Student Leaders To Work to Ease Housing Tension

The program is a joint project between the Graduate and Professional Student Federation and the executive branch of student government.

For the moment, the program is still only an idea in the minds of Student Body President Jen Daum and GPSF President Branson Page.

Thus far, the plan calls for pamphlets and packets to be given to students when they decide not to recontract with campus housing.

Information on noise ordinances, how to dispose of furniture and rules regarding keeping animals will be among the items included in the packets. This information is expected to help students who are living on their own for the first time.

"We shouldn't think (students) intuitively know how to live in a community," Page said. "We want the town to know we are willing to work with them."

Daum said she thought of the plan Monday after hearing complaints of issues such as students' late-night partying from residents at the night's Chapel Hill Town Council meeting.

"Some members of the town perceive students as disruptive," she said. "Our intention is to put some effort into relations with the town."

Other colleges, including Duke University, use a similar approach.

The University of Colorado- Boulder provides information on its Web site for off-campus living. It gives everything from information on recycling to instructions on mediation.

But the problems in Chapel Hill are of a different nature.

At Monday's council meeting, the issue of a ban on duplex construction was discussed. Despite the presentation of a petition and the pleas from student leaders, a temporary ban on duplex construction was passed at the meeting.

Marc Nelson, a graduate student in public administration, attended the council meeting Monday. "The Northside (neighborhood) people said they were not against students," he said. "They had a unique community they wanted to preserve."

The problem in Northside, Nelson said, was that the number of renters had overtaken the number of owners. The residents in Northside wanted to raise the ratio of owners, he said.

Page said the problems between students and town residents are not particular to Chapel Hill. He said students in family neighborhoods are not commonly appreciated.

"I think citizens realize this is a college town," he said. "When students flock to those neighborhoods, it is not looked upon favorably."

The recent temporary duplex ban arose from tensions between families and students in Northside, but Daum said the UNC initiative is not aimed toward any one area. "We are looking toward the future." she said. "It is going to be for the whole area."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.