It does not appear to be the case here in Salisbury. Why? I want to start a dialog, we need solutions. I have thought about this for a long time and I still don't have the answer.
We all know it is an excellent university. We had family come in this weekend and they were so impressed with the campus. It is beautiful. There is clearly a housing issue and the President has not connected well with the community. I still cannot spell her name unless I look it up!
Students volunteer a lot in this community. They volunteer for many youth sports teams and student teachers have been a very positive influence. The nursing school is filling a huge need. Yes there have been "bumps" but with that many young people coming into the area there will be. I will take "rowdy" college kids over gangs any day.
The University brings culture and entertainment with the symphony, theatre and college sports
Leaders come from the university and contribute to local clubs, churches and non profits. Whether some of the readers agree or not more higher educated people per capita DO make a community more desirable. The University can attract new businesses to the area --that is our next topic.
An effective president of a university does embrace the community, has this one?
Salisbury is fairly conservative, but academicians are typically liberal. There are even some in academics that have an "elitist" attitude and that does not jive well on the Eastern Shore, especially with the locals. Is this part of the problem?
Housing - students living on campus make the university. When looking at universities many parents won't even consider a school unless they guarantee housing. What is being done to accommodate the students without putting pressure on the community and neighborhoods? I am not getting into 4-2 and landlords right now because that is being used purely for politics, presently. He said, she said.
I don't think the University is doing enough regarding housing. They are leaving it up to the private sector and that is what is dividing our town. Our elected officials must do more to make the University more accountable for housing and protecting their students.
When a student behaves badly, the community goes nuts. Yes, they need to be punished but this blog was practically encouraging a "lynching". I know people involved from the university and they were just as appalled by the students behavior. They care about this community and were very concerned for the citizens involved but they still had to follow procedures and protocols. Our legal system at its best.
Clearly we all need to do more, starting with our elected officials, community leaders and university administration. Salisbury University is a true asset to our community, it raises our quality of life on several levels.
I want to hear your opinion, we need viable solutions. I hope some of you can actually stay on topic, please.
Next - What is Salisbury doing to attract new business to the area?
59 comments:
I am glad your family loved the campus...my tax dollars helped pay for it! As a state employee, I also have to contribute furlough days so that the state colleges, prisons, etc can continue to function.
My solution is that the colleges in MD, not just SU, need to operate like private schools...what you take in, you spend....in other words, a balanced budget not off the backs of the working class of Maryland.
I agree that we need more open discussions about Housing. I have been a renter in the Camden Neighborhood and the disdain we felt was terrible- and we kept the place neat, no parties and planted grass and flowers. Students can be a great addition- if they are well behaved- a good Landlord can sort the wheat from the chaff.
SU is currently working on adding the additional student housing that is needed. Keep in mind that the state determines the university's ability to build new housing. To meet the need of the students, SU has entered a partnership that will allow housing to be built that will not strain the state's budget. It's charitable giving from people within the community that allow projects like this to happen.
The problem is the clientele that Sailisbury attracts. It is not an 'excellent' school. It is average, at best. If you look at the difference in students at, say, Washington College (not saying they are perfect, either), you will find a different CLASS of students.
The students at Salisbury frequently come from families without class. Their behavior demonstrates this. It's a party school with so-so academics.
Mr./Ms Caruso (whichever):
Please tell us where you live, how long you have been here and something about yourself so we can better understand why you have a particular point of view. If that info has already been posted on this blog, I missed it (sorry if that's the case).
Are you aware that many, possibly most "college towns" have measures like the "4 to 2" -- especially those with rapidly growing state universities that have ceased building dorms and in effect funded the landlords who turn single family homes into rooming houses?
What is your opinion of landlords like Richard Insley, who incite their tenants with falsehoods and other tactics to try to maintain their control of the City, and his "sponsors" in city hall, namely Barrie Tilghman and Gary Comegys (and previously Mr. Dunn and Ms. Cathcart)?
As a former SU student and a member of the Salisbury community; 60% of the issues that divide the town and SU are based on housing.
The residents that live within one mile of SU are appalled that they woken in the middle of the night by a drunken student. Now I not making excuses for the students but this is like going into a forest and being surprised you are surrounded by trees.
