Housing Issue, November 19, 2019

SINCE 1906 TUESDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2019 VOLUME 113 ISSUE 2

Western University’s Student Newspaper

wishing we had a window 1906

KRISTIN LEE GAZETTE

housing

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019 •

• 2

Volume 113, Issue 2 WWW.WESTERNGAZETTE.CA University Community Centre Rm. 263 Western University London, ON, CANADA N6A 3K7 Editorial 519.661.3580 Advertising 519.661.3579

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MARTIN ALLEN @MTRALLEN MANAGING EDITOR KRISTIN LEE @KRIIISLEE

NEWS EMILY TAYLER KATRINA MCCALLUM KENDRA CAREY RANIA OSMAN ASHLEY GOVEAS

OPINIONS HOPE MAHOOD COPY GABBY GLASIER VIDEO LIAM AFONSO

CULTURE TANIYA SPOLIA ASHVINDER SURI

WESTERN TV NOAH FAINER DREW MCWHIRTER EMILY CALLAHAN

PHOTO LIAM MCINNIS SAMIT KHALSA MINGWEI HUANG CHARU SHARMA

KAUSTAV SHARMA GAZETTE

GRAPHICS ANASTASIIA FEDOROVA

KRISTIN LEE, MANAGING EDITOR @KRIIISLEE

SPORTS CHARLIE MARSHALL HANNAH DIEBOLD

GAZETTE ADVERTISING & COMPOSING MANAGER IAN GREAVES

COMPOSING MAJA ANJOLI-BILIĆ

VOLUNTEERS IN THIS ISSUE KIRAT WALIA VICTORIA PENG

VOLUNTEER@WESTERNGAZETTE.CA

WESTERNGAZETTE

@UWOGAZETTE

WESTERNGAZETTE

DOWNTOWN All the action happens downtown. If involving yourself with local social events, politics or food exploration is your thing, downtown is where this happens the most. The population is a diverse mix, from students to business people, young to old, and inebriates to hysterical folk.

Although a bit pricier than other student areas like main gates or Oxford and Wharncliffe, you’ll feel like you’re living at the centre of the party with the audible noise of drunken stumblers, ambulance sirens and the occasional music emanating from the house party next door.

If you want to explore life outside of campus, downtown has a plethora of places to eat, including fine dining or fast food, local bookshops, coffee shops — and of course, you’ll have routine run-ins with downtown’s nightlife at the bars and clubs.

OXFORD AND WHARNCLIFFE Everywhere you turn, there’s something fast and cheap to eat. The plazas at the intersection alone could provide sustenance for your entire undergraduate life. The main attractions? McDonald’s and Starbucks, or in other words, the afterparty of the club and an

all-nighter, respectively.

Living here places you close to both downtown and campus, so you can be in your books during the week and splurge on the weekend.

And the scenic parks running along the Thames could make you consider living here.

MAIN GATES This neighbourhood has housed students for as long as Broughdale Avenue has had its infamous street parties.

Other than a couple times a year on Fake Homecoming and St. Patrick’s Day, when your street could look like the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse, you’ll be marvelling over the neighbourhood’s large yards, and the streets marked with some of the biggest trees in the city. Almost like the neighbourhood was frozen in time, most of the homes have a Victorian appearance with cozy interiors.

This area is one of the closest to campus, and it will also give you the most scenic route when you’re walking. There’s also major potential for a dispensary to open up in this neighbourhood right beside what’s supposedly the best pizza place in town: King Richie’s Pizzeria.

MASONVILLE This area is brimming with chain stores, restaurants and entertainment. You might be into that sort of thing, but this

neighbourhood is generally quiet, making for a peaceful environment.

You may consider it an upper-class area, so it’s safer than most areas and you don’t need to fret about break-ins.

It’s typical suburbia: you’ve got families and seniors living in this expensive neighbourhood, and there’s nothing much to see besides rows of cookie-cutter homes. But it’s somewhat cleaner, and you can keep yourself amused at the mall, the movie theatre and the Rec Room.

SARNIA AND WONDERLAND Like the name suggests, this area really is bliss — when it comes to authentic Asian food. Several Japanese, Korean and Chinese restaurants line the streets so you’ll have a hard time deciding between all-you-can-eat Japanese sushi, Korean barbecue or Chinese buffets. Hopefully you have an easier time deciding between the bubble tea spots placed around the plazas.

This area is quiet and fairly suburban, with plenty of parks in walking distance — students, families and seniors live in houses with big yards.

Though, it might require bus transfers to get to other parts of town, and depending on how much you like to leave your house, the Uber receipts could add up quickly.

WESTERNGAZETTE

WESTERNTV

All articles, letters, photographs, graphics, illustrations and cartoons published in The Gazette, both in the newspaper and online versions, are the property of The Gazette. By submitting any such material to The Gazette for publication, you grant to The Gazette a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free, irrevocable license to publish such material in perpetuity in any media, including but not limited to, The Gazette‘s hard copy and online archives.

The Gazette is owned and published by the University Students’ Council.

ANASTASIIA FEDOROVA GAZETTE

ANASTASIIA FEDOROVA GAZETTE

3 •

housing

• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Luxe changes ads that overstated how many bedrooms in suites

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE Luxe on Nov. 14, 2019.

KATRINA MCCALLUM SENIOR NEWS EDITOR @KATRINAGAZETTE RANIA OSMAN NEWS EDITOR @_RANIAOSMAN_ Luxe has lowered the number of bedrooms advertised in many of its suites. Two of its floorplans spread throughout the highrise actually have shared bedrooms, while Luxe’s website promoted them as separate bedrooms since fall.

The building’s Oxford suite was described as a four-bedroom just last week. Now, it is called a “four occupant (two bedroom two shared).”

The Cambridge suite underwent a similar change: once promoted as a three-bedroom, it is now labelled “three occupant (two bedroom one shared).”

Changes to the website came as the building was recently under investigation by the city’s bylaw office, over complaints that some of the bedrooms — presumably those advertised incorrectly — had no windows, which would violate local and provincial building codes.

While it was cleared by the investigation, the student apartment building has corrected its advertising to reflect the units’ more modest

reality, contrasting how the highrise units have been promoted on the site since at least August.

All Oxford suites have two large bedroom areas. The two beds in each are only partly separated by a powder room, meaning the floorplan could appear to have four separate bedrooms to a prospective tenant.

Between the four beds, there are only two windows. Provincial statute requires all bedrooms to have windows for natural light and ventilation.

London’s bylaw office was investigating complaints that the building had violated this standard around the time Luxe changed its website. The complaints likely stemmed from tenants thinking their bed in an Oxford suite was a separate bedroom, when in fact they were sharing one.

While the advertising for the Cambridge floorplan also changed, all beds in the suite have an adjacent window, and so were less likely to spur complaint.

London’s bylaw enforcement chief, Orest Katolyk, told the Gazette that the investigation finished without finding any violation.

And the suites are totally to code, echoed to the building’s owner, Brian McMullan.

“[The Oxford] was never a four-bedroom. I’m not sure why somebody would’ve put that there,” he said.

He added that Luxe employs third-party marketing companies, and that they promptly changed the website once they were aware of the error.

“The minute we heard of [the error], we said ‘hey, change it,’” he said.

The change to the website came shortly after the Gazette contacted Luxe about the city’s investigation.

