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Raleigh needs to pass regulations on Airbnb
Opinion
TECHNICIAN
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PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
Raleigh needs to pass regulations on Airbnb
For many, the so-called “sharing economy” represents a type of innovation that acts as a shining example of the free market in action: it lowers the price of goods, increases competition and Kevin enriches the creators of these Moye innovations. At face value, Staff Columnist this is exactly what the popular housing rental company Airbnb accomplishes.
Upon digging a little deeper, one will find out that this term is actually a profound misnomer. The “sharing economy” is simply a tech-savvy way to extend income inequality by helping out those who are already affluent while sharing the economic burden of this new technology among the people mostly left out by its advantages.
A recent cost-benefit analysis by the Economic Policy Institute has highlighted just how harmful Airbnb can be to local economies. Economists determined that the economic costs from Airbnb are enough to mandate regulations on the company.
Airbnb renters are able to circumvent the costs normally associated with hotel lodging because of how these housing units are being taxed. In a city like Raleigh where tourism is popular, Airbnb rentals are in direct competition with hotels. These hotels often cannot compete with the low prices of Airbnb rentals; thus, the amount of overall tax revenue is diminished as hotels are forced into paying less and Airbnb circumvents zoning laws.
Airbnb affects the supply of the housing market by converting what would have been longterm rental properties into short-term Airbnb units. A 2016 investigation on the presence of Airbnb in Boston found that for every 12 Airbnb listings per census tract, there was an increase in rent prices by about 0.4 percent. The report concluded that if Airbnb continued to grow at the 2016 rate of 24 percent for another 3 years, asking rates for rent in that city would increase by about $178 per month.
The effects of Airbnb are only worsened when compounded with the already problematic affordable housing crisis Raleigh is currently facing. The use of Airbnb in the city only works to exacerbate this crisis. In the face of price change, the demand for housing will remain the same, because people continue to seek housing in economically prosperous areas. As a result of this inelasticity in the housing market, small decreases in housing supply can significantly raise the price of housing.
The company continues to extend inequality because of how effects associated with Airbnb are distributed. The people who benefit from Airbnb are often already wealthy: property owners at the top 20 percent of the economic ladder who rent out their properties or travelers who use mostly inessential funds to pay for Airbnbs. Renters are universally impacted in areas with significant numbers of Airbnb units as the price of housing rises.
Raleigh has proposed legislation to regulate Airbnb, but debate on the issue has come to a stall. Currently, it is technically illegal to host one’s home as a short-term rental unit; however, the Raleigh legislature has decided to not enforce this policy yet as they hammer out more of the details for regulation. The proposed legislation is a step in the right direction, as it would make it mandatory for people who rent out their homes to pay a $208 fee to make up for lost tax revenue.
The new legislation also requires there to be a resident living in the unit while it is being rented out to avoid wasting potential long-term renting space. While it is controversial, the legislation would also ban the use of whole house and/or apartment rentals in order to prevent these spaces from driving up the price of housing for Raleigh natives.
Raleigh must impose these laws onto the lucrative short-term rental business if the city wishes to shield residents from the economic costs caused by it. It is certainly indisputable that short-term rentals can have positive impacts on travelers and households seeking extra income, but the considerable economic drawbacks brought by them should be enough to move the city towards regulating the industry.
F45 classes should be offered separately
One of my favorite things to do after a long day is unwind with a group fitness class. Recently, I logged on to sign up for my favorite cycling class, but I noticed Skye Sarac that the usual time slot was no longer there. Instead, the slot was replaced with an F45 Correspondent class.
Curious because I had never heard of F45, I did some research and found that it is a highfunctioning training class which focuses on functional training and incorporates different exercises, including cardio and strengthtraining. There were several videos on the site, many of which featured loud, upbeat music blasting in the background, with images of people lifting kettlebells and pushing chairs across a gym floor.
The F45 class looked like a lot of fun, but I soon realized that to sign up, I would have to purchase a subscription plan. The class is currently offered at a rate of $50 per month or $99 per semester to NC State students, which is significantly cheaper than the regular rate. However, this is still a lot for most students to afford, myself included.
While there is nothing wrong with offering a class that requires a paid subscription, the structure of this class as a regularly scheduled group fitness class is problematic. Currently, F45 is offered six times a day Monday through Friday, as well as three times throughout the weekend. Also, F45 takes place in Studio A in Carmichael Recreation Center, which was previously used for group fitness classes and now used solely for the purpose of F45.
Instead of offering F45 along with the regularly-occurring group fitness classes, F45 should be offered separately. This could make it easier for students who have purchased a subscription to find and sign up for the class, and it would leave the regular time slots for students who are interested in the free group fitness classes.
F45 certainly sounds like a great addition to the many offerings at the recreation center, and I would love to try it someday. However, moving F45 to a separate location and time could make room for other fun, exciting classes that don’t require payment or a monthly commitment.
Also, removing F45 from the regular schedule could allow more room for other classes to add to the variety of group fitness classes. Classes such as Yoga Sculpt, Power Yoga, Cycle and Circuits, and PackStrong added variety and fun to the group fitness schedule, but are no longer or rarely offered. If F45 were held at a different time slot, there would be more time available for a greater variety of classes to match different interests and skill levels.
According to NC State Wellness and Recreation, the purpose of group fitness classes is to “provide something for every body [sic].” This message of inclusivity is important, as taking part in some form of physical activity is integral to health and well-being, and offering free group classes opens the door for more students to participate in classes and acquire the benefits of physical activity. However, when students are forced to choose between paying for an F45 class or settling for limited options with the free classes, this message of inclusivity is diminished.
Poorly structured class time harms students’ learning
I’ve sat through about 30 different courses in my time here at NC State so far. I’ve sat through amazing courses with great instructors who changed the way I learned and looked at various subject matters. I’ve also sat through courses that, for some reason or another, made me want to pack up my stuff and leave halfway through every class without fail.
