I wouldn’t be surprised if it changes by the time you read this. I’d have to say that this latest edit above seems to be more in-line with my views as a former student and currently University employed resident of Ann Arbor.