2021-07-30-pine-press

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SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 2

Pine Press July 2021 Spartan Housing Cooperative Table of Contents Cover design by Maria Vitale of Phoenix 03 Note from the Editor 03 131 Whitehills Referendum Commentary 08 Crash Course in Credit Cards 10 What’s the deal with COVID restrictions?

11 Evictions 12 Why You Should Care About Child Care!

14 Horoscopes 15 Interim Coordinators and Work Crew 16 NO PANTS PARTY

Note from the Editor

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 3 Yo whaddup I don’t have much to say here rn but I wanna say I hope everyone is having a thrilling and chilling summer and enjoying your time in the co-ops, whether it’s before your next batch of folks move in, before you move rooms or houses, or before you depart for a new journey!

If you ever wanna talk coop shite with me HMU! Yours truly in cooperation, Emily Tyler Vice Prez of Edu/Exec VP, Vesta

131 Whitehills Referendum Commentary

By Erik Berg, SHC President, Orion On Sunday, June 27th, 2021, the two-week voting period for SHC’s final referendum on the purchase of 131 Whitehills closed with 131 votes. 104 voters were in favor of the purchase; 27 against. The decision followed 50 years of attempts to purchase the property, and has certified the first expansion of cooperative living in East Lansing since the purchase of Phoenix in 1994. This vote was preceded by two years of feasibility analyses, meetings with the various powers that be, committee discussions, house presentations, Pine Press articles, and plenty of individual consideration by us all. It’s been incredibly heartening to see the interest in this process throughout, and I’m truly thankful for everyone who took the time to vote.

These expansion opportunities don’t happen very often, and it's for this reason that a property purchase is no small decision. Both of the potential outcomes prompted a number of concerns by our membership. It felt prudent to include a section of the ballot for any comments to be shared with the full membership, which many voters made good use of. A spreadsheet of the referendum results, including all comments, was sent out in an email to all members on July 6th, 2021. Looking through it all, I was pretty happy to see that a lot of voters, especially those who’d voted “No,” took the time to share their thoughtful opinions, questions, hopes, and concerns. The outcome of the referendum, and especially some of the comments, really merits some analysis — or at least some commentary.

In a perfect world, I would be responding to almost all of them here. But Emily doesn’t want my article to take up, like, half of this Pine Press edition, so I’ve had to cut things back a bit.

This was also originally meant to dive into some neat analyses of the results, like the positive correlation between House Officer attendance at committee meetings and a House’s % of Yes votes, and the variety of possible factors impacting a particular house’s membership’s vote.

With the real world’s limit on paper and ink, I’ll use this space to cover some, but not all, of the comments that I thought warranted a response. And with that said, let’s dive right into ‘em.

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 4

The Comments (All are in italics and copied verbatim) House: Howland Vote: No Comments: I feel the property in particular is not wise for purchase— to far away for example, Bower already not the most desired of the houses. Additionally other existing co-ops have existing issues— we should focus on restoring the homes we already have if the property in question isn’t the best/worth it. We should hold off until a more desired property becomes available, and in the meantime fix up current houses.

Here’s the thing: a more desired property is not going to become available, and you can quote me on that for decades to come.

The unfortunate truth is that acquiring property to start a co-op is tremendously difficult nowadays. The SHC and similar co-ops nationwide were able to grow and expand so easily in the ‘70s because fraternities and sororities were going broke left and right, and their old houses could essentially be bought for half-price. The East Lansing housing market of today is extremely competitive, and property values are soaring. To quote the front page article of the February 1972 Pinecone (Pine Press): The center of East Lansing is already decaying as residential dwellings are fast being succeeded by commercial buildings. No doubt developers will seize the chance to move in and throw up monstrous high-rise luxury apartments to further fleece the MSU students in the decades to come. Isn't it SHC's responsibility to provide low-cost housing, because who else will? The expansion of the cooperative movement is not going to be accommodated at MSU solely through the acquisition of small houses and abandoned sororities and fraternities, although that short-term expansion is continuing and will continue, but the supply of such places is limited.

Even truer now, we don’t have the luxury of choosing where to open a property. All of our houses, no matter how desirable or undesirable, were acquired through special opportunities that aren’t often replicable. We really are opportunists.

