As my long career at Binghamton University winds down, I want to take this opportunity to offer some parting remarks about my time here to give others the benefit of my experience ‘ what’s good, bad and ugly about Binghamton ‘ but mostly good.

The only genuinely ugly thing about Binghamton is the weather. Many people cite, deprecatingly, the urban decay and rotting industrial relics as making Binghamton miserable. I could not disagree more. Binghamton is a veritable time capsule of Americana; Binghamton more closely resembles your average American city than anywhere most of us are from. The quaintness and easy enjoyment of life in Binghamton will be sorely missed the next time I’m stuck in traffic on I-287 for four hours on a Friday afternoon.

The ‘bad’ of my experiences have been mostly a product of the neighborhood I elected to live in senior year. I live in a dilapidated slum with seven, um, unique characters (please see a previous column, ‘Housemates: a BU guide’). ‘Hollywood’ purchased a dog that shits all over the house, and despite my pained pleas for him to clean it up before I step in it, his response is reliably a variant of ‘You pet the dog, pick up the shit.’ Thankfully, Hollywood’s girlfriend alters her behavior in proportion to Hollywood’s caregiving of the dog, and this aspect of my life has improved ‘ although perhaps it’s because we took the dog’s shit and put it in a jar of pickle brine and allowed it to ferment for three months before threatening to spray the foul concoction on whoever crossed us.

The ‘bad’ also extends to my scumbag landlord. We were charged $100 a month for snow removal service that never came, including during the blizzard. There was a gaping hole in the front door that delightful Canadian air gushed through during the entire month of January, which took him about a month to fix. In both cases, he steadfastly refused any financial recompense.

The ‘good’ comprises the vast majority of my time and life at Binghamton. This is a genuinely great school and I have had tremendous professors ‘ the history and economics departments are by and large terrific. At Binghamton, you can personally design a vigorous and gratifying curriculum, or you may take a less demanding route, but I have found that ambition is rewarded. The cost of living here is relieving, the education is great and, select fraternities notwithstanding, the social dynamic leaves one fulfilled. Career placement is quite good and graduate schools ostensibly know that Binghamton is a first-rate school, even if U.S. News and World Report fails to fully recognize this fact.

My housemates have been entertaining to say the least. Since my article on the subject was published, Dr. J was accepted to one of the best medical schools in the world and consequently, for possibly the first time, spends more time out of the library than in it. Rage, so enthralled that he got his internship of choice, bought for everyone last night. Curry’s impressions of Japanese baseball fans and players have earned him world-wide comedic renown. Our house has been host to many parties and a staging point for countless memorable exploits.

The Binghamton Mets will be sorely missed when I am paying $70 instead of $4 to watch Fernando Martinez steal bases and Mike Carp slug doubles. Minor League Baseball is one of this nation’s most glorious institutions, and few teams are as fun and rewarding to watch and follow as the B-Mets.

In total, Binghamton offers a fantastic undergraduate experience. This town is large enough to have a mall and baseball team, but small and inexpensive enough to still engender a sense of removal from life ‘ that feeling of rurality that is so conducive to contemplation and intellectual curiosity. I see only good things for the future. Irritating as they may be now, the aesthetic improvements on campus will make the college look and feel more like an elite university to match its rising reputation. I am still dumbfounded that the meek among us were able to hijack the new gym proposal, and I hope future classes will come to their senses about what a tremendous value-added proposition this is.

In short, I am grateful for and satisfied with my career at Binghamton, and hope for nothing more than that those reading this will allow an appreciation of the school and area to prevail over the lazy cynicism that may be levied against it.