Document text
Students failing at housing search Photo by Bob Pennell Despite being a former student body president, Southern Oregon University student Sophia McDonald had a hard time finding a place to rent for her and her roommates last summer. She hopes to change attitudes about renting to students by talking with city officials and property owners. SOU and city officials work to solve problem By DANI DODGE ASHLAND -- After a year as president of the Southern Oregon University student body, Sophia McDonald went looking for a house for herself and two friends. She figured it wouldn't be all that hard to find a place. She had good references and a good reputation. Instead, she was handed applications that stated: "No students allowed." "It's very discouraging," McDonald said. "I was student body president last year. I like to think I'm pretty responsible: I don't have big parties with lots of alcohol. And it's very very frustrating." It's a struggle nearly every student who wants to live off campus faces each year, McDonald said. About 25 percent of SOU students live on campus, according to Gary Dukes, the director of residential life. When they leave campus, the students enter a rental market with a vacancy rate of only about 3 percent, said Housing Commission Chairwoman Gerry Sea. "It's a pretty tight market here," Sea said. So in the past few weeks, McDonald, who is the associated students communication director, has taken the issue of student housing discrimination to the housing commission, the planning commission and the city council. She hopes the dialogue will be a catalyst for change. "In the next few weeks we will be sitting down with property managers and city officials and university officials and trying to work something out," she said. Housing commissioner Joe McKeever said students are an economic force in town and need to be treated fairly. "Housing is real important to everybody," he said. "They represent the next generation, and if they are already being discriminated against it's a tough way to get a start." High housing costs and a low vacancy rate in Ashland exacerbate the problem, said councilwoman Carole Wheeldon. "The students get marginalized in a way they wouldn't be if there was a larger market," she said. "Maybe we have to look outside of the market and look toward some unconventional ways of providing the housing." McDonald hopes that some good ideas will come up from the meetings with property managers and officials. The Ashland property managers contacted Thursday did not return phone calls. One idea is to develop a certification program for good renters, or for people who go through a class on the responsibility of being a renter, she said. Sea said the commission will look at the city's fair housing ordinance and consider adding students to its provisions. Whatever officials and students devise will be better than the current options for many students, some say. Lisa Sproul, 18, decided to look for housing off campus after her first year at SOU. She was hoping for a little more privacy than the dorms provided. She also was looking forward to learning the lessons of responsibility for a house. But she couldn't find a house for three people that would accept her and cost less than $950 a month. She ended up renting a small, inexpensive apartment in a complex where she doesn't feel particularly comfortable. "I understand people who don't want their places trashed," she said. "But it sucks that they are punishing the responsible ones who could take care of the house." When McDonald couldn't find a reasonably priced three-bedroom place that would take students, she and one roommate got a two-bedroom apartment. The other friend went off on his own. "He found a room in someone's house, but that didn't work out," McDonald said. "Then he moved to a two-bedroom apartment and has cycled through several roommates and has had a terrible time." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA