Everywhere in rural Tompkins County; Cornell is stepping in – and stepping all over – the existing rural communities. There used to be a bumper sticker: “Ithaca – 10 square miles surrounded by reality” – but when reality began to intrude on and erode Cornell’s magical kingdom: Cornell created the myth of Tompkins County – an autocratic vision of Urban Colonialism: “allocating burdens” [their problems] to the surrounding rural communities – and marginalizing the rural population by “bringing civilization to the natives.” Tompkins County’s rural communities are disintegrating under the rulership of a collegiate elite who despise them – and covet their land.