Students have new advocate for off-campus services

                                                       6-3-94

OHIO STATE STUDENTS HAVE NEW ADVOCATE FOR OFF-CAMPUS SERVICES

     COLUMBUS -- The new director of Off-Campus Student Services
at The Ohio State University said her office plans to do a lot
more than help students find decent apartments.

     Ruth Sallee Gresham, appointed to the post in February, said
she wants to help students learn how to be safe, how to be good
neighbors and how and where they can get help when they need it.

     "We're helping students get the skills to learn how to solve
problems and learn to live off campus," said Gresham.
"Basically, they're learning how to live independently and
responsibly."

     This is especially true in the University Area, where
students are often pitted against permanent residents and
landlords.  Students often are viewed as unruly and noisy
neighbors, while students who move in see the substandard
apartments, crime and trash as a reflection of a "who cares"
attitude and act accordingly.

     Attitudes on both sides need to change for conditions to
improve, she said.  Landlords and permanent residents must learn
to accept students as a fact of life east of High Street, and
students must learn to live as true neighbors, not as careless
transients.  Only by working together can the area be improved.

     Off-Campus Students Services, formerly known as Commuter
Student Affairs, will be a clearinghouse, she said, not only to
solve problems, but also to steer students to clubs and events
that will enrich their university experience.  Because only 20
percent of students live on campus, the remaining "commuter
students" may be missing out on university life, she said.

     To resolve problems, Gresham said an environmental
assessment is currently under way in the area.  Complaints
brought to her attention, such as excess trash, are taken to the
proper city department and monitored to see how long it takes for
the problem to be resolved.

     Tenants having disagreements with landlords anywhere in the
city are given suggestions as to what steps the law allows them
to take.

     Areas with high crime rates are identified on a map that
Gresham has prepared for the office.  Highlighted in red is the
area east of High Street and south of Chittendon Avenue.  The map
also shows yellow "caution" zones and green "safe" zones, based
on crime reports.

     When students come in to ask about rentals, they will be
shown the map so they can make their own decisions about which
areas would be the safest places to live, Gresham said.

     "Students who come into this office usually don't know
anything about this university," she said, so it is Ohio State's
repsonsibility to make them aware of the dangers.  "We don't
bring students here so they can learn the hard way."

     Two of Gresham's long-range goals for the office are to
offer incentives to property owners who cooperate in providing
safe housing and to set up a program to train resident managers.

     Gresham came to her current position with 20 years of
experience at the university.  Recruited from the University of
Illinois, she joined Ohio State in 1974 as assistant director of
student and staff development in the Office of Residence and
Dining Halls.  She subsequently was director of recruitment and
placement in the Office of Minority Affairs, special assistant to
the executive officer of human relations, and affirmative action
consultant in the Office of Affirmative Action.

     Off-Campus Student Services is located in room 211 of the
Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St.  Phone banks are available free to
students looking for apartments.  Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Monday through Friday.  For more information, call 292-0100.

                                #

Contact: Ruth Sallee Gresham, 292-0100.
Written by John W. Frees.


[Submitted by: STERRETT  (sterrett@ccgate.ucomm.ohio-state.edu)
               
Fri, 03 Jun 1994 18:02:28 -0500 (EST)]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.