Tips on going west - and east

Having trouble finding off-campus housing? Can't find the right roommate? Let the Office of Off-Campus Living give you a little advice. The Undergraduate Assembly's West Philadelphia Committee, the Penn Consumer's Board and the Office of Off-Campus Living co-sponsored an informational seminar for undergraduate students who want to live off campus last night in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall. Director of Off-Campus Living Mihaela Farcas educated approximately 20 students on the ins and outs of off-campus living. Farcas emphasized how important it is to start looking for housing early because of the large housing market. Handouts were given to students concerning tenants' rights and responsibilities to both the houses and to their neighbors. In addition, the handouts stressed the importance of finding reliable roommates. Farcas said she was pleased with the seminar. "We're working together with the students so that they know how to go about getting housing," Farcas said. "We told them how much they should budget and what to look for in a house, among other things." The low turnout at the event might have been the result of a last-minute room change and a lack of publicity for the event on the part of the coordinators. The Penn Consumer's Board co-sponsored and helped run the seminar. Members of the Board said they were pleased with the outcome despite its problems. "I think it's good we are doing it now because students need to be made aware of the option to live off campus," Penn Consumer's Board treasurer and Engineering sophomore Kirstin Emershaw said. "When we do it again, though, we need to be a little more organized because I think students really need this information." The Penn Consumer's Board,which was reorganized this year, is working in conjunction with Farcas on a guide that tells students all they need to know about off-campus housing. The guide will be released to students free of charge in January. "As part of the guide, we're working on tenant and landlord surveys," Penn Consumer's Board Director and College sophomore Gabrielle Berlinger said. "And the guide is the best resource we could ever have." The UA also co-sponsored the event. West Philadelphia Committee co-Chair and College sophomore Molly Siems said she was satisfied with the outcome, despite the lack of publicity. "I was pleasantly surprised by the turnout and, since we did very last-minute publicizing, I think it just goes to show the need for such an event," Siems said. "Next time we need to publicize it better." Another seminar is scheduled to take place within the next two weeks.