Vol. 61 NO. 18
ubspectrum.com
Monday, October 10, 2011
House May be Condemned After Housing Blitz REBECCA BRATEK News Editor
Thousands of students every year make the choice to live off campus and not on university property. But the choice comes with many risks. The houses in University Heights, the neighborhood in the area surrounding South Campus, are years old and can be full of problems that newer houses don’t have, such as faulty wiring, lack of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and other unsafe living conditions. These problems, if not addressed, can lead to even bigger problems. In an effort to improve the housing conditions for all students, UB and the City of Buffalo have joined forces to inspect houses in the Heights and to start holding landlords more accountable for violations. On Sunday, The Buffalo News reported that a house had been condemned on Lisbon Avenue. The Spectrum has learned that the house – 28 Lisbon Ave. – actually has not been condemned yet, and due to Columbus Day, the earliest it can be is on Tuesday. “There are no government offices that were open [on Monday],” said Dan Ryan, director of off-campus student relations. “There’s actually a court procedure that gets it condemned so the courts will be in session Tuesday. [We will] probably try to get an emergency order to vacate Tuesday morning.” This will effectively leave the students living in the house without a home. The students are currently looking for friends willing to house them for a while or possibly take up lodging at a nearby hotel, according to Ryan. This type of situation is the kind that the housing blitz is attempting to prevent early on. By catching housing problems early, the inspectors are able to fix them and avoid having to condemn the house all together.
City of Buffalo is taking the initiative to ensure safety in housing on Lisbon and Minnesota Avenues.
Andrew Wiktor, former editor in chief for The Spectrum, published an article – “Reaching New Heights” – last April that brought the safety issues within the Heights to public attention. Ryan noted that this was one of the factors driving the push to inspect more student houses and make sure students are safe. “When he first started working on the article, we hadn’t done any blitzes yet,” Ryan said. “By the time he published [the article], we had started the blitzes. I think it did a lot in terms of raising awareness among the students and it made the students that much more willing to
let us in to take a look at the apartments. A lot of students see tragedy happen and think it’s not very closely related to them, but when they see it happen to fellow students, it strikes a chord.” The latest round of inspections was held on Saturday on Minnesota and Lisbon Avenues. “We’re trying to get out and see as many students as we can and get inside the apartments and take a look,” Ryan said. “We’re predominately looking for safety violations, although any complaint students have, they can share it with the building inspec-
Courtesy of Daniel Ryan
tors and they’ll take a look at it.” Ryan – along with Lou Petrucci, chief building inspector for the City of Buffalo, and his team of five to seven inspectors – has done six inspection rounds to date, and will continue to inspect as many houses as possible to make sure students’ houses are up to city codes. The main objective is to not only inspect the outside of a home, but the inside as well. “It’s easy to go by and look and see a broken window or peeling paint here or there, but the more dangerous problems are the ones you can only see from getting inside,” Ryan said.
Before each round of inspections, Ryan sends out a warning email telling students when inspectors will be in the neighborhood and to be available to let them inside. Students who have updated their addresses in the HUB, as per university regulations, and are living in the Heights will get an email detailing when inspectors will be present on their streets. Additionally, students have the option of calling in a request for inspection if they notice problems within their houses. Petrucci stressed that students should always make sure that inspec-
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Pop Culture, Trash TV and Serial Killers: The Work of David Schmid VERONICA RITTER Life Editor While sitting in the office of David Schmid, Ph.D., it isn’t the bookcase overflowing with books about serial killers and crime fiction that stands out. It’s the chalkboard scribbled with “You’re the Best Dad Ever!” and the ‘I heart Dad’ painted pictures that do. This is the chamber of a man deeply fascinated with and immersed in the subject of serial killers. Although his daughters, Lucia and Liliana, are too young to understand what their daddy does – and some might even deem his research to be a bit strange – Schmid is not embarrassed by the topic that captivates his interests. He is happy to pursue his passion.
Buffalo Bests Bobcats in MAC Shootout Anderson, Oliver put up monster numbers
Ed Young (10) took a Chazz Anderson pass 90 yards to help Bulls outlast Ohio on Saturday night.
BRIAN JOSEPHS Sports Editor The anemic Buffalo offense had fans panicking and critics clamoring. Were Chazz Anderson and Branden Oliver the men that would save the Bulls from their recent history of mediocrity, or were they just the latest purveyors of Buffalo’s long line of disappointments?
Schmid, an associate professor in the English department, has always had an insatiable curiosity to ask ‘why?’ Even as Not to be outdone, Oliver ran his way a young boy, he had taken it into his own back into the spotlight. The sophomore hands to satisfy his inquisitive mind. dominated the Ohio defense, running for a He has taught classes on subjects such career-high 179 yards and three touchas ‘Popular Culture’ and ‘Crime Fiction’ downs on 34 rushes. He also caught five here at UB for over 17 years passes for 43 yards. Troi Williams /// The Spectrum
of breaking an eight-game losing streak against conference opponents. The Bulls rode Oliver’s and Anderson’s performance to triumph over the Bobcats, 38-37. The two struggled last week – Anderson threw for 99 yards and Oliver ran for 61 – but they rose to the occasion and put up career-high numbers in Buffalo’s huge victory over Ohio.
Anderson remained poised throughout the pressure-packed, back-and-forth conference matchup. He threw for 106 yards in the first quarter, highlighted by a methodical 13-play, 88-yard scoring drive in which he went 6-for-7.
Schmid has authored one book on serial killers, titled Natural Born Celebrities: Serial Killers in American Culture, as well as written over 10 essays. He also has two Anderson threw for a career-high 343 other books in the works. His goal has Their doubters were silent on Saturday. yards, higher than his past two games always been to inform the public – not combined, and two touchdowns. This After suffering a 41-10 thumping last week marks Buffalo’s greatest passing output Head coach Jeff Quinn said Anderson’s per- sensationalize the subject. in Tennessee, Buffalo (2-4, 1-1 Mid-Amer- since Jerry Davis’ 302 yards against Rhode formance was a long time in the making. ican Conference) returned to MAC play Island last year. “I think every research focus has a and hosted Ohio (4-2, 1-1 MAC) in hopes “He’s been a great leader for us,” Quinn Continued on page 2
Weather for the Week: Monday: Mostly Sunny - H: 78, L: 54 Tuesday: Partly Cloudy - H: 79, L: 60 Wednesday: Cloudy - H: 68, L: 57
David Schmid, Ph.D., captivates and fascinates his students with his odd interests. Courtesy of David Schmid
personal dimension to it, [and it’s] the reason why people end up writing about certain things,” Schmid said. “I think, obviously because of the kind of stuff I write about, people assume…that [it] means some kind of traumatic event [happened] in my time.” However, that isn’t the case. Beginning in his homeland of England, Schmid’s interests stem from being Continued on page 4
I N S I D E Opinion * 3 Arts * 5 Classifieds / Daily Delights * 7 Sports * 8