The Communique

Issue date: 4/12/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Henry Kaufmann One of the apartment buildings surrounding Kirkwood.

Rumors of bad living conditions have plagued student conversations in the minutes before classes start. Students have given accounts of security being bribed and fines being given for unjust reasons. Many Kirkwood Community College students have said they feel frustrated and are hoping for a change.

Students would like to see changes at the old Kirkwood Courts, as they are called by students, where a majority of unhappy student tenants are living. Alena Westendorf, a communications media/public relations major who has lived in the Courts for two years, said, "I don't like my living situation at all. My apartment is rundown and management doesn't fix the things I ask them to."

The two major problems students said they had with apartments was management being in the apartment without notice and the security. "I believe they are supposed to give a 24 hour notice to come into my apartment….one time I woke up at 7:30 a.m. to find maintenance in my apartment fixing something without knocking," said Westendorf. "That made me feel uncomfortable and I don't think it's right."

None of the students interviewed had a positive comment about security at the Courts. According to Frank Reisen, electronic engineering technology major, the Courts are a good place to live but he did receive a noise violation from security when he was sleeping and no one else was home.

"The ticket was posted on our door and we took it to management and explained the situation, so we got out of it," said Reisen.

Others are convinced security is looking for problems and not doing their job.

"I've had security knock on my door for having a few guys over and they want to write me a ticket for a noise violation," recalled Andrew Gordon, automotive technician major. "They need to take care of real problems, like the burglaries that happened to my friends, instead of looking for problems."

"Sometimes they hassle us for no reason and I don't like that," added his brother, Nick Gordon, liberal arts major.

Matt Johnson, tenant of Village West and liberal arts major, said the problem that makes him most unhappy is also the apartment security. "Security needs to be there for protection, not looking for people to give fines to, picking fights and provoking students," said Johnson.

Continued...

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