Most students would rather live in places like University Park where they are surrounded by other students, but UP is more expensive than regular housing. If you are a student paying your own way, this is not an option. The neighborhoods around Roger Street would also be ideal if students didn’t have to worry about being robbed. University Village, Old Zoo, and New Zoo which are located off of Onley Dr. are also ideal, but they are controlled by one landlord (Donnie Williams, Advanced Rental Prop.) and the company steals the students’ security deposits every year and never does any repairs to the houses. I have personally seen this happen several times. Students with little money and have no resources to fight back.
The remaining 40% of the student’s issues are with the City Police department. While crime escalates you can see city police routinely scoping out for parties, which I can understand because if show no presence then a normal party gets out of hand. Most parties that get out of hand; the primary source is THE THUGS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOODS coming in and causing trouble. Also, when a student gets robed or beaten, the cops are nowhere to be found.
The students do not feel safe in Salisbury with the thugs and landlords running wild without fear.
Dave
Go to college towns that work and look around. You will see the College Mascot Plaster in every business, citizens wearing team gear, the town shutting down for college events. Signs saying Town and College working together. Some towns put the college mascot on the water tower, instead of a minor league baseball team mascot overlooking the college campus. Colleges that really have pride paint their fire trucks in the school colors like the Greenville, NC fire department that painted their engine purple and put pirates on the side for the East Carolina Pirates instead of some slogan that does not evoke civic pride such as I don’t: bad boys of metro. (Check out the fire truck here http://www.greenvillenc.gov/departments/fire_dept/information/default.aspx?id=362 )
Sir or Madam Caruso:
Please don't misrepresent SU -- it's a mediocre educational institution in terms of academics, although a "good buy" overall with a top flight Division 3 lacrosse team. But let's not portray it as the Hopkins of the Shore -- in learning or Lax!
I agree with the post on a lot of the content. The problem I have with the situation is the cover ups of the crimes on Campus and lack of discipline enforcement by the University. Even the President allows cover ups dealing with her own family members. Is this not a place were young adults learn to take responsiblity and be more responsible for their actions. How is this possible when you have a small percentage that are given passes because of who they are or what sports team they are on? Where is the leadership from the Administration and Faculty? There is none. Co-operation between the University and the Community requires honesty, truth and trust. When there is only take what I can get attitude with a kids will be kids mentality, what do you expect from the Community? The College Administration and Professors need to grow up and become responsible in shaping these young adults into understanding and responsible adults along with providing a good education, instead of irresponsibilty and what can I take or get for nothing. These two things are hand in hand with the real world.
I am a recent SU graduate. I attended part-time, usually no more than one class (3-4 credits) per sememster. Which is why it took nine years for me to graduate (I can hear the guffaws now). I mention this because I have seen the way university president Janet Dudley-Eschbach has changed the character of the university during that time.
She is attempting to make it the "UMCP" of the Eastern Shore. She is changing it from a school where education and the students come first to an INSTITUTION where the UNIVERSITY comes first and students are merely resources. This university is becoming like College Park: a vast, impersonal bureaucracy that is an end unto itself. Part of that plan is to attract as many out of state students as possible in order to rake in the bucks. As a result, these students feel no connection to the local community. The lack of housing is also major issue for students.
I think the most immediate problem has been the tremendous surge in crime in Salisbury and the poor state of student-police relations. The Salisbury city police have to stop viewing every student as a potential criminal and students have to get over their mistrust of the police. This is where Salisbury University should be taking the lead in building good community relations. But instead there is nothing. Hopefully a new mayor will bring a new police chief to revitalize a demoralized department. A new mayor can also reach out to students. Believe it or not, we DO care about this town. Not all of us are drunken roustabouts.
9:22 Agree to a degree. There needs to be more fiscal accountability. Our state government allows this and it needs to be fixed.
9:26 Unfortunately, if i am not mistaken, where they are putting this housing is a mistake for our community. We need more open dialog so we are not so divided. The University needs to listen to the citizens. Many feel it is being pushed on them with no recourse.
9:44 That is exactly what I am talking about!
