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Task force aims to improve Ohio State off-campus area

burwell.37@osu.edu

Published: Thursday, November 29, 2012

Updated: Thursday, November 29, 2012 10:11

USG

Tim Kubick / For the Lantern

Undergraduate Student Government President Taylor Stepp addresses a crowd at the Ohio Union for the annual State of the University speech.

The Ohio State Undergraduate Student Government announced a plan Wednesday that will reach beyond campus’ borders.

In the USG’s annual State of the University address Wednesday at the Ohio Union, president Taylor Stepp announced the creation of the Off-Campus Development Task Force, which will address problems in the University District such as deteriorating physical conditions of houses, landlord problems and rent issues.

The task force, which will be led by former USG president Nick Messenger, will get an initial finding of how the off-campus area is by surveying students and parents, as well as talking to landlords and city legislatures for the next three to four weeks. Messenger also said he plans to issue a comprehensive report of their findings by Feb. 1.

“Conditions off campus are pretty awful right now, and I think we have one of the world’s greatest university libraries, we have a great union, a great rec center facility,” said Messenger, a fourth-year in economics and political science. “But when students and their parents come to Ohio State and walk through that off-campus neighborhood, it stands out as a sore spot.”

Messenger added that the task force will create “student development goals” between Feb. 1 and March to “isolate the key things that development in the off-campus area needs to include to create a student neighborhood.”

In addition to creating the task force, USG will also conduct a comprehensive survey Spring Semester to determine how to improve semesters and help students with the conversion.

The study will focus on all aspects of students’ lives on the semester system, such as added course loads, stress levels and the pacing of classes. The study will also focus on internship opportunities for students, as well as recreational usage.

“We realized this was going to be bigger than we thought it would be, so we wanted to do a thorough, thoughtful professional study,” Stepp said.

Other points Stepp addressed in the State of the University address included objectives USG has accomplished throughout Fall Semester, such as the joint jurisdiction agreement between University Police and the Columbus Division of Police, as well as the Semesters Appeals Board, a council where students can report problems they have experienced with the semester conversion. Stepp also talked about Buckeye Roadtrip, a program that gives OSU students free bus rides to several Ohio cities.

“Student safety is still one of USG’s largest concerns, and we will continue to do everything in our power to work to keep all students safe,” Stepp said.  
A crowd of about 150 students, faculty and other individuals were present for the address. OSU President E. Gordon Gee was in attendance, said he’s “very supportive” of what Stepp has suggested for the university.

“I think that Taylor did a wonderful job outlining both the accomplishments of the last year, the work that is ahead, and the opportunities for collaboration between the various constituents of the university,” Gee said in an interview with The Lantern.

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6 comments

Anonymous
Fri Nov 30 2012 00:08
It's about time OSU looks at the area around campus and assists in the gentrification of the area. OSU could be like Northwestern or PSU, both of these schools have beautiful just off campus areas. Don't get me wrong there are a few good landlords who have been active in the community for years who are not takers and have a genuine concern for the area while still trying to offer a quality, cost effective alternative to living on campus while still generating a profit for themselves . We need to keep the good ones around and support there efforts. But there are few bad landlords especially the twisted phony's at Northsteppe who have an ongoing large lawsuit with OSU and a number of former students when they tried to scam over 5 yrs ago.

They put on a front that they have a concern for the students, but in fact they have students packed into their homes that are not true apartments with little or no egress and they also rent out the attics and basement rooms with no windows. They then try to come across as helping the students and say they give back, but in fact these guys are millionaire slum landlords making ridiculous amounts of money at the expense of our OSU students and their families. In reality for the millions Northsteppe makes they give very little if nothing back.

Anonymous
Thu Nov 29 2012 15:17
The housing stock is better now, then it was 10 years ago. Now saying that, it still has a very long way to go before it can be considered a great place to live. Bussiness on high street does nothing for the appearance, and students living in the area do not take responciability for any problems they may create. The city needs to allow property owners to invest money in their own property without having to go through 90 different steps to apease the higher ups. The university should have been involved before now, instead of making it look like they are after only the money aspect. All sides need to listen to each other without getting an attitude, and make the conversations a give, and take approach. There should not be a dominate factor with the exception of SAFETY.
Jay , class of 2003
Thu Nov 29 2012 10:42
As a former student and alumnus, I will say that the university and campus partners claimed that the gateway project and revitalization of High Street would lead to a great revitalization of the surrounding off-campus area. This obviously hasn't happened, and now over 10 years later it sounds like off-campus neighborhoods east of N. High Street may be in worse condition today. This sounds like the university administration is playing "lip service" to students. Of course, I'm hoping for the sake of current and future students I'm wrong. I, however, am skeptical of seeing any real partnership here between the university, the City of Columbus and local property owners in the University District.
Anonymous
Thu Nov 29 2012 09:35
First sentence: "boarders" should be replaced with "borders". Look up their definitions.
The area east of High St. is a slum. I would rather live farther away and drive into campus than settle for that.
Anonymous
Thu Nov 29 2012 09:10
its about time Ohio state takes action. its not all about on campus safety and appeal. They need to invest off campus to improve the university.
Mel
Thu Nov 29 2012 08:49
Let's face it, many students do not help. On my drive in on Monday (and usually through the rest of the week) I see the yards, side walks, and streets littered with beer cans and plastic cups. Just picking up your garbage would go a long way. That being said, I lived in a house in north campus where the outside wall was collapsing to the point that we had a 4 inch gap between the floor inside and the wall. It is too bad because you know at one time these were nice homes.




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