Housing Committee
If you're reading this, chances are that you either live in the NASA Exchange Lodge (buildings 583A and 583B) or have in the past. It's convenient and relatively inexpensive (at least for the area; the silicon valley is infamous for high rent), and as such it's usually the top choice for interns, students, and visitors to NASA ARC.
The International Space University (ISU) will be holding their summer session at Ames in 2009. They will be using approximately 120 rooms in the Exchange Lodge, which means that there will be few (if any) remaining for students and visitors in other programs. As a result, there will likely be something of a housing shortage during the summer of 2009. Private apartments in this area are beyond the means of many students, and many apartment complexes are reluctant to sign 3-month leases, so finding alternative housing may be a challenge.
NASA Ames Research Center is working on the problem. However, a self-organizing student effort could be very useful, as well. NASA JSC in Houston has had a student-run all-volunteer housing committee for years. JSC doesn't have on-site housing comparable to the Exchange Lodge, so there are always new interns, co-ops, etc. in need of housing.
Essentially, the JSC housing committee maintains contact information for individuals who are willing to rent rooms, apartment complexes that offer short-term leases at reasonable prices, and other local housing options. Volunteers periodically visit to make sure that things are on the up-and-up, i.e. no creepy guys hoping to fill their house with single young women, no Bates Motels, etc. (More detailed information on the JSC model may be added later, as it becomes available.)
The goal of this page is to start a conversation about how to handle next summer's housing crunch, and hopefully spark a self-organizing effort to find more student housing. If there's enough interest, this page could be expanded into a larger collaborative workspace. An ARC housing committee wouldn't necessarily have to follow the JSC model, of course. Creative ideas are more than welcome.
IDEAS?
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