H}.--The Daily Collegian Friday, Nov. 13, 1981 Students offer differing opinions on Sun housin• By SUZANNE M:CASSIDY Daily Collegian Staff Writer Many students living off-campus call apartments rented from the S.C. Sun Corporation home despite conditions that might seem most un-homelike to other people. , For many years the Sun name has been surrounded by myths and speculative tales of woe that are to an extent justified, some students say, while others say that they are mostly exaggerated. S.C. Sun, owner of more than 265 apartment units in the State College area, said his apartments have been .referred to as "Sun Slums" by both tenants and non-tenants for more than 20 "I'm so used to people calling them `Sun Slums' in the old days, they were called much worse than that," Sun said. "But if our housing was really that bad, we wouldn't have been in business for over 20 years. "We are trying to provide affordable Musing if you provide affordable housing, you cannot be too fancy." Sun said students are not the only ones who have helped perpetuate the "Sun Slum" image. Sun said his housing has ,been an issue in many recent municipal elections. "Students, I don't mind they are young," Sun said. "It's the candidates for election they are adult, they should know. But I don't blame them either they don't know housing." 'Sun said he admits there are some problems with the way his corporation operates. He said he attributes most of these problems to his need to operate on a low budget and to his inability thus far to, maintain a continuity of staff. Keeping pace with the maintenance problems in his many conversion units is hindered by a dependence on studdnt help, that is not always efficient, and by subcontractors, who do not always pay careful attention to needs of his tenants, Sun said. Melinda Seyler, 322 S. Allen St., said sho had heard of the "Sun Slum" image but still decided to move into a Sun apartment. '.'When our friends heard that we were moving into a 'Sun Slum,' it was kind of a joke, but now that we've moved in, thO're eating their words they can't believe that this' is a 'Sun Slum.' " Seyler (10th-individual and family studies) lives in a Sun apartment that she said is one of Sun's more well-kept and attractive units, from what she has seen of ;the apartments of some friends who rent from Sun. Seyler's unit is a two- bedroom apartment with a spacious liV,lng room, but a relatively small kitChen..Unlike some of Sun's other units, the walls are neatly painted, the windows are intact, and the kitchen appliances are in , good order, she said: Although some of Sun's tenants complain that he does not cooperate with their requests for repairs and maintenance, Seyler said she has had no such problems. "Our mailbox was broken and they came to fix that not longer than a week after - we moved in," Seyler said. Rona. Sue Jawetz (10th-psychology) sail she is very satisfied with the • HAPPY HOURS 4.7 p.m. Live Entertainment! Join us for our After Hours Brunch 2:30 4:30 - a.m. and Sunday Champagne Brunch 10:00 .2:00 p.m. Now Under Nqw Management 119 S. Athe'rton St. t ktt ea t Witt\ 126* • College Ave. 238-5 590 1-lovss Days Open 24 a* eel( I g•-•••• a rnoxitiOvateriug„ tumm y Oiled pastry , vilaae A *he &ter h,,,, treatment she has received as one of Sun's tenants. Jawetz said the apartment she is renting at 533 W. College Ave. is in a building that just recently burned, so everything has been renovated. Jawetz said she thinks that, compared to the landlords from which she rented last year, Sun has treated her and her' roommates on a more personal basis. "Sun's more personal I didn't have the money to pay the rent on time, and I The front door of an apartment house on West College Avenue, owned by S.C. Sun, shows missing glass. Many students think the stories surrounding Sun and his houses are exaggerated while others think they are justified. called Sun at home," Jawetz said. "He thought I had bounced the check, and he 'even offered to call the bank for me." Jawetz said her apartment was a mess when she and her roommates moved in, but Sun hired a cleaning service. In an interview during the fourth week of the term, she said she has had no problems since moving in. Sun said it is very difficult for him to have the apartments cleaned before new tenants move in because the old tenants are not required to vacate the apartments until Aug. 31, while many of the new tenants expect to move in by ITAJPIPIC HOURS with Jan. Today 4-7 No Cover s, • it THE ° w‘i BRICKHOUSEN . • -7 TAVERN .swe 061 Sept. 1. Patricia Crossin, 512 W. College Ave., also lives in a Sun unit, but in one she said is very different from those Seyler and Jawetz described. Crossin (6th-speech communications and broadcasting) said the furniture in her apartment is sparse and worn, the kitchen table sags to one side and the kitchen appliances are in poor repair. She said the overall atmosphere is bleak and gray, perhaps because of the inadequate lighting both inside the apartment and outside in the hallway. Her apartment is supposed to be furnished, according to the lease, she said. "We just got a dresser last week finally, but we'still don't have a couch tell me this is furniture," Crossin said during the fourth week of the term. Crossin said she and her roommate complained several times to Sun but received no satisfaction from either Sun or his office for almost six weeks after they moved in. *************************** * LION'S GUARD * Welcomes Its New Members * * Michael Berstein Jeff Kampert 1* Rich Spontak Jeff Moyer "g• * Brenda Jurceka Tim White * * Donna Cocuzza Brenda Worthington * Lee Goodman Rita Cicala Sally Horrocks Christine Brush U • 126 * f ** * f3 t ) * * **I C * Ste **** * f t * f * " * l * I CI f t * l * * ta041010 . 