House: Howland Vote: No Comments: Will not vote yes until i’m certain my house will not be used as collateral. as one of the few houses with little to no vacancy issues and no current mortgage payments, i’m nervous ours will be the first to be put up.

Oof. This one’s a little awkward. It’s also a great example of why I’m so enthusiastic about co-op history, and why it’s so important that it’s properly documented, shared with, and understood by all of us.

The truth: Howland is currently being used as collateral, is having vacancy issues (at the time of this referendum), and is currently paying a mortgage. The current vacancy issues are shared with all other houses and only as a consequence of the pandemic, but the rest has been true for the past decade.

Howland paid off the initial mortgage on their house in 1963, and that same week, took out another mortgage on their house to buy Montie. Howland existed as an independent co-op until 2011, when its long standing financial, membership, and maintenance issues reached a point where the house was bankrupt, empty, and near foreclosure. To save the house, the members donated it to SHC, which brought with it the $130,000 in mortgage payments Howland owed. In response, SHC refinanced this mortgage with the existing mortgages on Orion, Vesta, and Phoenix together, which additionally allowed

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 5 $250,000 in equity to be taken out of the properties. $100,000 was used to partially fund the necessary renovations to Howland, and $150,000 went toward capital improvements for all of our properties. As a result, Howland hasn’t been bulldozed, but we’re all continuing to make mortgage payments to this day — with Howland continuing to be collateral, just as it has been for a majority of its 73-year history.

House: Raft Hill Vote: No Comments: The one major maintenance issue that was not covered is timeliness. Many houses have major maintenance issues that have received a slow response or have not yet received a response after months. I know of one house that has heating issues and the resolution was to give everyone in the house space heaters. That’s like putting a band aid on a gaping wound. From the looks and sounds of it, the SHC is struggling to maintain their current houses and I believe adding another houses will make this maintenance issue even worse.

It's hard to disagree with the observations on timeliness and band aid solutions. The past year has seen SHC’s maintenance capacity stretched incredibly thin, but it’s important to put this into context.

A year ago, Mike McCurdy had to take a leave of absence for a few months, and has since only been able to return to work 20 hours a week. At the same time, several of SHC’s contractors were put out of business by the pandemic. Almost all contractors who’d stayed in business became somewhat unreliable: it was hard to get people to agree to do work in “group housing” at the height of the pandemic of the century. As VPF, Nikki shifted much of her productivity to take on some of the maintenance staffing deficit, and her involvement was central to resolving Bower’s plumbing emergency last year. But her capacity couldn’t come close to substituting Mike. By February, we were able to hire Dan Tooman full-time. He got right to work on the significant backlog of maintenance issues, and from looking at the current maintenance request queue, it seems he’s nearly caught up at last.

Very recently, the Facilities Team met to finish compiling their budget for the next fiscal year, and it was looking like we’d be set to hire a third facilities employee next month. After trying out several hypothetical adjustments, this idea was unfortunately scrapped: we had *just* too little income to afford a third maintenance staffer. This staffing increase is still very much desired by all of us, of course, but the only way we could afford it is to increase our revenue. Without increasing everyone’s monthly assessment beyond the usual inflationary increase, the only way to do this is to increase the number of assessments.

Without significantly increasing the occupancy of our existing houses, the only way to do this is to increase the number of houses.

House: Beal Vote: No Comments: There are far too many problems that need to be fixed and are taking too long to fix for the shc to take on a whole new house. Bower itself is one of the last houses to get filled every year so another house right next to it doesn’t sound like something that will be a hot commodity for renters. It already doesn’t feel like the money that we are putting into the shc is actually coming back to our houses so adding another house is just going to further the load that the shc can’t handle.

In April of 2002, Bower actually requested the Board of Directors to increase their occupancy because they “always fill and there is always more interest.” Much earlier, upon moving into 127 Whitehills in 1964, Bower even had to max out their occupancy with a crowded 34 members: they needed as much money as they could get in order to pay off the building’s land contract, and the co-op’s demand was high.

