Fall Housing Guide, October 31, 2023 by The State News

Michigan State’s Independent Voice

CULTURE

Student couples moving in together: Is this the right next step? For students in a relationship, living with a significant other may be a thought. Is it too soon? Too risky? Are students too young to take that step? PAGE 5

REGIONAL

To commute or not to commute? Students share advice on living arrangements In hopes to save money from rising rent prices, some students prefer the option to commute from home to classes. PAGE 6

CAMPUS

Students’ unconventional offcampus housing search: Raffles to 8-hour lines From raffles for houses to 8-hour lines to sign leases, students are undergoing more excessive housing searches than ever. PAGE 7

T U ES DAY, O CTOB E R 31, 2023

@THESNEWS

STAT E N EWS.COM

Any subject explained

We put the AI in learning 2

T H E STAT E N EWS

TU ESDAY, O CTO BER 31, 2023

Vol. 114 | No. 4

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2023

MEET THE STAFF

CONTACT THE STATE NEWS (517) 295-1680

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Morgan Womack MANAGING EDITOR Ashley Zhou COPY CHIEF Jada Vasser MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Audrey Richardson CAMPUS EDITOR Amalia Medina CULTURE EDITOR Dipika Rao REGIONAL EDITOR Liz Nass SPORTS EDITOR Bella Johnson DESIGN Zachary Balcoff Grace Montgomery Abbey Ross

NEWSROOM/CORRECTIONS (517) 295-5149 feedback@statenews.com GENERAL MANAGER Christopher Richert ADVERTISING M-F, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The State News is published by the students of Michigan State University every other Tuesday during the academic year. News is updated seven days a week at statenews.com. State News Inc. is a private, nonprofit corporation. Its current 990 tax form is available for review upon request at 435 E. Grand River Ave. during business hours.

Cover illustration by Zachary Balcoff

Freshman forward Coen Carr (55) drives the ball toward the basket during a nail-biter charity exhibition game at the Breslin Student Events Center. The Spartans fell to Tennessee 89-88 on Oct. 29, 2023. Photo by Donte Smith

spartan living your way. 3 and 4 bedroom apartments, houses and duplexes are available to reserve now! ALL OTHER FLOOR PLANS AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 2ND

dtnmsu.com | 517.371.5300 FE E DBACK@STAT E N EWS.COM

T U ES DAY, OCTO B ER 31 , 2023

STATEN EWS.CO M

CULT U R E

BEST OFF CAMPUS HOUSING OPTIONS, ACCORDING TO MSU STUDENTS

COMPARING THE COSTS: Expensive living forces MSU students away from East Lansing By Kayla Nelsen knelsen@statenews.com

By PJ Pfeiffer ppfeiffer@statenews.com As students, specifically sophomores, settle into the new school year, they have to find and sign their leases for off-campus living next fall. It can be challenging for students with so many options and a narrow timeframe before someone beats them to a lease. Some students live right behind Brody Neighborhood in 1855 Place and University Edge, in houses behind Grand River, in co-ops with two dozen other students or in a fraternity or sorority house. Neuroscience junior Akarsha Kodali lives at Hannah Lofts, about a 15 minute walk to Holmes Hall on the east side of campus. This is her second year living at the apartment as she received an exemption from living in a dorm as a sophomore. Kodali said she loves living at Hannah Lofts and just re-signed for next year — even in the same room. Her townhome style apartment is a four-bedroom, four-and-a-halfbathroom apartment with three floors. The separated apartment has a unique layout, Kodali said, with the living room, kitchen and guest bathroom on the first floor and bedrooms on two other floors. Although not all of Kodali’s classes are at Holmes hall, so it can be a longer commute to the rest of campus. She recommends getting a car, taking the shuttle to campus or living with someone who has a car too. Luckily, Kodali said, all her roommates have cars. “There’s a shuttle that will take you to the middle of the campus, but it’s always convenient to have a car because it’s near the East Neighborhood, and a lot of people don’t have classes in the East Neighborhood,” Kodali said. She said she enjoys Hannah Lofts’ complex and its “super friendly” employees. The apartment complex