9:42 I believe we share some common ground but as I stated in my post 4-2, rentals, landlords, etc are not being taken on at this time.
That subject deserves a separate post. I would like to see it rationally discussed and debated.
ANON 9:22 AM,
FYI, Salisbury University is not a fully funded State School-more than likely, SU was not the reason why you were required to take furlough days. Read this:
"Salisbury University is state-assisted, not state-supported. State dollars currently provide little more than one-quarter of SU's funding needs and this percentage is shrinking as higher education continues to compete with many other demands on state revenue. The University was forced to raise tuition over the last decade, and now must be cautious about any additional tuition increases that might deny deserving students the chance for an SU education. This means private gifts are becoming increasingly important to SU."
-Source: SU website
Absolutely nobody can deny that Salisbury is a great institution-besides having some of the best education programs in the region and beyond, it is an extremely affordable school. In-state tuition is next to nothing at $3-4,000 a semester (atleast when I graduated 4 years ago. Caruso is absolutely right about the economics that Salisbury University brings to our City-pretty much everybody I knew in college worked and I also believe that they occasionally ate, shopped and even drank a little. I've heard so much crap about college students being a drain on this town-how about all you business owners in the South Rt13 area try surviving with out them. Over 7,000 people pour into this area at the begining of every semester. The last time I checked, the population of salisbury was hovering around 27,000-that's an influx of over 30% of our existing population. That means it raises our economy around about 30%. Burden? Seriously? If you local politicians were smart, you would find a way to touch the college community, get them registered to vote somehow and win some elections.
I know you didn't want to get started on this 4-2 crap, but the idea is to reduce rental housing? Ok, where are these kids going to live? Sure SU could probably use some more student housing, but if your goal was to reduce rental properties in Salisbury, you are counter productive my friends. The 4-2 issues spawn from a very select few people that live in the Camden area and happen to have ties or connections with the Council. But don't they realize that if you reduce the occupancy to 2 then you are going to need TWICE as many rental properties to accomodate the displaced students? How about just having standards and inspections on rental properties so that neighborhoods aren't blighted by run down homes. Let's face it, its not all college kids causing home value problems-its the slum lords who don't maintain their properties as well. In addition, Salisbury's campus is PACKED with buildings-they simply can't get another one on there. To create more student housing on campus is not theisable. There might be plans for the Dresser property, but look how long it took that a$$hole to sell it to the university! Needless to say, the school has its focus on education as it should, not building houses. I must disagree with you Caruso-Salisbury has attempted to provide housing for students (i.e. University Park and University Village) however, land in close proximity to the school is slim pickins
I have actually studied demographics in Salisbury and other college towns in regards to the hatred of college students and my surveys showed the the majority (63%) of people that "disliked" college students were over 38 years of age. And of that 63%, 72% were not college graduates! Interesting statistic huh? I loved that study! Nothing but grumpy middle aged people that didn't have the college experience themselves...
I would like to leave off with this...SU puts so much time, effort and money into our community, but very few give back to it. Moreover, many people hinder the university from achieving success.
The state is not allowing any new dorms to be built, so that is not SU's fault. they are working hard with the private sector to get more housing. The landlords are freaking out because once the latest new housing is built (work begins in a couple of months), over 1,000 students will be housed there (and thus won't be ripped off by a SAPOA member). I live near the college and mostly get along with the students--it is the bad landlords (certainly not all ) that make it bad for everyone.
Dave C,
There will be no housing inspections, no protections for student renters, and no protections for the nieghborhoods if Comegys gets elected. He will keep Richard Insley (and his pal Donnie Williams) in cahrge of regualting housing, which means students and neighbors get screwed. Ther eis ONE candidate who is seriously addressing both sides of this issue, and that is Jim Ireton.
Mr. or Ms. Caruso:
The time for "debate" ot the 4 to 2 is over, and the time for enforcement is past due with someone like Richard Insley in charge of the housing appeals board and the current city administration, including the attorney.
Do you know how they handled the complain about the house where that SU lacrosse player (who vandalized the neighborhood) lived?
Landlords know code enforcement is a joke.