Of course — that was then and this is now. It is true that Bower is one of the last houses to get filled every year. Pandemics aside, however, it never fails to fill to capacity. An obvious disadvantage to many

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 6 prospective members is its relative distance to campus. Contrarily, its relative distance to campus is, to many, an obvious advantage. Bower is unique among the “campus co-ops” in that it’s separated from the “debauchery of the student population,” as one resident told me. Bower is in a neighborhood of families, not frats. Their neighborhood tyrants aren’t cops; they’re Karens. The lawns are manicured, the nights are quiet, and they’re still a short walk, bike, or drive away from the hustle and bustle of a college town.

Student or not, this arrangement is appealing to an abundance of both the SHC and greater community.

I think I covered the bulk of maintenance-related concerns in my response to the prior comment, but not quite the one being made here.

SHC began with six houses and 175 members. With those numbers, we were only able to afford one full-time staff member. Contractors could be hired for big projects, but house members were on their own for all other maintenance. After three years, we’d grown to nine houses, 244 members, gained a second staffer, and could afford to hire more professionals to maintain and improve our houses. This trend continued as our growth continued: we were able to hire one full-time maintenance person, eventually two, and put an ever-increasing amount of money into our houses. Even after adjusting for inflation, the money put into maintaining our houses, both in value and as a percentage of the SHC budget, has only grown up until the present. This is possible due to our “economy of scale,” which affects an organization as it increases the scale of its operations. Every house will use up some of the maintenance budget, but every house generates more revenue than it costs. Increasing the number of SHC houses means more money coming in, more money going out, and increasing the margins, freeing up more money to be spent.

The concern about SHC charges not coming back to houses is a subjective impression, which makes it harder to refute, but I’ll try.

No house is perfect. Owning a home means that there’s always something broken, something that needs attention. Especially living in an old house. Beal was built in 1923. All other houses are similarly aged.

These problems stick out like a sore thumb, unlike the significant improvements that’ve been made in recent years. When Beal joined SHC in 2008, the house got a complete renovation: drywall, wiring, exterior, plumbing, floors, ceilings, everything. The house got a new roof in 2012, and a paint job in 2015.

The fire escape was rebuilt in 2019, and the roof railing was just rebuilt this year. I don’t have any financials handy, but these major repairs have easily totaled into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, to make no mention of the various minor improvements in that time. All other houses have a similar story. An overwhelming amount of our charges do go into maintaining our houses, yet the noticeable, chronic issues inherent to homeownership create a confirmation bias that might tell us otherwise.

House: Elsworth Vote: No Comments: The process of this Referendum seems pretty skewed. Does the ballot reflect arguments? You have like 10 paragraphs explaining why it would be fine and so great, and literally a bulleted list of counterpoints House: Apollo Vote: No Comments: This appears as a marketing ploy to buy this house, too One-sided.

I’ve combined these two because they make the same point.

Our Bylaws ensure referendum ballots are objective and fair by requiring the question “Does this ballot fairly reflect opposing views on the issue?” be included, and invalidating a referendum if less than ⅔ of

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 7 voters answer “Yes.” To further this, an unwritten practice has been to include “arguments for” and “arguments against” in the ballot language, especially if it’s a vote on a new co-op.

It’s true: the ballot included much more information to support the purchase than not support it. The reason: there exists much more information to support the purchase than not support it. Between the 8+ people working to create the ballot language, I can tell you that generating the “arguments against” list was the most difficult task by far. The members writing this section ultimately had to write a list of fallacious arguments that no one on the committee held themselves. Personally, I went to great pains to try and recruit at least one person who was against the purchase to the referendum committee, but was unsuccessful: People who are willing to get involved in that sort of thing are people who are already pretty involved in the SHC; people who are involved in the SHC have generally been well-informed on the details surrounding the purchase; people who have kept well-informed about 131 Whitehills have unanimously supported the purchase.

And that’s why there are “like 10 paragraphs explaining why it would be fine and so great.” I’m assuming that this is referring to the ballot’s FAQ section, which is typically included in referenda so that all members can make an informed decision. The financial, maintenance, occupancy, and other concerns many people, including myself, express when first hearing of the potential purchase are completely sensible. But they’re based on a lack of knowledge. Logically, hearing that the purchase means taking on a few hundred thousand in debt doesn’t inspire confidence. But knowing just how small and inconsequential that debt is to our organization — and understanding how this type of debt is even essential for our continued financial success — is the difference between logically observing a flat earth and rationally understanding a spherical earth. Plenty of people support a flat-earth model over a globe, but I wouldn’t expect a planetarium to evenly present both viewpoints.

