Pulse: Chatter: Aw, Mom

The ex-wife of a well-known casino magnate and mother of a Penn undergrad had placed a call to Campus Apartments. With properties in 50 college towns, CA is one of the largest privately owned student housing companies in the U.S., and it owns or manages units that house some 3,000 Penn students, faculty and staff. And there are no parents quite like Penn parents, says CA CEO David Adelman. They call about the quality of tile in bathrooms, and drapes, and vanities. Adelman’s favorite request: walls the color of cookie dough, two shades more comforting than the standard beige. But the magnate’s ex called with a different requirement. Adelman’s staff obliged, traipsing to her son’s apartment with a message: “Your mother wants you to call home.”