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Thursday, January 28, 2016
Northern Star
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Perspective
NIU’s hoverboard ban may prevent unwanted fire hazards
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Faith Mellenthin | Northern Star
Make back up plans when searching for apartments
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Faith Mellenthin Columnist
For those who live in apartments or plan to, preparing several backup plans for the school year is the safest way to guarantee a student will have a place to stay. There are many steps that go toLetters to the editor Letters should not exceed 300 words and ward securing a place to live, and may be edited for clarity and brevity. The at this point it is too late to have an deadline for a letter is 4 p.m. one day early start on the apartment hunt. before the desired date of publication. Keeping this in mind, students can Submissions may be held due to space limitations. still find a place to live for the upLetters written by students should include coming school year as long as they the author’s year and major. Letters are cautious and strategic. should include a phone number where the author can be reached. Phone numbers will not be published. Letters may be submitted to Editor@NorthernStar.info. Advertisement policy The Northern Star does not knowingly accept advertisements that discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, handicapped or veteran status or sexual orientation. Nor does the Northern Star knowingly print ads that violate any local, state or federal laws. To place an advertisement, contact the Northern Star advertising team at 815753-0108 or ads@NorthernStar.info. To view advertising rates, go to NorthernStar.info/site/advertise/. Hiring Student employees must carry a minimum of six NIU semester hours and must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better. Students of all majors and experience levels are welcome to apply. Apply at www.NorthernStarJobs.info.
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The best thing to do is open up a dialogue [with your landlord].” Greg Tumulty General manager of Star Apartments
who want to renew their leases. “Either they stay or they go, there’s no problem,” said Jim Mason, owner of Mason Properties. But for tenants, the answer is more complicated than that. It is very difficult for students to plan this far ahead when they are living with roommates or waiting for things like study abroad opportunities or scholarship money. The biggest stressor when it comes to finding housing can be simply not knowing what do next. “The best thing to do is open up a dialogue [with your landlord],” Tumulty said. At this point, some landlords have an interest in keeping their current tenants and are willing to work with them partially because it makes for less paperwork than signing new tenants.
Residence halls Residence halls hold around 5,000 students, which is only about 25 percent of all students enrolled, according to the NIU website. Choosing a room in the residence halls could be a good back up plan, but students should be aware that space is limited and comes at a higher cost than living off campus. To make sure students have a good back up in the residence halls, they can reserve a room and be cautious of dates where they may have to make a payment and be contractually obligated to pay for the room.
Greg Tumulty, general manager of Star Apartments, said people begin to show interest in certain properties as early as October and November. Leases around NIU are generally signed during March, so signing off anytime in the spring semester would still give people a good chance at finding housing; signing any later becomes dicey because most leases begin in August. Off-campus living In January, the leasing compaPeople who already leased out nies expect answers from those properties could still be looking
Deadlines
• January: Lease renewals typically end • August: Most leases signed • October/Novemeber: People start apartment hunting for roommates. Advertising available rooms online is a convenient way to find roommates in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, there are many risks to living with strangers, like bad hygiene or noisiness. While living with friends may sound like a convenient alternative, this option also comes with pitfalls. A lease is a permanent contract that does not take friendship into account. Even though roommates may be the reason you stay at a property, they can just as easily become the reason to leave. If situations take a turn for the worse, a student could end up as the friend sleeping on a couch. Even on a time crunch, students should screen their roommates as carefully as they would a midterm paper. “Always plan in advance, even if you have doubts,” said Soroush Yousefisahi, a second year Industrial Engineering student. As someone who moved here at the start of the semester, Yousefisahi said he was concerned about not knowing where and who he was going to live with. Students must consider all their options because it is not the leasing companies’ responsibility to make sure students plan ahead.
See what’s a pass and what’s a fail as judged by columnist Kara Mercer.
Fail
Tuition waiver still unawarded A winner has still not been announced for the Mission 6 initiative and it makes the whole contest look like a waste of time. Last fall, students could check in at football games with an app called Red-Black Rewards. NIU athletics could tell from the app which students came to each game and stayed the whole time. Now into the spring semester, when the winner was meant to already have received their prize, there is not even a time frame for when they will be chosen. If the winner was announced before this semester began, that money could have gone towards that person’s spring tuition. At this point, I feel the winner should have been announced in a more timely manner.
Pass
SA creates support for mental health
The Student Association has started a campaign called the #NoShameCampaign. This campaign is to help anyone suffering from mental health issues feel comfortable to ask for help. Mental health is a real issue, and it is important for the students on campus to know they will not be judged. Mental health issues often carry a stigma in today’s society and so it is a positive change when a student organization starts a program like this to help those at NIU tell their stories.