None of this is meant to be mean.

I want to reaffirm that I don’t think any of the comments I’ve responded to here are in any way “bad” or “dumb,” and I genuinely appreciate their authors taking the time to make these thoughts known, to say nothing of just taking the time to cast their ballots. It should be clear that most if not all voters, whether voting “Yes” or “No,” made their vote based on what they believed to be the most beneficial decision for the members, houses, and SHC as a whole — present and future. Especially, the “No” voters were largely concerned that an expansion would worsen SHC in the future, and acted not out of self-interest, but to preserve the cooperative system they’ve benefited from for future generations. In co-op systems like ours, this stewardship mindset is not only essential for continued survival, but about as admirable as it gets. A desire to ensure the continued prosperity of cooperative living for those unknown, future members to come is what led to the formation of SHC, and why we’re still here 50 years later.

The primary point of this article is to reassure those who have these concerns. Tone is sometimes difficult to interpret through writing. While my style of writing and sense of humor can sometimes be a bit snarky, I don’t want anyone to think I’m talking down to them here.

These concerns are well-reasoned, but I can promise that they don’t stand up to the facts of the matter. The acquisition of 131 Whitehills has been a primary focus of mine for the past two years, and I’ve thoroughly evaluated every conceivable effect — positive and negative — it

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 8 could have on all of us at least twice over in that time. If you’re still concerned or unsure, please feel welcome to contact me about it, either at president@spartan.coop or by swinging by the SHC Office. Currently, every house has at least one member who can vouch that I love talking about all of this with people — it’s truly my pleasure.

Crash Course in Credit Cards

By Leah Rogers, Corporate Treasurer, Vesta What is the difference between a credit card and a debit card?

Credit and debit cards look very similar, with their card numbers, expiration dates, and magnetic strips. Most of us probably have at least one credit card and one debit card in our wallets. The main differences between credit and debit cards involve the accounts that they are linked to and the amount of buyer protection that they offer. A debit card links directly to a cardholder’s checking account at a bank while a credit card is linked to a set line of credit extended to a cardholder by a bank or credit card company. Understanding the difference between credit and debit cards can help you, as a purchaser, protect yourself from fraud, build a credit score, and even earn rewards on purchases.

What are the benefits of using a credit card vs a debit card?

First, let’s talk about fraud protection. Fraud happens when someone makes unauthorized purchases using a stolen card or card number. In most cases, a credit card will offer much greater fraud protection than a debit card. In the event that your credit card is used fraudulently, as the cardholder, you would only potentially be liable for up to $50 in charges. Often, there is no cost at all. In the event of debit card fraud, on the other hand, the cardholder is responsible for reporting a lost or stolen card within 48 hours, otherwise their liability will rise to $500. If the cardholder does not report a lost or stolen debit card within 60 days, there is no limit to their liability cost.

Credit cards can also help you build your credit history. There are both positive and negative aspects of credit history, which are based on a cardholder’s usage. On-time payments and low credit utilization ratios are both aspects of positive credit history. Late payments and delinquent accounts will contribute to negative credit history. Credit history information is used to calculate an individual’s credit score. Your credit score can impact things like the interest rates you will be offered on loans as well as rental opportunities. Many credit card companies will offer free credit score monitoring as a perk for being a cardholder.

Many credit cards will also offer cardholders incentives for using their card, known as rewards. Rewards will often be in the form of cash back on purchases, travel points, or the option to exchange points for gift cards to certain retailers. Some rewards cards will even allow you to select a category to earn more rewards in, such as travel, grocery, or dining. If you select a rewards category where you are likely to do the most spending, you can accumulate points even faster. Rewards are a nice perk for using a card, but it is not

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 9 recommended that a cardholder go out of their way to spend money solely to receive rewards.

