Page16
Battalion Housing Guide
Wednesday, April 4,1!
Rush for apartments starts early
OCA coordinator urges students to begin hunt for fall housing
By JILL BUTLER
Of The Battalion Staff
It’s the time of year when
all students seem to come
down with spring fever, and
responsibilities suddenly can
lose importance when it’s
sunny outside.
Reality strikes, however,
when finals are a week away
and roommates look at each
other and ask, “Where are we
going to live next year?”
Nancy Thompson, coordi
nator of the Off Campus Cen
ter, said the best time to begin
looking for a new place to live
in the fall or summer is the
week after spring break.
“Students should start
looking early because they are
under a lot of stress in April
with finals and papers,”
Thompson said. “Sometimes
because of this stress students
make unwise, hasty decisions
about their living arrange
ments.”
However, Thompson said,
she does believe it’s possible
to begin looking for a new
place to live too early.
“I don’t think there’s a need
to begin looking for a new
apartment before spring break,
unless you have your heart set
on a particular apartment,”
Thompson said.
She said many students
panic because they feel like
there will not be any apart
ments available later in the
spring semester. Thompson
said this panic starts because
some apartment managers ask
residents in February if they
are returning in the summer or
fall.
“There’s not a time that’s
too late to look for housing,
unless you have to have the
perfect place,” Thompson
said. “There are still excellent
opportunities (for fall leases)
in the summer.”
Thompson said some apart
ment complexes are simply
more popular than others and
these complexes do fill up and
have waiting lists.
She said, however, that this
a very small portion of com
plexes. This past fall there
were more than 500 empty
apartment units in Bryan-Col-
lege Station, not including du
plexes or complexes with less
than 20 units, Thompson said.
“There are still apartments
available on the first day of
fall classes,” Thompson said.
But Carolyn Lambright, a
leasing agent at Parkway Cir
cle Apartments, said she rec
ommends looking for fall-se
mester apartments early in the
spring.
“If you want a place really
bad, start looking at the begin
ning of February,” Lambright
said.
She said all 48 of Parkway
Circle’s three-bedroom apart
ments already are rented for
the fall.
Parkway Circle managers
ask residents at the end of Jan
uary if they plan on renewing
their leases, Lambright said.
She said when students start
looking for apartments they
should call complex managers
first and make sure there are
available apartments.
Kevin Kelley, a leasing
consultant at Plantation Oaks
Apartments, said if students
wait too long to look for an
apartment they will be disap-
poionted with the available
choices.
Kelley said students should
start looking for apartments
the week before spring break
and should have their minds
made up by April 15.
“There are a lot of factors to
consider,” Kelley said. “Many
students want a specific carpet
color, cost, floor plan, loca
tion and other amenities.
“The sooner students look
for apartments, the more
choices they will have. If stu
dents wait until the end of the
semester, they will be lucky to
find a floor plan they like, not
to mention cost consider
ations.”
He said as soon as residents
of any apartment complex
Photo by Steven M. Noreyko
Jennifer Nottingham, a junior chemical engineering major takes
down phone numbers of prospective roommates from cards in
the Off Campus Center Tuesday afternoon.
know they will not be renew
ing their lease, they should tell
their apartment managers.
This will speed up the process
of returning residents’ security
deposits, Kelley said.
Students living on campus
who will not live there next
fall had to notify the housing
office of their plans on their
housing contract renewals
March 27 and 28_.
If they notify the housing
office that they will be moving
off campus after April 15 and
before May 30, they will re
ceive 75 percent of their de
posit. Fitfy percent of the de
posit will be refunded until
June and 25 percent of the de
posit will be refunded until
July 30.
If students filled out their
contract renewals and stated
they would be living on cam
pus again, but changed their
mind, they have until April 15
to notify the housing office
and receive 100 percent of
their $200 housing deposit.
Share
(Continued from page 13)
older, between the ages of 26
and 30, Owens said. The ma
jority are male, and they are
not heavily involved in extra-
curricular activities.
“They’re here to get an edu
cation,” she said.
