Officials discuss off-campus living

On Thursday, October 2, Baltimore City Councilmen and representatives from Loyola College, Towson University and Johns Hopkins University congregated in Sellinger Hall to confer on topics concerning off-campus student activities. The Baltimore City Council and the universities work together in hopes of keeping the students and surrounding neighborhoods safe.

The focus of the meeting was to address the students', usually juniors' and seniors', choice in making the decision to live off-campus. Off-campus housing, according to the officials, brings about a series of new dilemmas concerning landlords and irritated neighbors.

Often students are unaware of zoning laws. In Baltimore City, no more than four unrelated persons can reside in a single home. Landlords sometimes will take advantage of the na've students and overcharge for homes or allow more than four students to live together.

Bill Henry, councilman of the 4th district, is focusing on solving the problem with the relations between landlords and tenants. Henry said, "We want you to learn to be an adult, live in a neighborhood, be responsible and respectable."

Joan Flynn, Assistant Vice President of Administration at Loyola said that she wants to provide a session in the early spring discussing both ends of the spectrum. She wants to see the students interact positively with their landlords. Flynn said it is important to Loyola that the students are "being good neighbors and positive influences on the community."

Loyola College is affiliated with the North Baltimore Neighborhood Coalition (NBNC). One of the objectives of the NBNC is to ease the tension between college students and their neighbors. This enables the students to peacefully coexist with their neighbors. Off-campus residents of Loyola are involved in a meet and greet at the beginning of the year with their new neighbors. It produces a less aggressive environment.

There are requirements for Loyola students to live off-campus. They have to comply with the conditions of the agreement between Loyola and the NBNC. The contract states, "Loyola agrees to prohibit nonresidential commuter students from residing in dwellings located in the following neighborhoods: Blythewood, Guilford, Evergreen, Homeland, Kernewood, Keswick, Radnor-Winston, Roland Park, Roland Springs, Tuscany-Canterbury and Wyndhurst unless (1) the dwelling was originally designed as an apartment-style residence or (2) a student lives with a relative or (3) a student lives with a friend of the student's family."

Terry Sawyer, the Special Assistant to the President, said that when a student agrees to attend Loyola, the college agrees to educate them, and they have to go by its rules. It is required of Loyola students to tell the college where it is they are living and failure to do so will result in a fine.

In addition to off-campus resident relations with the community, another concern is the "party scene." Mary Pat Clarke, the representative of the 14th district in the Baltimore City Council, remarked, "Towson and Loyola students are very much a part of the (same) party mix."

Along with Towson, Loyola students have become more involved socially with universities like Hopkins and Goucher. Mary Pat Clarke has become increasingly aware of the other populations of kids "partying" in the Charles Village area, especially Towson and Loyola students, not simply Johns Hopkins students. Clarke said, "We haven't had any trouble; we just don't know what's going on."

As a campus police officer at Johns Hopkins for 12 years, Caroline Bennett became deeply concerned for the students' well being. Bennett said, "You just couldn't believe [what] some college students were doing."

Bennett is the Community Liaison and Compliance Officer at JHU. Her job requires her to patrol the Johns Hopkins community and assist on and off-campus residents. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. Bennett is on duty.

Bennett said she has dealt with her fair share of Loyola students. In the past, she has frequented the Evergreen campus, giving rides to needy students who have run out of cash for cabs.

Bill Henry put it simply, "College is supposed to be a learning experience." With the reputation Baltimore City has earned for itself, it is no surprise how safety has become a major concern for colleges and universities in the surrounding area.