Illustration by Abbey Ross

also offer free food, such as popcorn or snow cones, at least twice a month. There’s also amenities like a gym, study room, pool and hot tub, she said. “Hannah Lofts was definitely the best and had the best price point,” Kodali said. Communicative sciences and disorder graduate student Kylie Breining lives in a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house with a fenced-in yard on the border of East Lansing and Lansing. Breining has lived there for 2 1/2 years and plans on living there for at least one more year. Breining said she loves her house because of the neighborhood and low cost of living. Combined with her roommates, they pay $1,500 in rent, including utilities and other fees. To her, it was the best deal for the price. “It’s in a quiet neighborhood of families and retired folk, so great community support,” Breining said. “It’s a great spot to be when there are festivals and such because we don’t get all the traffic and noise.” Breining’s landlord has a personal connection to the house, which she said makes the living experience more enjoyable. “We have a private landlord, so we are not through any management compa ny, a nd it ’s absolutely phenomenal,” Breining said. “Our landlord actually lived in this house before she got married, and so she treats this house like her baby. So, anytime we have an issue, she is on it within 48 hours.”

Nutritional sciences junior Maggie Cappiello lives in an apartment building off Division Street, about a five-minute walk from campus. Cappiello enjoys living right off campus because it’s close enough for classes but still separate from the rest of campus. “I loved living on campus, but I enjoy having my own space, parking near where I actually live now and having a kitchen,” Cappiello said. The biggest adjustment Cappiello made from a dorm to an apartment was budgeting for groceries and rent, among other expenses. The adjustment, Cappiello said, came after lacking a dining plan. “The biggest thing I’ve noticed, which I think is so common, is just how expensive everything is,” Cappiello said. “Like, I breathe, and I feel like I have to pay bills, and groceries are really expensive.” Luckily, Cappiello said, living right off campus gives close access to all the restaurants and eateries lining Grand River Avenue. Cappiello urges students to find housing that is near campus and accommodating to all the wants and needs, even if that means driving to class. “I just think it really helps you integrate a little bit more, because after college you’re not going to be a student anymore,” Cappiello said. “You’re just going to have to be living in that apartment, working that job, so I think it’s a good transition.”

From 2018-2021, 48% of East Lansing renters are paying over half of their income in rent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data. Within the past five years, the median gross monthly rent in Ingham County has risen to about $1,000, the highest within the last ten years. “The people living here, students, are not getting any more wealthy,” East Lansing community and economic development specialist Joey Emery said. “It becomes harder over time for your average student to find a nice place to live.” Michigan has no rent price control laws and are driven by the competitive free market. As developers increase the price of rent, other developers in the area need to adjust their prices to compete. Without price control laws, the average price of rent will continue to rise. Emery said he was shocked to see students lining up outside of The Abbot apartment complex earlier this month hoping to sign a lease. The asking price for units in the complex range from $1,700 to $3,000 per month. “It’s a forced decision at this point because they can’t find a place,” Emery said. “All the places that are $800 a month already filled up, so they have to choose the $1,700 a month place.” East Lansing residents struggle when it comes to affordable housing, Emery said. A recent MSU graduate, Emery lived off-campus in Lansing throughout college. “Affordable housing choices are pretty slim,” Emery said. “Group housing is probably your number one best option.” M a n age me nt s e n ior Re ide Marowelli purchased a house in Lansing with two other roommates after he was unable to find a viable option in East Lansing. They plan to sell the house after graduation. “I think I’ll break even on what I’m

spending,” Marowelli said. “I would recommend it to other Michigan State students who can afford the upfront costs.” When Marowelli signed up to live on-campus as a sophomore two years ago, he was turned away about a month before move-in. The university had overfilled the dorms with incoming freshmen. “Everybody tries to get their living situations done by November, so I was in a pretty rough spot trying to find anything at that point,” Marowelli said. Three miles away from campus, Marowelli’s commute takes about seven minutes by car. For a person living in Lansing with a medium-sized sedan, it would cost about $550 per month to commute to campus. But Marowelli said parking is the biggest drawback for commuting. The commuter lot is miles away from his classes and with two 9-hour days on campus per week, parking rates get too high. “Parking on campus for commuters really sucks,” Marowelli said. “I would rather just risk the ticket than try to park two miles away.” While it may be financially beneficial to live in Lansing over East Lansing, Marowelli said he sometimes feels excluded from East Lansing’s downtown buzz of activities. “The reason why East Lansing is so expensive is because it’s a valuable place to live if you’re a student,” Emery said. “You’re close to campus; you’ve got all these amenities, and you’re surrounded by other students. Lansing doesn’t really have that.” Emery is a current resident of the Phoenix cooperative housing unit. Located behind Valley Park and just blocks from downtown East Lansing, this option helped him foster a sense of community he missed during college as an off-campus student, Emery said. “For me, it was worth it,” Emery said. “I didn’t have all the resources in the world to have someone pay $1,200 a month for me.”

