This is a response to the article “Locals lose sleep as UVM expands.”I am currently an undergraduate student here at the University of Vermont and also a resident of the city of Burlington. In the Nov. 14, 2006 edition of The Vermont Cynic an article was printed regarding the expansion of the University and the effects such an expansion may have on the locals who also call this great city “home.” One of the more vocal participants of this discussion, a Martha Lang, happens to be the owner of the apartment I am currently renting, as well as the owner of five other apartments that she currently rents exclusively to University of Vermont and Champlain College students.In the Nov. 14 article mentioned above, Lang lashed out at the University of Vermont and its community when she claimed “[her] life is in danger.” She explained how she sat awake at night, grasping her crowbar in fear of the students whom she actively and routinely houses in the buildings she owns located directly next to her own.She fails to mention that the same students congregating on her lawn are her current tenants and their guests. Lang continued by calling for a drastic cut in the University’s funding and even went as far as to say the University should pick-up and leave this city. My question to her and any local supporters she may have is: if we as a community have become such a problem, why are you still catering to us and our needs?On the same day the article under discussion was published, I received notice in the mail that in the coming weeks Lang would be showing our apartments to college students whom are prospective tenants. Why is she providing shelter and accommodations to the exact source of her frustration and fear?The answer is a simple one that any long-time Burlington resident can happily answer. Like the hundreds of local entrepreneurs who have made a substantial living off the consumers the University attracts to this little city, Lang is out of work and at a loss of income without the presence of the University of Vermont here in Burlington. And while I rest assured that no such move is in this great institution’s future, I am baffled at the fact that someone so dependant on the University and its students would have the gall to speak out against us like second class citizens.My suggestion to you, Lang, is vacate your home, rent it to students just like you do the rest of your properties and move out of this city, or at least further from the University (all properties owned by Lang, including her home, are a stone’s throw from central campus). No one has attempted to hurt you directly, and it’s apparent you are incapable of controlling your tenants and their after dusk activities. So do the city a favor and leave while making more room for students who collectively make this such a special place to live.It’s possible that in the past 20 years of renting to students, Lang has become financially stable enough to surrender her duties as a landlord and perhaps retire. It’s unfortunate that the rest of the local residents who, currently survive off the University and its population, couldn’t do the same. So do us all a favor, Martha, take your crowbar and leave.