The Oxford suite was described as a four-bedroom just last week, as pictured in a screenshot from Nov. 12. And a public, historical version of the website dated Aug. 31 on the Internet Archive shows all four of Luxe’s floorplans described in terms of their bedrooms, not their occupants.

All the floorplans are now worded differently, though only the Oxford and Cambridge suites have changed the number of advertised bedrooms.

Complaints against Luxe came just months after another student building, the Marq, was found to be renting out its own windowless bedrooms to students — for over $600 a month.

Why no windows?

The Marq was found doing it first ASHLEY GOVEAS STAFF REPORTER Starting as early as October, students begin looking into off-campus housing options as they pose a cheaper alternative to on-campus living.

Right around this time, campus hotspots like the University Community Centre are buzzing with housing representatives avidly promoting off-campus rentals to students seeking vacancies for the following year.

While most will live in houses throughout London, many students rent rooms or suites in buildings made exclusively for those at Western University.

The Marq is among several buildings students might choose. But that could be less likely this coming year, as rental season for

the Marq is clouded by multiple unflattering reports focusing around their windowless bedrooms — which violate local and provincial building codes.

The Marq is owned by Centurion Property Management, a 16-year-old real estate company with student-focused properties across Canada and the United States.

Recently, they asked London for 10 months to fix the windowless rooms.

The Marq, like many student buildings, promises an “authentic university experience” along with attractive amenities like an hourly shuttle bus directly to campus, an on-site gym, study rooms and a movie theatre.

“We are focused on student housing and as a market leader, we can be trusted to help provide you an authentic university

LUXELONDON.CA A screenshot of the original Oxford suite description, as of Nov. 12 2019.

LUXELONDON.CA The Cambridge suite is now labeled as a two-bedroom.

experience at the centre of it all,” their website promises.

The Marq offers single-person leases, and each room has a key-fob, allowing students to avoid the heftier rental fees of single bedroom units.

But the company has been renting out bedrooms without windows to students since taking ownership in 2012, and it was only revealed last month that these bedrooms violate municipal and provincial property standards.

The Marq is not alone in their targeted marketing strategies. Many off-campus student housing companies, not absorbed by bad news, market with what appears to be a common strategy: photos of rooms decked in Western merchandise and student testimonials.

These companies sometimes advertise in the UCC, between vendors selling perfumes, jewellery and phone cases. Sometimes it’s Luxe, or Redbricks, or Exclusive Rentals.

With this advertising stretching far

beyond the UCC, students may be less likely to look out for red flags when these companies are an ongoing part of their daily interactions on campus.

And students are usually first-time renters, and sometimes not from Canada.

Many are unaware of their rights, or of fair expectations.

MINGWEI HUANG GAZETTE

housing

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019 •

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Needles, Benadryl all that’s left after squatters wreck and run KENDRA CAREY NEWS EDITOR Picture this: you arrive back to London three months into summer vacation. Approaching your house, you see that your bed sheets are covering the windows and the back gate is wide open.

Who, or what, do you think is inside?

It was late July when Emily Saric, a third-year BMOS student, and her roommates came home to a renter’s worst nightmare.

Needles and bottles of Benadryl littered the floor. Their bed frames and mattresses were naked and overturned, lying against the wall.

A thick and mysterious fog hung in the air, making it difficult to breathe.

And all of their stuff was gone.

Their house on Richmond Street and Victoria Street looked like it had been ransacked. But some other strange clues pointed a different way.

Fifteen Victoria’s Secret PINK plush dogs they didn’t own were scattered throughout the house. All their textbooks, valuable enough to steal, had been viciously ripped to shreds.

“Why is there a pool table?” Saric thought.

Outside the house, through Saric’s back gate she found an Audi idling sans passengers. Next to it was a box of random items, clearly abandoned by someone.

Between the drugs, the other strange items and the car, it was clear someone — or a group — had been squatting in the house.

Saric’s roommate drove from Grand Bend to check on the house

after receiving a panicked text from their landlord, warning them the police believed they had been robbed.

“She was on the phone with me when she pulled up and she was immediately like ‘I’m going to have to call you back,’” explained Saric.

After getting a call back forty minutes later, Saric learned that not only had her house been burgled, but she would definitely need a new place to live for the upcoming school year.

Many things were wrong with the house, but quite possibly the worst discovery was the underwear stained with blood on the bathroom floor.

“The cop I was on the phone with was like ‘I would not touch anything in here if I were you,’” said Saric.

As for their belongings, only one lab coat was spared. The rest of their clothing and furniture were nowhere to be found.

Two of her four roommates had tenant’s insurance and were able to claim the TV and a few speakers.

Everything else had to be replaced out of pocket.

Burglars targeting student housing during reading week or over the holidays is not a new phenomenon.

But while many just want what students own, some want to live where they live.

Further investigation revealed the intruders had intended to stay for as long as they could get away with.

While trying to salvage what was left of their belongings, Saric discovered fake sublet agreements in a dresser drawer, which

were handwritten in pink ink. The intruders had attempted to forge the real tenants’ signatures in the fake contract, which claimed they were subletting until the end of August.

Using the names on the fake documents, the students got digging.

“Clearly they had done this before. We found all their Kijiji listings and logins, so they were selling our stuff too,” said Saric.

Over the holidays and summer break, Saric and her roommates would normally just lock the door.

But after this, the students will be doing much more.

While most would agree that installing a security system is a key preventative measure, the real issue was the landlord himself, who lives in Toronto.

“It was very clear no one had been living there. The grass was up to my hip bone. I’m 5’4,” said Saric.

The house members had voiced concerns to their landlord about a loose metal sheet embedded in the door. The metal sheet was punched through when they came back in July.

“It’s partially an unlucky situation, but it would be nice to have a present landlord. Get tenant’s insurance. Get an alarm,” she said.

According to Saric, new tenants have moved into the place.

Saric and her roommates finding another place on short notice in close proximity to the school seems to be the saving grace of these bizarre circumstances.

The memory, however, will never fade, as Saric walks by the house on her way to school each day.

Which bar are you?

An emptied bedroom with only a bedframe remaining.

Some of the PINK plush memorabilia left by the squatters in a bedroom.

VICTORIA PENG CONTRIBUTOR London’s club scene is characterized by five iconic bars, each attracting different kinds of Western students.

Which one are you?

bodycon dresses or light jackets in the pursuit of a fun night.

CEEPS Also known as the more popularized version of Cowboys. The iconic professional photos of people from Ceeps are what every outsider thinks the Western University population looks like. With homey house party vibes, you’re bound to run into everyone you know.

Every. Single. Time.

And if you’re unfortunately just mildly drunk, you’ll realize the same three songs play on repeat the entire night.

THE BARKING FROG One word — Ivey.

Every Thursday, this club is swarming with HBA students; it’s basically a Richard Ivey Building 2.0.

At this club, you will inevitably be asked the dreaded question, “What section are you in?” Pro tip: just say seven. Frog’s is a club with bar vibes.

Although the inside is often packed with people dancing, the patio is the perfect spot for making those LinkedIn connections.

BELFORT The most “boujee” bar in London.

These clubbers are never spotted without their six-inch heels, even when London sees six inches of snow. You wonder how they can defy human physiology as they brave negative degree weather in

LOST LOVE Lost Love is a cross between Frog’s and Belfort, but with the baggage of forever being called its previous occupant, Prohibition. Lost Love is not too pretentious, but not too “boujee” either.

