Ben Tupper will step onto a plane that will take him to Afghanistan today.

When he leaves, he will be leaving behind more than just his wife and four children; he will leave about 300 Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry students, most of whom he might easily call his neighbors and friends.

Tupper, an SU graduate, local landlord and captain in the Army National Guard, was ordered Feb. 14 to one year of active duty in Afghanistan with a small group from the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Syracuse, Tupper said.

Tupper, who owns close to 40 houses in the university area, has a good reputation among his student-tenants.

‘There is a line between being a landlord and being a friend,’ Tupper said. ‘My goal is to fuse them.’

‘The best thing is that he tells you all these tips that you’d never get from another landlord,’ said Emily Wiles, a fifth-year architecture major who lives in one of Tupper’s houses on Euclid Avenue.

Tupper often sends e-mails with money-saving tips and reminders, such as turning the heat down during the day, Wiles said. He even offered a new service this year shoveling driveways and taking garbage to the curb for only $4 extra per month.

‘He’s not like an authority figure; he’s one of us,’ said Courtney Palermo, a senior environmental studies major at SUNY-ESF. ‘That’s what makes his business so successful.’

Palermo, who lives on Ackerman Avenue, said when the tenants in the apartment above her showered, some water would get on the floor and then leak into her bathroom – directly into or onto the toilet.

‘It was like the ceiling was peeing,’ Palermo said.

Tupper relayed the concern and the issue was resolved, Palermo said, but not until after he cracked the joke, ‘Just bring an umbrella with you when you go to the bathroom.’

‘I call him one day and he’s here the next for the repair,’ Palermo said. ‘With our last landlord, we had to wait a week.’

‘I’ve never taken a traditional approach to tenant-landlord relationships,’ Tupper said. ‘I recognize that when I was a student, I did a lot of dumb things – broken windows, holes in walls – I don’t get bent out of shape.’

Tupper graduated from SU in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. In 1992, he received his master’s degree in public administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

‘I don’t have a problem with parties, but they can’t get out of control, because things will get damaged,’ Tupper said.

He recalled one recent instance when he had to keep a group of tenants in check.

‘I told them, ‘Look, we have to repair the house over break. Please don’t have any more parties,” Tupper said. He said there have been no problems in the last two months at that house.

Tupper can also be seen having a beer with his tenants from time to time, Palermo said.

‘If students are kind enough to offer me a beer, then I’m kind enough to say yes,’ Tupper said. ‘But I don’t want the reputation of Vince Vaughn in ‘Old School;’ I’m happy with my adult life. I think it’s nice that I get invited, but I don’t think it’s appropriate that I go to everything.’

Tupper has worked to ensure that his tenants are not being left out to dry, he said.

Joe Everson, who has been working with Tupper for the past six months, will assume Tupper’s e-mail address and cell phone number.

‘They’re not even going to notice I’m gone, except that they won’t see me,’ Tupper said. ‘It’ll be the same quick response and friendly service.’

Published on February 22, 2006 at 12:00 pm