Just popping up to let you know about the purrfect study spot! Sawyer

use code ‘GOGREEN’ for $5 off your individual visit

Book at constellationcatcafe.com 4

T H E STAT E N EWS

TU ESDAY, O CTO BER 31, 2023

ARTS, SPORTS, AND CIVIL RIGHTS On view Aug. 19, 2023–Feb. 18, 2024

OPEN WEDNESDAY–SUNDAY, 10AM–6PM ADMISSION IS ALWAYS FREE

CU LT U R E

STUDENT COUPLES MOVING IN TOGETHER: IS THIS THE RIGHT NEXT STEP? By Hannah Holycross hholycross@statenews.com With the new leasing cycle quickly approaching, many students have begun to think about their living situations for the next school year. For those in a relationship, the thought of living with a significant other may be a consideration as well. Is it too soon? Too risky? Are students too young to take that step? East Lansing relationship counselor Rebekah Cox said that as long as both parties are in it for the right reasons, there’s smooth sailing ahead. “Research shows that if they’re living together because they love each other, then that has a tendency to put a more positive spin on things and on the relationship,” Cox said. “If they’re living together because of finances or somebody got pregnant or something like that, it doesn’t necessarily predict a bad outcome. But it does change the dynamic of the relationship.” The number of unmarried couples who live together is on the rise and most young adults are accepting of cohabitation between unmarried couples, even with no plans to get married, according to a Pew Research Center survey. When it comes to cohabitating, there are benefits and drawbacks. Cox said positive outcomes come from couples who make a relationship agreement before living together, so boundaries are set and miscommunication is limited, especially for those who are unmarried. “It’s not necessarily a formal relationship agreement,” Cox said. “But, you know, if people say, ‘We’re going to live together; we love each other; we care about each other, and we’re each

Illustration by Zach Balcoff

other’s best friend,’ then sometimes it can predict a better outcome.” Although many think college students’ young age has the greatest impact on cohabitating, Cox said financial independence and work load is the biggest concern. “College students might not necessa r i ly have i ndependent finances from their parents,” she said. “Sometimes that can make a difference, because people can move in together just because it financially makes sense. Also depending upon whether or not the student has an outside job or (if) they’re graduate students.” Graduate students’ studies create considerable demand for time and

energy, Cox said, so they may not have as much time to spend with their partner. MSU alumna Catie Scott has been living in East Lansing with her boyfriend since July. As they spent a lot of time together prior to moving in, she said moving in together didn’t make much of a difference. “We kind of already knew that it was going to work out fine,” Scott said. “We knew each other’s living habits and stuff.” Scott and her boyfriend went through a “trial period” before fully moving in together, staying with him for most of this past summer. Living together has made their relationship

stronger, she said. Scott said the only bump in the road has been designating time to spend on themselves. Before living together, they were always able to have alone time when not seeing each other, she said. “Now it’s like ... we have to create special time to spend with just (ourselves) because we exist in the same place,” Scott said. Journalism junior Allison Albin is planning on living with her boyfriend next year and said she’s excited to take the next step in her relationship. “We’re just ready to start that next chapter of our lives,” Albin said. “We’ve both lived on our own, so we’re just excited, and that’s been our goal.”