What is APR? You’ve probably seen advertisements for credit cards that mention a percentage “APR.” APR stands for “annual percentage rate” which is the interest rate that the credit card company charges on your outstanding balance. In most cases, you won’t have to pay interest if you pay off your balance on time and in full each month.

If you are carrying a balance on your account, you can calculate how much interest you can expect to pay by breaking your APR down into a daily percentage rate (DPR). You can calculate DPR by dividing your APR by 365. Next, you would calculate your average daily balance for the month by adding up your balances at the end of each day during the billing cycle and dividing by the number of days in the billing cycle. To finally calculate your monthly interest, you would multiply your DPR with average daily balance and days in billing cycle.

This formula can be visualized as: DPR x Average Daily Balance x Days in Billing Cycle = Credit Card Interest. Keep in mind that the interest that you would pay for each month will differ based on the number of days in the month.

What are the different types of credit cards?

Secured cards: Secured cards are a great option for those with little to no credit history or those who are trying to improve upon negative credit history. A secured card differs from a general-purpose credit card in that a security deposit is required to open one. This security deposit serves as the cardholder’s line of credit and is returned to the user upon closing the account with no outstanding balance. Because this type of card requires the user to front the money for their line of credit, most issuers will offer guaranteed approval of applicants.

General-purpose card or unsecured credit cards: An unsecured credit card is one that does not require a security deposit to open. These are the most common type of credit card used and allow users to actually borrow money on a line of credit. Unsecured cards are available to applicants of all credit scores, but those with lower credit scores are more likely to be required to pay an annual fee for using the card.

Charge cards: Charge cards are a type of credit card that allow users to charge purchases to a line of credit without paying interest because the balance must be paid in-full at the end of each month. These types of cards often have higher credit limits and more attractive rewards because they do not allow users to carry a balance from month-to-month. Charge cards allow users the convenience of a credit card without the risk of accumulating too much debt.

Common credit card advice: I want to conclude this article with some credit card wisdom that you may or may not have heard before. Consider this section as recommendations or things to consider when using your credit card.

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 10 Never skip a payment. While it is better to just pay off your balance in-full each month to avoid paying interest, it is still better to make a partial payment than none at all.

Making at lease the minimum payment each month will allow you to avoid late fees, penalty interest rates, and negative hits on your credit score.

Try to keep your credit utilization ratio below 30%. Your credit utilization ratio is the percentage of your total available credit that you are using. Being cognizant of your credit utilization ratio will not only help you to keep your balance low; keeping a low utilization ratio will contribute to a healthy credit score!

Keep old credit cards open, even if you don’t use them. Another aspect of credit history that impacts your credit score is the age of your accounts. The longer a line of credit has been open, the more it will improve your credit score. Therefore, keeping old credit cards open, even if they’re sitting in a drawer, will help you to keep your credit score healthy.

In conclusion: Credit cards don’t have to be an intimidating financial tool or a gateway to debt.

Careful and informed credit card usage can be a great benefit for a user and lead to better financial offers in the future. I hope that you learned something from this article and that you feel empowered to make informed decisions regarding your own credit usage. If you have any questions or comments or if you just want to chat, feel free to send me an email at treasurer@spartan.coop!

What’s the Deal with COVID Restrictions?

By Duncan Begley, Vesta Basically the pandemic is over… NOT! Despite our local administrations best efforts

🙄 only 62.9% of michigan

residents have gotten at least the first dose of a vaccine. As a result of these staggering results Michigan has drastically pulled back all restrictions concerning covid-19 There are no current executive orders from the governor about covid-19 Current State of Michigan guidelines and recommendations include: ●

Everyone is encouraged to get vaccinated as soon as you are able to

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 11 ●

There is no statewide mask requirements

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If you are experiencing covid-19 symptoms, get tested unless fully vaccinated

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Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds

Michigan Department of Health & Human Services recommends: ●

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Non vaccinated people should wear masks in: ○

Crowded outdoor settings and events

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When participating in outdoor contact sports

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Residential Care Facilities

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Outdoor congregate settings

All individuals should wear masks in: ○

Outdoor congregate settings where a covid-19 outbreak is underway

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Classrooms

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When participating in indoor contact sports

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Residential Care Facilities

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Indoor congregate settings

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Healthcare facilities

Information taken from michigan.gov/coronavirus

Evictions

By Noah Walker, Harambee Evictions have been the talk of the nation because of a nationwide moratorium on housing until July 31st of 2021. Due to unemployment and more people laid off from work, many people in the United States have been relying on unemployment benefits and stimulus checks. Renters have the right to getting legal and financial assistance to rent that was owed since March of 2020 by sending a paper application or online to their Housing Assessment and Resource Agency. You can apply even if the landlord has not given a notice to quit, complaint for eviction, or demand for possession.