If Comegys becomes mayor things won't change for the better, and will become worse, for sure. Look at all his signs at the rental houses.
PS -- Where do you live. I want to know, also?
Hey Dave, I spoke to Joe about your comment. I have some questions if you're interested in talking. E-mail Joe and he'll give you my contact info. "Want to help"
Calling SU mediocre is unfair - like every school, it depends on the department.
I double majored there, and many of the students in my Bio classes took their undergrad there because it was cheaper to live, and then DID go on to Hopkins for their advanced degrees. My other major was English, and the department was so-so, but comparable to other state schools nationwide.
They do have an exceptional history faculty, and until recently, had some great art faculty, as well.
Housing can be an issue, but all colleges have that problem. They need better mentoring and guidance there to keep the kids a little more under control.
Most of the problems in Salisbury stem from the drug sales/use - and most of the dealers are from Salisbury and aren't going to college. Let's clean up the locals before we blame the kids who come here for an education.
What are they going to build where the old shopping plaza was on rt 13? Where Fertellies was. Is that going to be a dorm.
i just wanted to bring to everybodys attention that the SU Baseball Team is currently #1 in the nation.
I was not aware of that, very cool.
10:51-
My alma mater (Haverford) is first in Chess again -- checkmate, baby!
The word from the University is that the little strip mall behind the U is going to be a dorm housing upper class students. The number is somewhere between 500 and 700. It'll be a multi-story structure, with retail on the first floor. Cheers isn't going anywhere yet, as they have a "long" lease. The BB&T Bank is in negotiation with the U to maybe relocate to give the U even more space. Without the bank there, the alleyway behind the strip mall can be utilized for its space that can't be now because it's a right-of-way for the bank's drive through teller.
My family is a come here family, however it was 20 years ago. SO, I was half raised here. At the time of moving here, the street my family bought the house on had one rental. It was very well monitored by the owner. That has changed, now there are more rentals in the neighborhood than owners. So, I have had the interaction with students for most of raising here. I attended SU, some of my family worked at SU for a brief time. My family has had so many things stolen from students after their parties that I can not count them. Cars damaged from playing sports in the streets. I truly loved having the students around and interacting with them. However, the overwhelming lack of responsibility from the university on the bad apple students has ruined this areas relationship to the rest of the students. It is so typical that the bad apples ruin it for the rest; I think that is a lazy way of doing things. So many times over the years SU has been approached to help, to take control of the bad apples, every time it was very little talking and that talk was just that talk. I think that since that having the community feel they are all alone fighting the bad apples has lead to a resentment to all the students, after being burned so many times by the university people stop wanting to deal with the issue at all. I know for a fact that SU was notified about serious theft rings, serious drug dealing going on in the campus and the SUPD was told not to do anything. SU admin did not want to get a bad name. Reality is reality; if a student steals the student should be arrested, simple. If the student went to Wal-Mart and stole he/she would be arrested. So why should it be so different on the campus. SU is not preparing the students for the real world this way. Students in the past, SPD in the past, community associations in the past have all approached SU to try and get some responsibility taken and develop a better relationship. I later transferred to another University and it was so taught to the students the responsibility of life, you steal from this community you get kicked out, you damaged another person’s property you get kicked out, no matter what the courts said, the university had a strong stance against community concerns. Students did ride-a-longs with the local police to develop relationships. SU has never had that. So this community feels left out and on its own. I would love to see the community come together with SU, but it will take to the top people to do that. Right now we do not have the right people. Good luck with your effort; it is an effort that is most needed.
Thank-you, I didnt know. This will be owned by the university? How did all of this affect the tax-payers, or did it at all?
11:06--
That many and the parking, too -- I don't think so!
Have heard it will house a smaller number and be for grad students only.
Concerned Retiree- please tell me what kind of "passes" you've seen athletic students receive. Be specific. I'm an athlete at the university, and I know the school comes down a lot harder on us if we get in trouble.
Anon 10:37 - thank you for recognizing that in many cases, students are the ones being victimized by the locals in bad neighborhoods.
Mr./Mrs. Caruso - thank you for the post. I'm glad that some people recognize that the University students are more helpful than hurtful. The truth is, the media swarms whenever a student does something bad and we hardly get recognition for the good things we do.
