Planned Web site is logical step for new Office of Off-Campus Living
As sure as the wave of students that inundates Athens every quarter, the city can be sure of a housing shortage. In addition to the stresses of studying and working, students also have the task of finding a place to live. Until now, the best resource has been a student's own circle of friends, acquaintances and random notices advertising rooms to let. Ohio University and its Office of Off-Campus Living have endeavored to make house hunting a little easier by setting up a Web site, featuring, among other things, a searchable housing database.
Once the site is launched -it is scheduled to be unveiled March 9 -students can search for available properties, roommates and, eventually, subleasers. The university has moved in the right direction in its efforts to help students find lodging but they should take a hint from Ohio State University's off-campus housing Web site and do much more if it hopes to solve the problem of renting in Athens.
OU students are only required to live in the residence halls during their freshman and sophomore years. After that, they seem cut off from university help, and wherever they can find a bed can be called home, at least in the eyes of the university. But with such a squeeze on the real estate market in this tiny burg, the house hunt starts almost as soon as a student's first quarter.
With so many students and so few places to live, the landlords figuratively -and oftentimes literally -own Athens. Landlords who spoke to The Post said the service was unnecessary and that they probably would not use it. However, the university must make this Web site the best place to list properties so the landlords' iron grip on student housing can be lessened and eventually broken.
The Off-Campus Living Office was established to help students find places to live and make the transition to living outside of the residence halls. With this Web site, the office is making good on its goals. Hopefully the site will eventually include features like a message board, where students can rant or rave about their apartments or houses: Will the landlord come around in the winter to fix a broken water heater? Is there insulation in the walls? Do the pipes make weird noises at night?
Just like Web sites for college professors or car insurance, OU must make its off-campus housing site user-friendly and packed with information. Renters should be able to compare prices and search for a place to live based on certain criteria. The site should detail what a student can expect -legally -from a landlord and what action can be taken if an
apartment or house is fishy. And once the site is launched, OU should promote it to all students, wherever they live.
Across the pond
American policy on gays in the military should reflect the Royal Navy's
Britain, once the old world when it came to U.S.-U.K. relations, became one of the most progressive states in Europe last week when it announced it would actively recruit gays to serve in its Navy. Ohio and the rest of America should take notice of this new effort to dismantle an anti-gay apparatus in a world where a strong military is becoming more and more important.
The Royal Navy is working with a group called Stonewall to recruit more gays to serve to make the atmosphere of military service more open and hospitable to homosexuals. Britain lifted its ban on homosexuals in the military five years ago and has also recently passed legislation making it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of a worker's sexuality.
America has a don't ask
don't tell don't pursue policy of gays in the military -which allows them to serve, but if they were found out, they could be discharged. This policy, implemented under the Clinton administration, has led to an estimated 10,000 service members being discharged over the past 10 years.
The cost to retrain new men and women is estimated at more than $200 million.
The kicker is that the American military is currently facing a lack of troops. Members of the reserves are being forced to stay in combat longer against their will while, in the past year, troops trained in intelligence gathering or languages such as Arabic, Korean or Chinese were let go. Apparently, it is more important to the government that its troops all be heterosexual than that they be trained with the invaluable skills to fight modern wars.
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