The people inside are the

archetypal “Brampton mans.”

They say they’re from Toronto but they really hail from the B-town.

With pink neon lights screaming “Lost Love,” these bar-goers seem to spend more time taking photos and videos than actually enjoying the experience.

JACKS The best way to describe Jacks is how guys get ready in the morning. Roll out of bed, find whatever isn’t dirty and head out the door.

People who go here are not trying to be fancy — they’re trying to get drunk on five bucks. Their biggest concern is making a loaf of bread and ketchup an edible three-course meal … for only $5.95.

By the end of your four years at Western, you’re bound to find a bar that matches your vibe. And if you don’t, you can stay in, crack a cold one and create your own.

SENT TO THE GAZETTE Detritus from the squatters scattered around the room. Photos from the tenants have been slightly edited for visibility.

5 •

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• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

A Word From Western Student Leaders Residence Soph “I think a lot of people have the misconception that a Soph has to be in hype-mode 24/7, and that’s definitely not the case. It isn’t about being the loudest on the hill. It’s about creating and developing those connections with the students throughout the year.

When you believe in them and support them through the highs and lows, they believe in themselves.

They get past those initial feelings of fear or nervousness and take chances on themselves, stepping out of their comfort zone. You can see this gradual shift when they try out for varsity teams, run for USC positions, or apply for Soph positions. You feel that joy when they tell you they made the team or got the position. It’s such an indescribable feeling, and that’s when you realize why you do what you do. You are capable of making such a lasting impact that you aren’t even aware of yet.”

– Lava Lamp, Saugeen-Maitland Hall Soph (2018-19)

rezlife.uwo.ca/rezsoph

Residence Soph Rally: Nov. 19 at 10:00 p.m. in NSC Rm. 145 Applications Open: Nov. 18–Dec. 2, 2019

Residence Staff “I wanted to be a residence staff member because it’s a one-of-a-kind opportunity to be there for students and make a difference in your community. For me, it was a relief to see so many friendly faces in residence and be supported during my first year. We’ve all needed a hand at one point or another.

While on a residence staff or soph team, you can be that person you needed when you arrived at Western.

Your job as a residence staff member can be a fulfilling experience where you build on useful transferable skills like communication and critical thinking. I’ve lived in suite-style and traditional, each with their life-long memories and lessons. It’s exciting that I help make campus a great place to be, develop as a student leader, and have friends with similar passions all in one place. I get paid to have fun doing the things I love to do; there’s no other job like it!”

– Spencer Craddock, Academic & Leadership Programmer, Saugeen-Maitland Hall (2019-20), Soph and Council President, Elgin Hall (2018-2019)

Applications opening soon

rezlife.uwo.ca/rezstaff

Navigate through your upper years.

Stay connected to campus resources by living in residence.

Choose your residence in your upper years. myhousing.uwo.ca

housing

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019 •

• 6

For $6,400, you can share a bunk bed in a single room

Western offers bunked singles in Deli to fix overbooking EMILY TAYLER NEWS EDITOR @EM_TAYLER16 When Jessica Lai received an email from Western offering her a new room, she jumped at the chance to get out of Saugeen.

The summer before her first year, Lai had ranked Saugeen-Maitland Hall as her lowest priority, and was dismayed when Western University put her there anyway. She had heard horror stories from her older sister, who trudged up the Saugeen hill every morning when she was in first year.

Then, she and her soon-to-be floormates received emails from Housing and Ancillary Services, offering them the chance to move to the coveted Delaware Hall.

The only catch: they’d have to share bunk beds in small single rooms.

“Bunked singles” are unique to Delaware, as the building boasts the biggest rooms across campus.

But even with the largest rooms, a bunked single houses two people sharing a space around three-quarters the size of the double rooms in Saugeen.

Western guarantees residence for incoming first-year students if they meet some criteria — but the school has come up short on space, welcoming more high school graduates and overbooking their halls to fit them.

Chris Alleyne, Housing’s associate vice-president, said they overbooked residences for returning upper-years and a larger than usual incoming class.

“This past summer, a few more incoming first-year students accepted their Western offer of admission, also accepting their guaranteed bed in residence,” Alleyne wrote in a statement to the Gazette. “This resulted in the residence system being overbooked.”

Housing sent an email to some students in Lai’s year, writing about an opportunity for them to move to the “heart of campus.”

“After a number of requests, we have converted a few of our largest single rooms on campus into bunked double rooms, to provide a more economical residence choice for students to consider,” the email reads.

The email does not say that the students would be a fix for Western’s overcrowding problem.

The rooms were offered on a first come, first serve basis with limited availability, and at a discounted rate of $6,400 — or $690 less than they would pay for a double room in Saugeen.

“We will be offering these rooms at a reduced room rate, as they are slightly smaller than our regular-sized double rooms,” Housing wrote in the email.

Delaware’s 39 converted rooms also house students who missed their residence payment deadlines, something that would usually lose them their bed on campus.

The residence usually houses 450 students, and Western said Delaware still has the most washrooms and staff per student on its floors even with the additional students.

And while the discounted cost was a drawing point to make the move, residents said the chance to

move to Delaware Hall was the biggest motivation, citing the location and perceived cleanliness.

Each 135 square foot room has two desks and chairs, one closet, a wardrobe and two single beds stacked on top of each other. And the bunk beds have no ladder.

Instead, whoever sleeps on the top bunk has to shimmy up the side of the slatted headboards to reach their mattress.

For Gloria Kim, a second-year student in nursing, that the missing ladder wasn’t the biggest problem.

Kim was assigned to the top bunk but pleaded with her roommate to eventually switch.

“The top bunk, it was too close to the ceiling so you couldn’t actually sit up in bed,” she said. “In the bunk room beside mine, they just removed their ceiling tiles so that they could be able to sit up. So when they sat up their head would be in the ceiling.”

She explained the bottom bunk also posed its own challenges.

“The bottom would move any time the top bunk moved,” Kim said. “So if [my roommate] would roll around in her sleep or something, I could hear it and it would move my bed as well.”

Before moving into residence, first years fill out a survey indicating their living habits — whether they drink or smoke, when they go to bed — to best match roommates. Based on how different their lifestyles were, Kim was pretty sure the survey was not consulted when matchmaking for the bunked rooms.

Her roommate would wake up as she went to bed. Kim slept on her friend’s floors and in the residence common room on more than one occasion before she was able to switch rooms three months into the semester.

And while roommate troubles are far from unheard of in residence, both Kim and Lai said they thought the tight space made everything worse.

“There’s no personal space whatsoever, even with the double room you don’t have much personal space but at least you have your own side

OBTAINED BY THE GAZETTE A promotional photo of a bunked room emailed to first-years. The top bunk stretches to very near the ceiling.

of the room,” Lai, now a secondyear criminology student, said. “But with a single room there’s absolutely none. You’re always with them.”

Lai said she was lucky to get along with her roommate, citing it as the only reason they were able to share the small space. And while she has had her fair share of concerns about the room, she thinks Delaware was the right place for her.

“I really like Delaware despite the fact it was a single room shared with someone else,” Lai said. “It’s very close and the location makes it all worth it to be honest.”

Kim was not as lucky. She agrees Delaware was the right fit for her, but would trade it all to avoid a bunked room.