Albin isn’t worried about moving in with her boyfriend because they’ve also spent considerable time together, picking up on each others’ habits. “We’d both be so much happier if we could come home to each other at the end of every night and just go to bed together and have a home base together,” Albin said. When facing criticisms about college students being too young to move in together, Albin said people need to understand that everyone’s on a different path. “To each their own,” Albin said. “I have friends that are the same age as me and have never had a serious boyfriend, and then I have friends that are the same age as me that have been in the same relationship for six years. Everybody’s on their own path, and I just think it’s kind of like when you know, you know.” Scott advised couples who plan on living together to focus on communication and being a good listener. “If something’s bothering you, don’t let it build up,” Scott said. “Just figure out a good way to say it, and then listen when somebody has something to say. If something small bothers (my partner), he’ll tell me about it, and I’ll just change it because I care about him.” Cox said couples should consider creating a pre-planned agreement. “Things like chores around the house and other responsibilities — it can be helpful (to) have an agreement about how you’re going to share that load and how you’re going to share the mental load of being a student,” Cox said. “It’s helpful in general to just kind of set some guidelines and boundaries around the relationship.”

EAST LANSING RESIDENTS REFLECT ON LIVING IN A COLLEGE TOWN By Jayden Hewitt jhewitt@statenews.com For many, the prospect of living in an area surrounded by college students might seem unpleasant. College campuses are known for atypical traditions like loud parties, students roaming around at late hours and jam-packed roads on game days. For East Lansing residents who don’t attend Michigan State University, these instances can create distractions for their day-to-day lives. For others, however, living in a college town makes an unforgettable experience. East Lansing resident Rebecca Kasen and her family recently moved from New Jersey to Michigan. Kasen quickly discovered the positives of living around MSU. “My neighbors are some of the smartest, most educated people I know,” Kasen said. “I don’t find the college students to be a major problem. I find them to mostly be helpful.” Kasen recalled when her then 4-yearold daughter fell off of her bike into a ditch close to water. A few MSU students nearby went in after her daughter to help, she said. Kasen said she has also found her neighborhood and the city of East Lansing overall welcoming and

accepting of everyone. However, she did have some minor gripes. “My biggest grievance is actually just amusement,” Kasen said. “Every once and a while, a drunken college kid walks into my backyard, and I redirect them to the apartments ... The biggest frustration I have sometimes is that college students can be a little bit provocative, and I sometimes don’t want to explain things to my kids.” Despite that, Kasen said she remembers what college was like for her and tries to be understanding. She added that nuisances are also usually quickly resolved by letting students be aware of the problem. For Randy Boinga, moving to East Lansing in 2021 from Columbus, Ohio was a shock. Boinga and his partner now have five children. Even though Columbus is also a college town to The Ohio State University, Boinga said it’s still different in East Lansing and at MSU. “Having young kids, there are times when you’re trying to get them to bed at like eight or nine and there’s something loud going on,” Boinga said. “Or somebody’s walking down the street yelling or hollering … It’s real annoying, but again, you know, this is where we live.” Boinga said a decoration skeleton’s

Randy Boinga. Photo by Henry Szymecko

arm was stolen from the front of their house. “We posted a sign and hung it outside about how sad the kids were,” Boinga said. “Somebody put the arm back, but then in the spring ... somebody came along and stole the arms and head off of it again.” Overall, Boinga said living in East Lansing has been a fairly positive experience. In comparison to OSU, MSU is better for walkability with great local parks for children to play, he said. However, he noted that friendly neighbors is always subject to change when people move out. “Because of the turnover, ... half the people that live there graduated or moved somewhere else,” Boinga said. “So the next year, the house across the street could be loud.” Longtime East Lansing resident

Rebecca Kasen at her East Lansing home on Oct. 16, 2023. Photo by Henry Szymecko

Ann Nichols grew up in the city, but not close enough to MSU to fully understand what it was like to live near students on campus. But now, Nichols has lived in the only non-student residence on her street for 25 years. “We moved here with our little boy, who’s now 26, and I was a little freaked out at first,” Nichols said. “I found out how lively it was around here, but I’ve gotten used to it, and I like it, and I don’t think I could live in a normal suburban neighborhood anymore; ... it would make me sad.” Nichols said she has experienced some frustrations and people who choose to live in a college town should know what they’re getting into. “We’ve had furniture burned down the street, and people have done all kinds of amazing things in our yard,” T U ES DAY, OCTOBE R 31 , 2023

Nichols said. “But we continue to make friends with students. ... I think it’s a bad place to be if you’re intolerant, but if your mind is pretty open, it’s a good thing to live with people who are very different from you because I learn stuff all the time.” Nic hol s a l s o s a id m a k i ng acquaintance of neighbors beforehand has always made it easier to sort out problems early on rather than involving the police. She said she believes East Lansing is “a fantastic place” to raise a child. “I look at students as if they were one of my kids because they are somebody’s kids,” Nichols said. “I would hope that when they see (an) old lady out walking her dogs, they see me as somebody’s mom. (I hope) they would behave in a way that they would not be embarrassed of.” STATEN EWS.CO M

