In response to the article in the April 5 issue of The Spectrum titled "Slumlords a Peril of Heights Living," I would just like to point out that the slumlords used to have a purpose.
A year ago, when my friends and I were looking for a house, we wanted a place to accommodate our dreams of hosting massive parties and doing stupid stuff without repercussion. The main motivation for this was countless community service hours and being deemed the "worst students ever to live in South Lake" by the former residence hall director, a title which I wish they had a plaque for. After a short search, we found the perfect place, and for the first couple weeks of last fall semester things were good: huge parties, tons of beer, and plenty of drunken antics.
Of course what we didn't know is that we were rapidly climbing to the top of the Problem Properties Task Force's list, and on Halloween night we encountered repercussions for our actions. Since then, life has been pretty quiet around here, which I guess I can't be too bitter about because I'm a senior and I've had my share of stupidity. The people that I pity are the freshman who will most likely never get to see something I believe to be a mandatory part of the college experience.
Due to the recent keg laws and the Problem Properties Task Force, the college "kegger" in the Heights has been strangled to death. I shudder to think that incoming students will never know the joy of watching two of their roommates dance naked on the roof of a garage in the middle of a party. Instead they will only know legal consequences for actions that may have not been acceptable but at least were overlooked for decades of students before them.
I got a little off topic there, so back to my point: I don't blame my "slumlord" landlord for the terrible quality of living in the Heights. I could care less that I have had to use a screwdriver to turn on the hot water in my shower for the last two months or that my dryer doesn't work. He was the one who stuck up for us and refused the request of the task force to evict us after Halloween night. Not to mention my house is twice as big as my South Lake apartment and I pay half as much. I blame the task force for destroying college life and rendering all of these houses which scream, "Have a huge party in me," completely useless.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