Most agencies combating homelessness and evictions use the HMIS system that records confidential data as a coordinated entry form. There is a scale that this database uses to determine how high of a risk and what interventions are needed to obtain housing.

The least serious level of homelessness includes being at risk of becoming homeless, a medium score would indicate a need for a rapid rehousing that would quickly get a homeless

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 12 person housed as immediately as possible, and the highest score on the scale is chronic homelessness that requires more intensive intervention through social workers.

For people requiring housing after being evicted, the city of Dallas, Mesquite, and North Texas has tackled the growing problem of housing through a $10 million Rapid Rehousing initiative from Congress with another $10 million through private donors. The motto is that people have a right to be housed and need housing first. This is also helpful for people who are homeless that also have substance addictions and mental health disorders because the theory is that the substance abuse and mental health disorders gradually decrease when someone is stably housed.

Links: 1).https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2021/06/to-reduce-homelessness-dallas-plans-to-give-peopl e-somewhere-to-live/?fbclid=IwAR2aiUt59Vo3lX4cSaBcCpNgkUR0aFCGqrjQJvnE59PJSGcCAPvv6baS2j8 2). https://michiganlegalhelp.org/coronavirus/eviction

Why You Should Care About Child Care!

By Maddie Elliot, Ferency There’s some very exciting investments for children and families coming down from the feds! The American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the previous two covid relief packages (CARES in March and CRRSAA in December) have made record investments in child care. The American Families Plan, with even more child care funding, will be up for a vote in the next few months in Congress and has a decent chance of passing! It’s definitely not time to sing Congress’s praises, since the child care system has been chronically underfunded since its inception, and it took a pandemic to increase funding, but anyways, here are some investments to look forward to and talk with your representatives about: ★ $1.4 billion to begin repairing Michigan’s broken child care system (from ARP and CRRSAA federal dollars) which has yet to pass the Michigan Legislature. ○

Gov Whitmer proposed using these funds to increase eligibility for families to access subsidies for child care, increase subsidy payments to child care providers (which are dismally low at $1.75-$5.80 an hour), offer start-up grants to help new child care businesses open, and other grants to keep child care centers open!

★ In the American Families Plan, which also has yet to pass, Pres Biden has proposed $225 billion over ten years to subsidize child care so that low and middle income

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 13 families don’t pay more than 7% of their income on child care for children under 5, saving the average family $14,800 per year. DHHS determined that child care is affordable if it takes up no more than 7% of a family’s income, so this funding would be a game-changer.

Why should you, a college kid, care about child care? The idea of being a parent is terrifying and feels a million miles away for most of us, but most of us have friends and family who are parents. We were once little kids ourselves, and our parents likely had to make hard decisions about whether to work and pay child care fees that rival college tuition costs, ask a loved one or nanny to watch you, or quit their job to care for you. This is a huge gender and racial equity issue. Roughly 136,000 Michigan women left the workforce during the pandemic, many of them women of color, and lack of child care was a main reason for this “she”cession.

Whether or not you ever have kids, the lack of affordable, high-quality child care in Michigan will influence your loved ones and your community. You may become a business owner who struggles to find employees because they can’t accept a job offer until they find child care. You may be the person that your sibling relies on to care for their child while they work. So it’s time to make some noise to your representatives and show them that they need to prioritize funding child care by: ★ Passing Gov Whitmer’s child care funding proposal, & ★ Passing Pres Biden’s American Families Plan If you are registered to vote in more conservative districts, your phone calls and emails are even more crucial to getting child care funding passed in Michigan. Speak up, it’s their job to listen to you! Legislative staff share the most common topics with your Legislators, so spread the word!