REGI O N A L

TO COMMUTE OR NOT TO COMMUTE? STUDENTS SHARE ADVICE ON LIVING ARRANGEMENTS By Kaspar Haehnle khaehnle@statenews.com Living in dorms, apartments or houses are all good options while staying engaged with the college lifestyle. Yet, with rent increasing throughout East Lansing, college students are turning to commute to classes. Commuting is often forgotten about and sometimes even looked down upon. Though, in hopes to save money, some students prefer the option to commute from home to classes. “My commuting experience so far has been great for me,” psychology sophomore Nathan Williams said. “It’s a cheaper alternative and a lot easier.” Williams is a first-year transfer student this fall from Lansing Community College, or LCC, and said MSU helped him finally feel like part of a community. “My college experience has changed quite a bit,” Williams said. “Back at LCC there was hardly any interaction

at all with students, but here at MSU that’s totally different. Even though I’m not living on campus, I still attend events and try to be a part of this community.” Every day Williams has class, he walks to his bus stop in Lansing and takes the bus into campus. Taking the bus is a better move financially for him and poses less challenges and stress. English and language studies freshman Molly Weaver, who lives in Holt, received a housing exception from the university, allowing her to commute to campus. She said her father is more than willing to drive her to MSU any time she needs. Her experience at MSU has been neutral, she said. She enjoys seeing her cats at home, but doesn’t feel as involved with the university. “I try to still do clubs here at MSU and find time to hang out with my friends after classes, so it’s not like I’m completely cut off or separated,” Weaver said. “Though, I do have more

of a constrained timeline of when I have to get back, which can sometimes be difficult.” Weaver also said the financial aspect is a major benefit to commuting as well, as it’s more affordable by a “substantial amount.” Weaver plans to commute until she feels independent enough to rent out an apartment or house. Human capital and society senior AJ Dillon said he considered commuting, but thought his college experience would’ve “been ripped away” from him. “My first year was online because of COVID, so it feels like I’ve only been to college for 2 years,” Dillon said. “I still desire to get that up close, in-person college experience.” Dillon rents out an apartment at University Edge with three of his high school friends. He said the rent is expensive, but “definitely worth it.” “There are a lot of benefits to my apartment, like the location, the

CATA buses outside of Holden Hall on Sept. 1, 2023. Photo by Maya Kolton.

parking space for my car, having my own bathroom, and the amount of space that I have,” Dillon said. “So overall, I’m happy.” Dillon’s father commuted 45 minutes to MSU in the late ‘90s, saving him money but also adding unwanted hassle, something Dillon didn’t want to go through. Psychology junior Zoe Langley agreed with Dillon, that commuting is an “irritating inconvenience.” “The cost of gas is ridiculous, and I wouldn’t have any friends if I commuted,” Langley said.

Langley rents a house off campus with her four roommates, paying around $550 per month. She said the rent “is cheap for what I’m getting.” “Living in a house has been good so far, and I don’t have any complaints,” Langley said. “I like it way better than living in the dorms, and I like having my own room and being able to cook for myself and make food.” Langley’s favorite part of living in a house is having her cat, EzMai, by her side every day. She also enjoys the driveway to park her car and the independence in renting a house.

WHERE SUCCESS LEADS Find your next athletic gear purchase here, we sell everything from joggers and tracksuits waterbottles and ATHLETIC GEAR COMPANY to backpacks. www.motivationovereverything.com/

A DOCTORATE WILL SET YOU APART

UM-Flint offers a truly unique and affordable path to a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. With our expert faculty, innovative teaching style, and the connection to our Michigan Medicine network, get the best advantages in the field!

LEARN MORE AT: umflint.edu/otd 6

T HE STAT E NEWS

Motivation Over Everything clothing

TU ESDAY, O CTO BE R 31, 2023

Over2Motivation

@motivationovereverything

MOE Clothing

CAMPU S

2024-25

ON-CAMPUS

Students wait in line at The Abbot on Oct. 2, 2023. Photo by Brad LaPlante.