8 0. 11 1 4 0 1 10 41 0 0110 , 1 101011404100.10011 1 The Sisters of V ZETA TAU ALPHA I ip iv Proudly Announce Their New Pledges: or qf Jody Arndt Cindy Banks Debbie Hasper IF Lori Omland V IF Brenda Baughman gr Kim Dieffenbach • Dawn Poole ir • Welcome to our link of friendship! 40454111144410110.814.10•4410,110101044*Wate* 11. - A•:.',• . ' - 00.)..:.:::'•: 4 111: - ,::riii: - .z'A.4.••='.0)-; , .,• . :0:1 C) t r• --ze ALL—STAR PRO LEATHER BASKETBALL SHOES HI-TOP reg. now ithi.l - 04*WI'fAtioAlkif Photo by Carin Goodall oconveßse $44.95 $84.95 114 EAST COLLEGE AVENUE DOWNTOWN. STATE COLLEGE • 234-2153 "We must have been over there 12 times," she said. "We don't want a hassle we just want a couch and a desk and then we'll let him alone." Crossin said Sun had sent over the kitchen table they had requested, but it was only an old workbench. They returned this, she said, and he sent over another kitchen table that was in poor shape. They used that until they got another table during the sixth week of the term, along with a couch and desk. Dave Williams, 425 W. College Ave., also said he had problems in trying to get Sun to provide adequate furnishings for his apartment. "When we moved in there were no beds it took about a week and a half to have any beds at all the refrigerator needs to be defrosted about every other day, and the oven doesn't work," Williams (7th-history) said in an interview in the fourth week of the term. "About t s he mattresses, I'd say it took about seven or eight phone calls and about four or five trips up there to get them," he said. Sun said he often has problems distributing furniture to his tenants because so many students steal or vandalize the furniture before they move out, and, as a result, it takes his office a long time to sort out what unit needs what furniture. • Suzanne Benson, 316 S. Allen St., said she anticipated the difficulties often encountered by Sun's tenants trying to get furniture, and planned ahead of time to bring her own. "All I wanted was a bed and that was OK they gave me a chest of drawers that looked like animals were living in it, but I didn't want it," Benson (6th business) said. "And I didn't want anything else." • Benson said she thinks that because Sun's rents are relatively low, students should expect to get what they are paying for. "If you want to live by yourself, they're really the only places you can afford to do it," Benson said. "They should have had people cleaning in here somewhat before we moved in —that's the only major thing that really bothered me." Kris Sanders, 322 S. Allen St., agreed that for the price, Sun's tenants should expect to meet with some problems. "They're very run-down places, but as long as you know what you're getting into, it's okay," Sanders (9th accounting) said in an interview in the fourth week of the term. "They've done everything I wanted except get me a medicine chest I asked for that a month ago." David Green (10th-civil engineering) and Michael Gallagher (9th management), 316 S. Allen St., said they had a lot of difficulty getting Sun to make repairs in their bathroom and kitchen and in obtaining serviceable furniture from him. Gallagher, who rented an apartment last year from another realtor, said he has noted a great difference between Sun's apartments and those of his former landlord. "The places were a lot nicer last year we didn't have any problems last year," Gallagher said. "This year, we LOW-OX $89.95 reg. $29,95 nOW have a leaky toilet, and our oven doesn't work." Green said the repairman that Sun had sent over to fix the oven did not know how to take the oven out, and he said that he would get back to them later. As of last week, they were still waiting to hear from him, Green said. Gallagher said he and his roommate had to return the couch Sun had first provided because it was in such Karp: in town By MARK FEATHERSTONE Daily Collegian Staff Writer Although the quality of apartments owned by S.C. Sun often is questioned, Organization for Town Independent Students President Bob Karp said Sun is not the worst landlord in the State College area. Based on how well the landlord keeps his buildings, cooperates with OTIS and treats his tenants, Karp said he would rank at least two other realtors below Sun. However, Karp would not say who the other realtors are. Charlene Harrison, assistant director for community relations in the Office of Student Affairs, agreed and said Sun is often blamed by students for any problem