“The survey that goes out at the end of the year asking what you felt about residence situation for your first year, my only feedback was please don’t ever make people live in bunked singles again,” she said.

“I was really upset when I found out they did it again this year.”

COURTESY OF WESTERN UNIVERSITY Two people live in the “single room” size shown in this online floorplan.

On-campus or off?

Athletes have to choose HANNAH DIEBOLD, SPORTS EDITOR CHARLIE MARSHALL, SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR @SPORTSATGAZETTE Living alone for the first time is a daunting task for any first-year student. But coming in as a student-athlete provides an additional set of obstacles. Mustangs have to factor in their proximity to training, nutrition and, like all other students, their social support.

Matthew Donnelly is a first-year economics student competing for Western University’s cross country and track and field teams. Seth Edwards is also a track athlete, in his first-year of a kinesiology and urban development.

Donnelly opted for the conventional route in his first year — living in residence at Essex Hall. Edwards, on the other hand, is currently living off campus near Oxford Street and Wharncliffe Road.

Edwards explained that his current off-campus place is close enough to the track and school, and there are plenty of bus routes, making it convenient. Donnelly, who lives just down the street from the Thompson Recreation and Athletic Centre, noted that he enjoys being within walking distance of everything.

As athletes, though, the pair have larger issues to contend with than ease of access. They always need to find the right food, and Edwards explained that one of the best parts about living off-campus is planning his meals. “[My friends in residence] have the restrictions of being on a meal plan and not being fully in control of what they are eating,” said Edwards. “I would say that is what I like about [living off-campus].”

Of course, while he enjoys controlling his diet, Edwards did concede that planning and allotting time to cook has been a difficult transition.

“I am pressed for time almost always. Just planning my meals is the only thing that has been hard about [living off campus],” said Edwards. “I did spend a lot of time during the summer, not only on my schedule with regards to training, but also [on] what I need to eat for training that day.”

Although Donnelly has less control, he explained that having quick access to food was helpful.

The first-year student is grateful that he can grab food after a short walk from practice.

Residence can also provide an important social support network for new students. Donnelly explained that without residence, he felt the transition would have been more difficult as a first-year student.

Add in the fact that he currently resides in the third most popular athlete residence, according to Housing and Ancillary Services, and that transition gets a little easier. People around you can sympathize with your busy schedule.

“It is good to know someone is there and going through the same thing you are,” Donnelly said.

“They have the same time schedules or busyness. If you need to study ... they will be down to do it and actually get to work.”

Edwards currently lives with other student-athletes, and said that had his roommates not been so outgoing and social, it would have been difficult to meet new people.

Overall, both were pleased with their respective choices. While residence provides a little more support, off-campus is freer.

7 •

• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

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feature

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019 •

• 8

The Broughd How a nor ma

l suburb b

ecame W

By Ashvinder Suri and Hope Mahood

With files from the Western University Archives and the Broughdale Community Association

P

eople think they understand Western.

They’ve seen the videos, heard the stories. Young people around Canada, and especially Ontario, have a clear picture of what Western University is like: to them, Western is a party school.

But few of them know that, like a Hollywood studio with a thousand sets, nearly every Instagram story they’ve seen from Western was filmed in the same place.

Broughdale Avenue is matched only by SaugeenMaitland Hall in its importance to this part of Western’s identity. But, while Saugeen started up 50 years ago, Broughdale’s reckless rise started much later — within the memory of some of the street’s current residents.

Homecoming, and its bastard child, Fake Homecoming, are more recent inventions in partying than their popularity suggests.

Just a few decades ago, Broughdale was a sleepy street like many in London. That was before students showed up.

Hemmed by the Thames River on three sides and extending in the south to Huron Street, the Broughdale neighbourhood is perhaps London’s most culturally relevant.

Before the competitive day drinking and rooftop ambling however, Broughdale had its softer suburban days.

From the 1940s until the late ‘70s, a typical Broughdale weekend meant barbecues and block parties (no, not that kind of block party) and going to church on Sunday with young children — the surest sign no students are around.

While Broughdale today only brings its online reputation to life on the fourth Saturday of every September, roughly 90 per cent of housing in Broughdale is now rented to students.

Its name evokes an almost sinful connotation among most — so what happened to the Johnsons?

Susan Bentley was the president of the Broughdale Community Association throughout the 1980s and ‘90s, a crucial twist in the street’s history.

“In the late ‘70s, it was something like 11 per cent of houses were landlord-owned,” says Bentley. “But then in the ‘80s that changed.”

It’s still a great place to live,” says Bentley. “We are so close to so many good things, including the university itself. Our neighbourhood has access to all the amenities of the university nearby.

SUSAN BENTLEY PRESIDENT OF THE BROUGHDALE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION THROUGHOUT THE 1980S AND ‘90S

In 1986, Ontario Premier David Peterson’s Liberal government passed the Residential Rent Act which outlined a wide array of housing policies and stipulations. A new law came about, permitting many homes previously limited to being single-family residences to be rented to multiple unrelated tenants.

“Then [student housing] kind of exploded,” explains Bentley. “Parents started buying houses, landlords started buying houses and the community changed significantly because of that.”

Broughdale’s desirability as prime real estate stems primarily from its close proximity to the university. That, and the resulting businesses that started to flank the once-insulated community ensured constant interest from eagle-eyed investors.

Yet while Bentley, a long-time resident in the neighbourhood and an active community member, appreciates that many students can be perfectly neighbourly, the constant change can get tiring.

“I had some young men living down the road who used to borrow a chicken roaster from me and so on,” she says with a laugh. “But next year they were gone, and you start all over again.”

Unlike other student neighbourhoods in London, Broughdale feels the most like a real neighbourhood. A community where children were raised, where people grew old together. The wide roads and suburban planning betray a deeper notion of community — one that exists only superficially today.

“It was always a lovely neighbourhood because it was mixed,” explains Bentley. “It wasn’t one of those grand, gated communities.”

Despite the demographic overhaul the community has experienced over the years, Bentley is adamant that Broughdale is still like the neighbourhood of yore in many ways.

“It’s still a great place to live,” says Bentley. “We are so close to so many good things, including the university

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• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

dale takeover

Western’s m itself. Our neighbourhood has access to all the amenities of the university nearby.”

Her seven-year tenure as president of the BCA in the 1980s occurred at the outset of the student housing debate in Broughdale — an argument that has stubbornly persisted for decades since. While the association, as a collective of long-term Broughdale residents, stood firmly against the new changes there’s little animosity to be gleaned from the record books.

A 1991 entry in the BCA’s official chronology outlines the “discovery of a sorority house at 222 Broughdale Ave. — in restricted area!” Outside of this (albeit comical) imagery and a smattering of other administrative notes, the BCA’s stance against rampant student housing has always been neatly kept and was rarely extreme.

Flare-ups between the BCA and students were inevitable, though.

A 1995 London Free Press article reads: “Neighbours are fed up with their antics … and they want the University of Western Ontario do something about it.”

Bentley appears in the article, petitioning the university to punish the students themselves to curb raucous street-partying in the neighbourhood.

Bentley has long since stepped away from the helm at the BCA. But 24 years later, Western just answered her demand.

Western’s Student Code of Conduct was recently stretched to cover off-campus activities, in a way that did not mention Fake Homecoming but clearly had it in mind.

At that point, in 2019, Fake HOCO was already the primary issue of Broughdale’s relationship with campus. But pinpointing the exact start of Homecoming festivities on Broughdale is difficult.