Doug,
No taxpayer money. And it is not housing for graduate students! The vast majority of SU's grad students are already professionals out on their own. Where do these odd rumors start?
Laura, please allow me to say that I have always attended any event SU has made me aware of and invited me to. I personally believe that SU should make a better effort at letting us know what's going on. If you've been around long enough on sbynews you'll know the last event I was invited to is "We Love Salisbury."
Woah, a post which actually encouraged thoughful response, and comments, none of which attacked the author of the story or anyone's view point. Did I die today and go to heaven?
Brief question about the whole 4 to 2 rule. How does it get around section 49 b of the code of Maryland, which prevents discrimination in housing based on, among other things, "marital status." This "means the state of being single, married, separated, divorced, or widowed." Wouldn't limiting housing to no more than two unrelated persons be discriminating against "single" people?
"Did I die today and go to heaven?"
No. Cyberspace.
Hey Joe- please come check out A Night of Blues and Jazz at Breaktime this Thursday. I sent you the press release last week and saw you posted it on your blog. I'll be sure to keep you in the loop about more upcoming events being set up by college students.
12:19,
It doesn't discriminate against single people--you can have 2 adults (unmarried and therefore unrelated) and their children (related by blood or adoption). It is meant to keep neighborhoods that are zoned "residential" from becoming boarding houses. Does Insley want to run a boarding house in Salisbury? Fine, just put it in areas zoned "commercial." That is why we have zoning laws, so a concrete mixing company doesn't build next dootr to your house. Nobody says the mixing company doesn't have a right to exist, it just doesn't belong in a neighborhood. Same with a boarding house.
I heard it was proposed for three new dorms, two where the the Allenwood shopping center is and one towards the parking lot. I also thought Cheers owned that property? I'm sure the landslumlords will try to oppose that. The city and county are far behind regulations to make the housing in this area step up to better standards and in criminal work. I really wish you luck in this area, we all need to work together.
Hey Joe what about a link/page/site for students and admin to post SU events and projects on. Communication is the key to any relationship right.
10:51
I just want to bring it to your attention the SU baseball player that drives the black chevy truck with the SU baseball sticker in the back window and the large antenna on the top drives like a FLIPPING IDIOT.
Sorry I haven’t responded sooner, I was volunteering at school. As much as I enjoy being called Sir or Mr., I am a Mrs. I live on the Westside of Rt. 13 but not in the City proper. Can’t afford the city taxes. LOL
10:25 I agree we need change and soon. No question about it. I do plan on discussing 4-2 and rentals. I believe it is an important issue. Facts and truths must be openly discussed so many mistruths are out there. Sounds like you know a lot, first hand. I look forward to learning even more.
10:37 Agreed SU is an excellent school and does have a great reputation. Blaming the students for a lot of things won’t solve the real problems.
Doug – I am anxious to learn more as well. I was unaware of this.
11:17 Clearly we do need better communication w/ SU and our community.
I am extremely encouraged by these responses. I am learning lot. I do plan to investigate more and will have a follow up post in the near future.
1051 - They are #1 now? I know that they beat the #1 team... didn't know the new rankings were even out. They still look to be #9.
I have lived in Sby most of my life and after my first year at SU, I bought a house on Roger Street near Snow Hill Rd. My husband and I share the largest room and rent the extras. I see that SU has a serious housing problem.
I can't tell you what the best solution would be, but I know that there are lots of complaints from students about living in UP/UV: high prices, police there all the time, and excessive parties. Not all students want to party all night and so they try to steer clear of those high student density areas. The cheapest housing are rental properties which average probably about $200 less than UP/UV. (I currently charge $300 / person / month and I'm about to raise it-- and I know that UV is raising rent to about $600)
I think a huge problem is the number of rental houses and quality of the landlords. Another huge problem is the drinking age and the attempts to enforce it. On campus-bulletin there are many houses for rent and no one looking for housing. The landlords around here are terrible. When visiting friends, their houses are shit holes and they are paying more than I charge for a pretty decent house. I have almost never heard of students getting security deposits returned and sometimes they are as high as $800.
