Student Government Association Endorses City Inspection Ordinance

Pennsylvania College of Technology's Student Government Association voted unanimously in front of a packed room of approximately 60 students at its March senate meeting to support the recently proposed rental-inspection ordinance for the City of Williamsport.

"We are in favor because we feel that safety is something worth paying for," said SGA President Sabrena A. O'Keefe, a business administration-human resource management major from McClure.

Fourteen Penn College students residing in off-campus apartments at 633 W. Fourth St. were displaced recently because of a fire that occurred on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 26. None of the students involved was seriously injured, and the rental property had working smoke detectors.

"If that property had not recently passed an inspection by the Williamsport Bureau of Codes, it is possible that students living there could have been seriously injured or even killed," O'Keefe explained. "This is not the first time that fire alarms have protected our students."

"Students realize that the initial cost of updating some of the rental properties could mean higher rents," O'Keefe added. "But, in the long run, we see the benefits outweighing the costs."

The SGA at Penn College is the democratically elected voice of the students. The organization represents the entire student body, including an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 students who rent properties in and around the city.

For more information about SGA at Penn College, visit on the Web.