While the event’s turnout and immense media coverage seem to hint at a storied history of long-standing tradition, the street party’s inception is rooted in rebellion.

“HOCO”, as it was then called, undoubtedly grew after the events of the September street party of 2013.

“That was the year when Project LEARN was in full effect,” recalls Bentley.

Project Liquor Enforcement and Reduction of Noise, a London Police Service initiative, was one of the city’s primary responses to curtailing the rampant street partying that ravaged both the city and Western’s reputation.

“The police introduced a zero-tolerance policy against open drinking,” explains Bentley. “It was a pretty stringent program: the police would take no apologies or arguments they would just ticket people.”

ost notori While the program, aimed at controlling Homecoming celebrations, still exists under laxer attitudes, that year’s response was the subject of intense national media scrutiny.

“The [Mustang] cheerleaders were there, and they started performing and they were ticketed by the police,” says Bentley.

Max Gow, captain of the Mustang cheerleaders that year was indeed ticketed $140 for “causing a nuisance in the street by conducting a cheerleading performance.” Homecoming of that year was attended by a 2,000 to 3,000 students and this particular mishap received coverage from most national news outlets.

“The police introduced a zero-tolerance policy against open drinking, it was a pretty stringent program: the police would take no apologies or arguments they would just ticket people.”

SUSAN BENTLEY PRESIDENT OF THE BROUGHDALE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION THROUGHOUT THE 1980S AND ‘90S

The University Students’ Council almost immediately released a statement condemning the ticketing and the student body united against a perennial enemy. Their partying fervor was thus reinvigorated, and Homecoming celebrations have continued stronger ever since.

Fake Homecoming has become as important a cultural staple as the Broughdale neighbourhood itself — at least to students.

Given its overall enormity, even Bentley, with her years of experience in the neighbourhood, treats the beast more like a necessary evil than a pandemic.

“I think we have this big, big bash in September and everything seems to go relatively quiet,” explains Bentley. “So maybe it’s an outlet that prevents other stuff from happening. I don’t know how we stop it or control it because it’s a social media thing.”

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• 10

Pros and cons of where to move out HOPE MAHOOD OPINIONS EDITOR @HOPE_MAHOOD RANIA OSMAN NEWS EDITOR @_RANIAOSMAN_

At home

Residence

Renting

PROS

PROS

PROS

This isn’t an option for all of us — but for the few lucky Londoners it’s definitely a tempting alternative to traditional student housing.

Free room and board, and no longing for homecooked meals while you force down another gulp of dry chicken drenched in gravy from our beloved residence cafeterias. Living at home means devouring your childhood favourites every night and feeling at ease in your own space.

On top of it all you’ll usually get your own personal cleaning and laundry service thrown in for no extra cost — at least if you’re willing to let things accumulate for a bit.

You have almost all the conveniences of home, without having to contend with your parental overlords.

Meals are cooked for you in the cafeteria, the bathrooms are scrubbed and the garbage is taken out, you don’t have to lift a finger. Your only real chore is your laundry, and even that is only a hop, skip and a jump down the hall.

Your social life comes served on a silver platter for you the moment you arrive in the form of friendly floormates and dons — and if you’re ever in the mood to get a bit wild there will always a party around the corner.

And don’t worry about being late to class the next morning — all of campus is a five-minute jog from your doorstep.

The ultimate freedom. No curfew, no pre-ordained meals, and virtually zero risk of noise complaints, so blast your music as loud as you want.

Location of your house, who you’re living with, what you’re eating for dinner — for what’s probably the first time in your life you have the power to choose it all.

The best part? Even including utilities you’re looking at a price tag hundreds of dollars cheaper than even the worst of bunk-bed singles in Delaware Hall.

Get ready to start your adulting life!

CONS

While playing house seems fun for the first week or so — the appeal wears off fast when you have to drain the sink and mop the floors yourself.

Thought your mom asking you to take out the trash was bad? Get ready for chores galore; before you know it, you’ll have garbage days marked on your calendar right next to “your turn to shovel the driveway.”

The London Transit Commission is soon to become your best friend and your worst enemy — you can guarantee the one time it’s running late is the day you slept in.

As for food, I hope you like mac and cheese, because after the first week when you’ve gotten bored pretending you belong on Iron Chef, it’s all you’ll be eating.

Or, alternatively, you do what most Western University renters resort to, spending all that money you saved on not living in residence on UberEats.

CONS All that said, you think having your roommate get pissy when you don’t take out the trash for the third week in a row is bad? Try being grounded when you’re 20.

Having roommates as your parents means being monitored 24/7. Want to bring your date home — good luck. Get ready for four years of celibacy, or at least sleeping in others’ beds, and that’s assuming you’re able to dodge your curfew for the night.

“Home” will sometimes mean hiding in your room to get the peace and solitude you need after a long day.

Thought you had no privacy in high school? Think again, because you have no idea what’s in store for you.

Your roommates, seemingly selected at random despite your carefully filled out living preferences form, and rambunctious floormates, will assume your opendoor policy from OWeek applies even during the weehours in the midst of exam season.

And if the girl three doors down just broke up with her long-term boyfriend? You’ll be hearing about it all night long through your paper thin walls, so good luck waking up for that 8 a.m. chem quiz tomorrow.

One more thing: if you get the midnight munchies, better pray you’ve stocked up on snacks in your dorm room, because the oh-so-convenient cafeteria closes earlier than you think — leaving you to the mercy of vending machines.

CONS

Study shows suite-style hurts GPA TANIYA SPOLIA CULTURE EDITOR Say goodbye to the traditional dorm rooms, pent-up side-byside, and welcome individual bathrooms, top-tier facilities and apartment-style living. On Western University’s campus, student housing like Ontario, Perth and Essex Hall are many students’ first choices as they provide cool and comfortable living for first-years.

And as students flock to these residence buildings, little do they know about the detrimental effects their new home could have on their academic performance.

In short: living lavish leads to lower grades.

In an American study published this year, it was found that firstyear students who opted to live in traditional dorms had higher gradepoint averages than their counterparts in apartment-style rooms.

The idea is that the nature of traditional residences force community engagement among students.

Dorms supply a housing environment that compliments in-class learning. With study groups, peer mentors and special support right around the corner it’s no surprise that these students are provided every opportunity to grow and learn.

This philosophy, however, is not adopted by apartment-dwellers who often are drawn towards isolation

and individualism. While students are focused on the residence’s aesthetic, they fail to realize the social cost that follows.

While this social cost serves as one of the primary indicators of lower grade point averages, the actual cost of living in style also plays a role.

At Western, opting to live in a suitestyle residence increases your spending by $2,000 to $3,000 compared to traditional style residences. As the Ontario Student Assistance Program cuts already impact university affordability, paying about $16,000 for housing only adds to student stress.

This stress results in students’ inability to achieve quality sleep and leads to a constant feeling of frustration — taking over their ability to focus on studying and lectures.

And while research is beginning to point out problems in apartment-style living during the first year of university, it has also been found that living on campus in any residence is better than not living on campus at all.

An article published by The Daily Herald at Brigham Young University supported that freshmen who lived off-campus were “1.7 times more likely to enter an at-risk academic group” and “nearly twice as likely to get a GPA below 1.0 compared to students living on campus.”