BEGINS SOON

Students’ unconventional off-campus housing search: Raffles to 8-hour lines By Anna Rossow arossow@statenews.com Students have many offcampus residences to choose from: apartments, houses, co-ops and Greek life houses. But some st udent s ta ke unconventional routes to find their future home. Most would think standing outside for over eight hours to get a n apa r t ment is unconventional, but marketing sophomore student Nate Brinker waited it out. On Oct. 2, students were spotted lining up for hours in hopes of signing a lease for The Abbot, a highly sought after apartment complex on Grand River Avenue above Walgreens. Brinker was first in line, arriving a little after 3 a.m. to secure his spot. “We got there around 3:30 in the morning,” Brinker said. “One of my roommate’s dad was there at 12 a.m. waiting for us. It was honestly not that bad. It was fun; we had camping chairs, and we were just watching movies and talking with other people in line.” Brinker said it wasn’t a bad experience, but it was “annoying” to get up that early. Luckily for Brinker, those hours outside paid off. Him and his roommates were able to secure the last available three bedroom apartment. The Abbot and Landmark are the two most sought after complexes on Grand River Avenue due to their short distance to campus. Brinker said he originally toured Landmark, but the apartment didn’t offer a three bedroom apartment layout.

Landmark also completely sold out for the 2024-2025 school year before The Abbot even opened for lease signing. “The hardest part I think is trying to find something that fits all your needs that is in a reasonable price zone,” Brinker said. Other students prefer houses over apartments, but still struggle to find their home. In past years, Campus Community Management, or CCM’s, houses were first come, first serve. But this was the first year they held a housing raffle for students; it was all up to chance. Business-preference sophomore Collin Brueck was one of the lucky few selected out of the raffle. Him and his roommates selected and submitted six houses from CCM’s “giant list” of residences on a Friday. By the next Monday, CCM offers a house that may not even be on your list. “It’s just like a random raffle,” Brueck said. “You just pick your top six houses on it, and then you have a better chance of getting those houses based on where they are on your list.” Some students picked out their top six houses without seeing the inside of them first. Karlee Mullendore, CCM leasing agent, said groups were encouraged to knock on the doors of potential options, but no official house tours were offered. Not ever y g roup who entered the raffle was even able to secure a residence at all. Mullendore said there were roughly 230 groups that entered

T UESDAY, O CTO BER 31, 2023

1855 PLACE • UNIVERSITY VILLAGE • OWEN HALL

RESIDENCE HALL APARTMENTS AND ROOMS

Students in their second year and beyond can complete the On-Campus Housing Interest Form now through Oct. 27!

the raffle with only 100 houses available. Students were then alerted via phone if they were one of the lucky 100 to win a house. The rest of the groups were emailed that they were not selected. Fortunately, Brueck was able to secure their first pick house. Mu l lendore sa id CC M curated a raffle to combat the overwhelming number of people who applied for available houses in previous years. However, the raffle still left over 100 groups searching for other options. But the raffle didn’t leave current CCM residents in the dust, though. “We first reached out to all of our current residents to see if anyone wants to stay or transfer to any of our properties,” Mulledore said. “It’s kind of a long-standing company policy that we’ve had for years that all CCM residents can get priority for any CCM property before the general public.” Mullendore said CCM plans to do something similar next year, but will make a few tweaks to ease the process. The off-campus housing process is difficult for many students, and some don’t end up with what they wanted, resorting to a plan B. Brueck said CCM wasn’t him and his roommates’ first option, but they were happy to find a place to live as the system worked out for them. “We went through CCM and found a bunch of houses we liked, and then we realized it was a raffle,” Brueck said. “So we weren’t really planning on it, and then it kind of worked out that way.” STATE N EWS.COM

DO NOT SIGN AN

OFF-CAMPUS LEASE! You are required to live on campus for your second year at MSU. Residence hall housing sign-up will be in spring 2024.