If you are registered to vote in East Lansing these are your representatives: ★ Julie Brixie - Michigan House of Representatives ★ Curtis Hertel - Michigan Senate ★ Gary Peters - US Senate ★ Elissa Slotkin - US House of Representatives

Horoscopes Submitted anonymously

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 14 Leo (July 23-Aug. 22): This month is all about you, dear Leo. I know you think that every month is, but this time it’s for real. Don’t deny yourself anything, and if anyone has anything to say about it, fuck ‘em. But not literally, you don’t need that kind of negativity in your life.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Many people admire you for your level-headedness and the humor that you find in difficult situations. This sounds more like a one-liner from a fortune cookie than a horoscope. Doesn’t Chinese food sound delightful for dinner tonight?

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): As I’m sure you’ve seen by now, the entire Twilight series has been added to Netflix. I know you’re thinking what I’m thinking. Draw those blinds, make a big ol’ bowl of popcorn, and open up a bottle of wine. We’re marathoning, baby!

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22): You’ve been feeling restless lately, dear Scorpio. The monotony of your day-to-day life is beginning to take its toll on you. It’s time for a break from your routine.

Take a trip, try a new restaurant, go to your Spotify discover page; I don’t care what you do, but make it out of the ordinary.

Sagittarius (Nov. 23-Dec. 21): Time for a new tattoo, piercing, or hairstyle. Don’t think, only do.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): All of your friends really appreciate your perspective and advice even when they don’t take it. Trust me, they hear you and agree with you, they’re just dumb bitches, and that’s okay!

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19): Rose quartz is on the menu this month, my Aquarius friend. You’re probably a little down lately or feeling a bit insecure, but you shouldn’t be! Rose quartz is the perfect stone for manifesting an abundance of love, including self-love. Just beware, it may also attract some weirdos.

Pisces (Feb. 20-March 20): It seems like everyone has a side hustle nowadays. What happened to just vibing? Don’t let capitalism trick you into thinking that every day of your life needs to be monetized. Do things just because you enjoy them. Money is fake anyway.

Aries (March 21-April 20): Stop spending so much time thinking about people who wouldn’t give you the time of day. Sometimes things just aren’t meant to be. You’re blocking yourself from accepting something far greater when you hyper-focus on relationships that have failed.

Taurus (April 21-May 20): Time to clear out your email inbox. That is all.

Gemini (May 21-June 20): You probably believe in Sasquatch, but don’t believe in yourself.

Well, I want to tell you that those things aren’t mutually exclusive. You can, and should, believe in both.

Cancer (June 21-July22): There’s something going on with you that feels like a rock in your shoe, but like, on an emotional level. Time to confront that.

INTERIM WEEK Be your co-op’s interim coordinator!

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 15 ★ Lead your co-op in the preparation for Interim Inspections. Throughout this month, you should be holding your house accountable to keeping things clean, cleaning areas that are dirty, or organizing a house work day to complete a deep clean of your house ★ Letting in Interim Work Crew members if there are spaces that need to be cleaned during Interim Week. If any space in your house is dirty, we will send an Interim Work Crew member over to clean it as soon as they're able to do so. You'll be the person coordinating with us to make sure they get let in the house and shown where the cleaning supplies are ★ Attending the Interim Inspection and leading us through your house. ★ Organizing the first House Meeting of the year, and turning in the list of Officers for your House after they are chosen. ★ $50 credit to your AppFolio Account !!!

Be a part of the Interim Work Crew! ★ Clean rooms that the Interim Inspection Crew decide are not ready for incoming members ★ Taking pictures after cleaning to serve as proof that the rooms are now ready ★ $15/hr credit to your AppFolio Account for each hour of cleaning! **Rooms that need to be cleaned will be offered to Interim Coordinators first, and then via email to the Interim Work Crew. They can then be claimed on a first come, first serve basis by members of the Interim Work Crew. **

Co-op move day; switching rooms in your house or moving to a new house

!!! Monday August 23rd!!!

Interim details can be found in July 13th email from memberservices@spartan.coop Reach out to Marty at memberservices@spartan.coop to be your co-op’s coordinator or be on the work crew

SHC Pine Press July 2021 | 16