Brown and White Vol. 135 no. 2

              The Brown and White Vol. 135 No. 2
Tuesday, September 11, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
New off-campus housing alters South Side landscape
By MASSIEL CHECO
Assistant News Editor
As new housing options become
available in the South Side commu-nity,
some Lehigh students have the
option of swapping on-campus dorm
life for a more immersed off-campus
experience.
Five10 Flats, a luxury apartment
complex on Third Street, provides
housing for both Lehigh students and
Bethlehem residents.
“We just thought it was a really
great opportunity for people to park
their cars and be able to live in an
environment where they can walk
to work if they want to, walk to class
if they need to and have their social
(lives) within walking distance,”
Shawna Green, the property manag-er
of Five10 Flats, said.
Green said she wanted the develop-ment
to revive the South Bethlehem
area while incorporating unused
steelworks.
The complex offers one- and
two-bedroom apartments with ame-nities
like granite counter tops and a
dry cleaning service.
While the new housing develop-ment
could bring more students into
the South Side, Julianna Gimpert,
’20, who works at the Starbucks
located on the first floor of Five10
Flats, said she worries about the
impact Lehigh will have as it stretch-es
further into the South Bethlehem
community.
“The gentrification of the South
Side could be a real problem in the
long run,” Gimpert said. “As a South
Bethlehem resident and Lehigh stu-dent,
I’m worried that an increase
in luxury housing could equate to an
increase in South Bethlehem resi-dents
who cannot afford to pay their
rent and bills.”
Gimpert said Lehigh students
frequent the new Starbucks, which
opened this summer and is more
integrated in the Bethlehem commu-nity.
She thinks Lehigh students are
starting to get more comfortable with
exploring South Bethlehem, which
hasn’t always been the case.
Vickie Sairbairn, the community
manager of SouthSide Commons,
said the apartment complex will
impact Lehigh students significantly.
SouthSide Commons, located on
the corner of Brodhead Avenue and
West Packer Avenue, is expected to
open for the start of the 2019 aca-demic
year. Tenants will live in stu-dio-,
two-, three- and four-bedroom
apartments and can choose between
12-month or academic year leases.
“For Lehigh in general I think this
is going to be a great new property for
students and a great opportunity for
upperclassmen to live in a brand new
See HOUSING Page 3
Easton schools combat food insecurity Student gives
back through
food pantry
By MADISON HOFF
Managing Editor
At the end of every month,
households in the Lehigh Valley
have to ask themselves the same
question: What bills should be
paid first?
Susan Dalandan, the coordina-tor
of the Lehigh Valley Food
Policy Council, said families typi-cally
pay their rent first. Then the
car payment. Then the water bill.
Electric bill. Gas bill.
“At the end of your paycheck,
you don’t have enough money left
for food,” Dalandan said.
She said parents do not consider
health care or food as priorities.
Without money reserved for food,
the families become food insecure,
which means they do not have
consistent and sufficient access
to food. She also said parents
want to have food stability for
their families, but sometimes they
fall on hard times or other bills
become more important.
But no money for food means
children have to go to school hun-gry.
Data from Feeding America, a
domestic hunger-relief organiza-tion,
shows that one in six children
in the United States are food inse-cure.
The Greater Lehigh Valley
is above average in food insecurity
for children, with one in four con-sidered
insecure, according to The
United Way of the Greater Lehigh
Valley.
In the Easton area school dis-trict,
students receive free break-fast
and lunch everyday. Charlene
Symia, the building principal
of Easton Area Middle School,
said the students are thankful
for these meals because a lot of
their families fall just above the
See EASTON Page 2
By MADISON HOFF
Managing Editor
Rebecca Miller has helped pro-vide
food for hungry students ever
since 2012, when the passing of her
husband threatened the financial
security of her family.
During the hardship, Rebecca
Miller’s friends created a pantry
at their local church so her fam-ily
members could obtain any-thing
they needed. Rebecca Miller
said she was thankful that others
showed compassion during a diffi-cult
time.
But after the Millers’ no longer
needed assistance from the pantry,
they didn’t want to see it disap-pear.
After four years of using
the church pantry, Sarah Miller,
then a sophomore at Easton Area
High School, wanted to expand the
pantry after talking to her adviser
about service projects.
Sarah Miller said she sees stu-dents
in her school who lack basic
See PANTRY Page 2
Madelyn Braman/B&W Staff
Five10 Flats is a new apartment complex located on Third Street. The complex is one
of the new modern developments to be integrated into the South Side.