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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Wednesday, October 9, 2013 ASUU Continued from page 1 seemed excited about this bill and the future sustainability bill that will be presented during spring semester. "Every small step in this direction is a good thing," said ASUU president Sam Ortiz, a senior in social work. "I hope to see even more student driv- en initiatives on campus." Ortiz also said that while the U is doing many things when it comes to sustainability, there are still things that could be done or improved. "Sustainability is a priority for our administration, and I believe it is my duty to support the efforts of students who are working on these issues," Ortiz said. n.turner@chronicle.utah.edu ARCHIVES Continued from page 1 began Monday. Group asks halt The agreement was made in spring, 1973, when representatives of the Apartment Association of Utah asked the University not to build the single-student apartments planned for the resident and fraternity park because of the resulting competition. The owners agreed to lower some rents to enable students to rent some units that were previously out of the typical student's range—siso and up. There is no evidence that any substantial numbers of student apartments have been reduced in rent. David Doxey, president of the Apartment Association of Utah, claims that his organization made no deal with the University. He and other members of his organization met with University officials on student housing, but Doxey says that the University asked for no agreement to reduce rents. They did, he adds, ask for help in setting up a referral service for the Off-Campus Housing Office. Doxey admitted the housing problem for low-income families but said, "We don't want an overbuilt condition all over." 'Correlation needed' A report on single-student housing issued May 14, 1973 by the Residential Living Office on campus summarizes, "Although the results of the survey generally indicate a need for more low-cost student housing within walking distance of the University which could justify the construction of additional single-student housing by the University, it was decided that the capabilities and cooperation evidenced by private housing interests in the community should be able to fulfill the identified needs if correlated effectively with University students and community." The University claims that enough student housing was being approved by the community. A survey done by the Bureau of Community Develop- 3 FALL BREAK COLBERT Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 down to San Diego for five days, and I am super excited since I've never been to San Diego. I can't wait to [go] this Saturday," Cho said. Some students have already taken their exams and are off the hook for the week. They said the preparation was not as stressful, since the exams are falling in the middle of the semester. h.ryu@chronicle.utah.edu current, relevant issues," he said. "Politics is probably the most pertinent field of study [at the university level] because it deals with almost everything from economics to government to education and other civic issues." The connection between "The Colbert Report" and the U is clearcut. Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinkley Institute, is Stephen Colbert's lawyer. Jowers' partner has appeared on the show several times. Ellesse Balli, a graduate student and academic coordinator at the Hinckley Institute, said the institute looks for applicants that can write well. "We look for individuals with good time management and writing skills along with previous intern experience," Balli said. "The duties include research, entertaining guests, document creation and leg work." ment at the University indicates that the vacancy rate for units in Salt Lake renting for under sioo was zero percent. The rate for units from sioo to $149 was 2.5 percent. In comparison, the rate for units renting from $150 to $199 was 12 to 15 percent. Since the survey was taken this spring, additional low-income housing has been demolished and replaced with higher-income dwellings. Holbrook now estimates the vacancy rate for $150 and up at 20 to 50 percent. The University said in response to Holbrook's charges, "We are not aware of any unhoused students at the University this autumn quarter." The Residence Halls have approximately 150 students on the waiting lists. In addition, some students are living in the lockable lounges in the dorms, rooms not designated for sleeping or permanent residence. Grant was available At the time the decision not to build was made, the University could have qualified for low-cost loans from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Due to Nixon cutbacks, this money is no longer available. The University did not apply for any HUD grants because of the agreement. University Housing officials do bring up the point that any construction requires the approval of the state legislature; these officials do not feel that the University missed out on its only opportunity to build the housing because the legislative approval would have taken too long to get the HUD grant anyway. What makes this University problem so important to the rest of the community is the economic fact that students generally compete with low-income families and senior citizens for housing in Salt Lake. The City Master Plan reveals that in the 196os, approximately 615 dwellings per year were demolished in Salt Lake. More dwellings were built during this period, but generally they were of higher cost than the demolished units they replaced. Problem acute The demolished problem is acute in Salt lake, where there are almost 5,000 housing units beyond economic repair, housing that should be replaced. Most of these are in the Central City area of Salt Lake; most are low-income dwellings. In addition to the units that are completely dilapidated, many units have been torn down because of the economic motivation in building expensive luxury apartments which rent for $15o and up. At the present time, the cheapest apartment that can be built without governmental subsidy will be $15o per month, according to Richard Prows, local developer. The only solution proposed to meet this crisis is public housing programs. The Salt Lake Housing Authority was established four years ago when Utah became the 49th state to endorse the housing authority concept. The Authority receives federal aids and loans to build public housing; Salt Lake is building 300 units now, and the county has completed 24 units. Responsibilities could vary depending on the student. "You may even have to run out and grab a rubber chicken for a skit," Balli said. After interning at "The Colbert Report," Benns, the current intern, will study at Harvard Law School. Balli said internships such as this one can help students take their resumes to the next level. Competition for a prestigious internship with the popular TV show is fierce, but there are also others that are available through the Hinckley Institute, which currently has ioo students on paid internships, which also subsidize housing costs. These internships include local opportunities as well as ones in New York City and Washington D.C. One U student is interning at the White House. Jowers said that this year, the Hinckley Institute has implemented "more internships and more scholarships than ever before." k.mcdonald@chronicle.utah.edu .dailyutahchronicle. co Sign up now Problems noticeable Several problems have slowed the Salt Lake Authority down. Most were due to getting the program started, but other problems became noticeable because inflation in the price of lumber caused most contracts to go over bids. The solution to inflation has been to cut the costs or to send the aid request back to Washington for more money. The problem in Salt Lake and in other urban areas of Utah is so bad that the legislature will likely appropriate $3 million to build housing because of the bipartisan support for several housing bills. The $3 million appropriation is the most important bill during the special session on the subject of housing, but a bill that would give cities that authority to spend surplus money on housing and a bill that would give cities the authority to regulate rental housing have also been introduced. "Somebody should have started planning long ago," says Steve Holbrook. "We should have known we were going to have a housing shortage if we continued our socalled progress." MN •. In Ci) 115 Oct. 10 11'12 13 Deals for food, entertainment and everything else for students, faculty and staff at the University of Utah. 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