Bloomington 'townies' were misrepresented

I am writing in response to Matt Glenesk's May 12 column, entitled "To the remaining, b-ware." As a senior at IU as well as a so-called "townie," I am extremely offended by the elitism offered by Mr. Glenesk. I would like to contest his idea that we townies "lurk in the shadows during the year," waiting for the students to leave so we may reclaim our territory. \nMaybe Mr. Glenesk has simply never noticed those people outside his circle of student friends, but townies are always in town — hence the name "townie." Also, Mr. Glenesk says that in the summer, Bloomington becomes a "southern Indiana town." This is possibly the most ridiculous statement of the column. Bloomington has a reputation of not really belonging in Indiana, of being a sort of liberal oasis of the Midwest. Comparing Bloomington to a stereotypical southern Indiana town, even during the summer, is preposterous.\nI also take issue with Mr. Glenesk's depiction of townies as mullet-touting, pickup-driving, tobacco-chewing, Wal-Mart-shopping morons. If this is what students think of townies, what would they think if every person who didn't attend IU left? There would be no business owners to sell students clothes. There would be no schools for education majors to observe. There would be no Oliver Winery for Mr. Glenesk to suggest students visit.\nOf course, we townies realize that without the University, Bloomington would retain that closed-minded small-town atmosphere Mr. Glenesk seems to think is prevalent here. However, maybe Mr. Glenesk should think about what would happen to the University without the townies. After all, most faculty and staff live in Bloomington full-time, making them townies. Could a University survive without professors or administrators? When that happens, I'll get myself a mullet and a pickup truck.