It boils down to the support received. When students start

LIAM MCINNIS GAZETTE Ontario Hall, Western’s nicest first-year residence, Nov. 14 2019.

university they are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of responsibilities they must undertake. Luckily, living on campus is designed to provide students with the support they need.

Living further from campus limits the ability to seek help from

mentors and peers, amplifying concerns for off-campus students.

First-year students are the most at-risk for poor academic performance correlating to their living conditions, perhaps as upper year students have already established their study habits.

So, a final warning: choose where you live wisely.

Ultimately, as you shop for a snazzy duvet and pick out your matching wall art — take a moment to consider how your housing might affect your academic performance.

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House hunting can be exciting and irritating. On the one hand, it could be the first place that’s all yours. On the other, it’s a nightmare of choice and comparison.

So many prices, questions and problems can ruin what should be a positive point in your life.

We’ve compiled the basic tips you’ll hear from everyone if you ask them how to find the perfect place.

Renting Checklist

LIAM AFONSO GAZETTE

RANIA OSMAN NEWS EDITOR @_RANIAOSMAN_ LOCATION Walking around inside the house makes it easy to imagine living there. But it’s where you live that will probably affect you most. It’ll affect when your classes can be, and whether you can come home in the large gaps between lectures. It’ll affect the food you eat, and the places you go to study too.

• • • • •

You need to check for: Distance to campus The bus routes you’d take there Your closest grocery store Available study spots nearby

MAINTENANCE Some houses in London are downright broken. Bugs, broken drywall, leaks — find whatever you can before you bring on that damage with your lease.

When touring the unit, look for structural issues, like: • Cracks and holes in the walls, even small ones in storage rooms, kitchen cabinets, pantries, the attic and exterior walls • Sloping in the floors, which could mean something bad below • Flaking paint — anywhere could mean leaks • Brown spots or patches in the ceiling, which can indicate leaks too

LANDLORDS The general upkeep is a good indicator of the building and its landlord. Watch for: • Mildew, especially in corners, ceilings, window frames and bathrooms • Mold, that’s normally green or black, in any wet area in the house • Air filters too, to see if they’ll be changed before you move in SAFETY Over the summer or reading breaks, people burgle student housing areas because no one is around. Make sure the unit meets some obvious safety requirements: • All doors and windows should lock • Weak spots, like a door with a window can be shattered and unlocked from outside, for example • Don’t forget to check if fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are present and working as well.

SIDE COSTS You have to know exactly what you’re paying for before you set your sights on a lease. Any one place can have some or all of these paid for: • Furniture • Hydro costs, like water and heat • Air conditioning • Internet These can total a hefty sum on top of your rent costs. Watch out for them.

ASK THE PREVIOUS TENANT Any student leaving a place will be honest with you. If the landlord sucks, they will tell you. If the house is crawling with roaches, they will probably show you.

Just make sure you ask when the agent or landlord isn’t around, or get the tenants’ contact info to ask after the tour.

Other tenants can be your only allies in the world of renting.

LAWS AND RIGHTS Remember that many laws favour the tenant. Don’t blindly accept everything you’re told by a landlord or property manager. Make yourself aware of London’s bylaws and your tenant rights.

If you think your landlord is being unjust, contact London’s bylaw office and take matters into your own hands.

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• 12

Letter to the editor

Renting fails int’l students More than a year after I moved out of Western residence, I still can’t offer any advice to first-years on off-campus housing hunting for next year.

For international students like me, coming to Western University from the other side of the globe has already been physically and mentally tiring, let alone looking for where to live after first year.

Western needs to pay more attention to international students — helping them deal with renting in addition to existing academic and life support.

On my move-in day to Perth Hall, my residence advisor and soph did a great job bonding my floormates.

But I wanted to take things slow, and sometimes got overwhelmed with the obstacle course involving half the floor in the corridor and people from other floors visiting to party. I told myself it was just cultural shock and I could deal with it gradually.

Everything went well until early December when I saw an Instagram story of my floormates searching for housing. I wondered “we just moved in three months ago and it’s already time to consider places to live next year?” One of my friends, who was also an international student, confirmed this with me, so then my question switched to “how?”

There was no official answer to that question except for “good luck and take your time.” I joined the“UWO Off-Campus Housing” group on Facebook, which is not officially affiliated with Western and there were around 11,000 members in it.

It was not until the end of the following January when I received emails from Western’s Off-Campus Housing office that I realized that Western did have housing service.

But by that time I had already found where to live next year— thanks to the Facebook group!

It was lucky for me that the lease didn’t cause any problem but I was only relieved after I stepped into my new place last September. When I talked to my friends about how they found housing on their own, most of them said it was with help from upper-year international students Most international students don’t read the infrequent emails from housing thoroughly — and it’s easier for us to take advice from friends due to language barriers.

Signing leases is already complex, and doing it in your second language is even harder. It is easy to find that international students tend to live in the same areas close to their friends’ and a relatively closed circle was formed among them.

This makes it difficult to expose outside information including official support from Western to the group of international students.

We’ve had to learn to help each other based on past experiences and don’t even bother with Western anymore.

Off-campus housing for international students is a big deal and Western needs to work harder to reach out and be accessible to us.

— Nyren Mo Third-year student, media, i nformation and technoculture

Why renting sucks

BY GAZETTE EDITORIAL BOARD Editor’s note: a previous version of this article was published online on Oct. 10.

Imagine you rent a bedroom in a student apartment with no windows, only to find out that it violates provincial and municipal building codes. Unfortunately, this has been a reality for some Western students.

Most Western University students live off-campus, and while the majority of them don’t have rental situations this bad, many are still forced to choose between rentals you could call the unholy trinity of student housing: dingy, over-priced and far from campus.

Renting as a student sucks — we’re young and mostly unfamiliar with the local housing market and with our rights as tenants. And let’s face it, there are landlords out there who are more than willing to take advantage of this.

Being first-time renters, most students simply don’t know what to look for in a rental before signing a lease — putting them at a huge disadvantage compared to more experienced leaseholders.

Things like the average price of rent in their new city, how much they should expect to pay for utilities and even crime rates in a neighbourhood are important things to know when looking for a rental that most students just don’t know enough to dig for.

This lack of knowledge is sustained by the high pressure students are put under by landlords to sign

a lease the minute they start looking at rentals.

As early as late October, students looking to move off-campus are told if they don’t sign a lease soon all the good places will be gone. Landlords will warn that their six-bedroom “fixer-upper” (at $600 a month, minus utilities) has “a quick turn around” or will be leased “on a first-come first-served” basis — pressuring students to sign before they’ve done their homework.

And more often than not, these scare-tactics work: students end up living in windowless bedrooms or houses with faulty heaters and chipping paint.

Plenty of landlords know that students are timid and won’t push for their rights like more experienced renters would. And so landlords looking to make an extra buck know they can risk disregarding the rules when renting to students.

There are services on campus to support those renting off-campus. Western’s Off-Campus Housing Service provides professionals to read over your lease before you sign and even legal advice if your rent arbitrarily rises.

But not enough students are aware of these resources, leaving renters feeling powerless against their living conditions.

Quite simply, renting as a student sucks and without proper support, students will continue to be stuck in a grey area where professional landlords know all the rules, and know when they can ignore them.

Editorials are decided by a majority of the editorial board and are written by a member of the editorial board but are not necessarily the expressed opinion of each editorial board member. All other opinions are strictly those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the USC, The Gazette, its editors or staff. To submit a letter, go to westerngazette.ca and click on “Contact.”