Students don't feel safe in this area of Salisbury and it seems I get an email every other day about a student getting mugged, robbed, and or beaten. But all I ever see from the police are parking tickets and busting parties. At the beginning of the semester I had a package stolen from my front porch and when I called the Salisbury Police, they told me to call back in a few days when I knew the exact item stolen and its worth. (I was expecting many textbooks in the mail) The crime had just happened within the hour and I feel they could have looked around the neighborhood for someone walking with a package and inquire whether it was mine. On another occasion, last week my roomate had a stalking incedent at her work place and when I called the Salisbury Police to ask them just to patrol the neighborhood overnight, they told me they were very busy and probably couldn't.
But once there is a party with under-age drinking they are knocking on the door and writing citations.
The police SUPD and Salisbury Police need to work more towards protecting the students and not working against them all the time. Students are going to party and busting party after party doesn't stop them. It just makes them hate the police more. I don't think that under-age drinking is the worst problem here and the police need to re-think their priorities.
I am not saying that I think college students should just be able to party whenever they want and roam the streets trashing the community. I hate students like that. I really have no idea what solution to offer. Lower the drinking age to 18 and allow parties on weekends (Friday and Saturday nights only)? Enforce party attendant limits (such as only 20 students to a party?)
ALSO: Anon at 1:40 I think thats a great idea. I never really knew that the community wanted to be involved with SU so much. Most things are on the SU website, but I would be willing to share the positive SU activities with the community!
4:31
If they want to party so much, rent a house out in the county on a farm with no neighbors to disturb, so neighbors will not that have to pick up all the trash, go buy new porch furniture, plants, signs, bricks, flags, trash cans, lamp posts, bushes, from them being damaged or stolen. Again it is the few bad apples that ruin it, so plan ahead, a huge house away from everyone. It seems simple to me, you are going to have a party, people are going to drink and get loud and do stupid things, so lets not do it around so many people to eliminate the bad apples from getting everyone in trouble. If you can't control the party don't have it. Live and learn.
I live in an area that houses students. We are not in city limits so as many as 4 can live in the same place. Not had too many problems with them. Biggest problem is they will not abide by the rule of cleaning up after their dogs. They walk them out of site, like a wall of MY place that has no windows and let the dogs do there business. There is a $50.00 fine if you are caught doing this by managment. Problem is, everyone who works in the office ARE students so no one get's fined. And for some reason or other, they think it is funny to empty car ashtrays in the parking lot and clean out their cars and leave their fast food bags, beer cans or bottles sitting on the top of someone else's vehicle. I guess it is better than loud parties though.
9:32
I grew up in Salisbury w/ a few people that went to Washington University. Behaviorly speaking, they were exponentially rowdy when it came to partying.
I think it's absolutely amazing, even after so many years, that people would continue to bad-mouth the University and its place within the community. Salisbury, MD stands as a major city on the shore, in part to the presence of the University. Aside from statewide and national exposure, the University attracts significant revenue to the city and county through the number of sporting events, national research conferences, and Sea Gull Century (just to name a few). I would not go as far to refer to it as a "dusty outpost" as a University administrator once did. But, you can't dispute what an asset the University has always been to the community.
Moreover, instead of telling University administrator how to best do their jobs (because you would never want them to do the same to you in your profession) try to understand what goes along with managing the lives of 7,000+ young adults. If you have the secret formula, then please step right up...because you could make millions!
Face the fact, you live in a college town. By no means does this give any student a free pass to feel they are entitled. But, as one reader so profoundly wrote: you can't go into the forest and not expect to see trees. I live in a college town with a far greater population of college students, and if any Salisbury resident feels their situation is unique...try again. There are avenues to work with the University to form a partnership. Try that route, and you may be pleasantly surprised. But, posting negative comments about the quality of the college, it's facult/staff/students, and impact on the community will not change your situation.
Upper-class dorms downtown in that big empty parking lot would bring a big economic influx in a much needed area. Imagine 500-700 students walking around spending money and not pissing off their neighbors (b/c they are just offices).
