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Show Wednesday, April 4,20077 The Utah Statesman Aggie Life The big debate www.cambridgecourtnet 'Jr. 590 CANYON ROAD.TOGAN, UTAH B4321 PHONE: (435) 753-8288, 760-5464 APARTMENTS On-campus vs. off-campus housing BY HOLLY MITCHELL AND MANCTTC NEWBOLD Features Editors Signing a waiver that she wouldn't eat the lead paint was one thing Liz Rich didn't like about living on-campus. The "cinderblock prison" and lack of air conditioning were the others. Rich, a senior majoring in interior design, said it wasn't all bad. "Utilities eat you alive," Rich said. Since utilities, cable and Internet are paid for in on-campus apartments, this can be a factor in a student's choice. Living on or off-campus is a question freshmen and some upperclassmen face every spring when searching for a place to live. There are ups and downs to each. Kelly Hill, a sophomore in parks and recreation, said although she didn't have to pay for utilities when she lived in the dorms, there was still a large price difference between living there and her apartment now. u On-campus bousing was almost a thousand dollars more expensive than Old Farm," Hill said. However, utilities are not included in the Old Farm price rate. She also said she didn't meet as many people in the dorms that she lived in, although she did like being surrounded by freshmen that were going through the same things she was as she transitioned from home to USU. "I like living off-campus a lot better. On-campus was a great housing arrangement for adapting to the college life. However, it was not half as social as Old Farm," Hill said. "This year, living at Old Farm, I have met triple the amount of people I did last year on-campus. People are more involved and excited about college life." Either way was good for Lindsay Robinson, a junior majoring in biological engineering. The dorms are set up for their residents to be social and there is always someone to hang out with, she said, but she likes the nicer apartments offcampus. "The dorms are good to make friends, but it's better to live offcampus after Robinson said. When living off-campus, students are more free, according to Rich. There are more options and the conditions are generally nicer, she said. Having a Resident Assistant, or an RA, wasn't bad, Rich said, but cleaning checks were. "We had to get every nook OPEN FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS, MARCH 23RD THROUGH APRIL 14™ 3400 South State Street * 8:00 pm until Midnight ADULTS $15 / CHILDREN UNDER 12 $10 FAST PASS $18 / CHILDREN UNDER SIX FREE FOR GROUP RATES OR PARTY ROOM RESERVATIONS. PLEASE CALL C801) 463-7701 REGISTER AT TBE DOOR TO BE ONE OF FOUR UNLUCKY PEOPLE TO SPEND THE NIGHT AT ROCKY POINT HAUNTED HOUSE IITH JASON ON FRIDAY, APRIL 13TH! HANG BACKSTAGE, HAVE DINNER IN TBE GRAVEYARD, AND SLEEP IN YOUR VERY OIN COFFIN! (DINNERS WILL BE SELECTED AND NOTIFIED ON APRIL 7 T H ) Visit RpckyPointHautitcdHousc.com or call (Sot) 4(3-7701 for more information BENEFITING THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SALT LAKE GUARANTEED AUTHENTICITY SUPERIOR HAUNTS SINCE 1979 • HOUSING REGISTERED TRADEMARK see page 9 LANDLORDS "I*'" 4*. From page 6 then quickly closed. "We thought that maintenance had just come in the apartment and we didn't know what to do so, we lay in bed and pretended to be asleep for the next 15 minutes because we were too scared to get up and see if they were in the apartment. They weren't, thank heavens, we had latched the door," Nance said. Nance said after that day that it kind of bothers her that someone else has a key to her apartment, even if it is the landlord. "It Iskindofunriervihg ' |J that someone could just come and walk into your house when you are not there," Nance said. "If they wanted to take something, you would never know where it went." When landlords do come into the apartments that they own, are they fixing what you called them tofixor are they just lurking around? Whitney Thompson, a junior majoring in nursing, said her landlord comes over to her apartment often but never seems to befixingthe problem. "He comes to our house a thousand times a week but he only fixes dumb things that don't need to be fixed. He never fixes the things that we need him to," Thompson said. When Nance moved into her first apartment, she said she noticed something wrong in the front room: one of the window panes did not have glass in it. She said she and her roommates ignored the problem until one rainy day out of necessity they called maintenance. "They came and put cardboard up in the window with duct tape. They said it would take six weeks to get a window. It took three months. It got cold and snowy before the window went in," Nance said. Another potential conflict between landlords and their renters is rent collections. Most renters pay rent on time every month to avoid a late fee, but sometimes when the rent is late the landlord comes to collect it from the renter, or even their roommates. "If my roommates did not pay their rent on time, he would come talk to me about it," Smith said. "He actually tried to get me to pay my roommate's rent for her." Smith said when she wouldn't pay her roommate's rent he tried to get her roommate to give him her piano in place of her rent. "He wanted her new $9,000 piano in place of her $500 rent payment. It was ridiculous," Smith said. So when the last month's rent is paid and the landlord doesn't have any reason to haunt the apartment anymore, there is only one thing left: moving out. Curtis Newbold, a graduate student in English and literature, said his problems with his landlords really started when moving day came. The apartment was supposed to be empty by 5 p.m. Monday and then all of a sudden the landlord demanded the apartment to be vacated by 4 p.m. on Sunday, Newbold said. "They told me and my roommates at noon on Sunday that we had to be out my 4 p.m., when we were all planning on moving out the next day. We had four hours to move," Newbold said. When Newbold told his landlords he had to work that night, they told him it didn't matter, that he had to be out by 4 p.m., Newbold said. As Newbold and his roommates were moving they left a couch on the porch to be picked up later. While they left to get a truck the landlords promised the couch to the cleaning lady at the apartment, he said. "The landlord told the cleaning lady she could have the couch and then my roommates came to pick up the couch at the same time the cleaning lady came to get it. It got really ugly," Newbold said. Smith said she didn't have a problem moving out but by the time she got her deposit back, it had been chopped by almost $200. "We cleaned the apartment so it was immaculate and we still only got $50 out of $250 back even though there was nothing broken in the apartment. My mom was so mad she wanted to go scream at the landlords," Smith said. If having a landlord makes you nervous, there is always a great solution: buying your own house. Until then, pull the covers up when you go to bed. -dehrajoy%cc.usu.edu Remember this... "An applea doctor away1? It's more like 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day but the saying is still true. Visit the ^ Center. We are here to hs!p-JiG i a 797.1660 March 30; 2007 M f Activity Come be a part of the u^v\<nt f: (.:• festival. Categories include: Drama, Comedy, and Miscellan•• . -\r,. All^ries -i^ries standards outlined mustmust meetmeet thethe standards outlined in the "Strength of Yonch" f-^rnat. 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