To learn more, visit liveon.msu.edu/sign-up

REGI O N A L

DO STUDENTS FEEL SAFE LIVING OFF CAMPUS? By Jaden Beard jbeard@statenews.com Many upperclassmen opt to live off campus after fulfilling the MSU two-year requirement to live on campus. The rooms tend to be larger, kitchen access is 24/7 and students live independently from residential assistants and a lofted twin XL mattress. But for some, safety is a concern when deciding to live off campus. East Lansing Police Department Lieutenant Adrian Ojerio said the most common crimes he sees off-campus students face are preventable “crimes of opportunity.” “We don’t have a lot of times where people actually force entry into residences or cars,” Ojerio said. “But what we do have is a lot of crimes where people just leave their doors unlocked, and then they get their stuff

taken out of their cars or out of their houses.” Computer science senior Quin Strausbaugh said his main concern living off campus is the possibility of someone breaking into his residence. Because of this, he always locks his front door while sleeping. “It’s just one of my fears I have, so I always have my doors locked at night,” Strausbaugh said. Communications senior Mary Lapratt said she also worries about a potential break-in. In addition to locking her front door, she added a door stopper. Lapratt also said she and her roommates have several objects in their apartment to feel more safe and warn off potential intruders: a baseball bat next to the door, pepper spray and a stun gun. Ojerio said another way to increase public safety is to watch out for

The Hub apartments at sunset Sept. 2, 2020. State News file photo

neighbors and if there’s suspicious activity, don’t hesitate to report it. “One of the best crime prevention tips that we like to push is that if you see something, say something, which goes in line with watching out for your neighbors,” Ojerio said. He said students waiting to report suspicious activity is one of the most common mistakes. “The other thing that we wish that younger students would do is when something suspicious does happen, that they don’t wait,” Ojerio said. “Don’t call your friends or your parents.

They wait an hour and then call us; that doesn’t help.” Lapratt said she felt safer living in the dorms because of the resources available for students. “There’s so many more people, and there’s dedicated police for campus,” Lapratt said. “Living off campus, having less resources and just relying on yourself or your roommates, or just the city police, it just feels a little bit less secure. You’re more exposed to external forces.” Quinn said safety should be a priority when choosing an off-campus

housing location. For him, that meant living in a house close to campus. “Living in an apartment has different dangers than living in a house too,” Quinn said. “I’ve lived in both, but I prefer living in a house at least closer to campus because I feel like I have more awareness of who’s coming and going.” Ojerio said East Lansing offers a digital crime map for those who want to be aware of the incidents that occur in their area and online reporting for minor crimes.

FIND YOUR PERFECT MATCH AT VICTORY! Immerse yourself in comfort and style at

VICTORY EAST LANSING

one of our recently renovated apartments, designed to fit all your needs!

FLOOR PLANS Studios 1 Bedroom 1 Bed + Den

2 Bedrooms 3 Bedrooms 4 Bedrooms

SPECIAL FEATURES Fully Furnished

Roommate Matching

Newly Renovated

Premier location to

Fitness Center

MSU campus

On-site Laundry

Private Rooms

Pool + Hot Tub

Study Lounges

LET’S CONNECT!

517.351.7212 victoryeastlansing.com

T HE STAT E NEWS

TU ESDAY, O CTO BE R 31, 2023

THREE PROPERTIES, ONE COMMUNITY

Victory on Abbot Victory on Burcham Victory Studios

CA MPU S

Desire paths: how the art of deviant pedestrianism shapes MSU campus By Theo Scheer tscheer@statenews.com About ten years ago, a Michigan State Universit y administrator asked Campus Planner Steve Troost whether the walkways around north neighborhood’s West Circle were really needed. It was an understandable question. A spiderweb of sidewalks decorate the area, splitting the lawn outside Beaumont Tower into awkward slices. There’s not a right angle in sight. It’s as though the campus were somehow squeezed into a fishnet stocking. The question prompted a series of video and photograph surveys analyzing pedestrian traffic throughout

Photo illustration by Madison Echlin

the “historic oval” — what Troost and his colleagues call the area contained by West Circle Drive, one of the oldest sections of MSU’s campus. The team’s research concluded that there was little point in changing the infrastructure that had served pedestrians for more than a century. “We were only able to find a very small amount of walkways that really weren’t needed,” Troost said. Troost, who graduated from MSU in 1982 in landscape architecture and has been the campus planner for 18 years, doesn’t attribute the historical success of MSU’s unusual sidewalk system to experienced designers such as himself. Pedestrians have themselves to

thank for that, he said.