SAMIT KHALSA GAZETTE

Hold off this year’s housing rush KATRINA MCCALLUM SENIOR NEWS EDITOR @KATRINAGAZETTE It’s Nov. 1 — and suddenly everyone is talking about it.

“Where are you going to live next year?”

The thing is, in early November most students have no clue where they want to live or who they will live with.

And that’s fine. But it feels like

there’s a rush to find housing before the new year. This isn’t just artificial, it’s harmful — it’s better to wait.

If you’re in first year, chances are the people you plan to live with won’t be in your life two months from now.

First-years panic to sign yearlong leases that begin nearly six months away. Everyone says you shouldn’t make plans for longer than double the relationship you’re in. The same goes for roommates.

I’ve seen first-year friendships crash and burn by the end of the school year with signed leases looming over their heads.

Though it’s hard to predict how friendships will turn out, chances

are you can predict them better after knowing someone for five months, not two. So signing a lease in November is too early to commit to roommates you barely know. Try waiting until after Christmas break to make these decisions.

Some people sign leases because they think they’ve found the perfect house. Here’s the thing: you are not buying the house, it does not have to be perfect.

On top of that, the location of your house is more important than you think. You need to consider bus routes, your grocery habits and your hobbies.

Personally, I was so caught up in the fun of residence that I barely

left in my first semester. But once I did wander out into the streets of London, I knew I had to live downtown.

I quickly learned I needed a busy atmosphere and the accessibility of shops and restaurants.

And even though I waited until second semester to sign a lease, I still made mistakes. Granted, in November I thought I would be living with six girls on the south side — thank goodness that fell through.

By the end of first semester, rifts had formed between the girls I had planned to live with, and it was clear it was only going to get worse with time.

If you wait, I promise there will

still be houses available. Realistically, all student housing is just different levels of bad. If you are looking for luxury those will certainly still be out there, but typical student houses are plentiful and easy to find.

Realistically you could still find a decent house the following September, or even October — there are always vacancies.

You may lose your “dream” student house but honestly, the people you live with and your location are much more important.

So stomp on the brakes and wait it out — you will find a house in January.

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On-campus is easier. Off-campus, freer.

The ups and downs of moving out of residence GABBY GLASIER COPY EDITOR @GABBYGLASIER From living in residence to a place off-campus, here’s a list of transitions to brace yourself for.

EATING Eating at home is cheaper than a residence meal plan, and you can eat what you want, when you want — your days of suffering in silence when you want a midnight snack are behind you. But eating well can be expensive, and you’ll find the stereotype of starving students living off mac cheese isn’t far-fetched.

Due to increasing demand from school work, you’ll have less time to go grocery shopping. So get ready to drain your bank account on Spoke bagels and Tim’s coffees. Those will be staples for the rest of your undergrad — and it adds up.

The residence cafeteria is so perfectly convenient — although sometimes the food isn’t delicious, and sometimes you just aren’t in the mood for the same old stuff. And using your purple plastic meal plan card for a whole year makes buying groceries the next year all the more jarring.

GETTING AROUND Residences are close to campus — even the furthest residence, Ontario Hall, is at most a 10 minute walk. You can get out of bed 15 minutes before class and still make it on time.

Living in a house is a different story. Most students are doomed to take the bus to campus, a particularly draining experience in blizzard season. Instead of your five minute commute, try 30 minutes and a prayer that your bus actually shows up when it’s supposed to.

Additionally, busing is not ideal for hauling grocery bags home. Unless you have a car or spend $15 on an Uber, white-knuckling on those sharp turns is your new reality.

SOCIALIZING Friends, enemies and everyone in between surround you in residence — even if you were lucky enough to land a single. Living off-campus gives you privacy that students in residence cannot fathom.

At your own house, you socialize when you want to, with roommates of your choosing. And when throwing a party, you have so much more freedom. While noise complaints and London’s new nuisance bylaw are real, at least you’re less likely to be sharing a thin wall with someone who’s waking up early for a statistics class.

That being said, in residence, to find a party all you need to do is walk down the hall. Events are always happening, and most find it easy to get engaged. Want to visit a friend? It’s just 10 steps down the hall, to the right.

STUDYING Studying at home has its perks, the largest of which is the quiet.

Otherwise, studying in residence and off campus aren’t totally different — both have a bed, doors that lock and accessible food.

However, students in residence are closer to campus, and have easier access to libraries. Need a book for your paper, or just a change of pace?

The library is right around the corner.

Residences also have study rooms to use, should your bed prove too tempting.

And living around so many people means, there will be someone from your class that you can study with.

CLEANING One of the best aspects of residences is the cleaning. Other than a few dishes in your sink from last night’s Mr. Noodles, the cleaning is taken care of. Mysterious stain on your curtain?

Spilled beer from your last banger?

Poof — it’s like it was never there.

Living in a house, the cleaning dynamic is much different. Cleaning charts are concocted, schedules are printed, garbage days are marked on the calendar. Mops, brooms and Lysol spray are a regular addition to the shopping list.

The transition from living in residence to off-campus might seem perilous, but with the right people, it’s definitely doable; and for many students, it’s even better.

TRACY WANG GAZETTE

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• 14

PSA: Landlords can’t ban your pet

KRISTIN LEE GAZETTE

KATRINA MCCALLUM SENIOR NEWS EDITOR There’s good news for students who love their furry friends — pets are almost definitely allowed where you’re living, or looking to live.

Despite what many landlords and renters believe, landlords cannot prevent tenants in Ontario from owning pets, according to Section 14 of the Residential Tenancies Act. Leases cannot include a “no pets” provision, and if they do, that section of the lease is void. But, there is an exception: condominiums.

Though this exception wouldn’t affect most student renters, who live

either in houses or apartments not organized as condos.

Landlords also can’t charge a “pet deposit,” another common occurrence, to pay for any damage pets have done. Landlords can only ask for the normal last month’s rent in advance, or a key deposit that must be returned along with the key.

But there are some rules protecting landlords from an animal in the unit. Landlords can evict you if they have an allergy to your pet. This also applies to harassment, which could include barking, aggression and excessive damage to the unit.

But these rules can protect tenants from their landlord’s pets, too.

Even if tenants lie about having a pet, or get a pet after they sign the lease, a landlord still couldn’t evict them for that reason alone according to Ian Dantzer, review counsel at Community Legal Services.

“The landlord may tell the tenant that no pets are allowed, or ask if they have pets, as a means of enforcing a no pet preference,” said Dantzer.

But it can only be a preference.

You might also be asked about pets while looking for a place — before you’ve actually signed a lease. There is debate over whether you have tenant rights before signing or whether landlords are allowed to deny you the place if you say you

have a pet. Dantzer argued that landlords shouldn’t even be asking, and that tenants don’t have to answer.

Your landlord could also regulate where your pet can go to the bathroom or be walked, although Dantzer said landlords cannot restrict the right to have a pet.

Along with the provincial laws, tenants must also uphold municipal bylaws. They’re much more specific.

For example, London’s Animal Control Bylaw says you can have no more than five cats in one home or apartment unit — if there are no dogs.

The animal control bylaw also has separate rules for reptiles and birds.