that exists in conversion unit apartments. "Dr. Sun takes the rap for the whole section of town and there are other people who share the responsibilities," she said. David E. Beitz, former head of Centre Region Code Enforcement who recently resigned to take a similar job in Virginia, also said many of the stories about Sun are not true.. "All reputations are not necessarily based on fact," Beitz said. Many of Sun's buildings were remodeled before the codes were started and therefore do not have to comply . with many of the new requirements, Beitz said. The codes are really only a general set of • minimum standards for apartments and are not a very detailed list of requirements, he said. However, all of Sun's apartment buildings generally meet the minimum standards set by the , code, but often do not exceed them by very much, Beitz said. "The bare minimum is one step above a slum," Beitz said. "Other people are exceeding these standards." What has sometimes happened with some of Sun's apartments is that they meet the minimum standards when the tenants move in, but because'of either normal wear- ..ko e a 1 digillio Dime Pepsi: . , c -.-,. . n . _ . , Ty 6 .-- \ 7 V lb __,-- DECORATE YOUR Dorm Room • Apartment • Office • Den ACTION FOOTBALL PHOTOS (From Sports Pix) Sizes 8" x 10" thru 40" x 60" Thousands of Photos to select from Order yours now for Christmas gift-giving Also Spedial "On the Road to Number One" Football Picture book Only $l.OO SPORTS PiX INTERNATIONAL 323 East Beaver Ave. disrepair, and he said they also had to request more chairs. . "We've got lots of lamps I don't think any of them work, but we have lots of them," Green said. Al Lutz, 425 W. College Ave., in an - interview the fourth week of the term, said although he and his roommates have complained to Sun's office several times about various things, he has never met Sun. Worst landlord is not Sun and-tear or tenant destructiveness the apartments fall below the requirements Set by the codes; he said. Beitz said some of the problems that Sun's apartrhents face are: • The apartments are mainly conversion units apartment units created from old houses —which require more maintenance than regular apartments. • Sun relies on mainly part-time staff for general maintenance and cleaning of the apartments between tenants. • The apartments are spread out over a wide area and therefore are harder to maintain than apartments close together. Repairs made to conversion units often have to be made over and over because the problems keep recurring, Beitz said. Sun's apartments do not have a higher rate of "rebreaking" the reoccurance of a problem after it has been fixed —than do other conversion units, he said. "Maintenance is a higher cost in conversion (units) than in other properties," Beitz said. "They all have very similar maintenance problems." Because mostly part-time workers do much of the maintenance work on conversion units, the repairs made may not be of as high a quality as those of a full-time professional, he said. "The code doesn't say it can't be a sloppy job," he said. Specifically, Beitz said Sun has used local contractors to do major work for him for more than a year and that over the last several years, the conditions in Sun's apartments have improved a great deal. ' Harry Burd, Centre Region Code Enforcement officer, agreed: "There might have been a time when Dr. Sun may have had 'slums.' This is changing." Harrison said one reason why Sun uses many minimum-wage workers is that some contractors might not want to work for him. Please see SUN, Page 11. Order any size pizza and get a 16 oz. Pepsi for a DIME. No coupon necessary Limit 4 per pizza. Limited time offer. Fast, Free Delivery .421 E. Beaver 234-5665 WITH • • Z 4 , N 0 12. S.C. Sun: From University professor to landlor• By MARK FEATHERSTONE Daily Collegian Staff Writer ' He is a former University professor of mineral processing who retired in 1976 after teaching at the University for almost 30 years. He operates several rental properties and runs more conversion units than any other landlord in the State College area. I The professionals he works with often consider him a friendly person who frequently smiles or tells a joke. He has been around for as just about as long as anyone can remember. He is S.C. Sun. Shiou-Chuan Sun, or Dr. Sun, as he is known by most students, was born April 5, 1910; in Shangtung, China, and came to the United States in 1936 after earning his bachelor's degree in mining and metallurgy at Peiyang University in Tientsin, China, in 1935. He attended graduate school at the Missouri School of Mines where he received his master's degree in mining and metallurgy in . 