One such student is David
Lrnstes, a sophomore wildlife
and fisheries science major
from Fayette County. He has
participated in the program for
four semesters.
“It wasn’t one of those
things I knew about,” Emstes
said. “It’s kind of a funny sto
ry.”
Ernstes was a Smithsonian
Intern the summer before his
freshman year, and he failed to
get in the lottery system for
dorm rooms. But his partici
pation in the Aggie Elder
Share Program has worked out
well.
“I have a place to stay (and)
it’s quiet,” he said. “It’s like
the Hilton. I check in and
out.”
Ernstes lives with Joyce
Heiman, whose husband died
a month and a few days short
of their 55th wedding anniver
sary. Her grandson, who had
been living with her, moved to
Florida and she had no rela
tives in town.
“It was pretty lonely,” Hei
man said. So she called Owens
and decided to invite someone
into her home who could assist
her.
Ernstes and his mother
came over and they hit it off,
she said. Her grandson, who is
back in town and living with
her again, also gets along with
Emstes.
Heiman said Emstes studies
a lot, and she doesn’t need him
to do a lot of things, but he
helps out when she asks.
“He lets the cats in and out
for me and the dog in and out
if I ask him,” she said. “Just
knowing there’s someone here
(helps). He’s just somebody
nice.”
Emstes goes home every
weekend to work, and he eats
in Sbisa, so he is really only in
town for four days during the
week. But he said Heiman is
fit and able to take care of her
self.
“She can do anything she
wants,” he said. “It’s a sym
biotic relationship. We both
benefit.”
Owens said the Aggie Elder
Share Program is not a pro
gram for everyone. She
stressed that students are not
medical assistants for the el
derly person.
“The main need is for com
panionship (and) security,”
she said.
Owens said she gets a big
rush of students in April, May
and August. She said she
needs to better market the pro
gram to the community.
“I have (two to three times)
more students interested in
participating than homeow
ners.,” she said.
Heiman said she remembers
reading about the program in
the newspaper, but Owens
said program information is
spread in the community
through the grapevine.
Most of the participating
homeowners support A&M,
Owens said, and by boarding a
student, feel they are doing
their part.
There is a national home
sharing program which
matches anybody, she said.
But the Aggie Elder Share
Program is different.
“This is a unique program,”
Owens said. Matching stu
dents and older homeowners is
not easy. In Houston, 50
matches a year is considered
good, she said.
Emstes said a successful ex
perience with the Aggie Elder
Share Program is a matter of
matching up the right people.
Married
(Continued from page 15)
and two-bedroom units are
open to students.
Burke said there is a notice
able price difference in mar
ried student housing from
other further off-campus apart
ments. While the price may be
lower, most tenants get what
they pay for, she said.
“Right now, there is an ob
vious need for some im
provements,” she said. “Un
fortunately, the University is
reluctant to get involved. They
(the University) feel that reno
vations would be seen as be
coming involved in the apart
ment business.”
Apartments are furnished
with cooking space, parking,
and gardening plots. In addi
tion there is a garage, study
room, and council room for
parties.
Although the parking situa
tion is not perfect, Burke said,
it is not quite as bad as the
campus problem. She said that
lately cars from the Zachry
parking lot have been spilling
over into the apartment’s lot.
The University Police De
partment patrols the apart
ments. Like in the residence
halls, pets are not allowed in
the apartments.
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Apartment complexe
offer units equipped
for disabled students
By SUZANNE CALDERON
Of The Battalion Staff
While the majority of dis
abled students live on cam
pus for convenience, three
apartment complexes in
College Station have facili
ties for the disabled.
Susan Libiak, student de
velopment specialist for
Texas A&M’s Handicapped
Student Servies said Oak-
wood Apartments, Tree-
house Village Apartments
and Eastmark Apartments
have units equipped with
wheelchair ramps, wide
doorways, pull bars and
other features making the
apartments accessible for a
wheelchair.
Oakwood Apartments has
23 accessible units, Tree-
house Village has 12 units
and Eastmark has four
units. Most of the apart
ments are efficiency units.
