Washington Post Article on Off-Campus Housing

Rules Trail Raucous Students Off-Campus
Colleges, Neighbors Seek a New Peace

By Jenna Johnson and Martin Ricard
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, August 17, 2009

Each August, moving vans and pickups roll into the neighborhoods surrounding college campuses, carrying futons, boxes and mini-fridges. As move-in season kicks off, homeowners try to determine how their quiet streets will be transformed by hordes of students.

"Even if you see them hauling in a keg the first weekend, maybe that will be their one party of the year," said Jennifer Altemus, president of the Citizens Association of Georgetown. "Still, I wouldn't think that's a great sign."

For most college students looking to live in or near the District, the cheapest option is to rent a house with a large group of friends, packing in as many people as possible. Living off campus also frees students from the adult supervision of the dorms, but they quickly learn that their new neighbors have rules, too -- and enforcement tactics that have been honed on decades of young neighbors.

This year, residents living near Georgetown University plan to hang signs on the doors of student renters, informing them of the rules about garbage collection and noise. On Tuesday, the College Park City Council narrowly voted to continue rent control on single-family houses to help University of Maryland students and others find cheap housing and discourage landlords from buying more houses. And residents of the Brookland neighborhood near Catholic University have pressured police to adopt a zero-tolerance policy for disorderly conduct.

At a community meeting last month, 5th Police District Cmdr. Lamar Greene said officers will measure noise levels when called to student homes and make arrests for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct if necessary. Brookland residents have identified houses rented by Catholic University students, checked landlord licenses and reported those not in compliance.

"My community is absolutely at wits' end about this," Carolyn Steptoe, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission member.



Craig Parker, associate vice president for community and government relations for CUA, said that the university makes clear its expectations for students living off-campus. University policy includes sanctions for students involved in disruptive behavior in off-campus housing and urges neighbors to call the police when there are problems.

Although neighbors often have a point, sometimes they're simply "nitpicking on small issues," said CUA student Ryan Winn, chairman of the student government's student life committee.

"Students are residents," said Winn, 20, a junior political science and pre-law student. "They have rights, too."

Stuck in the middle are university officials who want to stick up for the rights of their students but also keep peace with the neighbors who can have immense influence on zoning requests and construction plans, said David Clurman, president of the Mid-Atlantic Association of College and University Housing Officers.

"Sometimes it's just people being hyper-sensitive, and sometimes it's the students being out of control. You just have to find a balance," said Clurman, assistant director of residential education at University of Maryland Baltimore County.

A public hearing in College Park about rent control last month at times turned into a debate about where U-Md. students should live. Some students questioned why rent control applies only to single-family houses and not apartment complexes, dorms and other on-campus housing, which can cost hundreds of dollars more each month.

"The only reason I can afford to live in College Park is because I'm able to rent a single-family house with a group of people," said Bob Hayes, a junior mechanical engineering major.

More than a dozen landlords spoke, angrily accusing the city of being "anti-student" by trying to run college group houses out of business.

"This is a college town," said Ken Blumenstock, a landlord who lives in Bethesda. "It is normal for students to live in the neighborhoods."

Adele Ellis, who lives near campus with her husband, a U-Md. professor, said rent control helps prevent landlords from getting rich while students live in substandard or unsafe housing.

"We are not anti-student. It is not a matter of throwing students out of the neighborhood," she said at the hearing. "It is a matter of addressing the problems that arise when a number of students in an area becomes overwhelming. It is the difference between a mixed neighborhood and a student slum that is the concern."

In 2004, a GU business student was killed in a rowhouse fire caused by faulty electrical wiring.

"Housing is at such a premium that students" often put up with unsafe living conditions, said Altemus, of the neighborhood association. "And they are paying $6,000 or $7,000 a month for these places."

In addition to student safety, universities have other incentives to keep neighborhood residents happy.

In 2001, the D.C. zoning board refused to allow George Washington University to increase enrollment or launch any new construction projects until at least 70 percent of students lived on-campus. At the time, only about half of the school's undergraduates lived on-campus. Today, 73 percent do.

That same year, the zoning board also refused to approve Georgetown's 10-year construction plan or allow the school to accept more students until school officials gained control of off-campus students.



The school started a 24-hour hotline that neighbors can call to report problems, created its own security team to patrol neighborhoods and punished students who broke laws or violated the student code of conduct while living off campus.

Both GWU and GU have also formed committees of university officials, students and neighbors to discuss town-gown issues and added lessons on being a good neighbor to their orientation programs. GWU provides students moving off campus with a handbook that spells out their rights as tenants, offers suggestions on finding a place and includes a section titled, "Don't let your right to party overshadow your responsibility to your neighbors."

This fall, GU is opening its own row of townhouses on 36th Street NW, called Magis Row. Each house will have four students, a faculty or staff adviser and a theme, such as living green or redefining the hip-hop movement. The houses are meant to be "the best of both worlds" for students who want to live in a house but still have ties to campus, said Jeanne Lord, associate vice president for student affairs.

Students must have high grades and clean records to live in the "coveted houses," so Lord expects that they will be tame, role-model neighbors -- just what the university needs as it prepares to again submit a 10-year plan to the zoning board in 2011.

Early Semester Concerns? Tell Us

Starting at the end of this week students will begin returning to campus. If you have any questions or encounter problems upon moving into your dorm please do not hesitate to e-mail me or any other member of the General Assembly. You can also contact members of SAGA by utilizing the "Tell Us" feature at saga.cua.edu. We look forward to hearing from you and getting to work on behalf of the Student Body of The Catholic University of America.

Campus Movie Fest Winners go to Cannes

At the end of last Semester the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to support two pieces of legislation I co-sponsored in regards to the Campus Movie Fest "Best Picture" team. The first enabled us to assist the team in advertising their effort to raise funds to subsidize the cost of participating in the Creative Minds in Cannes Internship Program that they qualified for by winning the CMF here at CUA. The second bill allowed us to donate $300 from our operating budget to the team to help the cause.

Partially due to our efforts the CUA Team, known as JKH, was able to participate in this prestigious program. Below is a short account of their time in France as well as some pictures. This update will also be included in the August-September edition of the new Student Life Committee Newsletter.

-Ryan

From the moment we stepped off the plane, the landscape and language of the French Riviera took our breath away. We were taken from the Nice airport to the small town of La Bocca, our home for two weeks. La Bocca was only a short shuttle ride from Cannes, and the Palais Des Festivals and proved to be a nice break from the crowds and fluster of the festival. Here, we met other members of the Creative Minds in Cannes program and were able to form lasting relationships with them, as we all found a common bond: film. The 62nd Festival de Cannes was a life-changing experience for each of us.

Our CMF winning movie was in the Short Film Corner along with hundreds of others from all over the world. Anyone could sit down at one of the computers and access our film, all well as our contact information. The Short Film Corner provided us with outstanding networking opportunities, allowing us to hand out contact cards for many acting, directing or script writing possibilities. Our Short Film Corner badges allowed us to travel almost anywhere within the festival, and where ever we couldn’t journey, we used confidence as our pass.

Each of our internships was different and gave us a unique festival experience. Moving Pictures Film and Television, Vision Films, and Voltage Pictures were the big name companies that gave us our foot in the door of the world of film. Through these we met a variety of producers, distributors, filmmakers, and others in the industry. Each job had different perks, such as events or tickets, which granted us chances that no one else from our program was getting.

Movies, of course, were the highlight of the festival. Our badge allowed us tickets into some of the best premiers, where we were able to walk the same red carpet that the movie’s stars had walked. Films arrived from all over the world and introduced us to a new array of cinema. Up, Taking Woodstock, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Inglorious Basterds were among the movies we were privileged to see before the rest of the world was given the opportunity. In addition to these, we saw movies such as Agora, Looking For Eric, and even a re-showing of Bright Star, in which Quentin Tarantino sat in front of us.

Our trip was an amazing opportunity that now allows us to choose many ventures in film if we wish. The festival gave us a cultured look at cinema from all over the world and introduced us to the industry. We would like to thank our family, friends and the many organizations at CUA that allowed us to pursue this opportunity. Without everyone’s help and support, we would not have had this remarkable experience.

Julie Cray
Helen Davis
Katie Kasulaitis

SFAB Allocations Update 7/20/2009

At the end of last year quite a bit of attention was focused on where money was allocated by SFAB over the course of the year to our Student Organizations. In an attempt to increase both student involvement and fiscal responsibility the General Assembly mandated that all SFAB allocations be posted online for the student population to see. Furthermore this resource will ensure that SAGA can vote down any unsound allocations, within the constitutionally mandated one week period of course.

These allocations can be reviewed until July 25th so feel free to contact me or any member of the General Assembly with concerns.

To date $91,871.77 has been allocated to Student Organizations. For a complete breakdown of these funds, as well as explanations why money was, or was not allocated please visit: https://cua-sfab.campusgroups.com/web_page.aspx?order=5&id=5165

I will post an update after each allocation period to keep the student population updated as to the state of the Student Activity and Club Sports Fee for the 2009-2010 school year.

Student Organization Allocations Thus Far

At the end of last year quite a bit of attention was focused on where money was allocated by SFAB over the course of the year to our Student Organizations. In an attempt to increase both student involvement and fiscal responsibility the General Assembly mandated that all SFAB allocations be posted online for the student population to see. Furthermore this resource will ensure that SAGA can vote down any unsound allocations, within the constitutionally mandated one week period of course.

To date $73,241.77 have been allocated to Student Organizations. For a complete breakdown of these funds, as well as explanations why money was, or was not allocated please visit: https://cua-sfab.campusgroups.com/web_page.aspx?order=5&id=5165

I will post an update after each allocation period to keep the student population updated as to the state of the Student Activity and Club Sports Fee for the 2009-2010 school year.

Tentative Student Life Committee Announced

It gives me great pleasure to introduce the tentative members of the Student Life Committee for the 2009-2010 academic year. They are as follows:

Ryan Winn
Brian Bligh
Molly France
Peter Jurgens
Tom Horsman
Charlie O'Neil
Christoper Pierno
Joseph St. George
Matt Cavanaugh
Colin Colburn
Leslie Martin
Colin Schmitt
Roxanne Tourkay

I look forward to working with and getting know each and every member of the Committee so that we can help develop the best possible student experience at CUA.

Campus Movie Fest

Dear CUA Students,

Last week the General Assembly passed a Resolution in support of the winners of the Campus Movie Fest held at CUA about one month ago and brought to you by Program Board. This group, which consists of Sarah Castro, Julie Cray, Helen Davis, Nick Hagy, and Katie Kasulaitis, produced a film entitled “I’ll Get It Next Time” and took home the Best Picture Award. Due to their success on campus the group has been given the opportunity to continue competing with their film at the Cannes Film Festival as a part of the “Creative Minds in Cannes” internship program. The film can be viewed at the following link: http://www.vimeo.com/3330029

Associated with the incredible opportunity available to these students, and the prestige for the entire CUA community is a considerable cost. Currently the members of the winning team are fundraising in order to subsidize the nearly $17,000 this program will cost. Any finanicial support regardless of the size would be greatly appreciated. Below is the link for the website through which donations can be made to this effort: http://jkhincannes.blogspot.com/


Ryan D. Winn
Chairman Student Life Committee
Student Association General Assembly
774-254-2953