I’ve still got a few more courses left to take before I graduate, but I’d wager that with all the classes and instructors I’ve sat through, I can differentiate between good and bad classes, and structure is a key element of class experience.
One of the most important aspects of good structure is balance. I’m confident most of us have had classes on both extreme ends of the spectrum: dry, lecture-only courses that feel like marathons to get through, and structureless, free-form classes where the plans for that day’s class are almost never met.
I get that there are some exceptions – for example, 500-student classrooms may need to lean more heavily on the lecture side to maintain order. Those lecture-heavy courses, though, can be detrimental to the learning experience. One analysis of studies found that, on average, traditional lecturestyle classes fail students 55 percent more
Opinion
Letter to the Editor: TEDx 2.0
Iam writing to you regarding Staff Columnist Paritosh Gaiwak’s article “TEDx 2.0 to launch in fall 2019.” My thoughts today pertain to the attempt to bring TEDx Talks at NC State (formerly TEDxNCSU) back to our campus through the efforts of the two first-years and growing planning team. In theory, this is a fantastic effort for a student-led initiative. The two first-years referenced are members of the Park Scholarships Class of 2022, a program arguably known for producing high quality student leaders on our campus and initiating and propagating many successful annual events we see each year. My concern comes in the execution and some prospective issues this event might stress on the culture of campus programming. Prior to 2015, TEDxNCSU was formally organized through the Issues & Ideas (now Speakers & Professional Development) Committee of the Union (now University) Activities Board. UAB moved away from the TEDxNCSU model in favor of TUFF Talks, now in its fourth year. I’m not saying that TUFF Talks and TEDx Talks cannot co-exist – we should bring many more speakers to campus! – but I am dismayed to see that UAB was not informed or contacted about this initiative before takeoff. The UAB fee per full-time student per year is $19.63. Aspiring student leaders and event programmers should absolutely utilize UAB as a hub for marketing and event planning if they want to maintain sustainable events and find a place (again) for phenomena like TEDx.
Sincerely,
Mitchell Moravec
Mitchell Moravec is a first-year graduate student pursuing Public Administration
CLASS
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often than those with active learning environments. While this may be unavoidable for a lot of STEM students, those teachers given the luxury of teaching a smaller classroom shouldn’t treat it like a lecture hall. Another important aspect of a well-structured course is planning. I can’t recall how many times in high school and college I’ve heard, “Well, we’re running a bit behind.” I fully understand that it happens to even the best of teachers occasionally, but there are times when an instructor just never catches up and the last few weeks are a mess. Teachers shouldn’t be afraid to cut conversations short and get through material, because it will just hurt everyone in the end otherwise. Some may think structure doesn’t matter because you’re going to learn what you need to learn by the end of a class anyway, but that’s not realistic. A poorly-structured class affects how people learn. Bad structure impacts a lot of educational factors: how seriously a class is taken, how easily the information given can be processed, how students decide what is and isn’t important to remember and so on.
Ben Johnson, director of Treeside Charter School, emphasized planning for students’ interests and behaviors and allotting an appropriate amount of time to discussions and other distractions. And this goes both ways: while classes lacking framework need to sufficiently prepare in order to ensure that all the important lessons in the actual lecture are taught, lecture-heavy courses also need to take this advice and slow down their pace so that students get to weigh in and actually feel like a part of the class.
To summarize, yes, the structure of a class session is important in education. It’s safe to say that when you are paying thousands in tuition, you’re paying for more than just what you’re going to learn; you’re expecting, at least subconsciously, that the “how” of your college education will be quality, too. You should expect, and demand, that your professors really can lecture and know how to lead a classroom.
TECHNICIAN
PAGE 7 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
Thoughts from our readers:
A selection of comments sent to us from readers in short form over the past week, with their sources listed below. In Response to: Socialism is not a bad word
In Response to: Normalizing pronouns: putting the onus on us
In Response to: Jim Craig’s comment
-Krista Wooten, via Facebook
-Jim Craig, via Facebook
“It’s the right, courteous thing to do. If your beliefs are different then here’s an example for you that is a less important than this issue. Example: My father is named Marvin Grady S., but he HATES the name Marvin and asks that people call him Grady... so they do. They could call him Marvin and argue that it is his birth name, but they DON’T. Why? Because it matters to him and changes nothing for them. It’s the kind thing to do.”
-Deanna Alfaro, via Facebook
As Seen Around Campus
TECHNICIAN
PAGE 8 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
CONNOR SMITH/TECHNICIAN Riley Stephenson, a second-year studying chemistry with a minor in vocal performance, performs as Cliff Bradshaw alongside David Schnatter, a second-year studying biological sciences, performing as Herr Schultz in Cabaret in Stewart Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. Cabaret will be showing in Stewart Theatre from Feb. 20-23 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 at 2:00 p.m.
CONNOR SMITH/TECHNICIAN Cast members of Cabaret perform a musical number in Stewart Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. Cabaret will be showing in Stewart Theatre from Feb. 20-23 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 at 2:00 p.m.
As Seen Around Campus
TECHNICIAN
PAGE 9 • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2019
EMILY LASKOWSKI/TECHNICIAN Ryan Vasconcellos plays the role of Emcee in the musical Cabaret on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019 in Stewart Theater. Vasconcellos is a fourth-year majoring in communication and minoring in theatre.
CONNOR SMITH/TECHNICIAN MacKenzie Scheid, a fourth-year studying communication media with a minor in theater, performs as Sally Bowles in Cabaret in Stewart Theatre on Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2019. Cabaret will be showing in Stewart Theatre from Feb. 20-23 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 24 at 2:00 p.m.