London actually has a by-law just

for dogs called the Dog Licensing and Control Bylaw. The city requires all dogs to be registered for dog licenses; London also limits you to three dogs in one home or apartment unit.

If you have a pit bull, there’s a separate document for that: the Pit Bull Dog Licensing Bylaw.

Though there are rules to owning a pet in a rental, remember that animals are allowed in the homes and apartments where most students live.

And if you’re evicted because of your pet, you can go to Ontario’s Landlord and Tenant Board, or reach out to Community Legal Services.

How to handle the ants in your house TANIYA SPOLIA CULTURE EDITOR “We didn’t notice them before, but my boyfriend pointed them out and after that we were like ‘holy’. On the windows, floors — they were everywhere.”

It was her first night moving into London Hall when second-year nursing student Erin Tester found small black ants inside her suite. With no idea how they got there, she only knew that she and her roommates had ants.

And let’s face it, it’s not just Tester — London has an ant problem.

Ontario’s muggy and sweltering summers, combined with the wooden framework of old houses around Western University’s campus, allows these little bugs to thrive during the warmer seasons.

The most common culprits are carpenter ants. These ants are small in size and are known for creating homes within our wooden walls.

They commonly fester around moist places like washrooms, sinks or other water appliances.

And while their mere presence is alarming, carpenter ants are most famous for the destruction they leave in their wake. In building their nests, they damage the structure of

noises in your walls, it’s important to know how to nip this problem in the bud before it gets out of hand.

ANASTASIA FEDOROVA GAZETTE

houses by cutting the wood to create tunnels and homes.

The worst part is, you probably won’t notice them until it’s a season too late.

Because these ants hibernate in the winter, often their presence

often goes undetected until the warmer seasons, and by that time they’ve already established themselves as your rent-free roommates.

“If you spill any food and miss cleaning it up, you’ll see a black cluster over it in no time,” said Tester.

Even without making a mess ants seemed to persistently pop up in her shower, in the kitchen and around her oven. Despite constantly cleaning the house, the ants still appear.

With easy-to-miss signs like small piles of sawdust, or faint rustling

WHAT YOU CAN DO First, contact your landlord.

They could help by sending an exterminator, or at least someone who can validate the issue or its source.

And once the source is identified, the massacre can begin.

The easiest and most budgetfriendly option to get rid of these pests are ant bait traps. Placing bait around the house, or near their foraging areas, will have ants carrying the bait back to their nest to feed the entire colony. This will effectively poison the source of your problem, and could render your house ant-free.

But the most effective way to eliminate the ants is to target their nest — or worse, nests. Applying a chemical insecticide on their nest (usually done by pest control) will easily get rid of the carpenter ants in no time. For a non-chemical approach, you can replace the wood where they’re nesting — but it’s a costlier option your landlord may not be inclined to try.

As you explore housing options in the new year — be aware of who, or what, else you might be living with.

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housing

• TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Get Ontario to help pay your hydro Gov’t offers up to $113 a month if you are financially eligible KIRAT WALIA CONTRIBUTOR @KIRAWALIA2 University may be the first time students are responsible for paying their own hydro bill — another item on a long list of expenses from rent, groceries, internet, textbooks and tuition.

And while $35 may not cover the cost of monthly electricity, it can make a substantial dent when every penny counts.

Ontario’s Energy Board offers a discount to any household living on a fixed income across the province.

Ruth Mason, a representative for London Hydro, said the program was created to aid people living off of fixed incomes, like seniors and students, who may have a hard time paying their hydro bills. Discounts start at $35 and can be up to $113 per month.

Eligibility is based on the number of people living in a household and

the overall income. A social insurance number is required, unless tenants are under the age of 18. Renters can input their information and sign up through Ontario Electricity’s website. The Canadian Revenue Agency will then check the incomes of all residents in the household to see if they qualify.

Tenants can sign up for a discount at any time — there is no deadline.

Mason explained students would

Who Said Furniture Wasn’t EASY?

have to reapply if they moved houses, as the income and amount of roommates may have changed in that time.

Recipients must also be directly paying for their hydro bill. So renters won’t qualify if their hydro is included in the price of rent, as their personal cost of utilities stays the same.

Students can expect to receive a minimum of $35. This number can be higher, depending on the number

of people in the household, the type of service used, or the income.

The maximum amount is around $113, hovering around the average monthly utilities bill in London of between $100 and $200 depending on the size of the house.

While this plan isn’t just for students, Mason said they can really benefit from it. And when every penny counts, $35 off your monthly hydro bill goes a long way.

It seems like the problem of moving in and out of student residence, apartments, townhouses, or any other type of dwelling has existed since the advent of post-secondary education. Everyone knows the challenge of turning a dwelling into a home. For ďŹ rst year students, this is especially true as it is their ďŹ rst time away from mom and dad, from the house they grew up in, from many of their closest friends and possibly living with strangers. Parents and caregivers must put a lot of eort in helping their children settle in and be comfortable.

Unfortunately, every year thousands of students and their parents, or even professional movers, are required to move furniture in and out of dwellings.

They don’t have to anymore! InstaHome is the perfect solution to this problem.

Relax. Don’t sweat it. They’ve got you covered!

While in university, the founders of InstaHome struggled with moving and relied heavily on their families and friends to help them lug furniture in/out/up/down buildings and houses. They wished there was a simpler of way setting up a home without the hassle of buying, selling or moving furniture.

Stylish, High-Quality, Aordable

That 'wish' inspired Catherine Tai, Jason Li and Twee Brown to create InstaHome. Their company rents and sells furniture with the added service of delivery, assembly and the removal of that furniture when you’re ready to leave. Their mission is to deliver, assemble and set-up stylish, aordable furniture for those who want to make moving quick and easy.

By the time they leave, you will have an “InstaHome� without ever breaking a sweat.

Aordable? Yes! When a student’s budget is spent on tuition, books, accommodations, food and entertainment, furniture might be the last item on the priority list. Do they have enough leftover for good looking and quality furniture? Many opt for second-hand and cast-o pieces from parents and grandparents or suer the wrath of Ikea’s ‘100-piece-assembly-required’ furnishings. Don’t loose that Allen key!

InstaHome’s aordable pieces will not make you sacriďŹ ce looks and quality. Their furniture sets start as low as $80/month or $960 a year for a ďŹ ve piece, one-bedroom suite. They oer aordable, stylish and high-quality pieces with the bonus of someone doing the tedious work for you.

They do all the work!

As the company’s website states, the InstaHome solution is easy as 1,2,3! They are committed to doing the hard work for you so you can sit back and relax. Their philosophy is “if we don’t like doing it, we won’t make others do it�. Therefore, they have put together a team of professionals to deliver, assemble and remove your furniture when you’re done with it. All you have to do is pick out what you like, make the order and choose a delivery time that suits you. They promise that by the time they leave, “you will have your InstaHome!� They are now taking orders for delivery starting December. Check them out at www.instahome.ca!

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2019 •

www.masonvilleyards.com

Why Masonville Yards?

Directly across from Masonville Mall 291 beautifully designed suites

Leasing for September 2020 Life Is Suite At The Yards.

Be the very first tenants to live here next year

State of the art fitness facility with 24hr access Mix of 1/2/3/4 occupant units

Study/business lounge, cinema, sauna, rooftop patio, and much more!

Contact Craft Property Group and Inquire About Masonville Yards 1235 Richmond Street (leasing office) London Ontario N6A 0C1

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