Some disabled students
find living with an attendant
makes life easier.
“The attendant is a person
hired by the (disabled) stu
dent to take care of their
physical needs,” Lubiak
said.
An attendant helps the
person dress, shower and
cook meals and also is there
in case of an emergency,
she said.
Attendants for disabled
students are coordinated
through Handicapped
dent Services. Lubiak
applicants are screened
interviews are arranged be
tweenthe students.
The disabled student
hires the attendant,
Handicapped Student Sen
ices coordinates the inte
views, Lubiak said.
Providing transporation
another job for attendants
None of the Universif
buses are equipped
wheelchair-lift equipment
Doug Williams, bus opera
tions manager said.
Lubiak said many
dents also use the services
of Med-Trans and Brazot
Transit, private transporta
tion services, to get
town.
Lyle Nelson, associate
administrator for the
Urban Transit System
Med-Trans and Brazos
Transit provide transporta
tion for the disabled to the
grocery store, doctor or
other destinations besides
the A&M campus. N
said Med-Trans and Brazos
Transit need special permis
sion to go on campus.
“All they need to do
call us 24 hours in advance
so we can save them a seat
Nelson said.
Roommate
(Continued from page 14)
together when they got to col
lege.
“People who went to high
school together don’t realize
how much someone can
change in a college environ
ment between August and De
cember of the freshman year,”
Rausch said.
“Anyone can change each
year depending on what they
come in contact with and who
their friends are. Their values
about modesty, propriety and
sexual relationships can
change drastically so the other
people in the apartment need
to allow for some change.
Don’t expect them to stay
static. Keep the lines of com
munication open.”
Rausch said the biggest
complaints from roommates
about their roommates involve
overnight guests of the oppo
site sex, refusal to pay bills,
noise level conflict and
respect. Communication is
key to overcoming these pro
lems, she said.
To avoid the most preval
roommate conflicts, 0CC
ommends asking potenli
roommates the followir
questions before the lease
signed.
• How much sleep do tht
need?
• How do they like
spend money when they
it?
• What kinds of habits
they have that might be impel
tant to know about?
• What do they like to
to relieve stress and when
they prefer to do it?
• What annoys then
cheers them up, makes
nervous?
• What are their religioi
values?
The best way to avoid prot
lems is to treat your roomma
how you would like to
treated, she said.
Pets
(Continued from page 15)
for the furniture, the manage
ment doesn’t allow residents
to have pets.
“About 25 percent of the
people we show (the apart
ment) to, are turned away be
cause they have pets,” West
brook said.
Ava Hill, a Doubletree Con
dominiums representative,
said all of the condos have dif
ferent owners and they belong
to a home owners association.
“The home owners just de
cided they didn’t want to allow
pets,” Hill said. “I am sure
that’s because they don’t want
their things all tom up and
don’t want the yard full of dog
mess.”
Trudi Carpenter, a senior
environmental design major
from Fort Worth, is a cat
owner. Carpenter’s roommate
Lisa Evans, a senior safety en
gineering major from Euless,
owns a dog.
Carpenter doesn’t predict
that she and Evans will have
'0
their pet deposit retumef
full.
“Casper (the dog) is stil
his chewing stage and he
of chewed up the cabinets
made holes in the wall,”
penter said. “One of the
lems I have with Casper is t
he is a little too big for
apartment.”
Carpenter and Evans,
occupy a two bedroom
ment, agree that Casper
growing a little too aggressive
“Lisa is getting upset
him (and) it may be time
change Casper from a ‘he
an ‘it’,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter’s cat, Tom®!
and Casper are buddies, si
said.
She said the biggest pro:
lem is that Carpenter at
Evans don’t get to spef
enough time with the pets I)
cause of their classes, camp
activities and working sche
ules.
Charlotte Walker, a sopl*
more psychology major froi
Plano, said her roomntf
owned a dog last year
doesn’t any longer because'
was too difficult to care for
Vol.89 No.'
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