12:19
You are exactly right. This is also the case with the Fed Housing Guidelines too. There was even a supreme court case in the 1970's that would up hold such a lawsuit. The first person to sue the city for discrimination toward renters would win and all of the neighborhoods would be overthrown w/ naked drunken lawless students. (all is true except that last part)
To the 2 people who said that SU is a mediocre institution, please check your facts. You may want to read US News and World Reports and Princeton Review and note that SU is very well-regarded academically - in the top 10%.
L Caruso, you are a welcome addition to this blog.
The members of the community don't see all of the good that the students do. They are just as much members of the city of Salisbury as everyone else. Especially those that stay in Salisbury between semesters. There needs to be more communication between the University and the community and we need to reach a common ground.
As a current student at Salisbury University i am somewhat appauled as to how people who do not attend here think about it. It's programs are some of the best in the state and the Perdue School of business is a respected institution. Salisbury has become one of the fastest growing school's in maryland and yes the housing issues come with that. Speaking with one of the capital project managers who are in charge of the funds spoke in one of our classes about capital budgeting. The assesments are in that yes new housing is needed. However it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize that we are in a recession and we have made wise purchases of property to expand our residence halls. If you poll half of the students here at the university you will see that they love this school because it is not a College Park. And comparing our students saying we are not as "high" class as say a WAC student is absurd. I think if you realized truly the education that is received here it will continue to be an asset to Salisbury University. As a finance major i ask you this...where would salisbury be without it?
F. Senger
The lack of student housing drives rents up IMHO.SU REALLY needs to plan ahead for housing needs when increasing enrollments.
I can't believe that SU doesn't get more respect around here.
SU really helps the city in a major way. The university is effectively immune to the economic downturn, and helps to stabilize jobs and real estate values.
State College up in PA, takes great pride in their public university. You can see the Nittany Lion everywhere. College Park rallies around theirs. Williamsburg is all about W&M as the cornerstone of their history.
Salisbury just complains about theirs.
For a town where you can't buy good wine and cheese, we come off looking totally classless AND clueless.
I agree that the college president is changing SSU from a school where education and the students come first to an INSTITUTION where the UNIVERSITY comes first and students are merely resources. We have to give her credit in that she can bring in the money. She rules the roost.
1:02
It does discriminate. You can have two married couples living in one house, but only but only two unmarried people living there. This limits housing for unmarried people, therefore making it discrimination based on Maryland's code. If the city of Salisbury wants to set guidelines for maximum occupancy based on the size of a house and its number of bedrooms, that's one thing. What they are doing here, however is illegal. I talked to someone who works for the City of Salisbury (I don't want to say who) and they said "off the record" its never been legally challenged.
9:32-
I take offense! My family most certainly has class. And not all of us students are here for the parties. Salisbury is just a more affordable choice for some. I, for one, am a dean's list honors student with a double major and a part time job. So take into consideration the many students at Salisbury that apply themselves and add to the community here.
Dave, I agree with you in part.
But I'm sick of hearing this "you shouldn't have moved into a college neighborhood if you didn't want to live around students." The forest and trees analogy.
The arrogance and rudeness of this mentality is beyond belief.
Many of the people in that "college neighborhood" have been here for decades, starting when SU was just a small college and housing was not a problem. They worked, paid taxes that support the school. They invested their lives and incomes here, raised their children here and watch their grandchildren here.
But now, THEY are to blame because the University grew without taking any responsibility for that growth? So students can be here 4 years, they should feel forced out and ridiculed after 20 or 40 years here?
I thank God I didn't buy in Camden years ago. People there have been treated badly. As for Princeton Homes, guess what? That used to be workforce housing that the city no longer has, with working families in it.
If students want local residents to stop resenting them, then they need to think beyond their own little world of four years and stop blaming residents -- who helped pay to build that school -- for simply building a life for their families.
Students and local residents can come together if they want. Respect works both ways. The neighborhoods were here before SU got big and the people in them have been here a lot longer than any students there now.
I can tell you, I have two grandchildren in college now. I told them in no uncertain terms, mind yourselves where local people are concerned. Show respect for your elders and their right to live because without us old fogeys, you wouldn't have what you do now. I never forgot that growing up and I don't want them to, either.
Grandma from the Outskirts
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