As a resident of one of the apartments located above Ben & Jerry's, it greatly saddens me to learn that the store is closing its doors soon ("Ben and Jerry's to close," Jan. 26). However, it upsets me even more that I found out about this unfortunate occurrence not through The Apartment Store, which manages the four apartments in the building, but through the Collegian, at the same time as the entire Penn State student body.

The sad reality of the situation is that this incident does not surprise me in the least. The state of affairs in student real estate management in this town has reached a level of atrociousness that is simply unacceptable. Just because we are college students and not yet in the so-called "real world" does not mean that we should be subjected to such sub-par customer service. I think I can safely speak for much of the downtown-residing student body when I say that enough is enough. From lack of organization in arranging leases to lack of responses to maintenance issues to lack of general knowledge of the status of its rental properties, dealing with The Apartment Store has been one of the most frustrating aspects of my life at Penn State. I sincerely hope that this company can get its act together and make customer service a primary concern, lest its poor reputation catch on and its business plummet to the ground, just like the ill-fated Ben & Jerry's.