Tuscaloosa is a college town. And where we succeed in education, football and campus life, we lack in shopping, restaurants and living opportunities. If you’re hoping for a good meal or decent shopping, you head to Birmingham. So, when Tuscaloosa is presented with an opportunity to build a “Summit-like” shopping center with “shops, eateries and apartments,” you would think the city of Tuscaloosa would pounce on the prospect.

Apparently not. Last week, the Tuscaloosa City Council rejected just this type of plan. The proposed complex would sit on the Black Warrior riverfront, hold almost 700 rooms, bring in new restaurants and retail and provide over 250 jobs to Tuscaloosa. Also, it would create growth in an area of Tuscaloosa that has been relatively void of change, despite the prime real estate.

The opposition had viable arguments. Mayor Walt Maddox saw the project as a short-term gain. Others said the location would be better suited for another project. And some found the project needed some major tweaking for it to be seriously considered.

But the ultimate argument was one against the type of people that would be attracted to this area: students.

Tuscaloosa Neighbors Together’s representative, Joan Barth, warned the council about the “sleepovers” that student relationships tend to lead to. And the “general mess associated with housing dedicated to students” didn’t sound appealing to the council, either.

So, we’re loud, sexually active, messy students, and that’s a generalization our generation hasn’t heard before. But we are also Tuscaloosa residents that ultimately bring most of Tuscaloosa’s businesses into reality.

There were fears this new shopping/eating/residential center would become “The Strip West,” yet the Strip is one of the largest sources of Tuscaloosa attraction for out-of-town guests.

Along with Druid City Hospital, the University is the biggest employer in Tuscaloosa. During the school year, students serve as a large majority of the population; there is no denying our role in the seven-day alcohol sales vote last year.

The education I am paying for is worth every cent to me, and I will be proud to hold a diploma from this institution – but I am paying for not only the hours I spend in a classroom, but also my experience here.

Is it fair for me to be discriminated against because of my age? Not really, especially when many of the people who look down on me rely heavily on the money UA college students pump into the economy of Tuscaloosa.

This complex was rejected for many legitimate reasons, but the argument sourced from fears of students was an easy thing to sell. Even if we did get this shiny new building, students would ruin it anyway, right? Yet, at the same time, we would be a large percentage of retail and restaurant customers.

The fear that our “party school” will create a “party town” is unwarranted. We are not trying to “run this town,” or even be an overwhelming presence, but we deserve appreciation for the benefits we bring into this town. We are a considerable amount of the Tuscaloosa population. The student-city relationship needs some serious mending, but that cannot be achieved if we are condemned from the beginning as being gallivanting, drunken one-night-standers.

To me, the issue has little to do with construction and more to do with the relationship between the students of the University of Alabama and the city of Tuscaloosa. We must meet halfway, and equally, we must be met halfway. Instead of considering us as a problem, consider us as a resource for new ideas and hard workers. We aren’t all bad, all the time.

And besides, if all else fails, Tuscaloosa need not worry too much. The Black Warrior River will prevent students from escaping too far from our campus holding pen.

SoRelle Wyckoff is opinions editor of The Crimson White. Her column runs Mondays.