Voices: Please Don't Go ...
Tired of the brain drain phenomenon that has witnessed young people fleeing Pennsylvania by the thousands, the state has launched an initiative called Stay and Invent the Future.
If this state has anything in abundance other than trees and water, it's colleges and universities. If we can keep students from leaving after they earn their degrees, we'll be able to attract relocating high tech businesses. And with better jobs in more lucrative industries, we'll boost the regional economy. Cool.
But can Pennsylvania do it?
On the surface it appears possible. Millions of tax dollars are being spent to link students with potential job opportunities. Marketing strategies have been proposed to freshen the image of regions (such as Northeastern Pennsylvania) that has suffered from a bad reputation. In the Internet age, a website is essential to image and one has been designed for Stay and Invent the Future. You can find it at http://stay.inventpa.com/intro.html.
It looks pretty sharp at first glance. There's a flashy intro page and a relatively hip-looking photo of assertively pouting twenty-somethings on the default page. A feature across the top allows one to change the color scheme of the site according to his or her mood. It's the text that has me worried. Content is broken into categories of work, live, play, learn, and internships per town or city. I looked up "play" in Scranton and had to sit on my hands so as not to dial Governor Schweiker right there and then.
The first paragraph boasts the Steamtown National Historic Site! the Steamtown Marathon! The Lackawanna Trolley Museum! And the Scranton Iron Furnaces! before finally advising a trip to Pottsville (what's that's an hour and a half away?) to tour the Yuengling Brewery.
Ooohh... that's gonna temp the twenty-somethings.
Next up - bed and breakfasts! followed by this most ill-thought sentence. "Honeymoon at a romantic getaway." What? Did I miss the new trend of college marriages? After a mention of "star-studded" resort entertainment, the description finally gets around to mentioning golf courses, fishing, whitewater rafting, the Pocono International Raceway and Pocono Downs. Ski resorts and concerts at Montage (held in the summer when the college students aren't around for the concerts that, in general, aren't designed to appeal to them anyway) are followed by a mention of baseball, and the philharmonic before the fourth paragraph concludes, "or dance the night away at one of the many clubs and hotspots."
The final paragraph is four complex sentences about the spectacular autumn leaves. Because we all know how college students are car-pooling in droves to the best fall foliage viewing spots.
I thought maybe someone just screwed up Scranton. It wouldn't be the first time. So I looked up "play" in Wilkes-Barre. It's notably better, but still not that all that fresh. The "play" description of Bloomsburg starts by noting the town's great "antiquing" opportunities. They even managed to make Philadelphia sound boring. The city's "play" description begins with tidbits about the American Revolution and is followed by three paragraphs noting historic landmarks. It gets a little better, but is not nearly saucy enough. How many tax-dollar paid employees did it take to decide that this copy would convince college students that Pennsylvania is an exciting place to live?
When college students surveyed for Stay and Invent the Future were asked how youth can be drawn to NEPA, 38 percent answered, "more entertainment opportunities." Only 25 percent answered "high paying jobs," while the surveyed "non-youth" felt attracting jobs and high tech firms was the way to go. It's a striking difference of opinion, but one that makes a point. Until senior year or so, college students aren't thinking all that concretely about their future. Even in the first few years after graduation, it doesn't matter how much one is stashing away in the 401K as long as (s)he's having a good time. By the time the desire to face reality sets in, college grads have already left the area because we couldn't keep them entertained.
-- alicia grega-pikul, 29 August 2002
