Casino a bad fit for students
AS I SEE IT
By Francesco Cesareo
Worcester is a smart city. It is home to nine world-class colleges and universities, and thousands of students who have chosen the city for its quality institutions of higher learning; cultural, entertainment, restaurant, and sporting venues, as well as for the proximity to some of the world’s most innovative companies. As consumers and energetic employees, students fuel the engine of this great city’s economy.
Worcester is no place, however, for a casino. We know from studies that a predictable percentage of a population with easy access to a casino will develop gambling addictions.
It is a fact that young adults are particularly vulnerable to these risks. Gambling creates additional social problems, including an increase in suicide, child and spousal abuse, and personal bankruptcy. We are also aware that other casino sites nationally have attracted alcohol problems, drugs, prostitution, and other crimes.
These threats should not be knowingly located in such close proximity to 30,000 students. Being 18 to 21 years old, these students are still in their formative years. This makes the location of a casino in a college town such as Worcester even more troubling since young adults can potentially develop habits that will be detrimental to their lives, not to mention to their academic careers. Poor choices could have negative, lifelong consequences.
We believe that this issue is of critical importance to the safety as well as the continued growth and development of Worcester and its college community. The health and well-being of our students — and of all of the city’s students — is in the best interest of the long-range plans for this wonderful community. It should also be pointed out that prospective students and their families will decide against attending one of Worcester’s colleges and universities, because parents — who are naturally concerned for the well-being of their children — do not want their children living in close proximity to a casino.
It is doubtful that the so-called economic benefits to siting a casino in Worcester will outweigh the negative long-term consequences.
Casino gambling may create an increase in revenue for Worcester, but I would argue that people who come to Worcester to gamble will basically be shifting their money from one place to another. Instead of a person spending their hard-earned money in a store, restaurant, sporting event, or shows at The Hanover Theatre for Performing Arts and DCU Center in downtown Worcester, that money would be spent on slots and card games within the casino walls. So while the casino would thrive, our other commercial venues would decline.
As president of one of Worcester’s nine colleges and universities, Assumption College, I am extremely supportive of economic development in the city. Worcester needs new housing and commercial development, especially in downtown. Projects such as CitySquare and those being led by our fellow higher education institutions are good for the city and the region.
In the end, a robust economy and vibrant city attract students to our campuses and will hopefully lead them to live in and engage with the community after they graduate. Contribution and service to community is a notion Assumption firmly believes in and supports. After all, part of our college mission is to light the way for the next generation of innovative and creative thinkers and ethical leaders.
The economic and social threats posed to our college community and to the city as a whole are not worth the risk of landing a casino here. Not only would a casino in Worcester be counterproductive to its quest for rejuvenation and redevelopment, it would also be a sociologically negative impact that we, as a city on the verge of renaissance, cannot afford.
Francesco Cesareo, Ph.D., is president of Assumption College in Worcester.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130410/NEWS/104109943/1020
Worcester is no place, however, for a casino. We know from studies that a predictable percentage of a population with easy access to a casino will develop gambling addictions.
It is a fact that young adults are particularly vulnerable to these risks. Gambling creates additional social problems, including an increase in suicide, child and spousal abuse, and personal bankruptcy. We are also aware that other casino sites nationally have attracted alcohol problems, drugs, prostitution, and other crimes.
These threats should not be knowingly located in such close proximity to 30,000 students. Being 18 to 21 years old, these students are still in their formative years. This makes the location of a casino in a college town such as Worcester even more troubling since young adults can potentially develop habits that will be detrimental to their lives, not to mention to their academic careers. Poor choices could have negative, lifelong consequences.
We believe that this issue is of critical importance to the safety as well as the continued growth and development of Worcester and its college community. The health and well-being of our students — and of all of the city’s students — is in the best interest of the long-range plans for this wonderful community. It should also be pointed out that prospective students and their families will decide against attending one of Worcester’s colleges and universities, because parents — who are naturally concerned for the well-being of their children — do not want their children living in close proximity to a casino.
It is doubtful that the so-called economic benefits to siting a casino in Worcester will outweigh the negative long-term consequences.
Casino gambling may create an increase in revenue for Worcester, but I would argue that people who come to Worcester to gamble will basically be shifting their money from one place to another. Instead of a person spending their hard-earned money in a store, restaurant, sporting event, or shows at The Hanover Theatre for Performing Arts and DCU Center in downtown Worcester, that money would be spent on slots and card games within the casino walls. So while the casino would thrive, our other commercial venues would decline.
As president of one of Worcester’s nine colleges and universities, Assumption College, I am extremely supportive of economic development in the city. Worcester needs new housing and commercial development, especially in downtown. Projects such as CitySquare and those being led by our fellow higher education institutions are good for the city and the region.
In the end, a robust economy and vibrant city attract students to our campuses and will hopefully lead them to live in and engage with the community after they graduate. Contribution and service to community is a notion Assumption firmly believes in and supports. After all, part of our college mission is to light the way for the next generation of innovative and creative thinkers and ethical leaders.
The economic and social threats posed to our college community and to the city as a whole are not worth the risk of landing a casino here. Not only would a casino in Worcester be counterproductive to its quest for rejuvenation and redevelopment, it would also be a sociologically negative impact that we, as a city on the verge of renaissance, cannot afford.
Francesco Cesareo, Ph.D., is president of Assumption College in Worcester.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20130410/NEWS/104109943/1020
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