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On Campus Blog
Alex Friedrich

Why choosing a roommate carefully is important

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I'm not trying to be flip about this with the headline.

Tensions between roommates aren't just the stuff of The Odd Couple.

My brother has had his share of situations in which he's been stuck with creepy roommates who end up having anger-management problems or severe control-freak issues. My brother is a big teddy bear, and after realizing he can't deal with them, has had to move out discretely -- sometimes having to forsake his deposit.

Now we hear that authorities have charged a 23-year-old with second-degree murder on allegations that he bludgeoned his University of Minnesota housemate to death.

The Minnesota Daily reports that Adam Lee Sterling allegedly beat 22-year-old University of Minnesota electrical engineering student Leo Kohorst with a crowbar more than 20 times. Police found the body at their home on the 3000 block of 18th Ave. South on Sunday morning.

The Minnesota Daily reports:

The documents noted continuing tensions among the roommates. Kohorst, who owned the house, was considering evicting Sterling for breaking house rules.

Apparently, Kohorst was thinking of evicting Sterling because Sterling had broken some house rules such as smoking, the Associated Press reports.

This makes me wonder whether colleges have tips for roommates -- tenants and landlords alike. (Not that it necessarily would have prevented this, but conflict management skills are a valuable thing these days.)