1938. Then he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received his doctorate of science in metallurgy in 1945. In 1946 Sun came to Penn State, where he spent much of his time doing research with money his department had received from outside grants or that he received from • teaching graduate-level courses. He also was awarded two patents and joined many professional and honorary societies including Who's Who in Engineering, American Men in Science, the Ameri6n Institute of Mining and Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers and the American Chemical Society. Sun said he first got into real estate by accident in 1959 because he believed there was a need for student housing and because minorities— especially Orientals were being discriminated against by other State College realtors. "The town didn't have (enough student) housing," Sun NEEDED FOR WINTER • Ski instructors - Experienced. Preferrably members of PSIA. Full time and part time available. Local area professional school. • Full-time ski mechanic - Must have shop experience. Prefer rably certified. Local area shop. Good pay. • Full time employees as lift operators, shop personnel, etc. At local ski area. 1=44•"10•1104111•.90.111•.$0*-WWWWWW81÷W10. sewing ..Tepsi Cola EMPLOYMENT Send resume to: Skimont Ski Area c /o W. Hetrick 110 Hubler Rd. State College, PA 16801 Hurry! Positions being filled now! ALABAMA GAME STUDENT TICKET INFORMATION game will be televised by ABC -- KIC.KOFF• 12:35 P.M. The Student Ticket Policy stipulates that a senior/grad may sit in any of the student sections; it does not guarantee a seat in the designated senior/grad sections. 2. Have University I.D. card with full-time Fall Term '8 sticker and ticket ready for gatemen. 3. Seniors & Graduate students MUST enter Gate #l5 in order, to be seated in the Senior/Grad sections 4. Juniors MUST enter Gate #l6 in order to be seated in the Junior sections 5. Freshmen and Sophomores MUST enter Gate #l7 6. Seniors may sit in any class section, as space permits, but must enter the gate designated for that section 7. Juniors may sit in the junior and freshmen/sophomore class sections, as space permits, but must enter the designated gate for that section. The gate you enter s the determing factor as to the section in which you will be seated for the game. For example: If you are a senior, hold a senior ticket, and wish to sit in the'senior section, but enter the stadium through Gate #l7 (freshmen/sophomore gate) you will be required to remain in that section for the game. The coordination of gating to seating sections is utilized to insure the quickest and most effibient entrance to the stadium for all students. This system was devised after extensive meetings and discussions with students, including the Association of Residence Hall Students. • 8. In fairness to your fellow classmates, please occupy one seat number only and refrain from attempting to save seats 9. Pass-out checks will be issued at the following portals: Seniors/Grads—Bottom of section ED • 10. The student seating sections of Beaver Stadium ARE NOT OVERSOLD. • , • However, there are more holders of senior/grad tickets than there are seats in the sections (ED & EC) assigned exclusively to senior/grads. The Student Ticket Policy stipulates that a senior/grad may sit in any of the student sections; it does not guarantee a seat in the designated senion/grad sections. It is impractical to sell to each class only the number of seats contained in the sections assigned to each class. If this were done, many juniors, seniors, and graduate students would be shut out of Beaver Stadium because of lack of tickets. For example, there would be no way of knowing how many seniors or juniors would prefer to sit in the freshmen/sophomore sections if they were dating a member &those classes. Your ticket is a guarantee of admission to Beaver Stadium, when presented with a current full-time student identification card. It is not a guarantee to sit in a particular section. Senior/grads may sit in all student sections; juniors in all sections but the senior/grad section; and . freshmen/sophomores in all but the junior, and senior/grad sections. Our best advice: Enter the stadium early. Dates gtattotia. featoing tonight guet Salutday Cy Andetsori is p.m. - i a.m. . esplesso, Cappuccino, (.1 - Coinetnade . lessens. . . -Blue Seycalds qccepled I 14 s. gatnet st 1. Student gates will open at 11:00 a.m. The Game is a sell-out. Parking lots will open at 8:30 BEAT ALABAMA PEP RALLY - TONIGHT - 8:00 P.M. - REC HALL! said. "Somebody said, 'Doe, why don't you buy a house and rent it to them?' " And he did, buying house after house —especially former fraternity houses —that had been on the market for one or two years and that no one wanted, he said. Sun said he now owns about 265 individual apartment units, seven communal houses and two rooming houses. Charlene Harrison, assistant director for community relations in the University's Office of Student Affairs, said there were negative stories circulating about the quality of apartments operated by Sun when he came to the University 10 years ago. "When we moved here 10 years ago, Dr. Sun was already a legend in his own time," Harrison said. "He was a presence in the community as a landlord." Sun said his tenants have changed a lot over the years. At one time, he said, he had a group of students from South America who refused to clean their apartment because they were from the upper class of their country and they thought it was below them to have to clean. Sun said he