Although the student status clause in the State College Borough's proposed fair housing ordinance has some property owners up in arms, the clause would not have a significant impact on student housing.

Robert Godlove, attorney at the University's Center for Conflict Management, said he is unable to predict what would happen if the clause is included. Because the ordinance requires mediation before legal action can be taken, there probably would not be any added legal alternatives for students, he said.

The clause probably would not have any effect on rent prices either, Godlove said.

"I think rent is driven by market forces," he said, adding that rent prices are based on a building's occupancy, proximity to campus and amenities.

Diana Harshbarger, rental consultant for Parkway Plaza Apartments, 1000 Plaza Drive, said if approved, the clause would not affect the firm's attitude toward students. Parkway Plaza has had success integrating students and non-students by offering separate buildings, each primarily inhabited by families, students or senior citizens.

"Undergraduates want to live with other undergraduates, not in our senior citizen and family buildings," Harshbarger said. Students are not restricted to any building, provided they follow the rules, she added.

Borough Manager Peter Marshall and several borough council members have said they would support the elimination of student status from the proposed ordinance.

But by eliminating student status, the community is making students second-class citizens, said Mike Gillespie, Undergraduate Student Government Senate president. The fair housing ordinance has to provide for the well-being of the entire community, which includes the University, he said.

Borough residents have a right not to have their lifestyles disrupted, Gillespie said, adding that students do not and will not disrupt that lifestyle.

"The guarantee of non-discrimination doesn't mean students will be encroaching on the residents," Gillespie said.

Local property owner Brian Kaleita said he did not know what impact the clause would have on local rental properties or if rents would be affected, but said it's silly to have a non-discrimination ordinance that does not cover the largest population block in the community.

But Anita Genger, president of the Holmes-Foster Neighborhood Association, said the student status clause should be removed from the proposed ordinance. Protecting students should not be a consideration because students don't need to be protected, she said, adding that removing the clause would not be discriminated.

Genger said she has never had any problems with the students she rents to, and that she doesn't expect the clause's removal to have any effect on her rental properties or the amount of rent she charges.

"I don't see many homeless students running around," Genger said.