TH E HISTORY SIDEWALKS

MSU’S

When MSU’s campus was first being developed, architects had limited access to concrete and pavement. That left students to walk through grass to get between buildings. Students often took the same routes, gradually wearing down the grass until an informal walkway formed beneath their feet. These man-made trails go by a number of names: cow paths, social trails, desire lines, game trails and buffalo traces. Christopher Coutts, an

environmental planning professor at Florida State University, wanted to refer to the concept as “deviant pedestrianism” in an academic paper he co-wrote on informal pedestrian infrastructure. Reviewers “didn’t like that terminology,” so Coutts instead opted for a variation on the more commonly used “desire paths.” Desire pat hs can be found virtually everywhere: on campuses, in cities, through lawns, even in the movie Monsters Inc. There is an entire subreddit dedicated to the phenomenon. They can occur after just 15 traversals of a route. Over centuries, desire paths can even turn into sunken

T U ES DAY, OCTOBE R 31 , 2023

trenches called holloways. Nowadays, they’re often seen as small rebellions against unfriendly or inconvenient urban design. But during MSU’s early years, desire paths were the closest thing students could get to formal sidewalks. The strange latticework of MSU’s pedestrian-made pathways ended up being paved, resulting in the sidewalk system students still use today. Students changed routes as more buildings were added, and walkways followed suit. Campus maps from the MSU Map Library and aerial photography reviewed by The State News confirmed this practice. Coutts says desire paths can — and should — help landscape architects do their job. “Most of the time, paths are designed to be symmetrical, or to follow some type of grid, or head to a certain direction that the designer — whoever’s installing those things — believes those sidewalks should go,” Coutts said. “But pedestrians, as we are arguing in the paper, are letting you know where they want to go based on the path that they’re creating.” Coutts’ paper listed MSU as a good example of putting that into practice. While he described it as a “unique approach,” Troost said the practice was common among many campus and urban planners. “It was something they could get away with back in the day,” Troost said. READ MORE AT STATENEWS.COM

STATEN EWS.CO M

CROSSWORD

CROSSWO R D

ACROSS

4 5

12 14

16 17

19 20

2. In the United States you rent an apartment, but in the United Kingdom you rent a _____. 5. “The house Magic Johnson built.” 8. The _____. Apartment complex located above GrandRiver. River. Target on Grad 13. Spanish word for house. 14. This residential hall has twelve floors, making it the tallest building in East Lansing. 15. “_____ House.” This 1978 comedy took place on a college campus and starred John Belushi. 16. This residential hall in South Neighborhood houses many engineering students. 18. This American actor played a real estate agent on “Modern Family.” 19. “House of _____.” This 2021 film stars Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. 20. _____ House. Home of the MSU president. 21. This British actor plays the titular character in “House.”

DOWN

1. Street closed at one end. French for dead end. 3. MSU students are required to live on campus for _____ years. 4. This actress plays “MJ” in “Spider-Man No Way Home.” 6. This “X-Factor” created girl group topped the charts with their song “Work from Home.” 7. This management company known by its three-letter abbreviation owns many properties throughout East Lansing. 9. Condo is short for _____. 10. This band of sisters has a song called “Home” on the “Barbie” movie soundtrack. 11. This MSU Co-Op shares a name with a constellation named after a hunter in Greek mythology. 12. Apartment complex located on Michigan Ave. Avenue near Brody Neighborhood. 17. This artist won a grammy for album of the G year in 2023, which had the word “house” in the title. Crossword by Zachary Balcoff, Illustrations by Abbey Ross

T HE STAT E NEWS

TU ESDAY, O CTO BE R 31, 2023

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1st LOOK FOR 2024-2025 HOUSING OPTIONS IN A STRESS-FREE, CONVERSATIONAL ENVIRONMENT. Explore housing options from 20+ property vendors on & off campus Find invaluable housing resources Tons of giveaways & a chance to win prizes

T U ES DAY, OCTOBE R 31 , 2023

STATEN EWS.CO M

PRIVATE BEDROOM & BATHROOM

STAT E N EWS.COM

LOCATION CLOSE TO CAMPUS

TU ESDAY, O CTO BER 31, 2023

NOW LEASING FOR 2024-2025

1,2, & 4 BEDROOM FLOORPLANS

RATES AS LOW AS $805*