hired a maid to come in twice a week and clean the apartments. That has since changed, he said. Today, his tenants are still mainly students he estimated that less than 5 percent of his tenants are non students. As for running his business, Sun said he treats his properties as projects that must prove their worth in order to be continued. He said he watches his costs closely to make sure the money he spends to improve his apartments is spent carefully. Sun said he has always run his entire operation himself, with a few full-time tenant/employees such as the office manager,.and the rest of his employees including most maintenance workers working part-time. He said he plans to continue operating this way. A professional management company would be too expensive and might result in large rent increases, Sun said Keeping the rent low is the thing he tries hardest to do with his apartments, Sun said. And he said his apartments are the Volkswagens of area apartments providing the essentials without worrying about the luxuries while other apartments are Cadillacs. "People are complaining about prices being too high," he said. "The fact is that people like to have a bargain." Sun said one reason his rents are relatively low is that he acquired many of his properties at a time when real estate was a lot cheaper. "The reason we can give a break (on rent) is we bought them earlier," Sun said. Office manager Bill Grove said the rent for a one-bedroom apartment with a 12-month lease ranges from $l5O to $240 a month, depending primarily on whether the tenant pays for the heat (the heat is not included in the rent if the apartment has electric heat and is included if the apartment has gas heat) and on the size of the apartment. For each person after the first one, there is generally an additional $3O monthly charge, he said. The rent does not include paid electricity and is the same whether furnished or unfurnished the tenant has the option of keeping the furniture that comes with the apartment, he said. Two-bedroom apartments range in price from about $2OO to $330 a month with a $3O charge per person for each additional person after either the first two or three depending on the apartment, he said. According to a survey by The Daily Collegian last spring, the cost of a furnished one-bedroom apartment with a 12- month lease and heat and utilities included averaged $359 a month for Fall 1981. The apartments surveyed were Beaver Hill, Cedarbrook, Penn Tower, Parkway Plaza, Lion's Gate, University Towers and Beaver Terrace. Concerning building codes, Sun said conditions have improved a great deal in his apartments. Sun says he is proud. • of maintenance policy Continued from Page 10 Harrison said a contractor who worked on her house had an opportunity to work for Sun but turned it down. "Maybe he didn't want to say down the line he had worked fer Dr. Sun," she said. "However, I don't think it was because Dr. Sun said 'cut corners.' " Son said he is proud of his policy of hiring his student tenants to do much of the maintenance work because many students" have a hard time finding jobs. He estimated he had helped' between 500 and 700 of his tenants with part-time employment during the more than 20 years he has owned apartments. .* • Sun said he does a gutted conversion to remodel an • apartment, which includes everything from ripping down the walls to rewiring the electrical system. He said he does not interfere with the contractor who is doing., the conversion, but does offer some advice to the contractor because the contractor often is not as familiar as he is with converting housing. But overall, Karp said, on a basis of poor, fair, average; above average and excellent, he would rate Sun's apartments as poor. Karp said that Sun apartments do not have a higher complaint rate than other apartments, but said that is not necessarily an indication of the tenants' satisfaction with the apartments. "He does not actually have a higher complaint rate, but a lot of people accept those conditions as a given for living in a Sun place," Karp said. Beitz hesitated in rating Sun's apartments because he said no one else has anywhere near as many conversion units in so wide an area and therefore had no one to compare Sun's apartments with. However, when pressed for an answer, he rated them as average or maybe a little below average, but said whenever, code enforcement finds a problem, Sun does his best to fix it and makes no excuses. v. It "!.:/'1 : 1 // IA.RE/1/ „:1 11 C1.: 41 W 130 Heister St. N- -• 04/ p " Fl N E BEE! LUNCHEON SELECTIONS HOT ROAST BEEF HOT TURKEY SANDWICH 325 FISH SANDWICH PRIME RIB SANDWICFr OPENFACED RIBEYE STEAK SANDWICH OPENFACED 4 50 CORNED BEEF ON RYE 275 ARE NABURGER GRILLED REUBEN ALL VIE ABOVE SERVED WITH STEAK FRIES GLASS OF WINE 01? BEVERAGE Create Your Own Salad with Sandwich 1.50 EXTRA ... :.. 3.2. , 4, ...• A , , •,..- ..i' - The Daily Collegian Friday, Nov. 13, 1981,-11 3.45 BAKED HAM AND CHEESE ....2.45 4.50 TUNA SALAD 2.75 EGG SALAD 237-0361 Fruit Pies. Cakes Ice Cream 1.25 . 1L - e c. - • ."'".
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