Tompkins County: The students have no idea of what’s happening in the county; but County authorities and corporations have a good idea of how to use that ignorance – the power of representation to run the county like a private club; without any accountability. Tompkins County’s stratified community puts all power into the hands of its urban elite — and all burdens on the backs of the rural poor. It’s like having 40,000 convention guests; whose biggest concern is – “Is the ice machine working?”